This year’s JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island race will see the debut appearance of a groundbreaking new design, the eye-catching 32ft Out 95 sportsboat.

Many sailors will have spied its bright blue hull-form sail testing in the Solent over the past few weeks, looking rather like an overgrown International Moth, and this weekend sees its first outing on the racecourse. Designed by Neal Pawson and built by Out and Out Solutions, a partnership between Neal and the boat’s build manager Alex Ashworth Briggs. Inspired by Pacific Proas (narrow single-hulled craft with an outrigger to windward), and built fully of carbon, the Out 95 is rather like a catamaran with one hull and a deep bulb keel, while buoyant ‘wings’ providing a wide platform for the crew to keep the boat sailing flat. The rig is a rotating carbon spar supported by Navtec rigging. The design can be sailed with trapezes, but for the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the island race the Out 95 will be sailing in IRC mode with stanchions and its crew of five hiking from the wings.

A lot of long hours have gone into getting the boat to the line as Neal and Alex have invested every moment of their time into building the boat over the last four years, with the support of a number of key sponsors including The Cutting Room, Wessex Resins, English Braids, Lewmar, Navtec, Silva and Helly Hansen. Without a big name sponsor, the whole project has been dependent on their own investment and hard work as well as the support of family and friends as they worked to get the boat finished, while squeezing in other work to pay the bills.

The boat had a struggle to make it to this year’s startline. During recent sail testing a broach resulted in the Code 0 being washed off the deck and damage to a stanchion. Neal commented, ‘We’d got a bit gung-ho  and were really pushing the boat to its limits with full main and spinnaker up in 20-25 knots of breeze. We were just about to overtake a TP52 when we got hit by a gust and simply didn’t react fast enough. It was fine, and good to push the boat to its limits, but we could have done without the damage so close to the event.’

North Sails were on standby to build a last minute replacement, but the sail’s loss would have been a severe financial blow to the team, how would they finance a new sail and repairs in time for the race? However, much to the team’s relief, young Lymington-based Laser sailor Greg Carey found the sail and made contact through sailmakers Elvstrom-Sobstad. However, there was still the damage to fix and strong winds meant a delay before the boat could be lifted out for repairs. The days leading up to the race have been a battle against time with Neal and Alex working to the early hours to get the boat ready for its debut.

The light-wind forecast really suits the team as the boat has been designed with an eye on Europe’s lake racing circuit. Alex Ashworth-Briggs said, ‘When we heard the forecast it re-energised us, it’s exactly what doctor ordered!’ The team is relishing the opportunity to compare the Out 95 to other boats for the first time. One thing’s for certain, the Out 95 will be hard to miss!

ENDS

For more information on the Out 95 see www.out95.com contact Neal Pawson on +44(0)7968 848340 or Alex Ashworth-Briggs on +44(0)7770 608287. High resolution photos by Peter Danby available on request  from www.out95.com