Alfa Romeo (yacht)

Alfa Romeo can refer to several yachts owned by Neville Crichton,[2] the Alfa Romeo automobile distributor[3][4] for Australia and New Zealand. In 2003, Crichton was named Yachting New Zealand's[5] "Sailor of the Year" for his accomplishments with yacht Alfa Romeo I.[6]

Alfa Romeo I is a 27.43-meter (90.0 ft) fixed keel "supermaxi" yacht, launched 2002, which placed first in the 2002 Sydney-Hobart race and the prestigious 2003 Giraglia Rolex cup regatta. Alfa Romeo II is a 30-meter (98.4 ft) carbon fiber "supermaxi" racing yacht. First-to-finish in the 2009 Transpacific Yacht Race ("the Transpac"), she also set a new elapsed-time Transpac race record[7][8] for monohulls. Alfa Romeo III is a 21-meter (69 ft) "mini-maxi" built to compete with other smaller boats in shorter distance races under IRC rules.[9]

The Alfa Romeo yachts owned by Crichton are sponsored by Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. of Turin, Italy. They own the Alfa Romeo name and other intellectual properties such as logos, emblems (used on Alfa Romeo III), and manner of depicting the name as shown on the mainsail of Alfa Romeo II in the infobox.

Alfa Romeo I (later Shockwave, then Rambler)[10] measures 27.43 meters (90.0 ft) LOA, 5.6 meters (18 ft) at the beam, 4 meters (13 ft) draft.[11] She was designed by Reichel/Pugh, and built by McConaghy Boats, Sydney, Australia using carbon fiber composite construction. Southern Spars of Auckland, New Zealand built her carbon fiber mast. She has a fixed bulb keel. Launched in July 2002, she won the 2003 Giraglia Rolex Cup regatta, considered Europe's most prestigious regatta.[12] She was first to finish in the 2003 Fastnet race, although she did not win on handicapped time.[13] In 2002, she was first to finish in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.[14] She was first to finish in at least 74 races around the world.