Hanuman heading to Europe and an exciting future in the hands of a new owner
by J Class Association 29 May 10:47 BST
Hanuman heading to Europe in the hands of a new owner © Carlo Borlenghi
The renowned J Class yacht Hanuman is in the middle of the Atlantic this week on course for a new home in Europe following her sale to a well known Italian yachtsman. She is expected to compete at Les Voiles de Saint Tropez in October which should mean three J Class yachts will race at the Autumn showcase regatta.
Hanuman has been bought by the passionate racer Giovanni Lombardi Stronati who last year won the International Maxi Association Maxi Grand Prix World Championship and who is about to compete at the Sardinia Cup. Hanuman is heading for Palma initially and is expected around the time of the Superyacht Cup Palma although she will not race.
Hanuman was first launched in 2009 and was commissioned by Jim Clark, a very experienced owner in whose hands the powerful, successful J Class yacht has remained until now. Hanuman is a modern recreation of Tommy Sopwith's Charles E Nicholson designed 1937 'Super J' Endeavour II which was defeated by Ranger.
Hanuman won the 2017 Saint Barths Bucket against one of the biggest fleets of J Class yachts ever mustered, going on to finish runner-up at the famous J Class Worlds in Newport that year. She also conclusively won the Saint Barths Bucket in 2013, the same year in which she went on to win the Superyacht Cup Palma with seven race wins. Now she is on her way to an owner who is determined to carry on Hanuman's legacy.
Michael Cate is Hanuman's Captain. Speaking from on board, during the delivery he commented.
"Obviously I am sad to not be working for Mr Clark anymore. I've worked for him for seven years and of course it is a bit of the end of an era for Hanuman after just over 17 years of ownership for him. It's quite a change. The boat officially sold on the 11th of May and myself and all the crew are going with the boat to the new owner. It is a big change for us but something that's really exciting for the J Class and for the boat and for the crew."
And so as it stands Saint Tropez will be the first regatta for the new owner and crew racing under the burgee of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
An experienced Captain who previously worked for Rainbow, Endeavour and Svea before being appointed to Hanuman, Cate concludes "It sounds like we'll do a training block in Palma this summer, maybe two. The first event is Saint-Tropez. That's the target, to be there with the other Js, mixing it up and seeing how we go. It's going to be fantastic. And with two changes of ownership of J Class Yachts within a few months I think there's some new energy in the class, which is nice and hopefully that'll bring in maybe some different regattas that the boats haven't done before. And I think all three owners (of Svea, Rainbow and Hanuman) are pretty much on the same page from what I understand. It'll be nice to have three owners with very similar kinds of other racing programmes. I'd say it's a great thing for the Class, as long as and we can keep sailing these beautiful boats in beautiful places and really showcase that the class is probably one of the most show-stopping, jaw-dropping classes there is of sailing boats."