Zulu Yachting- Racing

Cetewayo was built to be fast. Her sleek outline and long waterline with a distinctive overhanging transom immediately say speed. However she is a creature of her time displaying none of the characteristics of the modern breed of saucer shaped boat. On top of that is her weight, which, at over 17 tonnes, far exceeds that of her glassfibre competitors. It is some feat then that David Murrin has made a success of racing her, not against similar classic boats, but head to head with the best of today’s craft. This has been achieved by optimising every inch of the hull and rig not to mention forming a dedicated crew who know how to get the best out of her.

The modern yacht can accelerate faster, point higher, and tack more quickly as well as having more ergonomic sails. Cetewayo overcomes these factors by playing to her own advantages. By carefully matching sails to the conditions at the time she can consistently be sailed at her maximum speed, however this requires enormous effort by the crew, performing numerous sail changes over a short period of time in shifty coastal airs. To facilitate these sail changes great faith has to be placed in the skill of the navigator to anticipate which suit will be required so that the crew can prepare to change sail at precisely the right moment before tactical advantage is lost.Cetewayo’s weight may ordinarily be considered a drawback but this means that she has greater momentum and can ghost past the lighter boat in a lull.

Cetewayo’s real trump comes into play on the downwind legs. With her long waterline and keel she can use all the sail area she has to power past the opposition with less chance of broaching whilst blanketing those ahead of her. To allow the efforts of the crew to be rewarded Cetewayo has been extensively renovated whilst ensuring any modifications are sympathetic to her heritage. Where else have you seen a yacht flying the most modern kevlar sails from a wooden mast? There is though logic to such an approach. An aluminium or kevlar mast may be lighter and stronger, however the high shock loads developed by kevlar sails are partly absorbed by the more flexible wooden spar, loads that could otherwise extensively damage the structure of an older boat.

That is not to say that Cetewayo has not seen fairly vast changes including a complete rebuild of the transom to accommodate running backstay winches supporting the rig with it’s complement of vast masthead and fractional asymmetric and symmetrical spinnakers. One might wonder what Laurent Giles would think of his design forty-five years on. We think he would be proud.