In mid-January 2020, the Clipper Round The World Race made its way to Airlie Beach, Australia, for a week long layover between race legs. Out of eleven Clipper 70″ ocean racing yachts, three of their watermakers had failed on the previous leg. During that week, organisers were trying to get parts for their systems, but eventually realised they were not going to arrive in time. Organisers made the difficult call to delay the start of the next race leg until Monday morning.
By late on the Friday, the organisers were in touch with Rainman headquarters and Brett Young at Quadrant Marine to see what could be procured on short notice.
The requirement was for a very simple and reliable watermaker. An AC powered Rainman desalination system fit the bill. The largest challenge was the timing. They only had three days before the race was scheduled to continue to Asia, so timing was critical. Adding to the challenge was that two of the three days available were over a weekend and Quadrant Marine was out of stock of the requested AC Rainman watermakers.
In the end, the organisers flew someone three hours to Sydney to pick up four watermakers (three for immediate installation and one spare) from our factory. Although Rainman systems are portable, the airline was not impressed with trying to check four watermakers into a flight, so he had to rent a car and drive 21 hours back to Airlie Beach. Installation went on through the night on Sunday and the race got off okay on Monday morning.
Helpful Links
» Rainman watermaker dealer Quadrant Marine, Airlie Beach, QLD Australia
» Product information: Rainman AC watermaker for your boat