The Artemis 20 Carbon Keelboat has been specifically designed with both able and disabled sailors in mind. In addition to the Ocean Racing programme, Artemis has teamed up with Chichester-based Vizual Marine and designer Simon Rogers, to help develop the ‘Artemis 20’. This new concept boat is an impressive blend of cutting edge design mixed with a very stable and basic sailing setup and can be sailed competitively by both able-bodied and disabled sailors.

Dubbed as a ‘mini America’s Cup style’ boat, the Artemis
20 is an impressive looking machine with a square headed mainsail and double-knuckled bow. The lifting keel mechanism is integral to the boat design, allowing the keel to be easily lifted from the crew position. The conventional boat comes with toe rail and tiller steering offering an exhilarating sail to the able bodied sailor, but, unique to this boat is the quick adaptability to seated mode. The boat is then controlled from highly manoeuvrable sliding seats together with a joystick steering system. A simple sheet system also enables the spinnaker to be hoisted and dropped without the crew ever leaving their seat.

The philosophy stems from the importance of accessibility, the idea of breaking down barriers and creating fun, fast and functional ways for getting more people on the water and bringing them together removing the us and them factor.

To date, the Artemis 20 has received accolades from around the world and it is hoped that interest in the class will continue to grow as people are won over by the combination of speed and stability. Fine examples of the capabilities of the boat have been demonstrated by Hilary Lister, the quadriplegic sailor from Britain who is using the Artemis 20 to achieve some near-impossible feats. Despite being paralysed from the neck down, Hilary is able to control all aspects of the boat with just her mouth, using the ‘sip-puff’ method. To date Hilary has notably been the first female quadriplegic to sail solo across the English Channel. During 2007 she completed a solo circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight, covering the 50 mile course in a time of a little over 11 hours. She now has her sights firmly set on sailing around Britain this summer of 2008. Artemis wishes her the best of luck. For more information about Hilary Lister please click here.

Hull Length:

6.00m

Waterline Length:

5.60m

Beam:

1.50m

Draft/full:

1.40m

Draft/keel up:

0.80m

Displacement/measurement trim:

490 kg

Displacement/ sailing condition (2 crew):

700kg

Ballast:

225kg

Sail area:

Main - 15.00m2

Furling Jib:

8.00m2

Asymmetric Spinnaker:

25.00m2

For more information on the Artemis 20, please visit www.vizmarine.com.