The first 12m offshore race boat designed by Rob Shaw, build by Craig Partridge Yachts.

Design Objective: to maximise the performance potential of a 12m offshore monohull, with the capacity to sleep a full crew and with a usable interior. This is a versatile boat, set up for high performance racing either short-handed or fully crewed, both harbour and offshore. Blink is built with racing in the infamous Cook Strait in mind, with robust construction and systems, foam core, and options chosen with the wisdom that 'to win you must first finish' in mind: twin rudders, twin hydraulic rams, and dual hydraulic keel power sources (electric and engine pumps).

These numbers are from before the extra 90kg added to bulb in 2019
Length: 12m / Sailing Displ: 4.1T (8 crew) / Empty Displ 3.6T / Draft: 3m / Keel Cant Angle: 50° / RM (max): 7,687 kg/m / Mast: 19.8m
Fixed prod: 1m / Retractable prod: 2.5m / SA up: 110m2, down: 268m2

Sail Number: 110011 / VHF Call Sign: ZMU2211
More details, interior pics, plans at bottom of page.

Ghost Ship

Ghost Ship

Race Results

Blink race results highlights
1st on elapsed time, Round North Island 2-handed 2014 (Rob Shaw and TW) and 2017 (VW and TW)
1st on Line, Round North Island 2-handed 2014 and 2017
1st PHRF Division 1, and 2nd IRC Division 1, Round North Island 2-handed 2017
1st in RPNYC 2014-2015 Offshore Series on Club, PHRF, and IRC
Season Champions RPNYC 2015-2016 PHRF and Line
New Zealand Design/Build Trophy (Muir Vonu Trophy) Auckland-Fiji Race 2016
Race record Kapiti-Chetwodes-Ship Cove 2015
Race record Cook Strait Classic 2015
Race record 2016 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Yacht Race
Race record 2018 Catherine Cove Race

First on Line:
Island Bay race Nov 2013*, Brothers Race Nov 2013*, Cook Strait Classic Dec 2013* (*beating Elliot 50 canter Ran Tan in all 3 of these races), Brothers Race 2014, Kapiti-Chetwodes 2015, Port Nich Regatta 2015 overall line honours, Alan Martin Series 2015, Cook Strait Classic 2015, Nelson Race 2016, RPNYC 2016 Season Div 1, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Yacht Race 2016, Mana-Ship Cove 2016, Brothers Islands Race 2016, Round North Island 2-handed 2014 and 2017,
Brothers Islands Race 2017, Catherine Cove Race 2018, Wellington-Lyttleton 2018

22 August 2013

First Sail

Blink went out for her maiden voyage last night - light air, never much more than 6 knots and averaging 3-5 with large patches of glassy water.  We still don't have everything finished, so were a little limited for cant angle, a few temporary rigging solutions, and sails on their first hoist with a couple of small refinements possibly needed once we adjust the mast rake slightly.

With the masthead Code 0 at about 90 TWA, we were doing about 8 knots over ground (instruments not calibrated yet).  Upwind about 7 kts SOG but at a fairly wide sheeting angle (inboard tweaker not set up yet).

Glassy water, 4-5 knots breeze, code 0, 7-8 knots boatspeed.  We like.


18 August 2013

Blink is Launched

Blink was splashed at Seaview today and motored over, accompanied by Caniwi Te Ruru from RPNYC, to Chaffers Marina, her permanent base.  All went very smoothly apart from the weather, which was at it's worst for the hour or so of the launch and delivery across the harbour.

And the water came up to exactly where Mr Shaw said it would.


Some of our favourite pics from friends and crew:

Claudia Vause with our camera's card... (thanks Claude!)




And Mark Holmes




And Joerg









15 August 2013

Ballast added

Keel fitted in Shed at Seaview, bolted in pretty smoothly









13 August 2013

... home


Passing through Waiouru just after 5pm


... through Ngauranga Gorge.  

... turning into Seaview Marina, 8.45pm

 John (JJ) Klinac, Exclusive Boat Haulage.  Safe and efficient deliverer.

12 August 2013

En Route ....

Blink left Craig Partridge Yachts this evening ... stopping at Silverdale to pick up the rig tomorrow morning from Hall Spars, planned to arrive in Wellington Wed during the day.  

[ & nice work finding a suitably stunning truck ]






7 August 2013

3 August 2013

Pics From Craig 2nd August

Almost there ... Keel attached to bulb and faired
 And hull fairing for keel in place under the hull

Rudders are in and faired

Windows are in, saildrive visible.  The yellow tape along the hull is the antifoul line, 80mm above the waterline.  No, you aren't seeing things, that's it.

Companionway steps.  Not a lot of room between galley bench and bottom step, but could only be better if steps were more steep, and having lots of things to hold on to near the lower steps not a bad thing.  Will be a nice easy step from lower step to top of keel box, and there's plenty of headroom.  Flange just below (very shiny and pretty) heads door shows eventual floor level here.  Shower drain pump just to starboard of steps.

Starboard steering wheel pod, steering wheel mount at lower left edge (yellow tape).
Larger Nexus cover on NXR (details here, and manuals here).  The smaller Nexus cover to the left/inboard is the autopilot control (link).  The nexus Racebox (details here, and manual here) button and speaker are mounted on the underside of this (stbd) pod.
The small stainless steel buttons on the outboard end control the keel.  Top two are starboard(up) and port(down), bottom one is centre. All of these will function as single press to initiate movement in that direction, another press to stop, or it will stop at the end of travel automatically.  A clever bit of electronics controls automatic selection of electric or engine-powered hydraulic pump, increases engine revs if needed, and oversees keel control.  There is also a built-in automatic return-to-center in case the keel ends up on the wrong side after a nasty broach with the boat pinned on it's side.  
The port side pod, not shown, is a mirror image (although it just has a space where the autopilot is on the stbd side, while we decide on the best option for here)