Leopard in the lead

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Mike Slade's new 30-metre super maxi yacht, ICAP Leopard, took monohull line honours in the JP Morgan Round the Island Race.

Completing the 55 mile course in just 4 hours 23 minutes and 5 seconds, ICAP Leopard was only 17 minutes from breaking the Round the Island Race record, held by Slade's previous boat, Leopard of London in 2001, despite only being in the water a week.

Starting the annual dash around the island just after dawn, ICAP Leopard's crew of America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race legends sailed an almost faultless race.

First boat to the Needles, she blasted round the south side of the island to St Catherine's point before beating back upwind through the Solent to the finish line off Cowes.

Built at McConaghy Boats in Australia, ICAP Leopard was provisioned with a crew of 28 plus eight guests who pushed the boat hard in around 14 knots of breeze, among a fleet of 1,799 boats.

Owner and helm Mike Slade commented: "We are absolutely thrilled with the new ICAP Leopard. She feels fantastic, really well balanced, and for a brand new boat straight out of the box, she performed absolutely superbly today.

St Catherine's point is always tricky, but we had a cracking sail round the back of the island to Bembridge with the kite up all the way from the Needles.

We didn't quite beat the record, but we're not disappointed at all - and there's always next year!" Like her predecessors, the Farr-designed super maxi is aimed towards the charter market as well as winning races and records.

With her removable Ken Freivokh interior, she can be transformed from racing machine to a luxury sailing yacht.

ICAP Leopard is 6.8 metres wide, has a 5.5 metre draft, 4.5 metre fixed bowsprit, a towering 47 metre mast and a keel that cants 40 degrees either side of centreline.

Rather than a single forward canard, she has twin dagger boards, mounted on hydraulic rollers and a single rudder.

The canards, carefully placed on either side of the mast to perfectly balance the sail forces, are lifted and lowered using hydraulically powered pinch rollers.

A single, aft rudder was selected as the best arrangement for steering. ICAP Leopard can also take aboard up to six tonnes of water in the transom area enabling the bow to lift in fast downwind conditions.

ICAP Leopard is set to compete in a number of high-profile races worldwide including Skandia Cowes Week, the Rolex Fastnet Race, and the infamous Rolex Sydney Hobart Race that starts on Boxing Day.

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