A+T Instruments looking to repeat 2023 race successes

A+T Instruments says its products are now on over 500 superyachts and race boats. 2023 was a great year, the company says, as it delivered upgrades for existing yachts as well as complete systems for new-builds and major refits.

And now Hugh Agnew, A+T Instruments’ director and well-respected navigation and instrument specialist on the racing circuit, is looking forward to another successful season.

Agnew, a Cambridge mathematician, and oceanographer (as well as being the the A in A+T) says: “The 2024 season is looking like a smorgasbord of A+T sailing with Adela in St Barths, Velsheda at Palma Superyacht Cup, Adix in the Richard Mille Cup, Leopard 3 in the Maxis, The Americas Cup and many more regattas featuring A+T’s valued clients, we have a great season ahead.”

The company cites several notable yachts equipped with A+T Instruments which demonstrated remarkable performance across various races over the past 12 months or so. Leopard 3 (below), the canting keel Farr 100ft maxi set race record and clinched first place overall in the Aegean 600 and the Middle Sea Race. These wins were achieved straight out of a major refit featuring A+T’s instruments.

Much of A+T’s business is upgrading existing systems, with a full upgrade often completed within 2-3 days. “This offers customers the highest specification and best engineered instruments with excellent support and service so that the boats upgrading can use existing wiring, sensors and working displays which keeps the cost down. This is possible because the A+T processors and displays interface with the Network Protocols used on racing boats such as Fastnet, NMEA 0183, N2K compatible and Ethernet,” says Agnew.

Velsheda and TP52 Red Bandit (formerly Freccia Rossa) also experienced significant success after upgrading. Velsheda‘s came with its triumph at the Palma Superyacht Cup and Red Bandit’s with its victories in prestigious races such as the Giraglia and Voiles de St Tropez.

Furthermore A+T says the restoration of the 1938 Sparkman and Stephens’ yawl Baruna (main image above) showcased its ability to provide comprehensive instrumentation solutions tailored to classic vessels seeking high-level performance data.

In addition to these achievements, Stella Maris (above), ClubSwan 50, secured the 2023 European Championship title, further solidifying A+T’s reputation for delivering performance-enhancing solutions to competitive racing teams. The collaboration between A+T and FaRo enabled the seamless integration of A+T displays with the FaRo processor, setting a new standard for efficiency and functionality in marine instrumentation.

“Two of the biggest challenges have been the development of our high-performance wind sensor which has twice the angular response of anything else on the market and secondly building a complete range of displays which are fully immersible, with a high temperature threshold of 70 deg Celsius versus others on the market at 50 deg Celsius,” says Agnew. “With the introduction of our high performance ethernet processor (ATPX), highly accurate and respected 500 series wind sensor and our partnership with companies such as FaRo Advanced Systems this has all contributed towards A+T being the instruments of choice for those super yachts and race boats performing well in these regattas.”

Early 2023 saw several new key appointments for the company, including Nils Jolliffe as chief operating officer and Pete Simmonds as head of sales.