The new 36 Full Pelt X goes for its first sail

The new 36' yacht 'Full Pelt X' with the highest ever IRC rating of 1.704 © UK Sails Hamble / www.uksails.co.uk

The new 36' yacht 'Full Pelt X' with the highest ever IRC rating of 1.704 © UK Sails Hamble / www.uksails.co.uk

Stephen Fein's latest 'Full Pelt' has been given the highest IRC rating issued at 1.704. This is higher than the max Z86 yachts such as 'Morning Glory' and 'Pyewacket' and even more incredibly higher than that of the 140' super-maxi 'Mari Cha IV' (although no certificate has been issued for her yet).

The Jo Richards' design weighs a mere 1600kg of which 800kg is the bulb on the canting keel. The boat has a greater power to weight ratio than a 49er which should make it capable of planing upwind and heaven knows what it will do downwind. The boat is fitted with a full suit of UK Ultra Sails and only requires a crew of six.

The first real test for the boat is going to be the Round the Island race on 26 June. Given favourable conditions this boat could demolish the record. We at Yachts & Yachting will be watching the forecasts and the results with baited breath.

Many thanks to UK Sails Hamble for use of the photographs.

Round the Island Records:

• Outright record: 2h 33m 55s set by Playstation in November 2001
• Monohull Race record: 4h 5m 40s set by Skandia Leopard in June 2001
• Multihull Race record: 3h 10m 11s set by Dexia Eure et Loir in June 2001