 Drum in Arnold Clark livery, off Greenock in the Firth of Clyde (2008) | |
| Nation |  United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Class | Maxi |
| Designer(s) | Ron Holland |
| Owner(s) | Mitsubishi Motors Simon Le Bon, & Paul & Michael Berrow SirArnold Clark |
| Racing career | |
| Skippers | Skip Novak |
Drum is amaxi yacht owned by Scottish car sales groupArnold Clark Automobiles, formerly co-owned by lead singer ofDuran DuranSimon Le Bon who was rescued from the vessel while competing in 1985Fastnet Race.
The yacht that becameDrum was designed by Ireland-based boat designerRon Holland[1] & commissioned by Rob James to be sailed in theWhitbread Round the World Race.[2]; with Mitsubishi both sponsoring & setting up Mitsubishi Marine to build the yacht, originally to be namedColt Cars. However Rob James drowned in a sailing accident on 22 March 1983[3] – prior to any construction starting.
Then, with Jeff Houlgrave (Rob James's second in command) as the new skipper, the project got under way to the stage of finishing the hull & deck as separate units in Plymouth, Devon – before Mitsubishi pulled the sponsorship (unknown reason).
Rob Lipsett, who had been in charge of building it at Mitsubishi, then set up Vision Yachts in the Isle Of Wight – taking part of the team with him – & afterSimon Le Bon & the Berrow brothers bought it,[4] completed the build.[5]
Drum competed in the 1985Fastnet Race. It was one of the favourites to win the race, but the boat lost its keel because the keel supplier failed to heat treat the structure holding the keel to the yacht as specified by the designer, a necessary step after welding aluminium. When the structure failed, Drum capsized.[1] Its crew were all rescued.[6][7] Le Bon had not insured the vessel.[4]
Drum was re-fitted and competed in the1985–86 Whitbread Round the World Race,[8][9] finishing in 3rd place on elapsed time[10] – with a 50-minute documentary released on video in 1987; "Drum – An Extraordinary Adventure" (UK)/"Drum – The Journey Of A Lifetime" (USA).
20 years after the original raceDrum competed in the 2005Fastnet Race with most of the surviving members of the original crew,[11] however the yacht was becalmed & did not finish;[12] withSimon Le Bon having to be airlifted off the yacht by helicopter for him to fly to Japan on 12 August for a scheduledDuran Duran performance at the Summer Sonic Festival, Tokyo on the 13th. The reunion was the subject of a 62-minute documentary"Drum – Unfinished Business" by Jacaranda Films; which, along with DVD-Rs for internal use within Arnold Clark, had a limited direct to consumer official DVD release.
Drum was purchased by Scottish businessmanArnold Clark in the late 1980s. In 1988Drum was again accorded media attention when it was involved in a collision with aRoyal Navy submarine, around 5 miles off theMull of Kintyre.[13]
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