Pion MkIII

The Mk III came with a more upright keel and a mast-head rig.

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LOA: 9.07m (29.75ft)	LWL: 7.28m (23.88ft)	Beam: 2.93m (9.61ft)
Draft: 1.78m (5.84ft)	Displacement: 3.9t (3.85T)	Ballast: 1.55t (1.52T)
	Further below are details about Ling Kong. It can be noted that John Kennedy sold Ling Kong to Peter Carstens in 2006, who renamed it Pioneer, and proceeded to re-equip it for a circumnavigation of Australia, which commenced in September 2008. You can read about Peter's original plans for his "Lap of the Map" here. An eMail log of Pioneer's activities on the trip will be found here. You can read what the Newcastle Herald wrote about this trip in April 2009 here.
*Ling Kong* (Master of the Waters) is listed as a Half-ton Mk III IOR Pion. Mk III's were apparently made in a short production run by Mander Marine in South Australia in the latter half of the 80's. They have a more upright, lead, keel and carry a mast-head rig. The mast is indicated at 11.5 m tall (from the deck). Link Kong is a fibreglass, Division II, 30-foot cruiser/racer that was first launched in 1988. It was supposedly built for the Melbourne Boat Show of that year, but there is no proof of this. Mk III's have a full interior mould, with wood cappings. Ling Kong contains 2 double berths (V-berth and dinette) and 3 singles (2 x quarter berths). Ling Kong has a large fridge under the Chart Table, a Spirit Stove with Grill, Galley with two sinks and Heads in the mid-section between main cabin and V-Berth. She contains a full set of electronics, including: GPS and Plotter, Full set of wind, etc., instruments on coach-roof and VHF & 27MHz Radios. Auxiliary power is supplied via a Renault Marine 2 cylinder 13HP Diesel, with geared, folding propeller.






They don't look so pretty when the mast breaks!		Story of the Mast-down event (pdf file)

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