IRC 50ft "Magic Glove" - The Owner of "Flying Glove" came to us for his next Cruiser/Racer, which came with the brief of being truly dual purpose but high competitive under IRC for racing, ie. like his last yacht but bigger and better! Following from the very successful 39 footer we developed a 50 footer, with 3 cabins, 2 heads and a very comfortable saloon with a 21" flat screen TV.

Built by Latitude Yachting in Cape Town, South Africa, the 50 is built of Carbon fibre/epoxy and closed cell foam to produce a very light but stiff structure. She has been equipped with a Trim Tab on her deep keel to maximize the potential of this moderate displacement design.

With her hull shape derived from the same CFD and Towing Tank study that all the 2006 series boats benefited from she is designed for all-round competitiveness, with her large assymetic spinakers and non-overlapping jibs being both easy to handle yet efficent and powerfull.

She has the same sleek, stylish deck design first developed with the Ker 39, but she is equipped with a pedestal grinder to facilitate easier gybing of her asymmetric spinnakers. She also has electrically powered backstay and outhaul systems, to make the adjustment not only easier and faster but also to remove the clutter of the hydraulic panels out of the cockpit.

The interior is fully fitted out, with all the cruising luxuries such as hot and cold pressurized running water, a flat screen TV and fully equipped galley with a proper oven though can also sleep up to 8 whilst cruising and 4 to windward in proper sea-berths/pipe cots whilst racing offshore. A heads just aft of the dedictaed Nav station aerves as both a day head but also a wet storgae locker for sailing gear whilst cruising.

IRC 37ft "Jump Juice " - A development of the Ker 36 "Software Mistress", the Ker 37 was developed for an Irish client who wanted to compete in the 2006 Rolex Commodore's Cup and then race/cruise in home waters off the South of Ireland.

Based on a development of the Ker 36, she has a similar layout, though with a trim tabbed keel to maximize her IRC competitiveness and take her to the top of the rating band for Class 2 in the Commodore's Cup. Built by Vision Yachts in Cowes she has a lightweight E-Glass/epoxy/foam structure though with a comfortable, fully fitted interior comprising 2 double cabins and a large head with a shower and wet storage.

For the 2006 series design Ker Associates undertook a detailed hull design study, by commissioning a CFD study of various hull forms followed by towing tank testing of 3 of the most promising hulls at 1/3 scale in the America's Cup testing facility in Bulgaria. It is this consistant striving of design optomisation which sets Ker Associates apart from the rest.

IRC 46ft "Fair Do's VII" - Developed at the same time as "Software Mistress", the 46 has the same heritage, but with a different design brief. The Owner, who had already successfully campaigned various yachts under the Fair Do's name (including a Ker 11.3, his previous yacht to the 46 and a charter of the Ker 32 for the 2004 Commodore's Cup which lead to a class win) developed his ideas for a yacht that is biased towards offshore racing and cruising, with a Trans-Atlantic trip to be done in 2007.

The design was to be suitable to cruise with his family, or race competitively under IRC. A length of 46 feet was chosen to fulfill the requirements, including cabin heating, a watermaker and hot and cold pressurized water. She has the proven deck layout developed from the Ker 39 which is comfortable to cruise while being efficient and functional whilst racing.

Constructed from E-Glass/foam/epoxy laminates, she is designed to ABS rules (as are all our designs) using the same ethos as the Ker 55 "Aera", which won the 2004 Sydney to Hobart race overall in extreme conditions with no structural problems. Built by VMG Racing in Hamble she is again a moderate design aimed at being competitive in all wind strengths.

IRC 36ft “Software Mistress ” – A logical development of the successful Ker 39 " Flying Glove" , the Owner came from the background of a successful 36´foot production yacht that was racing in Class 8. He had decided to have a similar sized custom boats built, suitable for racing both inshore and offshore with aim of qualifying for the English Team for the 2006 Commodore's Cup.

The brief was of a true dual purpose yacht, with a modern and comfortable interior that would lend itself to both racing and cruising whilst having the performance and competitiveness under IRC to win on the race course. Built by Ritchie Faulkner Composites of Hamble she was aimed squarely for the middle class for the Commodore's Cup, the 36 went on to win the trials and represent England on the GBR Red Team.

With the same style of clean, functional yet stylish deck and interior as the Ker 39, she is a pleasure to either race or cruise. Her interior has a double cabin forward and aft, with a large heads aft on the port side. Thus she can sleep 6 in comfort whilst cruising but has proper sea berths for offshore racing. She also has a dedicated Nav station and fully fitted galley

IRC 39ft “Flying Glove” – An IRC design, and for a well known Irish owner making this a high profile commission. Given the uncertainty surrounding the future of Grand Prix race rules the owner requested that the yacht be a cruiser-racer to ensure it would have an extended life racing under IRC and better re-sale value.

The yacht features a fully-fitted interior with a forward cabin and heads/shower compartment. A saloon with adjacent galley to port and a dedicated nav-station to starboard. Finally twin aft cabins are found to port and starboard.

On deck, cockpit seats provide useful storage lockers and small coamings make for a secure seating area when cruising. The cockpit sole and seats are decked in teak for both styling and comfort. The open transom has a dedicated liferaft locker and also incorporates the hydraulic backstay which is neatly led below deck. There is also an anchor locker forward.

The rest of the deck layout is incredibly clean with all halyards being led below deck to a bank of sunken clutches at the hatch way and the mainsheet too being led under deck. The result is an array of clean curved surfaces forming the decks, coamings and coachroof, even the windows are curved to emphasize this modern style. But it is not just about style, the clear deck areas make this an extremely ergonomic boat to race with plenty of space for all maneuvers and a clear coachroof for the crew to cross during tacks.

The yacht is rigged with a high-modulus carbon rig and composite boom. The boom has an internal mainsheet and clew-end cut-away maintaining the yacht's sleek appearance and saving some weight in the process.

The yacht first sailed on the way to the startline for the UK IRC Nationals where she was the lowest rating yacht in Class 0 by some margin. She finished the 2004 Rolex Commodore's Cup as top boat in Class 2. She then went to class wins the 2005 Red Funnel Easter regatta, UK IRC Nationals and Cowes Week