Dibley Trailer Yacht 26'
Boat Name: Supergroove, Springloaded2023 Update:
Springloaded is currently in Queenstown, New Zealand.
Supergroove is currently based in Barcelona, Spain.
Dibley 26 trailer yachts Supergroove and Springloaded have won numerous regattas and championships since launch, including the New Zealand Trailer Yacht National Championships (Line and Handicap twice 1998,1999) and has won Line Honours four times (1998, 1999, 2002, 2005).
Supergroove 26' Trailer Yacht
… a second at the 2015 Championships, which doubled as the 2015-2016 NZTYA South Island Championships. And lately took out the 2021 Aviemore Classic in the South Island of NZ and the 2021 & 2022 Donald Hay Regatta in Queenstown, NZ to name a few.
‘Jono’, as he is affectionately known around the New Zealand yachting fraternity, wanted a multi purpose yacht that could race as a rated Trailer Yacht, Sports Boat and Keel Boat and he definitely wanted a yacht that would push boundaries and set the adrenalin going.
This boat had to be able to get NZTYA design approval & rating plus be capable of rating for both ORC & PHRF and pass YNZ Cat 3 safety certificate and also fit the parameters for sports boat competition. Quite a tall design order by any standards.
Jonathon commissioned Kevin Dibley to design what is today known as the Dibley 26 ‘Supergroove’ which was built at Nigel Ripley’s boatyard in Tauranga.
Reading the list of gongs since she went in the water in 1995, there is no doubt that the design met everything he wanted. Since then, one other Dibley 26 called ‘Springloaded’ was launched and both continue to be very competitive in both the keeler and trailer yacht fleets.
Step on board and you immediately have the impression that this boat is meant to fly. Creature comforts are few and far between, but then she was never designed for family cruising although ‘Jono’ reckons the sleeping arrangements, which includes a double berth, are ideal.
The Dibley 26 meets all the parameters of New Zealand Trailer Yacht Association regulations in terms of accommodation, auxiliary power, cooking facilities, storage and safety factors. The yacht also meets Cat 3 YNZ safety regulations.
Built on a Cedar core with E-Glass and Kevlar, the boat is described by designer Kevin Dibley as “bullet proof” and very stiff.
With an all up weight for ORC certificate of 1,400 kgs, ‘Supergroove’ has a draft with the board down of 1.9 metres, while ‘Springloaded’ updated her keel and bulb in 2017 and has a 2.2 metre draft for slightly better performance.
The high aspect lift keel has very low drag and the rudder is also high aspect and designed to insure full control at all times.
Beam has been kept to the maximum allowed under current trailer rules and carried aft with the hull sides flaring out.
The deck layout is extremely simple and easy to operate from the large cockpit area. Lifelines are easily removable to have just two wires to allow legal hiking when sailing as a keel boat.
The mast is carbon with double swept spreaders which allows no fixed or running backstays.
A recent addition to the design is a two-metre carbon fibre prod set up in a watertight launch tube. This modification was designed in-house by Kevin Dibley and has added a new dimension to the boats speed and sailing abilities with a squaretop main and masthead gennaker now in the wardrobe.
A very rigid custom made trailer allows easy launch and retrieval. Tandem durotorque axles with 3000 kg loading and 4000 kg braking capacity provide safe towing.
Between the two yachts, the Dibley 26 has won the New Zealand Trailer Yacht National Championships twice [1998,1999] and has won Line Honours four times [1998, 1999, 2002, 2005], and most recently came in second at the 2015 Championships, which doubled as the 2015-2016 NZTYA South Island Championships.
Supergroove is currently racing successfully in Europe under the IRC handicap system while Springloaded continues racing the Trailer Yacht fleets in A-division.
Multi purpose design ‘Supergroove’ continues to sweep all before her
SPECIFICATIONS AND PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS
LOA 8.00m (26'-3")
LWL 7.30m (23'-11")
Beam 2.49m (8'-2")
Draft (Board Down) 1.90m (6'-3")
Designed Displacement 1180kg (2601 #’s)
Sail Area (Main & Fore Triangle) 38.80 sq.m (418 sq.ft)
PO Box 2836
Wakatipu
Queenstown, 9349
New Zealand
Tel +64 (0)275 933 692