Frers-Designed Spiip Wins Corsair Class At Superyacht Challenge Antigua

HASLEMERE, U.K. - Sept. 20, 2018 - PRLog -- The Superyacht Challenge was held over four days in Antigua in February and yachts built from a design by Frers Design did very well. German "Mani" Frers is the third generation of the Frers family to design yachts, the business having been founded by his grandfather, German Frers Snr, back in 1928. His son, Mani's father, also had the name German Frers.

Mani studied naval architecture at Southampton Institute at the time when computer aided design was coming into being, along with computational fluid dynamics and advanced composite engineering. He graduated with First Class Honours in 1993 and went immediately to join his father at the Design Studio in Milan which his father opened the year before. He honed his design skills by crafting the maxi Boomerang which went on to win the Bermuda Race, the 40ft IMS World Champion Yah-Man, and a number of yachts which were successfully raced in the Mediterranean. He also started working with Luca Bassani's Wally Yachts and began a new type of design which combined easy sailing with elegance, comfort, and performance.

At the turn of the century, Mani and his father teamed up with American Doug Peterson and between them they designed the Prada America's Cup challenger Luna Rosa which went on to win the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Mani then received a commission from Nautor Swan to design the Volvo 60 Amer Sports One which was entered into the 2000/2001 Round The World Race, and skippered by New Zealander Grant Dalton finished on the podium. After this success, Mani was appointed to lead the design team for the Swedish America's Cup challenges in 2003 and 2007. Together with his father, Mani went on to design a series of cruising yachts, custom racing yachts, and superyachts for Nautor Swan which included the 155ft Hyperion for Jim Clark which is still winning events to this day. Also among these Nautor Swan yachts was the classic Rebecca which gained a first in the Superyacht Challenge Antigua in February which is now in its eighth year.

The winning yacht in the Corsair class was the Royal Huisman built 112ft Spiip which was also designed by Mani Frers and won its' class here for the second year running. By popular request, the Superyacht Challenge Antigua was extended to five races over four days and was scored using the new 2018 ORCsy Superyacht rule. Demonstrating the success of this new rule, competition was tight, and a handicapping system was used with staggered starts, the slower yachts getting a head start.

In addition to winning the Corsair class, Spiip was voted by the other competitors and the race committee as having competed in the Spirit of the Regatta, both while at sea and onshore and was accordingly awarded the Gosnell Trophy.

 About the Company: The frers design studio design excellent boats. The company has been designing boats for more than 100 years. They have gathered experience from various reputable universities famed for their naval work, including the Southampton University as well as being able to apply practical skills. For further information contact German "Mani" Frers on +39 02 94 55 46 00, or email frers@frers.design or engineering@frers.design.