Collisions and draft limits with ROB WEILAND

In the heat of the Mediterranean summer the 52 Super Series is now in Puerto Portals where the 10 TP52s stick out like extraterrestrial beings between the hundreds of motoryachts moored in this popular marina.

It is, however, a good place to race from. The boats are close to the sailors’ lounge area, close to their containers and close to the shops, restaurants and bars with tourists parading the promenades. Add a few palm trees, beaches and plenty of accommodation and you get the picture. Never a dull moment, certainly not on the water, where the sea breeze functions like clockwork this year with all of the boats dialled into the conditions with consistently impressive levels of precision.

During the practice race we had our first and hopefully last accident of this year, a collision that took Xio Hurakan out for the duration of the event. Her port side carbon rigging was severed cleanly by a bowsprit wiping over her deck at the shrouds.

Since the changeover to composite rigging we have seen more damage with rigging than we did previously with Nitronic rod. Not surprisingly as rod rigging has gone through decades of evolution whereas composite rigging only recently moved into the smaller sizes of raceboats.

Most of the damage has been operator related. The learning curve is steep but I feel we stepped onto the train at the right moment and for sure we should not get out at the next station but enjoy the benefits of composite rigging and learn to avoid the pitfalls. The accident was resolved onshore in an amicable way and all is now focused on getting Xio Hurakan back in racing mode before the TP52 Worlds in Mahon, Menorca, in September.

Following recent ponderings, on cost and time supposedly being the main causes of the decline in numbers racing in international events, I feel there is easily as much blame that can be laid in the other corner, of too much money creating too high a level of equipment and sailing that in turn equally undermines potential interest.

Especially when racing on corrected time, so not within any class rules, there is not much control of spending. Within a class structure one has a little more grip by setting rules aimed at cutting or containing costs, as well as by creating an event schedule that is friendly in terms of the logistics.

Racing on corrected time, no matter which rating rule, invites non-stop spending on your boat and sails. There is always that next step one can make in optimising crew, boat and sails, especially in the absence of any limit on the number of certificates issued or of any dimensional limits as employed in a box rule.

To take one typical example, it is recognised that adding draft is an area of performance-over-rating gain in IRC. This obviously brings with it expensive and practical consequences – unless IRC soon introduces some limits that are in line with what is currently out there racing today.

Main picture: trimmer’s nightmare. The highly complex graphics on Richard Mille watches’ European boss Peter Harrison’s Sorcha would stand good comparison with the best naval camouflages employed in the Battle of the Atlantic 70 years ago.

Above: Grand prix fleet, grand prix venue, the TP52s pay the quasi-ritualistic annual visit to Porto Cervo now enjoyed by most premier fleets

Besides spiralling costs one has to worry about both safety and marina access. Typically in the 52ft size range it pays to go deeper than the 3.5m TP52 class limit if you are focusing on IRC; but only of course if the deeper draft is matched by not just a longer fin but also adjustments in bulb weight, boat weight and, I guess for the very top end, further adjustments aloft in sail shapes and trim.

It is a trend that potentially was always there and in which the TP52 class pointed the way by increasing the class draft limit, reducing the boat weight and increasing sail area.

But if one is not restricted by class rules and event rules, nor by issues of funding, it can be a long and winding road before one realises that optimisation never stops, since part of it is driven by what your competitors do and another part by the rulemakers’ nasty habit of moving the goalposts if they feel that the sailors are getting too close to weaknesses in their handiwork.

If you then also race inshore as well as offshore and realise gains can be made by optimising differently for those formats (and not just in the sail department) then it will be demotivating to see how limitless funding indeed can buy speed and rating advantage.

Also, rating rules do not recognise the importance of holding a lane in traffic, or of fast manoeuvring, and so what on paper seems a fair rating can in practice offer good scope for advantage for those prepared to ‘invest’ more heavily.

With class rules, if you can convince the members, you can to some extent control extreme spending, or at least moderate the pace and point the strategic bow in a more sensible direction with the focus on longterm progress. Easy to set a limit on draft, use of materials, bulb and keel

maximum weight, and so on. However, there comes a moment when one gets too far out of phase with trends and taking advantage of rating imperfections (like on draft) that, with a class like the TP52, where our boats find their principal secondhand market in the corrected time arena, you are more or less forced to streamline things in anticipation of your after-market.

Of course, where this streamlining directs us in undesirable directions we can try to make the rulemakers see the light, but there we are often viewed as the odd uncle with the Ferrari at a party of family members arriving in Mondeos.

The medium-term effect of not catering for the true racers is, however, a continuous flow of money down a drain that creates more frustration than fun. Of course, trying to outspend the competition is at the root of the frustration and a quick look in the mirror is needed here. But I feel the rule administrators can help by setting even some arbitrary limits that for a certain number of years will help to stabilise typeforming and thus spending.

And maybe, as with draft, it also helps us to find a berth at the events that we like to race. Commercial harbours are not really palm tree resorts…

My five cents’ worth.

Rob Weiland, TP52 class manager

Click here for more information on 52 Super Series »

We look forward to the Yacht Racing Forum in November 2016

The premier conference for the global yacht racing industry will take place in Malta on 28-29 November. The only major business-to-business conference to bring together the sport’s key players, the Forum encourages business development through quality networking opportunities with decision makers from all sectors of the industry. This annual two-day event draws together sailing’s key personalities and experts to discuss the business of the sport as well as the critical wider issues of sponsorship, television, media, sustainability, new markets and event hosting by venues.

Above: For each conference module the usual healthy, informed opening statements and brief exchanges from the stage will this year be followed by more time for the audience Q&A than has been the case previously – one of many refinements for the ninth edition of the Yacht Racing Forum

Many of the most active brands and stakeholders have already confirmed their participation in the ninth edition of this increasingly popular gathering of the great and the good. It’s not an exaggeration that the Forum has evolved steadily into a must-do event for organisers, sponsors, sailing teams, technical providers, venues, yacht clubs and agencies involved in the yacht racing industry at all levels and in all its many and varied guises. And for those who can arrive a few days early, this year’s Forum has the added attraction of being preceded by the 2016 RC44 Valetta Cup.

The 2016 conference is split into four modules
1. Chaired by America’s Cup commentator Tucker Thompson (USA), the opening conference will focus on marketing and media, with individual debates and separate presentations around social media, television and sponsorship. This module will also include well-informed updates on event and boat branding and design.
2. The second module, on Monday afternoon, will be chaired by Richard Moore (GBR), the founding director of ESA, the European Sponsorship Association and currently CEO of the Alter Group, who will lead a discussion on event management, with a focus on the event management challenges common to many different sports as well as related issues such as sustainability and its perception.
3. The morning of day two is dedicated to risk management and safety. Sailing has changed dramatically over the past five years, with the arrival of faster foiling boats being accompanied by ever-closer action out on the water. Chaired by outgoing Volvo Ocean Race CEO Tom Touber (NED), this seminar will challenge the sport and its participants about awareness of such dramatic change. Are class managers, event organisers and clubs ready to adapt? Where does the sport’s governing body sit and in which aspects will it commit to taking the lead? And perhaps the key area going forward… emerging legal considerations.
4. Chaired by Seahorse editor Andrew Hurst (GBR), the final module on Tuesday afternoon will focus widely on both the top of the sport and the future of yacht racing more generally. At one end of the spectrum this seminar will encompass the resurgence in match racing, the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup, but of equal significance it will look carefully at ways to encourages growth throughout such a large sporting pyramid.

In parallel with the Yacht Racing Forum, the Design & Technology Symposium will take place on Monday 28 November. This will once again be hosted by Seahorse USA correspondent Dobbs Davis and will focus on technological developments, including safety innovations, foils and flying boats and rigid sails. There will also be a look into the crystal ball to see what new construction materials may be on the horizon.

And now with World Sailing
World Sailing and the Yacht Racing Forum have just confirmed a new longterm partnership. While retaining full editorial independence, future Forums will benefit from World Sailing’s unrivalled access network and sporting influence.

Also looking ahead, the venue for the 2017 Yacht Racing Forum has been confirmed as Aarhus, Denmark, following which the common objective of the Forum and World Sailing is to organise a combined conference for 2018 and beyond, with the Yacht Racing Forum opening up World Sailing’s traditional seven-day annual gathering.

‘Our future arrangement should deliver added value to all those involved in either event,’ says World Sailing CEO Andy Hunt. ‘Commercial partners will benefit from better visibility while attendance at both conferences will be boosted. A joint event will combine the institutional side of the sport with its business, participant and commercial activities. The new format will further stimulate debate, networking and business ahead of World Sailing’s own decision-making international meetings.’

Involved alongside the Yacht Racing Forum since its debut in 2008 in Monaco, the sport’s governing body recently laid out its own two-year modernisation draft. The new partnership with the Forum is part of this commercial strategy, aimed at strengthening the ties between World Sailing and as many of the key actors as possible across this incredibly diverse sport.

‘The Yacht Racing Forum is important for the entire international yacht racing community and we are delighted to accelerate our involvement’, adds Hunt. ‘The Forum pulls together the most active participants from all around the world and so gives us the opportunity to meet people and organisations who aren’t necessarily in regular touch with the federation.’

A nice place too
Co-hosted for 2016 by Yachting Events and Yachting Malta, Yacht Racing Forum 2016 will take place at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Hotel. Situated some 80km south of the toe of Italy, Malta is a beautiful venue and easy to reach thanks to its well-served modern airport. Two languages are in use among its 450,000-strong population – Maltese and English – and this southern European island boasts a fine climate as well as wonderful waters for sailing, cruising and yacht racing. Sadly, not something that our delegates or speakers will have time for during this particular visit…

Click here for more information on the Yacht Racing Forum 2016  »

During the 2013 America’s Cup the four teams were improvising frantically to improve the endplate effect at the bottom of their rigs. In the A-Class 2016 world champion Mischa Heemskerk has taken the time to do things properly

My dad first took me on his catamaran when I was just four years old. By the time that I was eight I was crewing for him in all of his races. As I was a little muppet he made all kinds of adjustments in his boat’s systems to allow me to operate them, being rather small and weak! It is from him that I developed my philosophy of always asking the question, why is it this way? Always searching for the fundamental problem as well as the actual purpose of every item.

My dad set me the example to follow and today any gift I have lies in identifying the real problem areas (variables) and finding improvements.

My dad always pushed the limits and kept searching for the next thing; we had many discussions about the theory of why something should be a certain way and which laws of physics were relevant. I love exploring and testing – in my opinion there are no problems, there are only solutions.

I started Mischa Sails 26 years ago in our garage. I bought an industrial sewing machine because no sailmaker was then prepared to help us develop the rig for our self-built 23ft carbon catamaran Dominator. I also have a degree in mechanical engineering which is a great foundation for the work that I do, allowing me to calculate for myself the forces involved and how to resolve them.

Yes, yes, we do know that he’s Argentinian... Sebastian Carlini is a relatively new name on the international design stage but he served his time – 18 years – working alongside Germán Frers in Buenos Aires. With an immaculately researched 32ft regatta winner now under his belt, Carlini deserves a much wider hearing

What became the Trentadue production project was born out of a request from an existing client for a one-off 10m design with which he could win the most important offshore championship in South America, the Circuito Atlántico Sur Rolex Cup, run under both IRC and ORC and held at the seaside resort of Punta del Este in Uruguay. The client also asked for reasonable cruising accommodation for family sailing so, to be successful, the new boat would need to achieve that elusive and delicate balance between great performance and a reasonable level of comfort.

Having received the original commission a couple of years ago, the challenge of designing an ‘IRC winner’ was accepted. Soon after starting design work we also agreed with the client that Piermarine Yachts would build the new vessel.

However, a few short months later and word of our project had clearly slipped out… in a period of a few weeks Piermarine had taken deposits for a further nine examples of the design. And all that we had done by then was to make some plans and early renders available to the sailing public!