Rapid Transit, a custom Antrim 49

Rapid Transit is a canting keel 49-foot carbon fiber racing yacht designed by Jim Antrim and built at Berkeley Marine Center. The boat was designed for both speed and ease of handling. It is capable of speeds in excess of 25 knots! The yacht features the latest construction techniques and materials, including extensive use of carbon fiber, including a carbon fiber mast built on premises. RT’s design includes a daggerboard for upwind tracking (the canting keel is used primarily for reducing heel), and twin rudders.

A superb team was in place to create and carry out the design. The yacht’s fins, (rudders, daggerboard and the keel), were also manufactured on the premises. Cree, the yard owner/manager, is no stranger to yacht building. In a previous business with partner John Palmer, he built some two dozen custom IOR racers, mostly Gary Mull and Doug Peterson designs. Jim Antrim worked for Mull at the time, as did another local boat design legend, Carl Shumacher.