June 2022
FEATURES
Busy busy
LUCY TULLOCH
Politics
Taking it on the chin… or when even the Russian sailors know that the Russian sailors should not be allowed out on the pitch. ROB WEILAND
Thing of beauty
Not only a very beautiful piece of fast craftsmanship, but maybe also a glimmer of hope for home builders. AKIHIRO KANAI, ACT
Happy Sad
While everyone else was making a lot of noise Barcelona was quietly getting on with the job. CARLOS PICH, IVOR WILKINS, GRANT DALTON
Wheels down
It’s amazing Emirates Team New Zealand have enough time for something so ‘Pro Bono’ as defending the America’s Cup. IVOR WILKINS, KEVIN SHOEBRIDGE, TIM MELDRUM, GUILLAUME VERDIER, RICHARD JENKINS
Secret skimmer
Many of the best of the designs of CHARLES SIBBICK stand out in the ‘modern’ classic yacht racing fleets because they simply don’t look as if they can be old enough… JULIAN EVERITT
TECH STREET
DESIGN
We got the invite
JOE LACEY was very happy to try out MARC LOMBARD’s latest large multihull design…
Good to get going
MATTEO POLLI has been proving that going much bigger does not mean compromising a fine reputation for beautiful as well as very fast yachts
REGULARS
Commodore’s letter
JAMES NEVILLE
Editorial
ANDREW HURST
Update
Getting stung in St Barts, but entertained in San Francisco, we’re all off to Barcelona, but while the AC75s get faster they don’t get cheaper, VASCO DA GAMA he was not, winners and grinners at the end of SailGP but one man is hogging the top step. JACK GRIFFIN, TOM SLINGSBY, TERRY HUTCHINSON, ADRIAN MORGAN, JIMMY SPITHILL, RUSSELL COUTTS, ROB KOTHE
World News
This Rhum’s a monster, ‘maxi spat’ in the Ultimes, PHIL ROBERTSON… gun for hire, TRIPON’s woes, BLUE ROBINSON finds something new to be intimidated by. Plus more baby-steps for the US in the quest to get back into Olympic contention. IVOR WILKINS, DOBBS DAVIS, PATRICE CARPENTIER, FRANÇOIS GABART
Rod Davis – Crank it back
For someone as successfully immersed for so long in the highest echelons of sailing, this Olympic gold medallist still has his feet planted firmly on the ground
RORC – Bunnies
JEREMY WILTON
Seahorse build table – Better late than never
We’ve finally got around to some of the work of US designer extraordinaire ROBERT PERRY…
Seahorse regatta calendar
Sailor of the Month
Solo endurance sailor vs a new solo champion
Magnifique

And with their new flagship Grand Soleil 72 Cantiere del Pardo have truly excelled themselves...
Grand Soleil has a new flagship. Or arguably two, because the Performance and Long Cruise versions of the Grand Soleil 72 have distinctly different decks. It’s a significant move by Cantiere del Pardo, scaling up to maxi yacht production. This isn’t their first foray into that market (witness the GS 80) but rather than being a full custom project, the GS 72 is designed and engineered for series production.

The concept took shape in discussions between the shipyard and Nauta Design. ‘It started with the idea, shared between us, to realise a top-of-the-range project,’ Nauta’s co-founder Massimo Gino recalls. ‘A beautiful, fast, modern sailing yacht with excellent performance, yet comfortable and elegant, a boat that is all-Italian and that exudes in every detail the luxury that distinguishes Italian design, offering a high-level lifestyle to its owners and guests, in the tradition of Grand Soleil.’
Is this a potential Maxi 72 racer? Not really, but sort of. ‘Yes, the boat can race with very good performance in the maxi class,’ says project manager Franco Corazza. However, it is primarily a performance cruiser and the main reason for its 72ft LOA is a practical consideration. ‘That’s the ideal size to fit a pullman crew cabin in the stern with a separate bathroom,’ Corazza explains. ‘You can have a threecabin layout with the crew in the stern or a four-cabin layout with the crew in the bow.’
Matteo Polli is the lead naval architect with another of Grand Soleil’s regular design partners, Marco Lostuzzi, in charge of structural engineering.
Hull design
The GS 72 stands out from the rest of Grand Soleil’s current fleet because the naval architecture of the Performance and Long Cruise versions is identical, rather than being designed specifically for one or other of the marque’s two parallel ranges. ‘The larger size of the GS72 allows us to combine the peculiarities of both lines on the same hull,’ Polli says. At a smaller size the compromises would be too significant.’
‘The hull has a very wide maximum beam that extends to the stern, although the beam at the waterline is quite narrow,’ he says. ‘It has a long overhang and soft, high chines. The volume distribution longitudinally and vertically is designed to reduce wave drag as much as possible and to maintain optimal longitudinal trim across the full range of heeling conditions.’

Doesn’t the stern overhang affect performance? ‘Thanks to a plumb bow and very straight buttock lines, the dynamic waterline length can reach the overall hull length very soon as the boat starts to heel,’ Polli says, ‘whereas the static waterline is relatively short. These features make the hull shape morph across the wide range of sailing conditions.’
The hull has a very fine entry and a deep forefoot, which might seem at odds with the current trend of putting more volume, rather than less, into the bow. ‘This choice fully reflects the main aim of the concept,’ Polli says. ‘The combination of fine entry and deep forefoot guarantees a very soft ride in head seas and also helps performance in light to medium conditions. More volume in the bow may help in some specific sailing conditions but at this size of yacht it is much less beneficial than at a smaller size.’
‘The GS72 is designed as an all-rounder but special care has gone into the light-tomedium wind range since that is always the most likely range of use in cruising mode,’ Polli says. ‘It has a very small wetted surface for the given displacement and the waterline when upright is very narrow. Transverse sections are well rounded below the waterline to allow symmetric waterlines for a wide range of heel angles. Above a certain heel angle there is a steep increase in waterline beam and therefore stability that confers the power needed to carry the large sailplan.’
The soft chines come into play at 18° of heel, so 18-20° is the angle to aim for when sailing upwind. Hard chines increase drag, he says, and only give a significant boost to dynamic stability when surfing at very high speed, which rarely occurs on a boat with the GS72’s D/L ratio. Twin rudders were discounted for similar reasons.

The five-ton maximum payload should be plenty for a round-the-world cruise. ‘The difference in performance between half load and full load will be noticeable only in very light wind,’ Polli says. ‘The hull lines have been designed to work on a range of displacements and thanks to the low and central position of the tanks, longitudinal trim will not be affected in different loading conditions. Moreover, when loading the boat, the stability will increase and offer more power to carry sail in upwind and reaching conditions.’
Polli made his reputation with world championship-winning handicap racers but the GS72 has not been designed to any rating system. ‘Nevertheless I have been looking at both IRC and ORC to avoid any major rating penalty, but of course without compromising on the main intended use of fast cruising,’ he says.
Keel and rudder
The hydro package is the same for both versions but five keel options are offered. ‘A 3.7m fixed keel is standard,’ Corazza says. ‘3.2m and 4.2m are options along with a 2.7m-4.4m telescopic keel and a lifting keel too.’
The single rudder blade has a high aspect ratio and is positioned very far forward in the hull. ‘These characteristics make the steering reliable and efficient at high heel angles,’ Polli says. ‘The blade area is relatively large, preventing dangerous “out of control” situations even when reaching fully powered.'

Exterior and interior design
Nauta Design is well known for innovative deck and cockpit plans, which gradually evolve over hundreds of projects. Key refinements on the GS 72 include fully teak-clad cockpit coamings on the LC version, and the Performance version’s aggressively sleek, ultra-low profile coachroof. ‘Both versions feature a big manoeuvring cockpit aft and a large, comfortable central cockpit for guests with two coffee and dining tables that can be used separately, just aft of the coachroof,’ Nauta’s Massimo Gino explains. ‘These two cockpits are connected by a relaxation area, where two magnificent sunpads dominate the scene. The LC version has a sleek, modern coachroof with a full-beam raised saloon beneath (as it’s not bound by the width of the coachroof), allowing guests a panoramic 270° view on the surrounding seascape.’
The interior design of the GS72 takes the familiar Grand Soleil style to a new level, with a superyacht standard of fittings throughout. ‘There are several improvements in the finishings and we emphasise the use of white and pale colours,’ Gino says. ‘You can see that in the white lacquered panels on the bulkheads and on the internal hull sides, which create brighter and fresher interiors. The interiors are rich and light; they convey feelings of peace, serenity, physical and mental freedom. The design and the various palettes of the materials make for sober, fresh, elegant, cozy and welcoming style.’

Sailplan and rig
The standard sailplan is 9/10 fractional with a 130sq m self-tacking jib or a 145sq m genoa, a 180sq m pinhead mainsail with in-boom furling or slab reefing, a masthead code zero on the bow with an under-deck furler and a 500sq m gennaker flown from the end of the bowsprit. An inner staysail on a furler can also be fitted. The foretriangle (and hence the self-tacking jib) is notably large and the swept-back spreaders allow a 112% J1 on longitudinal tracks.
Aluminium spars with rod rigging are supplied as standard and a carbon upgrade is available. Runners are only required for the inner sail. The sail-handling systems are electric, with three-speed Harken primary winches as standard and the dedicated mainsheet winches.
The rig is large enough that a pinhead mainsail will supply ample power even in light winds, but changing the main to a square-top should be relatively easy with the central mainsheet winch.
The sailplan calls for three reefs. ‘The first reef is taken when sailing upwind at 16-17kts TWS thanks to the high stability of the hull shape,’ Polli explains. ‘The second reef will be taken in combination with the use of the staysail at about 24kts TWS. The third reef will only be needed well above 30kts.’
Construction The LC version is just 500kg heavier than the Performance version, with identical construction techniques and materials used in both. The emphasis here is on tried-and-tested technologies.


‘The GS72 is a fast cruiser with high levels of performance and comfort; with that idea in mind we made some precise choices about the construction of the boat,’ Lostuzzi says. ‘The whole boat is built as a composite sandwich with vacuum infusion to obtain a rigid, lightweight and high-quality construction. ‘We decided to use epoxy vinylester resin which has a very good cost-benefit ratio, and also because in the case of dark hull or deck painting it is very resistant to heat, even when post cured at low temperature.’
‘We opted for E-glass fibres all over the construction with key areas reinforced with unidirectional carbon fibre to improve its rigidity. Again this choice was made to match the characteristics of the design. A full carbon build for sure would be lighter but at the same time much more difficult to soundproof.’
How fast? Polli’s VPP suggests more than 10kts upwind. ‘Reaching is more difficult to state precisely but we can expect to achieve well over 20kts,’ he says. ‘In light wind the boat will be reactive and fun to sail both upwind and reaching, with a target speed of 6.2kts upwind and 7.5kts on a beam reach with 5kts TWS (at 10m height).’
Under power, the standard engine and tankage should give the Performance version a range of 750nm and the LC version about 900nm. A diesel-electric hybrid option will soon be available.
Construction of hull no1 is well under way and the GS72 is due to make its début – industry-wide supply chain issues permitting – at the Genoa and Cannes Boat Shows this autumn.
Click here for more information on Grand Soleil »
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We got the invite!

Renowned raceboat builders Marsaudon Composites recently launched the largest in their spectacular series of Ocean Rider Catamarans – the Lombard designed ORC 57. Eighteen knots without disturbing the pot plants... this is some kind of a new yacht!
The boat is moored alongside its ORC42 and ORC50 smaller siblings, and it is hard to believe it is “only” seven feet longer than the 50; the greater freeboard and more voluminous hulls making the difference in size look far greater. The giant single spreader mast reaches 26m into the air, not far off that of the Imocas further along the pontoon. Make no mistake – this is a big and powerful machine. There is an inverted bow and reverse sheer above a sweeping chine, whilst the muscular coachroof shape marks a departure from previous models. The team wanted to design an attractive boat that owners could be proud of and they have undoubtedly succeeded.
Our skipper for the day is Bruno, and indeed he will be in charge of the boat for the next year as it tours major European boat shows. Bruno’s experience includes being the boat captain and crew member of a Volvo 70 so he should have the know-how to iron out any teething problems.
The forecast is for 15-20kts TWS, so we set off with one reef in the main. Once we are out of the harbour the J1 is unfurled and we are soon reaching across to the Ile de Groix. There are plant pots on the kitchen worktop and a bowl of croissants on the cockpit table, everyone is a having a chat whilst drinking their expressos rather than paying much attention to sail trim, and yet we’re already up to 18kts of boatspeed!

Above: The interior layout options include this four-cabin version and an alternative three-cabin layout with one hull entirely dedicated to the owner’s suite, including an office
Boatspeed broadly matches windspeed at these angles, and you can feel the boat accelerate with each small gust. We are being followed by a media man in a RIB, but they can’t keep up through the waves and are totally drenched. The ease and comfort at which you can sail quickly is certainly unlike any monohull and you immediately understand the appeal of the boat; cruising comfortably at such speed is a dream. The forward hull sections are more voluminous than the 50 or 42 and the boat feels very secure.
The central cockpit area is spacious, sheltered and free from ropes. There is an anchor roller built into the carbon bowsprit, whilst carbon fibre davits come as standard. There is an immense amount of storage under the cockpit seats, in front of the central saloon and in each bow.

The sailing is essentially done from a one metre long section of the cockpit just in front of the aft crossbeam. There are two winches on the beam at either end of the mainsheet track, the windward winch loaded with the traveller and the leeward winch loaded with the mainsheet. All other sail and daggerboard controls are led to helm stations positioned on either side of the boat, and the arrangement makes sailing the boat practical, simple and intuitive. The only time you need to leave the cockpit is to hoist the sails, with the halyards led to an electric winch at the mast base.
Mainsheet winches that release automatically in an emergency are an option which I would certainly take if planning on any shorthanded sailing for safety reasons. Electric mainsheet and jib sheet winches are an option I would select if racing fully crewed as the forces involved make active trimming of the sails difficult, and pedestal winches would get in the way whilst cruising.

Above: High-volume bows and a new coachroof design give the ORC57 a more muscular look than its siblings. This demo boat has carbon spars, racing sails and a full payload of cruising equipment
Well balanced upwind
As we get further offshore we head upwind at a TWA of around 50° and SOG of about 11kts. By now TWS has crept up to 20kts and the sail charts suggest we should have changed down to the J2, but despite this boat seems well balanced and is very easy to helm. The boat obviously heels less than a monohull, and the central console is clear of the water, but those voluminous hulls do still slam into the 1.5m chop. But with nine people in the cockpit, plus the 4m tender aft under its davits, and not much water in the tanks forward of the mast beam, the boat was a little trim to the stern. The reverse bow can initiate some slam at speed into the chop, but with weight distributon further forward, upwind sailing will be more comfortable for a cruising oriented programme.
‘We wanted to have an outstandingly fast and safe boat on offwind angles, pretty much the way later generation Class 40s are designed for instance, so the design incorporated a lot of volume forward,’ explains Marsaudon Composites CEO Dam Caillliau. ‘Not knowing how it would finish up in the demonstration model, we decided to centre the weight as much as possible. Despite the quite large number of comfort options and equipment incorporated, the first boat is really light. We are already working with the architect to reduce the slamming in short seas and make it more comfortable with a more distributed weight alongside for a more cruising oriented programme, or by considering ballasts in forward hulls to be filled when going upwind, for more performance and racing-type programmes’.

The position of the first reefing point needs adjusting slightly to improve tension in the foot, and Bruno adds this to his surprisingly short to-do list. The boat’s upwind VPPs seem attainable with some further fine tuning, and I have no doubt this team will get the boat set up perfectly for future clients.
It is too early to accurately assess just how fast this boat can be on the racecourse. The ORC42 and ORC50 have been stand-out performers in RORC multihull divisions in recent years, with both proving competitive under a range of multihull rating systems, and there is every reason to believe that the ORC57 will continue the trend. Broadly speaking the ORC42s keep pace with Class40s whilst the ORC50s keep pace with TP52s, so the ORC57 can expect to finish ahead of everyone bar the highest-level grand prix race yachts.

In theory, how fast does it go?
- This VPP study from Marc Lombard is for a loaded sailing displacement of 13,300kg, on flat water
- The boat speeds are calculated for a maximum heel angle limited to 7.6°. This is the angle at which maximum righting moment (RM Max) is achieved
- This value of heel angle corresponds to apparent wind speeds for each true wind angle and each true wind speed noted in the AWS table
- This VPP was calculated using The Wolfson Unit’s WINVPP with the necessary attention to all parameters





Interior layout
I pass the helm to Eric Levet, here from Marc Lombard’s design office to help with testing, and head inside to check out the interior. The layout is fairly conventional for a multihull, with the bridgedeck living space enjoying 360° views and cabins in the hulls. There is a large forward-facing chart table with excellent visibility which would make a comfortable place to stand a chilly night watch whilst cruising. The L-shaped galley has a large oven, electric hob and Nespresso machine, whilst the lounge and dining area can seat eight in comfort.
Boat number one has the entire port hull reserved for an owner’s suite, complete with a large double bed, plenty of wardrobes, an office space, and an en-suite including a toilet, double sinks and a walk-in shower. There are two more cabins and another toilet / shower room in the starboard hull. It is easy to imagine living aboard on a semi-permanent basis during a multi-year round the world adventure, which is clearly the intention of some clients.
A big effort has been made regarding interior design, with the challenging brief to make the boat more comfortable without adding weight. The floorboards in the hulls are black unpainted carbon fibre whilst the handles of wardrobe doors are made from leather, and such ideas combine to create a unique and stylish yet lightweight interior that is a clear step up in terms of finish quality to the ORC42 or ORC50.
Easy mooring
As I come back outside we are overtaking a (non-foiling) Imoca that is out training, and I doubt they are enjoying quite the same level of comfort. Given the conditions, today is not the day for trying out the bigger downwind sails for the first time and it is time to head in to port. Despite the wind, mooring the boat is surprisingly straightforward, although I’m told this is more complicated in shallow ports where the daggerboards need to be pulled up. The aft swim platform is at a similar height to the pontoon to facilitate stepping on and off the boat.
The boat will soon be sailed close to 2,000 miles two-handed from Lorient to La Grande Motte for the Multihull Show, showing how well the ORC57 is set up for shorthanded sailing. With the right setup the boat could feasibly be cruised by an experienced sailing couple, but equally there is enough space to cruise with four to six guests plus two crew and I’m sure some owners will take this option; this is not a boat for beginners! The IRC rule seems to favour out-and-out racers in the larger size range, so a large cruiser-racer is often not considered an option for people serious about winning the RORC’s offshore races. As such, high-performance catamarans like the ORC 57 might be the best option if you want to cruise in comfort with the family AND have a good go at winning your division in the Fastnet, Caribbean 600 or RORC Transatlantic. An increasing number of inshore regattas in the Med and the Caribbean now include multihull divisions and this versatile boat would be a great choice for them as well.
The base boat costs €1.195m ex VAT in sail-away condition. Marsaudon Composites has an in-house design team and consider their boats to be “semi-custom” and not series builds. The demonstration model, fully kitted out with a carbon mast, carbon cabin top, a high-end suit of Incidence race sails, NKE electronics, a watermaker and a whole host of other cruising extras costs slightly over €1.7m ex VAT, which whilst not affordable for everyone represents very good value for money when compared with other boats of equivalent performance and comfort.
Click here for more information on Marsaudon Composites »
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Exploit the noise

Taking onboard another Olympic gold medallist never hurt anyone’s business
Between the conceptual model of a new sail design and its real-life performance is a no-man’s land occupied by what Jordi Calafat refers to as noise. Sometimes this separation is wide; other times it is happily much narrower. Either way, it is in negotiating this zone of noise that Calafat finds his greatest satisfaction as a designer.
Based in Palma, Majorca, Calafat is the latest addition to Doyle Sails’ line up of top-ranked international sailors who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to what the brand offers its growing list of customers across the grand prix spectrum of sailing. With first-hand experience in the America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, Maxi 72 class, 52 Super Series, ClubSwan 50 and 36 one designs and other grand prix events, Calafat epitomises the Doyle promise that its products are “by sailors, for sailors”.
In similar vein, the Doyle loft in Palma has also welcomed French sailor and sailmaker Antoine Thullier into its service team. Thullier has extensive experience on large offshore multihulls, maxi yachts, TP52s and superyachts. He says joining ‘the world class team at Doyle Sails’ is a career highlight. ‘They are the leaders in sailmaking and have built an extremely talented team. It is a great opportunity to grow, sharing everybody’s experience, knowledge and skills.’
Calafat’s approach to any new design challenge is process-driven. Step one begins with a modelling exercise which examines a broad range of characteristics: the mast and how it is likely to behave, hull shape, appendages, whether the boat is likely to be tender or stiff, the type of racing and conditions envisaged.
Taking all these factors into account, a theoretical sail plan is generated. ‘Then we go sailing,’ he says. ‘Now we are in real life and interacting with the trimmers. Sometimes the real world is very similar to the modelling, other times the gulf is quite wide, but there is always noise between the two worlds.
‘You might find that the mast does not behave exactly as expected, or that we can be a bit more aggressive in a particular area. That is the second stage towards understanding the noise and reducing it.
‘Now we go racing. This is the moment of truth,’ he laughs. Ten boats charging off the startline separated by a couple of boatlengths very quickly reward success, or expose weakness. ‘We see how everything works, whether we need more power, or we need to load the rudder more, if the boat can move into high mode, does it suit the style of the trimmers?
This is the process, dealing with the noise. It is the part I that enjoy the most.’
It is something that began at a very young age. ‘I grew up in Palma,’ Calafat says. ‘My family had boats and I was the youngest of three boys. As a kid, I started sailing Optimists and progressed into Spanish national championships and then international championships. I won the Opti worlds in 1983 and then moved on to 420s and so on.
‘I was always very curious about the sails and their shapes and how they work. One day, when I was still an Opti kid, I was at the sail loft and all the maxis and 80-footers were in Palma for a regatta. I saw these guys come into the loft, carrying these huge bags. They laid out these massive sails on the floor and took out their scissors and started recutting. I thought, ‘This is very cool. I would like to do that.’
‘From that day, I decided I wanted to be part of this world. Not just the sailing, but how it works. How you put shape in a sail. How you can manipulate the sail and design the sail and recut the sail and finally see what you want to see.
‘As a sailor, you know what you want to see. But how to get there … that was my curiosity.’
Then, with the 1992 Olympics in Spain approaching, Calafat moved to Barcelona and joined a loft working on Olympic sails. ‘I had to decide if I wanted to go on with my studies, or really become part of the sailing world. We didn’t have any design software back then. It was just cutting tables and doing everything by hand.’
At the same time, his own sailing took a major leap when he won gold with Kiko Sánchez in the 470 class at the Barcelona Olympics. Combining his two passions, his career was launched and ultimately took him to the pinnacles of the sport, including two Volvo Ocean Race campaigns, two America’s Cup campaigns, six world championship titles in Maxi 72s, two in TP52s, and success across a range of one design classes.
It was in the Maxi 72 scene that Calafat caught the eye of Doyle Sails International CEO Mike Sanderson, as they have sailed together for the past five years on Bella Mente. The relationship was further strengthened working with Doyle design director Richard Bouzaid on the American Magic campaign for the 2021 America’s Cup series in Auckland.
‘We have always been about building the strongest group of people at Doyle Sails and it is a pleasure to welcome Jordi to our team as both a high profile sailor and one of the world’s best sail designers,’ Sanderson says.
For Calafat, part of the attraction was Doyle Sails’ success with advanced Stratis membranes and world-leading Structured Luff technology. ‘They started this evolution and are still the leaders,’ he says. ‘There are endless development opportunities and so many other positive changes can be made to yachts because of it, rig structure and boat structure included.’
With a career that has tracked from analogue processes on the cutting floor to a digital world of complex computer modelling and from dinghy classes to alpha events of international sailing, Calafat has witnessed and been part of a massive leap in technology.
‘The background to what we learned back in the day with paper drawings and floor cutting was a very valuable experience. Also, we did not have the materials then that we have today. For sure, it has all come a long way.’
Calafat’s close involvement and winning record in the hotly contested TP52 Super Series will be a key focus of his work with Doyle Sails. Two yachts have already committed to the brand, with more team also showing interest particularly in the Structured Luff technology.
‘The class is now quite mature and the designs are very refined so it is harder to find gains,’ he says. ‘When we start each new season, we have to ask what we are going to change. Sometimes we don’t change anything, unless there is some new material, or something very obvious, like a new boat, or new appendages, or a different trimmer has come on board. Then you need to work out how to accommodate those changes in the sail design.’

Above: Doyle Sails Palma’s latest recruit. Olympic gold medallist and America’s Cup winner Jordi Calafat has been a regular on the 52 Super Series for more than a decade, sailing as a tactician for many of the top TP52 teams. Now he is also designing their sails...
Calafat, who sails as a strategist, says the dialogue with trimmers is crucial. ‘Every trimmer has his own style and the key thing is to work out what he wants to see and what we can do to provide that.’ Similarly, within the constraints of the rule, every boat has its strengths and weaknesses. Series raced in Atlantic conditions, for example, are generally more breezy than Mediterranean regattas and suit different boats accordingly. ‘That often depends more on hull shapes than sails,’ Calafat notes.
‘Very often we look at the sails, but we always need to remember there are many other elements at work – hull shapes, keels, rudders, fins. Sometimes we look around the fleet and say that guy is more twisted, this one is sheeted much harder and so on, but maybe this is to accommodate the peculiarities of that particular boat.
‘The sails definitely play a big role and make a huge contribution, but it is not just aero. It is also hydro and what is happening underneath the boat. Everything needs to work together and we need to understand all those relationships. Sometimes there is noise and we need to work it out. If you do make changes, you need to be very certain you are going in the right direction.’ This is where an open and honest dialogue loop is essential. ‘At this level, there are good people around you with good insights and good ideas. That is what makes the difference in the end.’
Asked which part of the sail inventory – jibs, mainsails, gennakers – offers the greatest opportunity for gains, Calafat replies that good starts and picking the windshifts are more important than a few millimetres of luff curve. ‘There is always a danger that we make things too complicated and forget the basics. Good starts, good tactics and picking windshifts are still the most important elements of success.’
The rise of foiling classes has taken the sailing world by storm and poses new opportunities and challenges for designers. Did Calafat’s recent involvement with the America’s Cup provide any insights that can be applied to displacement classes?
‘I remember coming back from New Zealand and jumping on a TP52. I looked at the sails and thought, “Wow! These are like balloons.” For a while, everything I designed was way too flat,’ he laughs. ‘You have to familiarise yourself again and recalibrate your thinking.
‘Obviously the concepts are totally different, but in the America’s Cup, you are surrounded by very smart guys. You learn new tools, or you learn how to use the tools better. Or you learn about structures, how to make sails lighter, or stronger, or there are developments in battens and fittings that you can apply – things like that. There is always something to learn. It is a non-stop process. There is always something new around the corner.’
In technology, nothing ever stands still. Constant innovation and development drive progress – and it all generates noise, the kind that is music to Calafat’s ears.
Click here for more information on Doyle Sails »
We invite you to read on and find out for yourself why Seahorse is the most highly-rated source in the world for anyone who is serious about their racing.
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The finish of champions

Equally beloved of Vendée Globe racers and leaving-it-all-behind world cruisers, Nautix’s highly-regarded range of specialist yacht finishes is hitting the international mainstream
Most sailors know Nautix antifouling. They’ve built a great reputation for that in the last 40 years starting from scratch – good going for a small business in Brittany with just 26 staff and a background in windsurf accessories, competing against multinationals. But they don’t just make antifoul. They’ve also developed a wide, innovative range of complete hull protection systems, above and below the waterline, for virtually all hull materials and types of boat.
The full range includes adhesion promoters for GRP, carbon, steel and aluminium, impregnation resins for composites, wood and cast iron, primers for waterproofing and abrasion resistance, undercoats, epoxy fillers for fairing and finishing, thinners, top coats, varnishes and non-skid deck paints. Nearly all of these are optimised for a specific purpose.
‘A key success factor is our close relationships with skippers and boatyards,’ says Matthieu Taburet, co-CEO and commercial director. ‘We develop really specific products, quite unique, which makes our reputation. The development of a Nautix product never stops, it’s always an evolution in research, in development, in formulation.’ A large percentage of turnover is invested in R&D every year, both in-house and in partnership with the University of South Brittany.
Their first paint product, A4T Speed, a hard matrix antifoul with very low drag, initially designed for grand prix raceboats, has been in continuous development for 30 years (and counting). A specialised variant, A9T Speed, was also born out of discussions with ocean racers who needed high-vis fluorescent antifouling for keel fins and rudders to aid rescue after a capsize. A9T Speed also makes it much easier to inspect appendages for flotsam during a race, and its use is now mandatory in some classes.
The inspiration for another pair of game-changing products, PO and PA primers, was the often relentlessly rainy Breton weather. ‘Local boatyards were facing a problem,’ Taburet says. ‘They couldn’t paint in bad weather.’ Epoxy primers must be applied in a narrow band of temperature and need low humidity, but no alternative was available. ‘For 20 years we’ve been the only supplier offering a one-pot PU primer for adhesion and protection against corrosion or osmosis,’ Taburet says. ‘It’s unique in the market and it’s so easy to use: a no sanding solution.’ It’s also the only one-pot primer that can be overcoated with two-pack epoxy or PU paints.
Below: Nautix primers solve a range of problems, from adhesion on masts and keel fins to dealing with osmosis and corrosion

PA and PO are two in a range of seven Nautix primers including universal one-pot, three different two-pack epoxy systems and spray paint for propellers and saildrives. The two-pack primers were developed for boatbuilders who needed a cure for porosity in carbon hulls, but are now used widely for osmosis prevention.
Major production boatbuilders feed their own needs into Nautix’s R&D, but so do individual skippers. ‘We got a phone call from Roland Jourdain who had a huge problem with non-slip during the Vendée Globe,’ Taburet recalls. ‘He had to call his team whenever he went on deck, telling them if he didn’t call back in 10 minutes, that meant he was in the water.’
To solve that, Nautix developed transparent non-slip deck paint, so sponsors’ graphics are clearly visible without compromising sailors’ safety. ‘It’s now a standard product used on many boats and we have adapted it for different parts of the deck,’ Taburet says. ‘In the cockpit you need very hard non-skid paint; on the side decks it’s a bit softer to avoid rope abrasion.’
Another unique and functional product is CoolBlack, developed with BASF on behalf of Alex Thompson Racing. With any other paint system, black decks are impractical due to extreme heat absorption. BASF had an infra-red transparent black pigment and an infra-red reflecting white, which when used together reduce the heating effect by 30 per cent, ‘but they didn’t have experience in marine paint application, so Alex Thompson’s team introduced them to us and we helped with the formulation.’
Metapox and Metathane adhesion promoters are the key to the remarkable success of Nautix paint systems on surfaces that were once widely considered impossible or impractical to paint. Again, the initial requests came from racing teams who were struggling to paint their stainless steel keel fins but a growing number of professional applicators are using them on aluminium masts, and others have discovered a technique with Nautix PO primer that works equally well.
‘Whether you’re a pro racer or an amateur skipper I’m always happy to talk by phone or email because it’s our job to explain and to be close to our customers, to offer the right solution,’ Taburet says. ‘We’re always learning from skippers who use our products and thus we improve them step by step.’
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