Contents Seahorse 2016

r

contents

January 2016

S h o w s promise

Armel Le Cléac'h and Erwan Tabarly got their flying Verdier-VPLP Imoca Banque Populaire V / H safely to Itajai to take 2nd overall behind the well-proven 'conventional' PRB in the Transat Jacques Vabre. Banque Pop was the only survivor of the new Imoca foiler fleet, though only the BP team know whether this experienced pair backed o f f a little once news of the damage elsewhere filtered through to them. N o matter, BP VIII made i t to Brazil and when power-reaching in company w i t h PRB was sometimes sailing 3kt faster than its non-foiled rival. Slower in the light, yes, but a 3kt edge through the Southern Ocean could prove enough to w i n the Vendée Globe; plus w i t h six of the new boats racing the Vendée they w o n ' t all break. A m i d problems w i t h the hulls there was one clear success f o r the new boats, in that the one-design masts and keels introduced by the Imoca class last year performed flawlessly. Only Hugo Boss lost its rig, by capsizing when hove to, and no one reported any difficukies w i t h their keel system. Following the success of one-design rigs and keels in the Volvo 65s this is a big endorsement f o r the Imoca class's pursuit of a similar strategy, in order to ensure that more of their boats make it to the finish of races and that fewer sponsors get the midnight phone call. As well as rigs and keels, there were also no structural issues reported w i t h the foils themselves, which is very impressive given the citca lO-torme loads these fragile looking complex curved blades have to withstand when the boats are sailing at speed. On the back o f his rurmer-up slot in the last Vendée and his TJV performance, Le Cléac'h is n o w emerging as the strong favourite for the 2016 edition of a uniquely tough contest

COVER: Yvan Zedda INSET: Sharon Green

F E A T U R E S

24

Don't lose your cool

Good engineering practice, but now colour-coded indicators of thermal activity can be made integral for highly loaded cordage. J O N M I T C H E U L

26

The laws of evolution

The older Imoca 60s w i l l indeed be faster than the new boats at times... as G U I L L A U M E VERDIER explains to J O C E L Y N B L E R I O T

30

Shock and awe

- P a r t i

(Some of) the C-Class has stepped up by several notches thanks to the arrival of Groupama. STEVE C L A R K

34

The day after tomorrow

Why deck-sweeper wishbone rigs look like the way to go... plus son of Sailrocket. PAUL LARSEN

Cost and self-rehance... now the debate gets going, TERRY H U T C H I N S O N kicks back... as his back kicks h i m and JACK GRIFFIN looks at the first A C test boats to go sailing and reflects on an unusually 'average' year f o r the Cup defenders

12

World news

W ü n d e r k i n d FRANCOIS GABART does it again . straight out of the box, PRB wins as Banque Pop

'maybe' throttles back, those Imoca 60 blues, scorecard Team N e w Zealand 1

America's Cup media coverage 0, doing it for the kids, plus few rules (yet)

for those C&C30s. A N D R E W M C D O U G A L L , I V O R W I L K I N S , BLUE ROBINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER, CARLOS PICH, DOBBS DAVIS

37

A sport of idiosyncracies

- P a r t i

Was there ever a more illustrious guest hst? DOBBS DAVIS is introduced to the Pewaukee Blue Chip and goes sailing amid the corn fields

40

Hangin'jn (and going fast)

N o t much cash, not much time but G R A N T D A L T O N cannot be unhappy w i t h his team's performance i n 2015 - as he tells BOB FISHER

45

A brief history

The co-founder of the Caribbean 600, J O H N BURNIE's roots i n the Caribbean regatta and race-charter scene go back a l o t further than that

R E G U L A R S

4

Commodore's letter

M I C H A E L B O Y D

7

Editorial

A N D R E W H U R S T

A n d don't jump to any conclusions just yet

20

IRC column

It's all about the sort of 'fast' that we w a n t to be encouraging. JAMES D A D D

22

ISAF column

Young, old and just plain genius... gold medallist M A L C O L M PAGE on the Sailing H a l l o f Fame

42

Design

-Lighter and lighter

J A S O N KER led the way towards a new era of lighter mid-sized IRC racers and n o w he's doing i t all over again. Plus I R C - O R C i . . . not so different

49

RORC news

E D D I E W A R D E N - O W E N

50

Seahorse

build table - Film star

PROtect have been at it again w i t h a 'super-film' f o r the new AC50s. G I U L I A N O L U Z Z A T T O

54

Seahorse

regatta calendar

75

Sailor ofthe Month

Visionaries and innovators... no question

Virbac aloft at

the start of the T J V and {Inset

top) one of the

rib failures s h e suffered s o o n after. Four of five new I m o c a s had similar problems

{Hugo Boss, below), but only Safran and Hugo Boss got into

s e r i o u s difficul-ties. Trying new construction a n d new lift foils together w a s a big a s k ; but one of t h e s e boats s h o u l d still win the Vendée G l o b e

Good precedent

If the popularity of the Farr 40 during its first 10 years is any guide then the innovative new 'Fast 40' class in the U K has a decent shot at success. Around 150 Farr 40s were built i n total, enjoying strong events even when campaign budgets started to escalate in the late 'noughties'. Forty-foot is a good size for inshore and offshore racing; i t is big enough to not scare off dubious offshore competitors but not so big as to demand prohibitive levels of expenditure. The model f o r the Fast 40 is the UK Quarter Ton fleet, where a large group of different designs enjoy the best of handicap racing by being forced into a narrow rating band. Handicap racing works best among similar boats and the Fast 40 follows this theme. Using IRC, small allowances w i l l be given between different designs but the closeness i n ratings should over time see handicap results mirroring the order on the water. This initiative w i l l almost certainly be a local success on the U K south coast, w i t h 8-10 existing boats and two or three more on order. If the racing looks good then other skippers looking f o r racing that is more serious than regular I R C handicap competition w i l l join i n . O f course, like the HPR40s i n the USA, the whole thing w i l l be blown apart by someone coming i n w i t h a new purpose-designed Fast 40 and a top programme. This is more likely than not and the whole thing w i l l need very diplomatic management to survive such an assault. The bigger question is could such a class f i n d traction elsewhere; at best the answer is 'perhaps'. Every nation has different taste i n keelboat racing and to ever bring everybody together inevitably still means a single international rating system

COVER: Luca Villata INSET: Jonathan E a s t l a n d / D P P I

F E A T U R E S

4

A driver of innovation

M a r i t i m e chess... J O H N R O U S M A N I E R E looks ahead to the 50th Anniversary Bermuda Race

28

Kite Strings

It w i l l soon be 10 years since we first experienced the 'boosted' string-drop. M A R K WISS

30

SlioGk and a w e - P a r t 2

A day at the races... that was pretty much all of the on the water action f o r STEVE C L A R K at the Little Cup. But there were compensations...

34

Lotsofliorsepower

Going big... i n fact very big indeed

35

A sport of idiosyncracies

- P a r t 2

Who would have guessed that foiling superstar BORA G U L A R I is also a very handy guy to have along when you go Scow racing. DOBBS DAVIS

38

Best of botli worlds

JESTER B A N K keeps his focus upon usage

39

Happy 10th birthday

M E R F O W E N looks back on 10 years o f success for one of the most important offshore classes

42

Busy guy

One man continues to fight to bring the different offshore cultures together... ROB W E I L A N D talks w i t h a hyperactive A N D R E W M C I R V I N E

46

Closing the gap

H o w well does CFD simulation really stack up against high quality empirical testing? J I M TEETERS and DOBBS DAVIS t r y to f i n d out

50

Shine a light

W i l l solar power taken f r o m your sails get y o u around the world? A L A I N J A N E T believes so

56

Welcome to M32 World

Why one small corner of Sweden w i l l never be quite the same again. A N D Y RICE

R E G U L A R S

6

Commodore's letter

9

Editorial

ypilate

JACK GRIFFIN on feedback, T E R R Y H U T C H I N S O N hits the buffet, A N N A

CORBELLA opens the doors and Italian memories of V A L E N T I N M A N K I N

1

14

World news

' LOÏCK PEYRON feels safe (at 30kt), FREDERIC DENIS in his M i n i cave, the strong views of L U C A D E V O T I , ' ( M a x i ) kit of parts and Key West 2016. rVOR WILIONS, BLUE R O B I N S O N , PATRICE CARPENTIER, DOBBS DAVIS

22

Rod Davis

It's not just about trying to w i n , it's about trying to show everyone else w h y they are going to lose

24

ISAF Column

A D R I E N N E G R E E N W O O D

26

ORC column

S H A U N CARKEEK and DOBBS D A V I S

52

Design - New horizons

And Farr Yacht Design are (successfully) trying something a little different. E M E R S O N S M I T H

55

RORC news

E D D I E W A R D E N - O W E N

58

Seahorse

regatta calendar

60 5ea

/r0r5e

build table

- ( P r e t t y ) fast

Plenty of sail and plenty o f righting moment. And plenty of style... U M B E R T O F E L C I

83

Sailor ofthe Month

Two o f our best performers - afloat and ashore

Powerful boats yet beautiful detail. The pit on Hugo Boss (left) is a pianist's dream; bobbles control the numerous c o n c e a l e d c l u t c h e s .

Above: Merf O w e n ' s new C l a s s 4 0

/.ongboivfeatures this immaculate rotating carbon sprit with integral clutches for the two tack lines

[|i^«1iW:ii^M

March 2016

Maximum power Dennis Conner and his loyal Stars&Stripes team on their way to winning the 1987 America's Cup in Fremande. If T o m Ehraan can pull it off, and he has some well-qualified and enthusiastic backers, then we might well see powerful, heavier displacement, high pointing 12 MeU:e-st)4e boats soon racing seriously again. The first renders for the Farr designed Super 12s are now floating around the world and above the waterline the boats do look very similar to the best of the 12 Metres that poimded it out in Perth nearly 30 years ago. Out of sight down below, the boats feattue a modern f i n and (large) bulb keel w i t h a single efficient high aspect rudder. It is an interesting concept f o r a new circuit, although initially at least Ehman is proposing just a single annual regatta in San Francisco each July. The closest parallel to the Super 12s is the RC44 circuit, diat was successfully launched i n 2007 and has been well run since then by Sir Russell Coutts working with French class manager Bertrand Favre. The USP of the RC44s is 100 per cent turn-key one design racing, going to the best venues i n the world and w i t h Coutts &c Co helping a group of wealthy owner-drivers to secure some of the best sailors in the world as crew. Turn-key indeed, book a hotel, fly in, go racing, go home. The Super Js currently look a cheaper option than the RC44 because of the lack o f travelling, but there must be a cost-benefit trade to taking the new 'series' on the road, which no doubt w i l l be very carefully explored. The Super Js should also be cheaper to o w n and campaign than a serious TP52; there are enough clients out there, for sure, for this type of racing. If nothing else. Super Js w i l l certainly add a touch of both grandeur and gravitas to your regular inshore racing deal...

COVER: Daniel Forster INSET: Enrico Clieli

F E A T U R E S

24

Reflections

Forty years after bursting onto the design scene as one of the 'golden child' generation of the 1970s, R O N H O L L A N D reflects on the journey since... and then considers how things may yet t u r n out

30

From Venice with love...

ROB W E I L A N D looks at the good and the bad of how we are currently running our international racing and introduces some of the best boats i n the 2016 pipeline

32

Put down the transmitter

C O N R A D C O L M A N is a man on a mission... the 2016 Vendée Globe. In the meantime he's been keeping the wolf f r o m the door working alongside top routeur JEAN-YVES B E R N O T

34

A gently narrowing space

After a rush of development, design progress i n the thriving Class40 is mostly now about the details... unless you are faced w i t h a diverse new suite of performance targets. M E R F Y N O W E N

39

The backwards way forward

Front to back or back to front, T O R B J O R N L I N D E R S O N compares the French way of doing business w i t h traditional Anglo Saxon methods

41

Of devils and details - Part I

It's n o w more thanlO years since engineering whizz J O N W I L L I A M S ran out of patience keeping the stressed mechanics on America's Cup yachts running and decided it was time to fly solo

44

Definitive

Volvo Ocean Race veteran and recently event CEO, Norway's one-time Olympic windsurfer K N U T F R 0 S T A D is moving on to the next chapter. So BLUE R O B I N S O N starts digging...

R E G U L A R S

4

Commodore's letter

7

Editorial

8

Update

ROB G R E E N H A L G H talks M o t h speed w i t h CHRIS MUSELER and K A L L E COSTER, JACK GRIFFINf tries (very hard) to explain AC35 and TERRY H U T C H I N S O N launches into 2016 w i t h some style. Plus more on the youth gap...

14

World news

N o cigar f o r Y A N N G U I C H A R D (or D O N A BERTARELLI). M E I L H A T ' s

tough ride, a nicely French Hobart, N A C H O POSTIGO pushes the boundaries (alone), 'Big Red' is back out and charging and California goes offshore (again). I V O R WILKINS, DOBBS DAVIS, BLUE ROBINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER, CARLOS PICH

26

IRC

JAMES D A D D thinks we are going the right way, but w i t h the cart in f r o n t of the horse...

28

World Sailing

In pursuit of safer offshore structures. JASON S M I T H W I C K and FL\SSO HOFFMEISTER

46

Design - Concubine indeed

M A R K MILLS'S purposeful new 4 5 f t I R C racer definitely has something of the TP52 about it

49

RORC news

E D D I E W A R D E N - O W E N

50 Seahorse regatidi

calendar

52

5ea^0r56 build table

-Anticipating the future?

A 23-foot Moth-type scow w i t h f u l l foiling capability... sounds like the boat for James Bond. H U G H W E L B O U R N and M I C H A E L AEPPLI

75

Sailor ofthe Month

Largely unsung but brilliantly deserving..

Eat your heart out, J o s h u a S l o c u m . Italian sailor Ambrogio Fogar attempts to convince the organisers of the (very rough) 1976 O S T A R that he has a system for righting the C - C l a s s (sic) cat in which he would compete. They were not convinced. A s well a s a sailor, Fogar was a stunt pilot, parachutist, climber, polar walker and rally driver, his career ending in a huge c r a s h during the 1992 Paris-Peking Rally. He died in 2005

Ocean s a f e t y !

They build 'em good, those M i n i protos... well most of them. In practice, once the initial year of sorting is out the way. Mini's stay competitive f o r a surprising length of time. Perhaps the fact the boats are short reduces panel degrading, or i t may be that the boats are sailed by passionate owners w h o are always listening to their boats - and are diligent w i t h preventive maintenance. N o 753, seen here, is the Bertrand designed Wild Side which was launched by German skipper Jörg Riechers in 2009. Riechers campaigned the boat through to 2014 when he w o n the A r M e n t w o handed race with the boat's current skipper Luke Berry. Since 2014 Berry has been racing the boat himself and enjoying a string of good results culminating in a brilliant 2nd overall i n the 2015 M i n i Transat behind Fred Denis' Lombard design. Denis' winning boat was also far f r o m new, going afloat i n 2011. Clearly the design war in this fleet has cooled o f f and the Mini's also seem to have been disrupted surprisingly little by the bmrsting onto the scene of David Raison's much refined scow TeamWork - on which he smashed the 2011 M i n i Transat fleet. Although several newer scows have followed Raison's lead, the switch to a more all round course for the ïvlini Transat has returned the best of the non-scows to the front. T o allow these short boats to be powered up to the maximum downwind, all the new M i n i ' s are still drawn very f u l l forward, as are the latest Imoca 60s and Class40s; but for now the death notice for the traditional M i n i seems to have been a little premature Jacques Vapillon's

extraordinary cover shot was one ofthe finalists at the 201S Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image Awards that took place at the Yacht Racmg Forum in Geneva in December

INSET: J e s u s Renedo

F E A T U R E S

22

Applause

Rating racing boats is very hard; a lack of money w i l l always make it harder. ROB W E I L A N D

25

Coming for a fleet near you...

French sailmaker Incidence is best known for winning events like the Vendée Globe and the Trophy Jules Verne. That's all about to change

26

Wlieretoguv'nor?

Why Olympic gold medals no longer automatically translate into a big boat career. I A N W A L K E R

28

Of devils and details

- P a r t 2

Raceboat systems engineer J O N W I L L I A M S talks live transmission

32

Unique isjustaword

(Brilhant) Russian designer-builder-sailor V I K T O R Y A Z Y K O V and the editor go back a long way together. But he still remains in thrall!

34

Rollin'

A lot is expected of the M 3 2 cats this year... and a l o t of it is already being delivered. A N D Y RICE

37

Old timer

Fifty and counting... J O H N R O U S M A N I E R E plots a fast course across the Gulf Stream

41

Every horse has its course

K E N READ talks sails, boards, boat balance... and supermaxi logistics w i t h BLUE R O B I N S O N

R E G U L A R S

4

Commodore's letter

7

Editorial

IJpfiate

JACK GRIFFIN on the A C meat-grinder, TERRY H U T C H I N S O N on air miles, ROB M U N D L E on •BOB O A T L E Y plus HP30 and Admiral's Cup

feedback. Plus an(other) O L A F H A R K E N epic...

12

World news

JEREMIE BEYOU goes straight, STU W I L S O N gets back on the wire, G R A N T D A L T O N is (still) on the trail and Storm Trysail pulls it off (in style). I V O R W I L K I N S , DOBBS DAVIS, BLUE ROBINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER

20

Rod Davis

Time to get out the crystal ball

24

World Sailing

36

ORC column

44

RORC news

45

Design - As big as it gets (for now)

DENIS GLEHEN, HERVE D E V A U X and a (big) new mast for Ms Bertarelli's (big) Spindrift 2

48 Seahorse

regatta calendar

50

5ea

^0r56

build table

- F i r s t for a while

A n d a new 5.5m for an Elvstrom anniversary. J O H A N JOENSEN and J 0 R G E N JENSEN

75

Sailor ofthe Month

Champions both...

The c l a s s might well have been around for over 120 y e a r s , but with the boats spending more time aloft with the p a s s i n g of every s e a s o n it's hard to argue that the 18-foot skiffs would not make a telegenic Olympic c l a s s - g i v e n the right sailing waters. The 49ers are great, and the foiling Moths are dramatic, but you can't beat s c a l e when you're trying to grab an a u d i e n c e ' s attention. J u s t ask the A C organisers...

(

Contents

li^i

^W^iki;!

F E A T U R E S

28

More boats than time

However big the base, and the staff, and the budget, i n the final analysis the America's Cup comes down to time. A N D Y C L A U G H T O N

one of the most famous of them all. Plus DOBBS DAVIS on Star W o r l d Champion J I M ALLSOPP

Come a long way, baby

One of Oracle Racing's first AC45s goes at it during the A C W o r l d Series in Plymouth

back in 2011 - Oracle 5 then being steered by Russell Coutts with Simon Daubney (left) and Simeon Tienpont f r o m Coutts' original core sailing team. Plymouth was a solidly w i n d y as well as visually spectacular weekend's racing and the hopeful Cup crews were given a monster workour just trying to stay on top of their powerful and newly introduced wing-rigged one-designs. Since then o f course the A C cat game has changed beyond recognition, as catamarans have morphed into foilers and many o f the best-known America's Cup monohull legends have quietly slipped into senior shoreside roles where they continue to provide invaluable big-picture management skills forged i n the heat of numerous winning campaigns. It's also incredible to remember that even i n late 2011 no one outside of some record-chasing sailing 'speed freaks' had given much thought to a full-foiling multihull; sailing development normally flows upwards but in the case of the foiling multihull i t was the Cup boats that led the way with the 'beach cats' i n tow. From a spectator's perspective, while today's America's Cup 45s and AC50s, given enough breeze, w i l l fly ahnost constantly throughout a race, little else has changed. The lower w i n d limits prompted by the wider introduction of foiling mean that during this America's Cup cycle we are imlikely to see a spectacle as dramatic as the two-day crash-and-burn enjoyed in Plymouth five years ago. W i t h the world's best and fittest young sailors now crewing the Cup boats, and safety the top priority, the relatively l o w w i n d limits f o r America's Cup 2017 w i l l inevitably leave a big hole in the grand plan

COVER: Chris Schmid INSET: Christian Fevrier

31

Worth getting right

Persico Marine are building the latest m_axi to the WallyCento rule... w i t h help f r o m Pinifarina. M A R T I N BIVOITand G I O V A N N I B E L G R A N O have been charged with keeping it i n one piece

34

The voice of reason

Joubert-Nivelt is one of the best k n o w n names i n yacht design. After a long sojourn in cruiser-racers, B E R N A R D N I V E L T is back in raceboats

38

This time is it for real?

A f t e r years out i n the wilderness a genuinely practical production w i n g rig should shordy be on the market. 0 Y V I N D B O R D A L

42

A beautiful thing

PAUL L A R S E N is i n love again (sorry, Helena). A n d , typical of the fastest sailor i n the w o r l d , the subject of his latest attentions is very slim, very light, very pretty... and 100% carbon

49

Eight years on

The Oman Sail project is doing such a good job of promoting its young sailors that RUSSELL COUTTS dropped by recently to add his support

R E G U L A R S

4

Commodore's letter

7

Editorial

Upflate

JACK GRIFFIN on A C design constraints, TERRY H U T C H I N S O N has a wobbly keel, GILES SCOTT reassures BOB FISHER that he's taking it all in his stride and a home is needed f o r

12

World news

A foiling Figaro one-design, FRANCOIS GABART readies for action, F R A N C K G A M M A S gets some (more) dosh, (more) thriving Class40s, mixed Olympic feelings i n Auckland, a new star f r o m McConaghy... and whither measurement, asks DOBBS DAVIS. Plus our new Asian column. FVOR WILKINS, BLUE ROBINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER, A N D Y RICE, CARLOS P I C H

22

Paul Cayard

And an all-new Star boat as A N D R E A F O L L I challenges M A R C PICKEL's P-Star hegemony

24

Rob Weiland

Why skiU handicapping is f o r the birds... or at least the (polo) ponies

26

World Sailing

W o r k i n progress and the clock's ticking. S A R A H G O S L I N G tours the beaches of Rio

'

27

IRC column

Finding an appropriate balance. JAMES D A D D

46

Design-Fast, light and

not too brutal on the pocket

M A A R T E N V O O G D is creating not just boats but fleets w i t h his Chinese business partners

48

RORC news

EDDIE W A R D E N - O W E N

50

5 e a t e e regatta calendar

52 56a/;0r56 build table

- Full bodied

The M A T H 8 0 f r o m M A R K M I L L S further reinforces the move to proper I R C raceboats

75

Sailor ofthe Month

Both very creative... but i n their own ways

Inset: IVlichel Joubert

who p a s s e d away last month w a s part of a partnership that created s o m e of the most interesting d e s i g n s of the past 35 y e a r s . Production c r u i s e r s to maxi multlhulls to Half Ton c h a m p i o n s , Joubert-Nivelt have done it all. W e s u s p e c t Joubert would have been i m p r e s s e d by the M C S I {left, pg18) from M c C o n a g h y ; we need more offshore capable 30-footers to pick up the mantle of the Mumm 30 and it s e e m s we may have another one

F E A T U R E S

22

Closer closer

Under 7,000kg for the first time but saihng even higher and faster, ROB W E I L A N D looks at some of the more subtle TP52 developments for 2016

llpdste

L e s s of a throwback

Ed Dubois' T w o Ton design Police Car went afloat late i n 1978, well into the era of light, fractionally rigged Half Tonners but several years before fractional rigs became the norm i n bigger l O R designs. But things did not start out particularly well when owner Peter Cantwell and his crew started racing on arrival in the UK; the T w o T o n Cup in Poole that preceded the Admiral's Cup was a light-air affair and Police Car struggled - she was also giving away half-a-foot of rating, being optimised for the Admiral's Cup rather than the less important T w o T o n event. But once the Australian team arrived i n Cowes for the Admiral's Cup itself the wind started to blow, and it continued to blow throughout the regatta, culminating in the rough 1979 Fastnet. Handed a windy regatta. Police Car was in her element, very fasr reaching around the Solent, easy to de-power upwind and w i t h relatively small spinnakers that were far easier to manage than the tall and narrow masthead chutes of most rivals. Once the breeze hit 20kt the blue Australian boat was almost unbeatable. And not only was she fast (and f i m to sail), she proved more reliable than her competitors had hoped; remember that f o r its time this was a big rig to take offshore supported just by rimning backstays. Then i n the gear-busting '79 Fastnet the Australian crew 'just' reduced sail and surfed back f r o m the rock under boomed out staysail, reefed main, plus storm jib, enjoying the benefits of their easily driven hull. Police Car did not 'change everything', but she certainly prompted a l o t of the offshore racing commimity to think differently. N o w restored, she is living out her dotage in Port Macquarie i n N e w South Wales. Home once again

COVER: Guy Gurney INSET:

Benoit Stichelbaut

24

Raceboats to Wallys

M A R K M I L L S and the engineers and builders at Persico Marine w o r k to bring raceboat levels of weight concentration to the Wally Cento fleet...

28

Sounds simple

But it's not... SAM DAVIES explains the timeline and the sometimes harsh reality of putting together (and funding) a Vendée Globe programme

32

Relentlessly talented

Behind every great modern Olympian, and standing behind 49er stars B U R L I N G and T U K E is their coach H A M I S H W I L L C O X

35

Moving fast - staying dry

And things have come a long, long way

36

Coming in from the cold...

The growth in fast composite cruising cats has yet to be matched by a growth in opportunities for well organised but 'sensible' racing. T^GEL IRENS

40

Hidden world

Until America's Cup 2013 boat aerodynamics were addressed by few designers outside the C-Class. But not any more... explain PETE M E L V I N , JB B R A U N and BILL PEARSON

44

Old dog masters new trick

A N D Y RICE watches the dominant match-racer of his generation move seamlessly into lightweight cats... (though the subsequent switch back to heavy monohulls did not go quite so smoothly)

R E G U L A R S

4

Commodore's letter

M I C H A E L B O Y D

7

Editorial

A N D R E W HURST

ED DUBOIS created the first modern superyacht and now he is gone. Plus GILES SCOTT and a very bad day at the leeward gate, two FirebaU world champions together as BOB FISHER chats w i t h STEVE B E N J A M I N , a nod to R O N A M E Y f r o m navigator PAUL ANTROBUS and sorting your A C ducks out in time w i t h JACK GRIFFIN

12

World news

V I N C E N T R I O U will not be taking foils around the world with him, VPLP will design the

foiling Figaro 3, as rival designers fume. New Zealand aims to f i l l in a rather

irritating gap... Rio waters hold few fears for M A T BELCHER's tight 470 team, PETER H O L M B E R G does his bit, as D A V E PEDRICK and GARY JOBSON get the laughs. DOBBS DAVIS, I V O R WILKESfS, BLUE ROBINSON, PATTaCE CARPENTIER, A N D Y RICE, CARLOS PICH

20

Rod Davis

D o n ' t be afraid to share to get ahead

26

World Sailing

Surviving after the Olympic circus moves on

27

ORC column

Looking after the litde ones. DOBBS DAVIS

46

Design - A remarkable creation

Ukrainian Olympic medallist R O D I O N L U K A handed h i m the brief... and somehow Slovenian designer A N D REJ JUSTIN managed to meet i t

48

Seahorse regaitsi

calendar

50

RORC news

E D D I E W A R D E N - O W E N

52

SeahorsebüM

table - Fresh start

T O R B J O R N L I N D E R S O N believes that the Gunboat 'survivors' club' could lead the way i n widening the draw of 'recreational' cat racing

75

Sailor ofthe Month

Contrasting skills but similar excellent outcomes Looking down the startline in St E a r t h s s u g g e s t s the Caribbean circuit has c o m e a long way from that early mix of ageing lOR boats and visiting c r u i s e r s . What is also interesting is that an increasing grand prix p r e s e n c e s e e m s to lead to fewer rather than more grumbles about a much-improved C S A rating s y s t e m , with I R C similarly well received at the Caribbean 600. IVIaybe this really is just

(

C o n t e n t s

p n i P g g i l M

F E A T U R E S

22

First test first taste

Without a really good high mode you're going to f i n d yourself in trouble... says ROB W E I L A N D

1

Editorial

A N D R E W HURST

IVlaster at work

Jacques Vincent demonstrates the quickest way around a big multihull on the Orma 60 Brossard. Vincent is one of the quiet giants o f French sailing - who you w o u l d definitely choose to have alongside you when things turn really ugly. W i t h a run-of-the-mill offshore C V . . . including four WhitbreadA'olvo races, two Jules Verne Trophies (eight laps in all) and 30 transadantic crossings, we reckon the big asterisk goes against Vincent being one of Bruno Peyron's five-man crew on Commodore Explorer, when i t became the first boat to sail around the w o r l d i n under 80 days (just). A n d it was 'just' on several counts, one being that they only made it by 18 hours; another, more important 'just' was surviving Chile's lee shore in a Southern Ocean storm, which meant gybing their giant wing mast (having long removed all sail), which they achieved against all their o w n expectations without capsizing (measures taken warrant a seamanship book of its o w n and only the modesty of a tight crew kepr the story out of the headlines - we'll come back to this soon). The Orma 60s were of an era, out-developing themselves when most of the fleet were destroyed in the 2002 Route du Rhum. But the occasional successes and the great draw today of similar mid-sized tris like ThaedoS must surely i n time lead to something else? The M O D 70 suffered f r o m timing, the Ultims are f o r the elite few and 'only' require one or rwo crew. The Imoca 60s are now amazing craft, but even 20 years on stories of the late Laiu-ent Bourgnon sailing 540nm solo i n 24 hours (the record stood f o r 11 years), on a fragile Orma trimaran, two hulls flying mid-Atlantic under giant gennaker... that is what they'll still be reading about long after we're all gone!

COVER: Yvan Zedda INSET: Phil Sharp

26

Hidden w o r l d - P a r t 2

The first prototype SuperFoiler is i n build and PETE M E L V I N and JB B R A U N are excited

28

Quiet history, growing story

It's cold out there i n the wilderness but now DSS is going mainstream. H U G H W E L B O U R N and G O R D O N K A Y

32

The same but (very)

different

PAUL HAKES is no longer trying to hide what lies beneath - quite the opposite

34

Measure it!

M a x i 7 2 and TP52 world champion navigator B R U N O Z I R I L L I lays out the not entirely happy state of modern electronic performance systems

38

Right word right use

A i r f o i l rigging not squashed rigging. ERIC H A L L

40

Predictable unpredictability

Remarkably, going into Rio 2016 several Olympic crews stand out above all others. A N D Y RICE

42

Higher, faster, flatter

And n o w it's into f u l l series production...

44

A game of contrasts

Quirky best describes some of the 'old English' smaU boat classes. Well, one is on the f r o n t f o o t again. P H I L M O R R I S O N and JEREMY VINES

49

134 years and counting

A pre-Olympics Kiel Week is always a bit special

R E G U L A R S

4

Commodore's letter

M I C H A E L B O Y D

8

Update

Not so good in N o o York, says JACK GRIFFIN, 4 wins weren't enough f o r TERRY f L U T C H I N S O N and J O C H E M VISSER launches a new initiative

12

World news

PHIL SHARP is back i n business, ISABELLE JOSCHKE is still i n control (just), classic

tales f r o m Auckland, trying (but failing) to unravel V I K T O R K O V A L E N K O .

Plus the Gunboat owners fight on. DOBBS DAVIS, FVOR W I L K I N S , A N D Y RICE, BLUE ROBINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER

20

Paul Cayard

Is i t time to bring race starting systems into the modern world?

24

World Sailing

Dealing w i t h the unfinished business

25

IRC column

And the answers stay the same. JAMES D A D D

46

Design

- The light way but a hard way

M A U R I Z I O COSSUTTI finds he can build fast boats or winning boats... but trying to do both has been proving to be immensely frustrating

50

56a^0r5d regatta calendar

52

RORC news

E D D I E W A R D E N - O W E N

54

5ea

/ror56

build table

- O n e for the warriors

A K I H I R O K A N A I stirs the Bushido spirk

75

Sailor ofthe Month

(Good) sailors turned (excellent) impresarios Fully flying your Imoca 60 (Inset), understood, bit nervy, better than doing it on three hulls. But racing hard around the world on a boat as wet a s Banque

Populaire (left), that

is something your weekend warrior might have to think about. When a keelboat, any keelboat, g o e s this fast without high freeboards, being underwater is a sailing mode not an event. Trim on