Neville Crichton (inset) has been a key figure in the creation of today’s world-class New Zealand marine industry, partnering designer Ed Dubois in several of the first modern sailing Superyachts starting with their 122-footer Aquel II in 1985. All the yachts were built at Alloy Yachts in Auckland which Crichton also founded. With the purchase of Rainbow (above) Crichton joins fellow Maxi racer Niklas Zennstrøm in the big boys’ class du jour. In 2021 Zennstrøm put together a Swedish syndicate to buy another ‘modern’ J Class, Svea
Leg 3 is a 12,750-mile marathon between Cape Town, South
Africa and Itajaí, Brazil, the longest leg in the 50-year history of the race that began life as the famous Whitbread. The first leg leaves Alicante this month for Cape Verde. The
Imocas are carrying crews of five or six. For example, the crew of Holcim PRB, racing under the Swiss flag, includes skipper Kevin Escoffier, Tom Laperche, Julien Champolion, the media man, and two British sailors: Sam Goodchild and Abby Ehler. Kevin, who finished fourth in the Route du Rhum on the same
boat, competed in the last two editions of The Ocean Race on Dongfeng. Sam, skipper of the Ocean Fifty Leyton, was unable to complete the Route du Rhum due to injury at the start. He sailed two attempts for the Jules Verne Trophy and has enormous experience on a wide range of boat types. Tom Laperche is the youngest in the team but is already among
the top French oceanic sailors with his recent successes on the Figaro circuit and racing alongside François Gabart on the Ultim SVR Lazartigue. Finally, the British Abby Ehler counts no fewer than three Volvo
Ocean Races on her CV: ‘To set up the boat in crewed mode we have made mandatory “comfort” arrangements added to the “pure” Imoca rule,’ says Ehler. ‘These include large desalinators and recon- figuring energy generation because the boat consumes so much more power when there are several onboard compared to solo sailing. ‘In addition to these improvements, there has not been a lot of
change, although we did add a few more berths for sailors... plus a working heads!’ Patrice Carpentier
NEW ZEALAND Sydney-based New Zealander Neville Crichton recently purchased the magnificent J-Class yacht Rainbow… and his first response to questions about this latest acquisition is to make jokes at his own expense. ‘I never thought I would pay a great deal of money to go slow,’ he chuckles, before adding: ‘I have always loved the classic look of the J-Class yachts, but felt it was best to leave it to others to own them… ‘However, Rainbow came on the market and Erle Williams and
Mark Hauser [both prominent Kiwi yachtsmen] ganged up on me and persuaded me that she would be a good one to buy.’ Crichton has owned and built a veritable fleet of yachts – from Ton Cup Admiral’s Cuppers to supermaxis to luxury superyachts –
but over the past couple of years has been sitting out the racing scene. This is an unaccustomed situation for an incurable boat owner. Over breakfast more than a decade ago Crichton was completely stumped when asked how many boats he had owned in his lifetime. With a half-embarrassed smile he confessed he did not have a clue. ‘At least 100’ was the best he could do. His boat ownership habit began aged 12 when he saved up £4
to buy a dilapidated P-Class, which he raced with better results than its rundown state suggested. Later, with a better borrowed boat, he competed with distinction in big fleets at national level. Fast cars and fast boats became an obsession. His ultimate
raceboat was the supermaxi Alfa Romeo, which notched up more than 140 line-honours victories and in a single year won the Sydney- Hobart, the Fastnet, the Giraglia series, the Middle Sea Race and the Maxi World Cup. On land, cars became his business and, always the consummate
wheeler-dealer, he performed the rare trick of parlaying many of his boats into a profitable enterprise as well. There were always two strands to his boat ownership: high-performance race yachts, which he populated with crew drawn from the ranks of round-the-world and America’s Cup racers; and a succession of large superyachts. For more than three decades he was seldom without one of each. He established Alloy Yachts in New Zealand, which went on to
become an international award-winning superyacht yard. After he sold the business he then became its most prolific customer, build- ing nine superyachts, eight of them sailboats between 33 and 41m. Most of his sailing superyachts were trendsetters, applying the
latest technology from the grand prix arena. For example, in 1991 his Ed Dubois-designed Esprit was the first superyacht to sport a carbon fibre mast. Nevertheless, with a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of the market, his superyacht projects were always a business proposition. ‘I enjoy the design and build process,’ he once said. ‘As soon as the boat is launched I immediately start planning the next one.’ With the purchase of Rainbow, however, his competitive juices
are back in full flow and he is relishing the challenge of getting the boat race ready in time for the 2024 J-Class racing season in Europe, the highlight of which will be their Barcelona regatta coinciding with the America’s Cup. ‘I have obtained special permission from the class association
to carry the New Zealand sail number J-KZ1,’ says Crichton, who will register the boat with the RNZYS fleet. Fittingly for one of the
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