With only a few weeks left before the start of her maiden voyage, Steven Arms has launched 'Nitro', a 10.6m Chamberlin catamaran, in the Waitara River, New Zealand.Arms (or 'Sticker' to his mates) commissioned Nitro as a category one race yacht that could compete in demanding ocean races such as the Solo Trans Tasman, as well as allowing for just a little comfort for cruising, which he intends to do in the Whitsunday's after completing the race.
Nitro was built from strip planked Divinycell foam, Nuplex Epoxy resin and E-Glass fibres, with some Carbon utilised in highly loaded areas including the x-beams and chain plates. She has a 15m aluminum rig, a 50m2 mainsail and a 20m2 jib made by Fyfe Sails in Auckland who also provided the reacher and spinnaker. Nitro utilises Robin Chamberlin's state-of-the-art x-beam configuration which efficiently supports and distributes the rig loads throughout the vessel. The composite beams comprise of laminated Kiri timber with E-Glass and some Carbon employed for added strength and stiffness. Nitro also features walk through transoms which make her open and accessible and will be a great attribute for Steve while cruising the Whitsunday's.
Inside Nitro has modest but comfortable living areas with space provided by the flare in the hulls which maintains a sleek underwater profile while also preserving important reserve buoyancy above the waterline.The starboard hull contains the galley which consists of a two burner stove, modest bench space and a sink, while the port hull contains the nav station and a flushing toilet which utilises a 40L holding tank beneath the forward bunk. There are also aft bunks beneath the cockpit floor, complete with windows for natural lighting, bringing the total accommodation to four.
Finishing Nitro became a whole town effort with many of Steve's friends and family pitching in to get her to the start line of this year's Solo Trans Tasman.We even sent Robin Chamberlin over from Australia to help in the final stages and to give Steve a few tips for the race.After all, it was at the start of the 1998 Solo Tasman when Steve met Robin who was sailing Excess and decided he liked it so much he wanted one!
Good luck Steve, we trust you and Nitro will see many satisfying ocean passages together!
| 'Nitro' – Chamberlin 10.6 | |
| Length of Waterline (LWL) | 10.2m |
| Length Overall (LOA) | 10.6m |
| Beam Overall (BOA) | 6.8m |
| Draft | 0.32m |
| Hull Waterline Beam | 850mm |
| Total Demihull Beam | 1800mm |
| Headroom | 1800mm |
| Minimum Clearance to Nets | 1000mm |
| Displacement | 1800kg |
| Payload | 950kg |