McD Yachts: Multi-use, high performance Marten72 awaits new owner
by Richard Gladwell 22 Jul 23:47 NZST
McD Yachts: Kuujjuaq - Marten 72 - July 2026 © McD Yachts
Auckland boutique brokerage McD Yachts is offering a high-performance yacht designed by a world-leading design office, capable of being raced fully crewed, or shorthanded, or quickly converted for luxury cruising.
Launched in 2006 as Beecom, Kuujjuaq* is one of just two Marten 72s in existence. Both are from the New Zealand yard that built a string of raceboats over two decades, including around-the-world maxis and KZ-7, the first and only composite 12 Metre to sail in the America’s Cup.
The Marten 72 high-performance racer/cruiser was designed by Reichel Pugh to exceed the owner’s requirements for a comfortable short-handed cruiser while maintaining speed around the race course.
The hull, deck, and internal structures are built using SP Technologies' Sprint/infusion methods, entirely from carbon fibre pre-preg, bound with premium Nomex honeycomb cores and Corecell foam. This ultra-light construction is comparable to the around-the-world ocean raceboat standard, of which Marten Marine had substantial experience, maximising stiffness while keeping displacement low for downwind performance.
The first Marten 72, Beecom, was launched in February 2006 and was optimised for fast downwind sailing with reduced crew - a multi-use boat capable of performing well in circuit or trans-oceanic racing, short-handed racing or racing and cruising with friends and family.
Under Japanese ownership and sailed by a top Kiwi crew, Beecom’s first major offshore race was the 2005 Transpac Centennial, competing against some of the world’s top ocean racers. It was a record-breaking race with Hasso Plattner’s MaxZ86 slashing almost a day off the existing record for the 2,225 nautical miles classic race.
That performance set Beecom up for a top finish in her next regatta, the 2005 San Francisco Big Boat Series, which attracted genuine “Big Boats”. Beecom led Class 1A after two days of racing.
Top international sailing journalist Rich Roberts wrote: “Beecom catapulted into first place at the 2005 Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco Thursday after two solid finishes.
“Owned by Isao Mita and hailing from Tokyo, Japan, the Reichel/Pugh 72 comes off an impressive showing at the recent Centennial Transpac. Part of their great performance on day one could be attributed to veteran skipper Gavin Brady.
“The boat was well handled and sailed impressively against two behemoths, Morning Glory and Genuine Risk, who walked away solely on waterline.
“Brady commented, 'I think we've managed to get off the line well. (San Francisco) is a tricky place to sail and we've sailed the boat well.'
The second Marten 72, Pinta, built for top German sailor Michael Illbruck, was also built as a dual-purpose luxury cruiser and grand-prix racer, but with extra cruising accommodation. As Aragon, and under Dutch ownership, she competed creditably in several major offshore races, including the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart. Aragon proved the now 20yr old Marten 72 is still very competitive, finishing 9th on line honours and 6th in IRC Division 0.
Under new ownership, Beecom, now named Kuujjuaq (pronounced koo-joo-ak), underwent an extensive interior and exterior refit in 2021-22 at the Escale Technique yard in Marseille, France.
The 12-month-long refit targeted two main goals: transforming her interior into a high-end, minimalist luxury living space and optimising her rig sail-handling setup for IRC/ORC racing.
Led by Darnet Design, the interior seamlessly balances a weight-conscious racing environment with the luxury of a high-end cruising apartment. To keep racing weight to a minimum, the furniture panels are constructed from lightweight Nomex cores layered with white-painted panels and raw, clear-coated carbon fibre accents.
Kuujjuaq now accommodates eight berths in private cabins. A full-beam master cabin in the bow features a double berth, a built-in office workspace, and a private ensuite head with an electric carbon-fibre Tecma toilet.
There are two double guest cabins aft and a dedicated skipper's cabin midships.
To convert Kuujjuaq to race mode, internal panels clear away, and additional pipe berths fold down to comfortably sleep a race crew of 12 or more.
For racing and cruising, Kuujjuaq features a fully functional galley with Corian countertops, a large U-shaped dining settee with a foldable carbon table, full air conditioning, a front-loading refrigerator, a top-loading freezer, an electric oven, a watermaker (100 L/hour), Mastervolt lithium batteries and full air conditioning.
Kuujjuaq’s sailing cockpit features a fully integrated hydraulic deck and rig control system. The main winches and rig adjustments can be operated via remote control, enabling the 72-footer to be handled by a skeleton crew, or single-handed, in day-sailing or cruising modes.
Her sail inventory was replaced with lightweight performance sails from North Sail, which included a 3DI Endurance 780 fully battened mainsail.
The refit included removing the entire electronics package on the rig and helm, which was replaced with a modern B&G H5000 instrument system, twin B&G Zeus 3S chart plotters, a Halo20+ radar, and tactical Adrena navigation software.
Following her refit and sailed by owner/skipper Ludovic Desaintjean, Kuujjuaq returned to high-level racing at the 70th Rolex Giraglia in 2023. Competing in the ultra-competitive Maxi fleet, Kuujjuaq finished an impressive 17th in line honours out of a world-class fleet, crossing the finish line in Genoa just hours behind pure, stripped-out racing weapons like the Maxi 72 Vesper and the TP52 Red Bandit. The result proved that even with a full luxury interior, the dual-use Reichel/Pugh hull remains exceptionally fast.
She backed up this performance with a subsequent campaign in the 2024 edition of the same race, finishing 13th on line honours in the 241-nautical-mile offshore leg from Saint-Tropez to Genoa via the Giraglia Rock.
For the full specification on Kuujjuaq see McDyachts.com/marten-72-kuujjuaq
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Contact McD Yachts
For the full range of yachts (power and sail), plus shared ownership see: McDyachts.com
Contact: Paul MacDonald
Ph/WhatsApp: +64 27 5133 524
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Web: www.mcdyachts.com/pyewacket
* Kuujjuaq is the largest community and the administrative gateway of the Nunavik region in northern Quebec, Canada, situated on the banks of the Koksoak River near Ungava Bay. Yacht owners frequently name their vessels after remote, rugged, or personally significant geographic landmarks they have explored, travelled to, or have cultural ties with.
Because the recent refit completely redesigned the interior to feature a beautiful master cabin, guest cabins, and a luxury saloon without losing her Reichel/Pugh speed, a new name marked her new identity. Renaming her Kuujjuaq signified her rebirth as a sophisticated hybrid—an ultra-fast premium cruiser that is as comfortable embarking on an adventurous blue-water passage as she is chasing line honours in the Mediterranean.