Three new TP 52s are due to be shipped from New Zealand in the next couple of weeks as work on Peter de Ridder’s new Jodel/Vrolijk designed Mean Machine, the Reichel Pugh designed Artemis and Ricardo Simoneschi’s Audi Quatro concludes almost simultaneously in readiness for the Audi MedCup back in Europe.
Yachting World dropped into Salthouse Boatbuilders in Greenhithe, Auckland Monday where Chris Reid was putting the finishing touches to the new Mean Machine, managed by yard executive director Greg Salthouse and brother Chris “Curley” Salthouse who’s currently filling in time between America’s Cup action with Emirates Team New Zealand.

Mean Machine, which will be campaigned by ETNZ players like Ray Davies, Tony Ray, Tom Dodson and Joey Allen, will be shipped to Antwerp and then trucked to the Mediterranean to be readied for the first Audi MedCup event in Alicante in May.
Mick Cookson has just about completed the new Artemis and she will be on the same ship while Hakes Marine will truck Audi Quatro to Napier where she will catch a ship to La Spezia.

Chris ‘Reido’ Reid has clearly enjoyed putting Mean Machine together at Salthouse’s out of the way yard in the upper reaches of Auckland Harbour. “You need to keep below the radar these days,” said Reido as he politely told us ‘no pictures on deck, mate, please’. The alarmingly flat sectioned Mean Machine looks superbly built right down to the all-carbon rudder blade and tiller assembly fashioned by Chris Brown’s Performance Composites just round the corner from Salthouse.

The Kiwis are building three of the seven new TP 52s for the 25-strong MedCup fleet and they are hoping for big results this summer. Watch this space for more on Salthouse and an interesting Origin America’s Cup link?
The picture shows from left to right measurer Pablo Ferrer Puig who was doing preliminary laser measuring of the yacht, Chris Reid and Greg Salthouse beneath the all carbon Mean Machine.