Quantum sails deliver power for all conditions. Fusion M Sails… speed, strength and durability

The Rolex Fastnet Race is often a light-wind affair. But as anyone who knows their Fastnet history is aware, the race of 1979 was very different indeed, while the 1985 edition was also no picnic with severe gales and driving rain for more than 80 per cent of the event’s duration. Quantum Germany’s Sven Krause, a veteran of ‘four and a half’ Fastnet races, recalls the ’85 event very well. ‘The “half” was in ’85 when we were caught in Force 10 winds; all our electrics were wiped out and we had to retire,’ he says. ‘We later found out we were just a few miles from where the Maxi yacht Drum had capsized in the same storm.’

Still, Krause’s four and a half Fastnets stand him in good stead for designing sails for those taking part in this summer’s 605-mile classic. ‘We have designed some new sails for a Swan 441 Racing version, Best Buddies. The owners, Kay and Susann Wrede, have put a lot of time and energy into getting as much speed out of her as they can. We have focused on sails that are fast and strong enough for a busy season.

‘The boat competes in Germany under ORCi, but the Fastnet is under IRC. The owners sat down with the designers at Judel- Vrolijk and worked out some different headsail areas to find out which set-up would be best for them. Now they are sailing with a 137% genoa instead of the original larger 150% sail. This allows proper sheeting angles and, with the new mainsail, gives them enough power across the range, as borne out by the fact they have been beating their main rivals on the Swan racing scene.’

The sails are constructed from Quantum’s Fusion M membrane technology. ‘Rather than building the sail on a shaped mould in 3D form,’ explains Krause, ‘we laminate the membrane sail in flat form on a workbench. This enables us to apply more pressure and direct heat and use a thermo-setting adhesive that achieves superior lamination. This means we are able to deliver a better laminate, which results in a longer-lasting product.

Fast horses for courses… Paul van der Pol’s J/109 Yeti (top) with her new Fusion M fully battened mainsail that has been specially developed with a slightly flatter shape for shorthanded use plus a very deep second storm reef. Below: the J/109 Rush at work in the USA with a Fusion M mainsail and jib

‘Ultimately, we have more control over the result. Whenever you use a lamination process, the film will always shrink in an uncontrolled manner when you expose it to heat.

‘Fusion M comes in five or six sections which are laminated together to induce shape. We don’t have a one-piece membrane sail; the advantage of constructing it from sections is that the shrinkage has already taken place before we assemble the final sail. This makes it much easier to achieve the shape that the sail was designed to be.’

Bearing in mind that Best Buddies could well encounter another 55kt storm in this year’s Fastnet Race, Krause says an additional set of transverse yarns have been added in the horizontal plane, so the sails will stand up much better to any flogging and flexing. ‘This maybe adds a maximum of 10% of weight to an inshore layout, but the sails are still very light and the added structure will most likely add an extra season to the performance life of the sails,’ he adds.

Added durability for shorthanded racing
For Yeti, a J/109 entering the Fastnet, sail durability is perhaps even more important. Owner Paul van der Pol is taking on the Fastnet doublehanded, and so for long periods of the race there will only be one person on deck. Nic Bol, owner of Quantum Nederland, has been working closely with van der Pol on developing a set of sails suitable for such a specialised purpose.

‘We have built a fully battened main for Yeti, with Fusion M plus single-sided taffeta for durability,’ says Bol. ‘When it’s blowing hard, or maybe while you’re putting a reef in, the sail is flogging badly, but the full-length battens really help to stabilise the sail.’

Paul experienced this in a recent shorthanded race when he moved ahead of another J/109 whose sail was flogging away for the better part of an hour. ‘There is no rating penalty either for full battens, so it’s a no-brainer really.’

Bearing in mind that there will be no weight on the rail compared with a fully crewed J/109, the mainsail was designed to be flatter than standard, and two reefs were added, the second reefing point being a deep reef in case Yeti encounters more fierce conditions during this year’s big race.

Click here for more information on Quantum Sails »

With three teams confirmed and several more waiting in the wings it seemed a good time to catch up with Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad about the next race

Seahorse: Stocktake...

Knut Frostad: The good news is that we are working with a bigger group of prospective teams than last time. We obviously have a large number of teams that are interested in doing the race – that’s always the case with this event. But we operate our own small, hand-picked list, sometimes reviewed daily, of the projects that we really believe in, either because they have a track record of making it in the past or they have a strong lead in terms of a potential sponsor. That list comprises around 15 teams with whom we are working on a regular, ongoing basis. Those teams are not announced, of course, and are at various different stages of funding. Some are well advanced, some are still quite early. But I regard it as a positive that we have that many groups and that many people working hard to establish a team for the next race.

SH: And you have three or four teams already confirmed…

KF: Three teams that have gone public so far – Brazil, SCA and Abu Dhabi.

SH: And how are your plans for cost reduction working out?

Top: not for the faint of heart. Onboard media crew need to know exactly what they are getting into… Puma media crew member Amory Ross does his job (at left) while his shipmates get on and do theirs.
Below: man on a mission – Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad is pulling no punches as his team work hard to get a full quota of new VO65s to the line in 2014

KF: Well, we know about the boats, but the big change coming together right now is ‘shared services’. That’s an element that we only started moving on once the boat itself was underway. I see shared shore resources as a big driver of the change to one-design; what we have been doing is unravelling the support aspects in the context of a one-design package and then reducing cost and head count wherever possible. Spares are one example: with a pool of spare parts there is no longer a need for each team to buy a stock of expensive reserve components many of which will never be used.

But sharing human resource is just as significant as spare parts. We will assemble a pooled shore crew to reduce each team’s headcount, and have hired Nick Bice – who’s been involved in many of these projects – to manage it.

For the next race there will effectively be a one-stop shop for all the teams, to oversee the maintenance programmes of the boats, spare parts, gear servicing and so on. Involved in all this, of course, are the suppliers to the fleet – which is only feas - ible because all the onboard equipment is now identical. The suppliers will also now be closely involved with all the teams’ service and maintenance schedules.

I don’t think this has ever been done in sailing at this scale, where you share the resources on land. And the more work we do in this area the better it becomes.

SH: Overall cost impact?

KF: We’re still in the same ballpark overall as this shared resource was already factored in. The typical campaign budget we targeted remains around 12 million euros. Some teams are using a slightly lower estimate, say 10-11 million euros, and others expect to spend slightly more, maybe 14 million euros. But there isn’t the big budget range of previous races. A lot depends on when a team starts – and when it starts hiring. Teams will still have shore personnel of their own, but the numbers will be much smaller. We’ve made a real dent in those costs.

SH: The manager of the SCA Team, Richard Brisius, initially had reservations about shared support…

KF: In the beginning there were a lot of uncertainties but now the programme is clear he is happy. Every team has a different situation, but they will all save a great deal of money compared to previous events. What is clear to anyone is that if you are working on doing this race on a relatively low budget then the support package is a no-brainer.

SH: When does the first boat go afloat?

KF: Boat 1 will launch in August. There are two steps to the launch, the first being when the boats are ready for painting for the sponsor. The second is when the team decides to put the finished article in the water. The first date is coming up for boat 1 in July. It will be trialled the following month before the official christening in the Autumn – we’ll let everyone know exactly when that takes place once it’s confirmed.

SH: Who gets which boat?

KF: The order of delivery is something we are careful not to publicise… Some teams who have yet to announce have already booked their boat while others who have announced are still working on the boat contract!

SH: And is there anything serious in the talk of an Alinghi programme or has this ‘gone public’ without Ernesto [Bertarelli] actually knowing much about it…

KF: I don’t think it’s as far advanced as some people would like you to think! There is certainly mileage in an Alinghi entry but it’s far from the done deal that was reported in the sailing press. Alinghi is one of many projects that we are working with.

SH: And interest from previous skippers?

KF: We have some of the previous groups, like the previous Spanish project and Team New Zealand, looking at the next race. I would say at least four of the last skippers are very much involved today. That’s positive. Then we have the new names, which is crucial because we are working hard at encouraging a new breed of sailor into the race. The sport needs this and so does the Volvo Ocean Race. It’s been a strategy of ours for some time to get the younger sailors into our event. What I can say is you will see more new names in the next race than in the previous one.

SH: What about the possibility of private entries…

KF: There are a couple of private owners in discussion with us. Not necessarily to do the whole campaign but definitely to be involved. That reflects what you see in sailing generally; as the sponsorship market gets tougher, privately funded sailing is doing very well.

SH: And how much progress have you made in terms of data sharing, especially around a failure?

KF: In the 2014 event all the data recorded on the boats will come straight to us. As we have access to this data we will then have the opportunity to share whatever is good to share. There’s a lot more data being collected on these boats than was ever the case in the past. So between the manufacturers, the teams and ourselves there will be an open process. That is already decided.

SH: So often in this race we have seen teams get their boats through training, only to have something break on leg one. With the first boat out, are you keen for the team – whichever team that may be – to get out there and try to break it?

KF: Yes and no. We are not going to try to break boat 1 because the first boat has to be identical to boats 2, 3, 4 and 5 onwards. So if there is a situation where we find out something on boat 1 that needs changing for boat 2, then we also have to change it on boat 1 as well. If there’s anything improved on any boat it has to be improved on every boat. That said, we have put an enormous amount of time and effort into making sure that boat 1 is the ‘best’ boat it can possibly be.

They must all be identical but there have been more hours spent on that boat, more testing during the build and so on. But everything we have adjusted during that process will then go into the following boats as well.

The boat concept is designed around being completely successful from day one. We have spent much more time on these boats than before. I believe that, plus the higher safety factors used compared to some of their predecessors, will pay dividends in terms of reliability.

It’s important to emphasise that boat 1 is not a prototype. It’s a full raceboat. That said, obviously we will be recording everything we can from that boat. Boats 1 and 2 will launch pretty close to each other – in fact, the three first boats are now all in production. It’s a tight build schedule with big overlaps between the boats. Before boat 1 launches we will have started boat 4.

SH: The initial run is still eight boats…

KF: Our objective is eight boats and that’s what the project is designed around. We can build up to two more and we can also, of course, build one less if that is the case.

SH: What about the recruiting of onboard correspondents…

KF: That’s been interesting! We obviously took a different approach from the last race. We are now more actively involved in that process, to ensure we get the best possible people, by qualifying whoever is onboard in terms of editorial ability. We’ve had a huge number of expressions of interest – more than 2,000 at the last count – which is pretty amazing.

Some of them are not really ‘relevant’ to us, but there are others who come with terrific credentials in terms of awards for journalism and media work. What we have to improve in the next race is the quality of the journalistic output off the boats. It’s not so much about the TV shot any more, or the angle of the camera, now it’s all about the story and that depends entirely on journalistic skill.

It’s an interesting process, because however good the guy is at telling a story, he – or she – must still report to the skipper. They’re still onboard a boat on the ocean – and normal rules apply. So at the same time as we want to see excellent journalism coming off the boats, they still have to survive nine months in often unpleasant conditions.

SH: What about rotating correspondents?

KF: We discussed the option of alternating people, but currently we are aiming to have the same person stay with one boat for the whole race. The main reason for this is that we are concerned about changing everything to do with the race in one go… This is not about changing people, it’s about generating excellent stories.

That person still has to be part of a team and bond with the other guys onboard and that takes time; that’s not easy if the face keeps changing. Even though you can be a journalist and still cover a story as a fly on the wall, this particular fly on the wall has to survive onboard for more than 30 days at a time.

Click here for more information on the Volvo Ocean Race »

Super Series class manager Rob Weiland looks forward to the first event in the Med...

Just returned from the Palma Vela and our first 52 Super Series event in the Med is coming up quickly now. Barcelona, Trofeo Conde de Godó. Seven teams are getting ready for that, the six that we started off the year with in Key West plus the Turkish TP52 Provezza, owned by Ergin Imre, with 470 Olympic medallist Nick Rogers at the helm and Tony Rey on tactics.

Our class measurer Pablo Ferrer will have weighed and checked each boat before the event. Also, so-called trim points will have been measured for distance to the water in measurement trim. These predefined points give us a quick and reliable reference to check displacement and trim. Good rules should be easy to check – it’s not much use having rules that you cannot police.

Typically we try to weigh our boats at least twice a year and rigs at least once, plus we take the VCG of the rig. Sails are checked randomly during events – each race day about five to 10 sails are taken off and measured. Pablo is also out on the water during racing, checking that the sails hoisted have the buttons they should have and that sail limit bands are respected. He also hops onboard boats between races to check the inventory and positioning of heavy items.

I like to think that we deliver fair racing in our class – and there are two aspects to that. Firstly, you should not invite problems by having measurements that are tempting to play with or that are hard to check for conformity. Second, you should be prepared to check daily as well as be alert for things ‘that do not feel right’. In a small society like the 52 Super Series there is also quite a bit of social control; you rarely carry out any work on a boat without someone knowledgeable watching you. That helps keep things in line.

Hardly anybody is aware of all the rules that govern yacht racing, but that is not usually a problem. It is perfectly possible to race a boat without ever having read the Racing Rules of Sailing, on the basis of having crewed for a couple of years and learnt how to race by doing it. I would suggest the large majority of racing yacht crew haven’t read the complete RRS for a while… if ever.

My experience is also that those who are fully aware of every twist and turn of the RRS turn into rather average readers when it comes to other rules, like the Offshore Safety Regulations, class rules and Equipment Rules of Sailing. And please don’t mention the ISAF Regulations! You must be bored stiff to get anywhere near those.

And there are more rules. Depending on where you race there will be local variations on safety rules, local regulations and then a whole lot more if you race under a handicap rule. Between Pablo and me, our umpires and Maria Torrija, our race officer, we manage to stay up to speed with most of it. Although the sail designers still come up with ‘interpretations’ that lead to some heavy chewing.

Normally there are no referees or umpires in yacht racing. The guiding principle is that observance of the sailing rules relies on the obedience and honesty of the competitors. For the 52 Super Series we aim to have six umpires spread over three RIBs at each event. It is an experienced team. Our chief umpire Miguel Allen heads off to the AC after Barcelona, leaving us in the capable hands of Bill O’Hara.

Other MedCup and 52 Super Series longstanding faithfuls are Andrez Perez, Sofia Truchanowicz and Manuel Santos e Silva. They are not just the police but are also very helpful when it comes to writing the event’s NOR, sailing instructions or new class rules. They know so many people at the clubs that wherever we go it helps to smooth our journey. Working with ISAF Addendum Q has also made life more enjoyable for umpires and sailors.

The calls will not always be perfect, but I am sure that on average we have less drama on the water as there is less risktaking with the police watching closely. And it certainly is great not to have to listen to the lies in the jury room and waste time waiting for results. It is well worth the money for the boats and fuel.

Deliberately breaking rules, some prefer the term cheating, is always happening and at every level. From my own experience, spanning nearly 40 years, cheating was at its peak during the 1980s. At IOR events it was the norm rather than the exception that the measured displacement and the sailing displacement would differ. And not by a few kilos, but by hundreds of them.

Moving weight around when racing was and remains another favourite pastime. The simplest remedy is to permit it, but when I see the Volvo boats with their sails stacked on the weather rail I cannot help but feel uncomfortable. In the early 90s we saw One Tonners returning from a Solent race without a single top bunk in its original position. Loaded up with bottles of water the bunks simply ripped off their mountings when crashing about in waves.

In the US some famous names were nailed for cheating with weight and trim, like Williwaw and Acadia. But when the former UK boat Victory was remeasured in the US a whole new can of worms was opened up. The hull measurements were found to be badly off (by about 5cm at all the major depth stations), the errors accumulating to reduce the boat’s rating by rather a lot.

Victory’s stability went up by just over 13 per cent. Her previous Admiral’s Cup (1981) rating of 33.1ft jumped to 34.5ft. Unpleasant questions were asked about the measurement process, but as far as I know it never led to formal charges or changes.

Measuring equipment is neither easy to use nor is it straight - forward. It is hard to repeat any measurement and come to exactly the same figure. Equipment shrinks, expands… especially when you help it a little.

There are variations between measurement devices and for sure between measurers too. You can be lucky with a measurement or unlucky. You can help luck a bit, if only by measuring repeatedly until the lucky one arrives.

And you can help your luck a lot in an endless variety of ways. Most stick to simple methods with a proven track record. As if the simple ones, the ones that we all know about, are any less of a foul.

I hope when ‘my guys’ read this they do not chuckle too much. We are again going to try to produce the level playing field that the 52 Super Series claims to deliver. So that the winner gets his name on a real trophy. One of the best trophies to have your name inscribed on.

Rob Weiland, 52 class manager

Click here for more information on the 52 Super Series »

Adolfo Carrau of Botín Partners reflects upon 12 months of diverse design achievement

This has been one of the busiest years in the history of our office, even though we were not involved in any new TP52 design, or VO70 or America’s Cup projects. These classes have been our staple focus for the past 10 years, but for very different reasons this activity came to a sudden stop in 2012. TP52 class members are really enjoying their current boats and racing format, and so are putting off major changes for at least another year or so; consequently no new builds were commissioned for this season. Meanwhile, the Volvo Ocean Race has opted for onedesigns and the America’s Cup switched to foiling multihulls. We had the possibility of working for a couple of (real) AC teams, but we decided to stick to our core business of designing fast monohulls… the type of boat that we like to design most.

At the start of 2012 we began work on one of the coolest projects ever for us, a high-tech and stylish 65ft racer-cruiser that will be raced shorthanded in the biggest events worldwide and by a very enthusiastic owner. The original design brief was for a fast boat to be sailed by the owner and friends with only occasional professional crew. The design concept progressively evolved from a fast cruiser-racer to a fullon racer-cruiser… featuring a very powerful hull with plenty of form stability, twin rudders and a deep 4.8m draft lifting keel. The overall righting moment is around 15% higher than on an STP65, without any crew hiking out! The boat has so many automated systems that it can be regarded as a mini superyacht but with rather higher relative performance.

Also involved in the design of the sail and rig package were Mike Sanderson, Richard Bouzaid (Doyle NZ) and Brad Jackson. The boat is being built at Knierim Yachtbau in Kiel, and will launch as this magazine goes on sale. After initial sea trials an all-star crew including fellow Volvo race veterans Stu Bannatyne and Tom Addis will join the team for the 2013 Fastnet Race. The schedule for this year also includes most of the Med offshore races, a Transatlantic crossing and December’s Sydney-Hobart. This is our first ever ‘gentleman’ racer, and we thoroughly enjoyed working closely with a great owner to design his dream boat.

Our next project was a new custom Class40 for Gonzalo Botín. Gonzalo has already won two world championships (2010 and 2012) in this fleet with his Akilaria Mk2 Tales and knew precisely what he wanted for his new boat. His first good decision was to appoint Antonio ‘Talpi’ Piris as project manager and Ximo López of Longitud Cero as builder. Between these two, our own design team and regular engineering partners Pure Engineering, we have created a highly customised Class40, exceptional in terms of weight optimisation and detailing. Many long hours were spent refining critical areas such as the mast/keel bulkhead and the surrounding structure.