''Condor'' is a maxi sailing yacht designed for racing and built in 1981 by Killian Bushe at Kiwi Boats U.K.,in Penryn Penryn, England. She was registered in

Hamilton, Bermuda Hamilton is the capital city of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and the main settlement of Pembroke Parish. A port city, Hamilton is Bermuda's financial and commercial centre, and a popular tourist destination. Its population of ...

during her 7-year

ocean racing Yacht racing is a Sailing (sport), sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course mark ...

campaign and her sail number is KB-80. She is not to be confused with her predecessor '' Condor of Bermuda'' (KB-78) (aka. ''Heath's Condor''-K-707), also owned and campaigned by Bob Bell.

Construction and materials

''Condor'' was revolutionary both for having the largest (tallest) single spar mast in the world (at the time of her launch) and for being the largest of all the IOR Maxi fleet at that time. (Ongoing IOR rule changes allowed each new yacht to be slightly bigger than ones built under previous versions of the rating rules). The boat was constructed using

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...

and composite structures, with an Alloy

space frame In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure (Three-dimensional space, 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometry, geometric pattern. Space frames can ...

inside. She was the second yacht of this type to be built where the hull itself could support the enormous loads generated by the huge mast and rig. Unlike her predecessor, ''Condor of Bermuda'', which was built of wood yet had (the world's first)

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

rig, ''Condor's'' mast was

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

. It was about 18% taller than her 'sistership's' mast due to the additional loading permitted by the space frame. An 8 cylinder 8LXB Gardner diesel engine was installed, turning a 42 inch folding propeller, despite her hull being only 3 feet longer overall. Both ''Condor'' and ''Condor of Bermuda'' were eventually installed with Gardner 8LXB reserve engines, due to their reliability, and overall mass, which was a key consideration in IOR ratings at the time. In 1993, the Gardener was replaced with a Perkins 6354 diesel. In 2007 she was fitted with a smaller Yanmar 4LHA which was replaced again in 2017 with the same model. Today she runs a 26" three bladed Hydralign feathering propeller. ''Condor'' was designed by

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

boat designer Ron Holland.

History

''Condor'' was a maxi yacht campaigning on the IOR Maxi Circuit from 1981 to approximately 1987. In 1987, she was sold to Australian Grazier Tony Paola, where she continued to race for a time under the name ''Condor of Currabubula'' until she was retired from racing, and now resides in Airlie Beach, on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

, chartering for overnight sailing adventures with several of her contemporaries for her present owners, ProSail.

Current location

Airlie Beach, Australia Available for charter by present owners rl=https://prosail.com.au/

References

{{Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race winning yachts (line honours) Individual sailing vessels Sailing in Australia Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race yachts 1980s sailing yachts Sailing yachts built in the United Kingdom Sailing yachts of Bermuda Sailboat type designs by Ron Holland Maxi yachts Fastnet Race yachts