September 2020
FEATURES
Heaven on earth
CARLO BORLENGHI
Overstepping the mark
ANDREW MCCIRVINE is not impressed when the sport’s governing body tries to stop owners enjoying their boats; and scares race organisers
Prolific
It all started with the little Ragtime… CAROL CRONIN sits down with J/Boats founder ROD JOHNSTONE
Knife, gunfight
The new Bieker Moth is a thing of beauty; this we know already. And now we know it’s fast, too. PAUL BIEKER, LEOPOLD FRICKE and THOMAS HAHN
Seeds of battle
Back in the old days people really did fall out properly… then say what they thought without fear of the Twitter undead. So when UFFA FOX appeared on the yachting scene almost 100 years ago the establishment was ready to be rocked, especially his design rival FRANK MORGAN GILES. CLAIRE MCCOMB picks up the story
Setting the record – Part III
BRUCE FARR in the ascendant, the golden years of IAIN MURRAY and Color 7, the pure speed of DAVE PORTER and the first glimpses of a BETHWAITE tornado… FRANK QUEALEY
TECH STREET
REGULARS
Commodore’s letter
STEVEN ANDERSON
Editorial
ANDREW HURST
Update
Racing the AC75s, why wand controls are old hat and the forgotten brilliance of JOHN GILL and WALT WALTERS, racing through the Battle of Jutland and an Italian Volvo Race veteran trying hard to make a (sensible) difference. CHARLES LAWRENCE, JACK GRIFFIN, FRANCESCO BERTONE, GIULIANO LUZZATTO, TERRY HUTCHINSON, FRANCESCA CLAPCICH
World news
A nail-biting finish promises an ‘interesting’ solo round-the-world lap (but life onboard is getting ridiculously hard), scary fast L’Occitane, Class40s around again, successful first flight in Kiwi land, from skiffs to Newport to Freo (before bumping into DENNIS). Plus where now for the US college sailing scene?PATRICE CARPENTIER, IAIN MURRAY, ARMEL TRIPON, DOBBS DAVIS, THOMAS RUYANT, SAM DAVIES, BIANCA COOK, IVOR WILKINS, BLUE ROBINSON, MITCH BRINDLEY
IRC – The more is not always the merrier
Trust is at a premium when you mix a virus with a Maxi world championship. JAMES DADD
RORC news – Still sad
But might the Caribbean perhaps now beckon? EDDIE WARDEN-OWEN
Seahorse build table – French touch
German skipper JOËRG RIECHERS is preparing to take on the French (with the help of the French)
Seahorse regatta calendar
Sailor of the Month
No racing? That’s certainly news for some
A blend of all the talents

The marriage of the champion young Italian yacht designer Matteo Polli and the strong, successful and well-proven technical team at Grand Soleil really is now delivering some remarkable yachts
A new yacht launched by Grand Soleil is bound to generate a bit of a buzz. The Italian marque’s parent company Cantiere del Pardo has enjoyed a remarkable run of popularity and commercial success over the last six years, easily outpacing the market as a whole and steadily growing its revenue while some of its rivals have declined. The shipyard’s strategy boils down to releasing one new model a year, alternating between its two parallel ranges of yachts, the Long Cruise and Performance series. This year’s launch of the Grand Soleil 44 Performance – announced back in January at Boot Düsseldorf and due to make its début at Cannes in September – has drawn more interest than usual because Matteo Polli is now involved. To back up the hype, it’s worth noting that even before the official announcement of the new model, half a dozen of these yachts were already sold off plan.
Polli’s designs have dominated ORC handicap racing in recent years, often with the designer himself on board. Working first with Cossutti and then heading up his own eponymous yacht design agency, he has drawn the two most successful designs in ORC history with six world championship wins and podium results at most major regattas for more than a decade.
The design brief for the GS 44 Performance, Polli’s first yacht for Grand Soleil, demanded the almost impossible: a genuinely competitive cruiser-racer with the potential to beat purpose-built racing yachts in toplevel competition. As any experienced racing sailor will tell you, when yachts are marketed in those terms they all too often turn out to offer the worst, rather than the best, of both worlds.
Not only that, but the GS 44 Performance also had to be stylish and elegant with a high-volume hull… and in cruising mode it had to be easy for an average family crew to sail in all conditions. That was a daunting brief although perhaps less so for Polli, who has managed to do it several times before.
‘It was a challenging project,’ he admitted at the press conference in Düsseldorf. ‘But I think I have found the best possible compromise between cruising ability and potential racing results.’ The design process involved a lot of high-resolution CFD modelling with software tools recently developed for the Luna Rossa America’s Cup team. Four different hull geometries were extensively tested to find the sweet spot between the key parameters of performance, easy handling and rating optimisation. While the latter was certainly a constraint, Polli said there was never any question of designing a slow boat for a rating advantage.
The resulting hull is of course carefully optimised for IRC and ORC racing. Its key features include a long stern overhang, a voluminous bow, a flat bottom, vertical topsides amidships and a fairly narrow aft waterplane with prodigiously flared aft quarters and four metres of beam. This gives the boat a long waterline and ample form stability at moderate angles of heel while minimising the wetted area in light airs. Exterior styling is by Nauta Design, who also designed the interior. It’s an elegant enough shape to carry its high-volume interior with genuine grace and it’s unmistakably a Grand Soleil when viewed from any angle.
Various sailplan configurations were also explored and a range of different mast positions were investigated during the CFD phase of the design process. It became clear that stepping the mast further aft with a larger foretriangle would deliver several benefits. Most important, there was a performance advantage. Balance was also improved, especially in choppy water. Third, it turned out to be better for the boat’s ORC rating, too. ‘We discovered that it gave better acceleration when coming out of tacks and allowed us to reduce the height of the mast,’ he said. ‘And a lower centre of gravity is also an advantage for cruising.’
To satisfy all aspects of the design brief two different versions of the Grand Soleil 44 Performance will be available, with different sailplans, deck plans and different accommodation down below. This follows the precedent set by the Grand Soleil 48 Performance, which is also offered in two distinct versions.
The fully race-optimised version of the 44 has a taller carbon rig, transverse headsail sheeting tracks, six winches and much simpler, less luxurious living quarters below decks to reduce the boat’s overall displacement weight. The cruiserracer version has a shorter rig with alloy spars, a self-tacking jib and a simpler deck layout with lines led back to four winches just forward of the helm. Moving the mast step aft also enabled the interior design team to enlarge the yacht’s saloon and twin aft cabins. Three keel options are available with draughts ranging from 2.4m (ORC), 2.6m (standard) to 2.8m (IRC).
On deck
Up at the sharp end, a bolted-on carbon bowsprit adds more than a metre to the yacht’s overall length and houses a stainless steel frame that projects the bow roller far enough forward to keep the anchor well clear of the stem. A through-deck headsail furler sits on the stemhead and a nice pair of pop-up deck cleats fold down flush when not in use.
The toerail is wide enough for comfortable hiking – also useful for mounting any extra blocks or fittings. There’s a nice flat expanse of laid teak to give a secure footing for sail changes and other foredeck work, and the main forehatch is a decent size for dragging sails through.

The cruiser-racer version has a classic Nauta interior with white hull liners and light hardwood veneer.
Above: the saloon is a comfortable home in port.
Below: the forecabin has a cosy queen size double berth with through-hull windows that give a good view without having to lift your head off the pillow.

The low-profile coachroof rises subtly above the deck about a metre forward of the mast with two small flush hatches and a recessed, slightly curved track for the self-tacking jib. Just aft of the mast two short, straight transverse tracks serve as sheet leads for the genoa. Ducts in the cabin top lead 12 lines back to the cockpit from the base of the mast. A neat idea on the sidedecks is the row of red LED lights discreetly mounted on the inboard-facing side of the toerail, helping crew to avoid any trip hazards when going forward in the dark while preserving their night vision.
The cockpit is substantially longer than on previous models of a similar size. In typical Grand Soleil style, it’s split into two areas with a safe, comfortably cushioned passenger zone forward and a working area aft, although the the race version has winches in the forward part of the cockpit, too. The headsail sheets run through the high coamings that surround the forward half of the cockpit, emerging in front of a beefy pair of hydraulic winches at the forward end of the working cockpit with a couple of sheet bins on hand to prevent a snakes’ wedding of tangled rope on the cockpit sole. The mainsail is sheeted to an almost full-beam track recessed into the sole just forward of the twin wheels. A single adjustable backstay is anchored in the middle of the open transom.
On the racing version, a pair of winches mounted on the forward cockpit coamings and another pair on the aft end of the coachroof give a wider range of sail-trimming options for a full crew. The cruiser-racer version has all four winches within easy reach of the helm so that for shorthanded cruising, the helmsman can effectively sail the boat solo with headsail and mainsail sheets to hand.
Down below
A lightweight, stripped-out racing interior is of course available. The dual-purpose alternative is a full cruising interior with a three-cabin layout clad in white hull liner panels and light hardwood veneer, with proper fiddles on most surfaces and ample stowage throughout including plenty of eye-level lockers and wellengineered drawers. All cabins and the saloon have decent-sized through-hull windows to let light in and give a good view out.
The cruiser-racer version has the master cabin up forward with an aftfacing queen-sized island bed and a private en suite heads. There’s also a big sail locker in the forepeak. The saloon has an eight-seater dinette with a straight settee opposite. Abaft the companionway is the main heads and separate shower to starboard and a large, L-shaped galley with fullsize appliances to port. It’s classic Nauta design, practical for use offshore and comfortable in port, with Grand Soleil build quality.
Who says you can’t have it all? We await the GS44 Performance’s first racing results with interest.
Click here for more information on Grand Soleil »
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Don’t jump to conclusions

Just because an extremely quick multihull sailor decides to spend some time checking out the cruising lifestyle does not mean for a moment that they have any intention of slowing down...
What sort of boat does a high-performance sailing connoisseur choose when it’s time to go cruising? Gunboat’s mission is to fill that particular niche; it drove the luxury performance segment of the multihull market and has raised the bar significantly with its latest model, the Gunboat 68.
The owner of the third 68 launched is an international businessman with a wealth of offshore and inshore racing experience including the Mini- Transat and Solitaire du Figaro, six Bol d’Or wins and two M2 Speed Tour victories on Lake Geneva, plus recent forays into foiling multihull racing in the Flying Phantom Ultimate and A-Cat classes. He also runs and manages Team Tilt, a Swiss sailing squad with current Olympic and GC32 campaigns. For a sailor of this calibre, even in long-distance cruising mode, a full carbon rocket ship is required.
It’s easy to gauge the success of a straight-up racing catamaran: it’s all about boatspeed and regatta results. It’s more complex for a semi-custom cruiser-racer. Speed and wins are obviously important but there’s a wide range of other considerations, one of which is the versatility of the platform. That’s why Gunboat puts so much emphasis on getting the key design and engineering decisions absolutely right at the start of the development process for a new model.
For the 68, Gunboat created a series of tightly interwoven design loops involving its own build team, naval architects VPLP, designers Patrick Le Quément and Christophe Chedal Anglay, and key external suppliers. Rather than designing in the usual broad strokes, the designers were asked to work with far greater attention to detail, creating exact 3D models of everything. All equipment and systems were ideally positioned and fully integrated, all cable runs were optimally routed and two fully engineered rig packages were created before the build of the first boat began.

The hull structure is designed to handle the differently distributed tack and halyard loads of both rig packages, using either cabled or cable-less sails to give owners a lot of flexibility. And so on, with unusual attention to every detail. The result is a remarkably versatile platform that allows buyers to place the cursor precisely where they want it in terms of performance, complexity, comfort and luxury while retaining the reliability and efficiency of a semicustom build.
The first three owners took this versatility in different directions: 6801 is the ultimate grand tourer with all performance, equipment and luxury options ticked; 6802 is a pure performance cruiser; and 6803 is a racing sailor’s idea of the ideal cruiser, built and fitted out with a greater focus on weight saving than the previous two. Gunboat’s chief operating officer William Jelbert manages this process with a focus on weight savings and build quality that’s on par with the best grand prix race builds.
‘Whenever we discussed an option with the owner of 6803, he wanted to know how much it would weigh,’ Jelbert says. ‘We avoided the weight of a genset by using maximum solar and regeneration instead, feeding the latest generation of batteries.’
Gunboat has created a tool to help owners evaluate various features of the boat, their impact on energy requirements in different scenarios (sailing, at anchor and so on), and make educated decisions on amenities, systems design and redundancy. More weight was saved through smart decisions by the owner, such as fitting air conditioning in the hulls but not in the bridgedeck (which already has very good ventilation) and not installing a dishwasher.
Another smart decision by the owner of 6803 was to make the huge expanse of trampolines configurable as an open-air lounge area with lightweight fold-away furniture and an awning above, which dramatically increases the (already very large) amount of usable living space when the yacht is in port or at anchor.
Most multihull builders find that their typical buyers are unwilling to spend more than €100 to save one kilogram of weight, but Gunboat owners understand its impact on performance and are often willing to spend €500 per kilo – or even more to save a kilo in the rig where it matters most. And it’s worth noting that the interior of a Gunboat is already engineered to weigh a ton and a half less than a typical cruising cat’s accommodation without any compromise on comfort.
In this case the weight savings keep 6803 on the highestperformance side of the spectrum while still accommodating an elaborate watersports element to their cruising programme - including a dive compressor and six bottles, surfboards and kiteboards.
Having a client with grand prix sailing credentials is a great motivator for a team building a high-performance yacht. However, Jelbert is accustomed to prospective buyers sending their agents, who are usually boatbuilders or professional sailors or both, to check out his shipyard and ask difficult questions. The owner of 6803 sent two industry titans, Bertrand Cardis of Décision and Groupe Carboman – builder of Alinghi America’s Cup challengers, Volvo 65s and more – and Edouard Kessi – inventor of 3Di sail technology – who both turned up in person to assess the Gunboat facility and team. ‘We’d just had everything NDTed and Bertrand was impressed with the quality,’ Jelbert recalls. ‘Naturally we were thrilled to have these legends of the industry come over – I was pretty nervous to say the least. Getting their stamp of approval meant as much to us as it did to the owner,’ he says.
Gunboat’s approach is to boost its own in-house capabilities and expertise by forging strong partnerships with other top-of-theindustry companies – the world’s leading naval architects, designers, composite engineers, sailmakers, spar builders, riggers, equipment suppliers and so on – to deliver the best possible quality, performance, safety and luxury. As one of the shipyard’s key suppliers commented: ‘They do procurement properly, like the top racing teams.’

Above: the third generation of Gunboats are made in a new, purpose-built shipyard at La Grande Motte on the south coast of France. All Gunboats are semi-custom builds, fully engineered to standard designs but with great potential for owners to customise their yacht.
Below: in port and at anchor, the vast expanse of trampolines forward of the mast becomes an open-air lounge with lightweight fold-away furniture

For example 6803's high-modulus prepreg carbon spars are built by Lorima, which also supplies many of the world record-holding multihull and monohull ocean racers. The two rig package options are optimised by Rigging Projects, whose custom hardware solutions on grand prix racers and superyachts have earned a stellar reputation: for 6803 a groundbreaking, genuinely failsafe new main halyard lock was designed and fitted. 6803’s sails were project managed by Pierre-Yves Jorand, the team director of Alinghi and head of North Sails Switzerland. Top-of-theindustry quality follows suit down to the details, where small but important deck fittings, like padeyes, are machined from high-grade titanium.
On the water, the remarkable stiffness of the 68’s platform translates directly into a very noticeable improvement in both performance and seakeeping. ‘The transfer of energy from the sails through the daggerboards is impressive,’ says Spike Abram, former captain of the first-generation Gunboat Tribe and now the shipyard’s brokerage manager. ‘Sailing on 6801 Condor, the more we pushed the more the boat loved it. Other boats get a bit tender and jumpy when you push, she just performed.’
Much of the credit for this engineering triumph is due to VPLP, says Gunboat’s head of engineering, Stéphane Renard. The 68’s structure is unusually intricate with many small bulkheads and ribs rather than a few big ones – and it’s a lot stiffer as a result. ‘This translates when you’re sailing offshore passages,’ Abram says. ‘Stiff, safe, secure, bulletproof – it’s just a really great boat to sail. VPLP’s way of transitioning from the V on the reverse bows into the flat part of the hull means that the boat moves through the waves really easily. It doesn’t seem to decelerate and allows enough buoyancy that the bows don’t bury, and it just gives the boat a beautiful motion.’
Professional sailor Scotty Bradford – another ex-Gunboat captain who helped deliver Condor and was back on board for the boat’s first race, the NYYC 175th Anniversary Regatta – is equally impressed. ‘I love the way it goes through a chop, both upwind and down,’ he said. ‘And the way the luff tension is maintained on the flying jibs as the wind increases makes those sails way more effective and is a real performance benefit.’
A third ex-Gunboat captain, pro sailor Anthony Kotoun, was also aboard for the NYYC regatta and describes the 68 as ‘the best example yet of a turn-key grand prix yacht. It was fast, reliable and did what we asked of it. It can take years to get a boat sorted enough to compete at the top level and the Gunboat 68 did it out of the package.’
With the cruising and racing potential of the Gunboat 68 fully validated and a fourth boat launching early in 2021, the Gunboat shipyard has an even more ambitious project in the pipeline: it’s time to start work on a larger, spectacular third-generation model. The new Gunboat 80 was still fully under wraps as this issue of Seahorse went to press but all will be revealed soon – watch this space.
Click here for more information on Gunboat »
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 perfect label

In a still-growing field Mark Speirs’ team at Performance Classic Yachts are doing an exceptional job of delivering genuinely exciting sailing performance with the most elegant blend of aesthetic styles
To see Performance Classic Yachts’ PC66 as an elegant, sedate, traditionally styled cruiser may be an accurate first impression, but it would also be to seriously underestimate this yacht’s true capabilities.
From the plumb bow and fixed bowsprit alone it is easy to see the design influence of traditional pilot cutters and the smacks of the 19th century. But as your eyes are drawn aft to the angular style of the superstructure, be it either the deckhouse or the flush deck version, along with the long sweeping overhang and the counter stern, each provides subtly different classic details to form an impressive and striking overall appearance that is greater than the sum of the parts. And yet this is a design that is about far more than just looks.
‘The exhilarating feeling one gets from helming a responsive yacht is the exception not the rule these days,’ says PC Yachts’ founder and CEO Mark Speirs. ‘And while we all enjoy charging along in a good stiff breeze, I think the sensation of perfect balance and trim, especially when sailing in light winds, is what separates the ordinary from the excellent. So for me, the ability of the yachts to be first and foremost terrific sailing boats is where we start with all of our models.’
In an era where internal volume and aggressive looks on the outside are two cornerstones of contemporary style and where performance and handling often get pushed further down the list of priorities, it is refreshing to hear of a cruising yacht builder that aligns its priorities in this way. Yet there is still no avoiding the fact that when you see any of their yachts, it is the distinctive looks that grab you first. Under the skin though, such details make their own contribution to a technical specification and performance that will take you by surprise.
While the plumb bow helps to create a long waterline length, the bowsprit allows the genoa tack set at the extremity of the bow, maximising the foretriangle area. The result is a contribution to an impressive sail area -to-displacement (SA:D) ratio that is well in excess of some more modernlooking performance cruisers. When it comes to displacement, the PC66 weighs in at around 23,500kg, lower than several of her more modernlooking rivals. So, with a decent sailplan, a modest displacement and an impressive ballast figure of 8,500kg, it is clear that the basic data provides evidence that the C66 has the potential to deliver an impressive performance.
The VPP data backs this up. Upwind in 10kts she slices along at 8kts which increases to 9kts in 20kts of true wind. Off the breeze she matches the true wind speed in 10kts at 110° true and peaks at just over 12kts in 20kts true. The PC66 is clearly no slouch.
The concept began after Speirs had been impressed by the distinctive style of the 37ft Wally Nano and commissioned Hoek Design to create a 66-footer in a similar style. After taking delivery and cruising it extensively for two years he received plenty of flattering compliments about his boat, convincing him that there was a market for this type and size of custom-built cruiser. But it was a call from someone he had met on his travels who said that they wanted to build a new 66 that drove the message home. So, as the lines of the next 66 took shape, so PC Yachts was born.
Launched in 2014, PC661 Mazu was built in wood-cored epoxy using West System, while the 2018 PC662 Sultana was built using carbon skins with Gurit Coracell M-foam inside the hull and deck, vacuum bagged and supported by a carbon-reinforced grid system.
Such different construction techniques are a clear indication of the versatility that is possible within the range.
‘We are not tied to one method of construction,’ Speirs explained. ‘Instead, we offer our clients the ability to build in a material of their choice from a West System type epoxy wood core to a full carbon composite layup. We believe it is important to be able to adapt when it comes to construction to allow for the varying amounts of equipment that may be installed.
‘Depending on the core material, hulls can be either built on a male mould (wet layup) or infused in a female mould with decks infused in female tooling.’
This ability to work with a range of construction techniques, along with the contemporary underwater configuration where a shallow canoe body, a fin and bulb keel along with a skegless rudder are the norm, are among the ways in which PC yachts can deliver modern performance. Indeed, when you look at the deep, secure cockpit, control lines led aft and the large single wheel it is easy to see how this layout inspires confidence in those who are looking for an elegant cruiser that will be as comfortable and secure on a blue water cruise, as it will be oozing elegance during a daysail in the Mediterranean.
‘To me, a boat has to look right and perform well and that cannot be achieved to the level we are looking for by building using chopped strand mat, polyester resin and heavy plywood bulkheads. It is modern materials and structural engineering techniques that help to bring these boats alive. You only have to look at displacements with others in this size range to see how well we compare.
‘As with any modern composite design, structural engineering is very important and here we work with Mark Bishop of Waterfront Composite Solutions. He is based in the USA and is a very experienced composites engineer having worked on projects such as Ran 7, Leopard 3, Azzam Abu Dhabi while working at the Farr office.’
PC Yachts are built in Turkey by Bodrum-based Metur Yacht. Established in 1983, they have considerable experience in cold moulding using the West System and were the first company to do so in Turkey. Since then, their work has expanded into composite construction and numerous Hoek designs, including for André Hoek himself.

Above: a classic interior, but not as we know it – youʼll never find a vintage yacht with this much natural light down below. Not only that, but those traditional looking bulkheads are actually carbon composite structures.
Below: one of the shipyardʼs latest projects is this 52ft daysailer/racer built from next-generation sustainable materials, weighing in at just 8.2 tonnes

The bottom line is that while their striking appearance and compelling performance figures make for a tantalising prospect, PC Yachts are custom-built boats, which in itself can be an intimidating prospect for clients that haven’t been through the process before.
‘Building a custom boat is a dream for some people, and for many in this group it remains just that,’ continues Speirs. ‘Be it the expectation of high costs and/or the complexity of pulling the project together, it’s easy for them to feel that a one-off boat isn’t on the cards. I know how they feel, so I wanted to alleviate these issues and create a process that clients will not just enjoy, but at a price that will compare well with a production boat. And when it comes to the financial concerns about building abroad, our clients’ contracts are with a UK-based company that is the prime contractor responsible for the fulfillment of the contract, to project-manage the build under UK law.’
At €2million (ex tax) for a fully equipped carbon 66 the cost certainly compares well with others in this size range where base prices can often be 30 per cent higher.
When it comes to the 66’s interior, below decks this boat continues to impress with an interior style created along the lines of a New England beach house. Again, it’s a refreshingly different approach that grabs attention the minute you step below.
‘The first 66 was designed for family cruising, so a large owner’s cabin wasn’t required. Instead, there were four spacious double cabins with a crew cabin forward. Boat number two has two guest cabins aft and an owner’s cabin just forward of the mast and a crew cabin in the forepeak.’
While the 66 has been a natural focus of attention, the company is also busy with several other exciting new projects including a PCr 52ft spirit of tradition daysailer/racer with fun written all over it. Once again, performance is at the heart of this design with an ample 108/223m2 sailplan, a displacement of just 8.2 tonnes, a fin and bulb keel that contributes to a 45 per cent ballast ratio and a skegless spade rudder.
Drawn by Chris Peart, this is also a design that embraces sustainability. The hull is planned in stripped cedar with the possibility of using woven flax as the laminate with a plant-based epoxy while the deck itself uses Lignia instead of teak. The electric propulsion will be from Oceanvolt with a power regeneration system and solar panels.
In addition, the company is currently building its smallest boat yet, a 47ft weekender due to be delivered next year for a Japanese client as well as having a 55 in build.
‘In today’s world where so many boats tend to look similar it is difficult for an owner to make their mark on a boat. And of those that do, some create boats that are so different that they date very quickly. We believe our skill is in being able to bring together performance with distinctive yet timeless looks.’
Click here for more information on Performance Classic Yachts »
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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Nature’s genius

Timber is still perhaps the ultimate composite material... when used with the best of modern technology
Think of a colour that best represents advanced yacht construction and it is hard not to see black. But while carbon composite technology has dominated the sharp end of the sport for many years, when it comes to the range of resins that have been a part of that development, there’s little that West System epoxy hasn’t seen or been involved with in this field.
But it hasn’t just been carbon that has allowed builders to push at the boundaries, some have been combining the latest composites with the oldest of building materials, wood.
As one of the UK's longest running users of West System epoxy, Spirit Yachts is a perfect example. Famous for producing their distinctive range of elegant yachts, one of the key elements in their appeal and success has been the way in which they have blended a traditional style and approach to building with modern techniques and materials.
‘Every one of the 74 yachts they have built has used West System epoxy,’ explains Wessex Resins & Adhesives’ sales director Dave Johnson. ‘And during that time the design and engineering has not just evolved, but Spirit Yachts has been adapting and embracing new materials and techniques.

Spirit Yachts is founded on a winning combination of traditional and modern boatbuilding technologies. Strip-planked hulls are formed and bonded on lightweight laminated frames, then clad with multiple opposing veneers and sheathed in glassfibre to produce a light but robust and long-lasting monocoque structure. The whole process from start to finish relies on West System epoxy. Where carbon fibre components are required, they are built on site with Pro-Set epoxy

‘Aside from the product we supply, we have a close association with them and provide technical support. We help train new staff in the use of products, support new methods and indeed provide support for anything they want to test and trial. In the US we've helped to test panels with the Gougeon Brothers’ Hydromat, which uses water pressure in a Hypalon bag to simulate real life load cases. This has fed back into their design process and helped them to develop their build systems as well as the boats themselves.’
Spirit Yachts’ construction process involves bonding laminated frames and longitudinal strip planks with epoxy, then cladding the planking with multiple opposing veneers before sheathing the hull exterior in glass and epoxy. This produces a very light yet robust and long lasting structure.
‘They’ve grown beyond the original strip plank construction method where you would build the strip plank boat and then sheath it,’ says Johnson. ‘Instead, they have treated the strip plank and veneers as a monocoque wood structure, bonded, laminated and sheathed with epoxy. With lightweight laminated transverse frames and floors the hull is really optimised for weight, lifespan and swiftness of build.
‘They use West System 105 epoxy resin, a fast 205 hardener and some slower 206 hardener, depending on what they're doing. They also add a selection of fillers to create a glue for bonding components or filleting or creating hardware bonding bulkheads to metal fixings. In this case they drill an oversize hole, backfill with epoxy and put a threaded fixing through it. They also use the same epoxy to do the laminating of the sheathing as well. So the system and glass fibre processes are very versatile, one product does many things.’
But as Johnson goes on to explain, there are areas of their work that require a subtly different approach: ‘Spirit Yachts are really embracing modern fibres in conjunction with their builds. It’s a great example of how they are optimising weight without compromising strength or durability ’.
‘For any of the carbon work they use Pro-Set products which have a lower viscosity and longer working times. And that's totally appropriate for when you're working with multiple layers of fibre that need to be wetted out fairly readily, or when you’re building something complex that takes a bit of time and may require vacuum consolidation.
‘Some of the parts are infused as well so they use a combination of both Pro-Set LAM and Pro-Set INF infusion epoxy. You can use West System epoxy with carbon, but the viscosity isn't ideal and the working time is a little bit short. That's where Pro-Set epoxy comes in. It's got the right viscosity for either hand laminating or infusion and a slower hardening system for a nice, relaxed working session.’ The alternatives to carbon of course are more difficult to fabricate on site and much heavier, such as stainless steel.
Sometimes mixing the old with the new is not simply about strength. ‘I've made countless strip-plank rudders for boats at my yacht club,’ Johnson continues. ‘I've made some with a carbon fibre tiller and the combination of lightweight carbon and traditional clear-coated timber works in a way that other mixed materials just don't.
‘Spirit Yachts has built some beautiful boats that have examples of this balance between wood, epoxy and carbon fabrics and they have looked stunning.’ Evidence perhaps that while the colour that shouts hitech might be black, to those of us with a more refined palate the real answer is more complex.
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