ker yacht design

Ker Yacht Design

Sailboat designer.

• Last update: 28th March 2020
• www.kerdesign.com
• +44 19 62 657 376
• 12 Southgate St Winchester SO23 9EF - UK

Published on January 9th, 2020 | by Editor

Designer clarifies cause of keel failure

Published on January 9th, 2020 by Editor -->

Following the 628nm Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, when storms buffeted yachts being delivered home along the eastern Australian coast, the Ker 40 Showtime got the worst of it when its keel broke off and capsized .

While the seven crew on board were able to activate the liferaft and be safely rescued, the question lingers why the boat broke. In this report, Jason Ker of Ker Yacht Design offers some clarity to the question.

I’d like to make clear that the keel lost by the Ker 40 Showtime was not designed by Ker Yacht Design. The yacht had a retrofit keel fitted, designed by its owner’s local design office near Sydney and built by a local fabricator.

We have designed a great many keels over the last 23 years which have been constructed by many different builders around the world, and none have ever failed. To the best of our knowledge, Showtime is the only yacht designed by us to have had a keel fitted that was not designed by us.

Showtime’s keel was configured as a vertical hollow strut welded to a horizontal mounting plate, which in turn was sitting in a shallow recess in the boat’s hull and bolted to the boat’s structure. This is not a design approach we would ever endorse as the high stress point at the junction is coincident with the horizontal welded joint.

The skipper of the delivery voyage Rob Buchanan and his crew only survived through extremely calm thinking and bravery under stressful circumstances. Rob woke hearing a metallic ‘ping’ just before he was thrown across the boat from his windward bunk as they capsized.

While they made their plans to escape, it was apparent to Rob that the inverted boat was holding air pressure in the hull, so the top plate of the keel can only have remained fully bolted to the yacht. When the crew swam down out of the boat, they saw that the vertical part of the keel was missing, revealing that the keel had failed at the welded joint between the exposed vertical and the recessed horizontal parts.

Ker Design would support any World Sailing move to ban this low cost but high risk style of ‘welded T’ keel construction.

The 2019 fleet for the 628nm Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race saw 157 starters for the 75th edition on December 26. From Sydney Harbour, the fleet sailed out into the Tasman Sea, down the south-east coast of mainland Australia, across Bass Strait (which divides the mainland from the island State of Tasmania), then down the east coast of Tasmania. At Tasman Island the fleet turned right into Storm Bay for the final sail up the Derwent River to the historic port city of Hobart.

Attrition list in 2019 : · Faster Forward, Sydney 38 – Steering problems · Hollywood Boulevard, Farr 55 – Broken rudder · Minerva, DK 43 – Reason not listed

Race details – Entry list – Standings – Tracker – Facebook

Tags: Jason Ker , keel failure , rescue , Showtime , Sydney Hobart

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MC63p Tourer

Lightweight, strong and with contemporary, progressive lines, the MC63p Tourer is the power cat of the modern era.

​Interior styling comes from m2atelier. Their attention to detail and innovative storage solutions that allow for living space to be maximised, make the MC63p Tourer a mini-superyacht, with luxury and performance ability perfectly partnered.

From the designer, Jason Ker of KER Yacht Design:

“On a multihull, a small weight increase has a big impact, and the MC63p Tourer has been strategically engineered to be as light and as fast as possible.

I’m passionate about designing boats that give their owners a wonderful on water experience and the MC63p Tourer delivers great seakeeping, a stable and expansive living platform, as well as a dynamic exterior line that sets her apart from the multihull fleet.

The team at McConaghy are vastly experienced in building catamarans that are much lighter than a typical cruising catamaran and this, partnered with their wider boat building expertise, has resulted in a product which I am immensely proud to be involved with.”

Specifications

Interior Headroom

2.0m to 2.3m

Naval Architect

Ker Yacht Design

Interior Designer

Design Unlimited

Standard Power

Fuel Tanks Capacity

Fresh Water Capacity

CONSTRUCTION

E-glass/epoxy/foam sandwich with carbon fibre structural elements

The McConaghy Multihull range has Bureau Veritas classification for blue water sailing – the highest global rating.

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MC52 by Jason Ker Design

• Reference ID 546
• Builder McConaghy Boats(New builds)
• Model MC 52 multihull
• Ker Yacht Design
• L.O.A. (mtr) 15.30
• Beam (mtr) 8.00
• Draft (mtr) 1.5
• Material Composite

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Yacht description.

MC Multihull

This range has been designed using a group of experienced owners and sailors (who between them have spent decades sailing and cruising multihulls), a highly experienced design and engineering team, and McConaghy’s 50 years of building yachts for the most demanding customers and conditions.

The MC52 might be the smallest multihull in the McConaghy range, but this cat is no kitten.  The MC52 not only benefits from McConaghy’s vast experience building performance boats but also from a carefully considered use of carbon, that sees her precise hull forms achieve an optimum strength to weight ratio.  

As with all McConaghy Multihulls, the MC52 has dual helm positions on the flybridge, allowing for the greatest sight lines forward as well as an elevated position that aids more difficult in-port manoeuvres – making her an ideal choice for those new to multihull cruising.

There are two accommodation arrangements offered as standard; a four-cabin layout (all en suite) or a three-cabin layout, which allows for a large master suite, complete with private study, in the starboard hull.

Typical cruising catamarans feature an aft cockpit, usually protected by a soft enclosure, with a separate saloon accessed through the main bulkhead. The McConaghy MC50CAT steps away from this tradition with a saloon that extends all the way from the front windows to the aft passageway, creating one single, uncluttered space. This can be partially or fully opened with sliding clear panels, making the area both beautiful and versatile. 

The wide saloon offers a versatile and spacious living area that, with large windows running the full length of the hulls and fully retractable glass doors to aft, is exceptionally light and provides fantastic views.  The galley is arranged open-plan to this area, which creates an apartment-like feel and is particularly well suited to socialising and family living.

The MC52’s interior styling comes from Design Unlimited, an award-winning studio with extensive experience in both large custom yachts and the production sector.  Their attention to detail and innovative storage solutions allow living space to be maximised, with the client able to choose from an array of customisable options and a choice of three main interior colour schemes.

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.

Contact Details

• Name Site Broker | Racing-Yachts.com
• Email [email protected]
• Phone 1234567
• Instagram -

Poor Economic Outlook and Lack of Security Undermine Kabardino-Balkaria’s Governor

Current Name: Ker 40

No newer names.

Production IRC Raceboat - Showed the way with light weight success

Designer's Comments

Boat summary.

• Draft: 2.60
• Displacement: 4850
• Project Name: Ker 40
• Project Type: Racing, Monohull
• Build Type: One design
• Stage: Built
• Base rating: 1.196

Manufacturing Details

• ISO Structural: A
• Construction Material: e-glass/epoxy/foam
• Manufacturer: McConaghy

Rig and Equipment

• Upwind Area: 91
• Downwind Area: 227
• Deck hardware: Harken
• Spars: Hall
• 1st IRC 1: Palermo Montecarlo
• 1st IRC 0: De Guingand Bowl Race
• 1st in Class: RORC De Guingand Bowl
• 1st in Class: RORC Mogan Cup
• 1st IRC 1: RORC Myth of Malham
• 1st in Class: Turkish Airlines Around the Island Race (Hong Kong)
• 1st in Division: Spring Regatta
• 1st in Class: Rolex Middle Sea Race
• 1st in Class: RORC Cherbourg Race
• 1st in Class: RYS Bicentenary International Regatta
• 1st in Class: RORC Easter Challenge
• 1st Overall: Commodores' Cup
• 1st in Class: RORC Caribbean 600
• 1st in Class: Rolex Fastnet Race
• 1st Overall: UK IRC National Chamionships
• 1st in Class: UK IRC National Chamionships
• 1st Overall: UK IRC National Championships
• 1st Overall: RORC Myth of Malham Race
• 1st in Class: RORC Cervantes Trophy Race
• 1st in Class: Key West Race Week
• 1st Div A IRC & PHRF: Bay of Islands Regatta
• 1st Overall: Lion Island and Return Race
• 1st Overall: Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore
• 1st Overall: Grant Thornton Short Ocean Autumn series
• 1st Overall: CYCA Ocean Pointscore Autumn
• 1st Overall: Australia Day - City of Sydney Cup
• 1st Overall: BMW Auckland Regatta
• 1st Overall: RORC Morgan Cup
• 1st in Class: Neptune Regatta
• 1st in Class: Warsash Spring Series
• 1st in Class: RORC Myth of Malham Race
• 1st in Division: Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race
• 1st in Division: Ida Lewis Distance Race
• 1st Overall: Lion Island Race
• 1st Overall IRC & ORC: Lion Island - Botany Bay Race
• 1st Overall ORC: Cabbage Tree Island Race
• 1st in Class: Little Britain Challenge Cup
• 1st in Class: Cowes Week "New York Challenge Cup"

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