| Cheyenne | |
| Othernames: | PlayStation |
| Type: | Catamaran |
| Designer: | G. Morelli, P. Melvin |
| Builder: | Cookson Auckland, New Zealand |
| Launched: | 1998 |
| Owner: | Virgin Oceanic (2011–) |
| Skip: | Steve Fossett |
| Crew: | 12 |
| Displacement: | 27t |
| Length: | 37.9m (124.3feet) (LOA) |
| Beam: | 18.2m (59.7feet) |
| Height: | 41m (135feet) |
| Sail: | 1036m2 (upwind) 644m2 (downwind) |
Cheyenne, formerly known as PlayStation is a large catamaran created for the 2000 around the world race known as The Race. Like its competitors, Cheyenne was created for sheer speed, pushing the state of the art in materials, construction, and operation. PlayStation was skippered and owned by Steve Fossett. It is owned by and operated by Virgin Oceanic's co-founder Chris Welsh.
Construction of the boat was by Mick Cookson of Cookson Boatworks in Auckland, New Zealand in 1998 to 1999. The boats construction was made from pre-preg carbon fiber laminates in various orientations, with a 38 mm aluminum honeycomb core.[1]
After breaking the 24-hour distance record (583 NM),[2] PlayStation suffered a fire while being prepared for shipping to the US. The cause of the fire was the over-charging of the NiMH batteries, and the damage from the fire required that 26' of the starboard hull be replaced. A portion of the hull was created at the builders which was grafted to the original bow and stern leaving virtually no evidence of the fire.[3]
PlayStation was originally launched with hulls of 105feet and was lengthened to 125feet LOA in August 2000, to minimize pitching. At 105feet PlayStation was overpowered and the possibility of a pitch pole in a yacht this size warranted the refit. Maximum beam remains at 60feet and max draft with daggerboards down is 14.7feet. The boat carries 7274square feet of sail upwind, and a total of 11631square feet downwind from her 147.5 foot carbon mast.
In The Race, PlayStation suffered mechanical failures from the start and withdrew from the competition on Day 16.
In 2001 Fossett and his crew crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 4 days and 17 hours establishing a new world record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a sail vessel.[4]
In 2006, Cheyenne's mast broke due to severe weather off the coast of Argentina. Cheyenne was converted to a power catamaran and underwent significant changes and became the mothership for Virgin Oceanic's deep sea exploration mission called 5 Dives.[5]
In 2009 Cheyenne was purchased by Chris Welsh from the estate of Steve Fossett. Plans are to launch a deep sea submarine to carry passengers to extreme ocean depths. The deep sea adventure will be supported by Cheyenne, and will use the HOT DeepFlight Challenger sub[6] to plumb the depths of the world's oceans to full depth.[7] [8] Both of these were owned by Steve Fossett, who had modified the racing catamaran to become the mothership to his oceanic dive record attempt.[7] The submarine seats one person, and is currently the only crewed submersible capable of reaching the deepest part of the oceans.[8] As at 2014 the deep sea expedition supporting bey Cheyenne was still in the process of being planned.
The former records have all been broken.