September 2021
FEATURES
Barely a taster
JONATHAN EASTLAND
It’s only rock and roll
Seventeen TP52s are lining up in Puerto Portals which is one hell of a way to say ‘We’re back!’ ROB WEILAND
The why as much as the how
With over 40 years’ successful design experience PHILIPPE BRIAND says that it’s time we took a fresh look at some of the underlying fundamentals
They’re all at it
A lot of people have spent a lot of time and money investigating the bigger potential of the solid wing rig. VPLP have to be at the forefront of the pack. MARC VAN PETEGHEM AND PATRICE CARPENTIER
The right stuff
A remarkable story of some remarkable people. DAVID MUNGE looks at the creation of the Junior Offshore Group and shares a little about its remarkable co-founder PATRICK ELLAM
Letting the side down
The first Admiral’s Cup was not raced for in 1957… far from it. CLARE MCCOMB continues her story of the north-south rivalry that drove a lot of the early development in British yachting
Keeping the bastards honest
JULIAN BETHWAITE’S least and most favourite subject is sailmaker selection. But it’s easy to see why the topic is such a confusing itch to scratch
SUPER YACHTS
Chasing the Blue Riband
The new ClubSwan125 Skorpios is the biggest monohull entry in this year’s Fastnet Race and by some way the biggest ClubSwan yet. JUAN K and ENRICO CHIEFFI explain the thinking behind it
TECH STREET
REGULARS
Commodore’s letter
JAMES NEVILLE
Editorial
ANDREW HURST
Update
There’s never been anything else like Reliance, there should have been more like Tippy, the Bella gets going, an astonishing volume of work from the northern neighbours and the Class40 Scows continue to firm up their dominance… Although the ‘hybrid’ did OK too. PETE BURLING, MIKE SANDERSON, JACK GRIFFIN, TERRY HUTCHINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER, CLARE MCCOMB AND ADRIAN MORGAN
World news
Banque Pop put it all on the line (again), going nuts at the 2024 Vendée Globe (already), retro rules, the Ocean Globe filling up fast, a tale of two gentlemen, Alinghi still has it and a hurdygurdy look at the Aegean. DOBBS DAVIS, PATRICE CARPENTIER, MICHAEL BLACKBURN, ANDY MALONEY, JOSH JUNIOR, IVOR WILKINS, BLUE ROBINSON AND PETER GUSTAFSON
Paul Cayard – Time for the hard yards
Looking forward to the Tokyo Games, yes, but what comes after will be much more significant
IMA – Finally
Not even the most majestic of fleets was beyond reach of the pandemic, but like the TP52s it’s time to get back on the water. ANDREW MCIRVINE
IRC – Baby steps
JOE HALL and the HP30 class’s coming of age
TP52 Super Series
A new Super Series… and some returning faces. ANDI ROBERTSON, AUSTIN FRAGOMEN
RORC – A generous man
JEREMY WILTON
Seahorse build table – Spatulicious
A profitable use of budget… SAM MANUARD
Seahorse regatta calendar
Sailor of the Month
Two champions of just pretty much everything
When competition brings luxury

At the heart of the world’s ocean racing capital it’s no surprise they also know a thing or two about creating rather fine large cruising cats...
Who likes the idea of leaving the TP52s behind in a boat that costs half the price and also makes a fantastic family friendly cruiser? Marsaudon Composites’ Ocean Rider Catamarans (ORC) can do all that and more, and their new ORC57 promises to be both the fastest and most comfortable model yet.
Marsaudon Composites are based in Lorient, in the former WW2 submarine base now known as “La Base”. The factory is quite literally a stone’s throw away from many of the fastest boats in the world, some of which were built by Marsaudon Composites themselves. The influence of La Base and this racing heritage is clear to see in every Ocean Rider Catamaran, whose motto of “simplify, then add lightness” was taken from Lotus Cars founder Colin Chapman but for Marsaudon Composites means creating a boat that is extremely fast and extremely comfortable but not necessarily luxurious.
The ORC50 and second-generation ORC42, previously known as the TS5 and TS42 and launched in 2017 and 2020 respectively, have enjoyed unparalleled success on the racecourse. Thirty-three boats have been launched to date, and they have won their class in three of the last four ARCs as well as the last Fastnet Race, Les Voiles de St Bath and Spi Ouest.
Despite its race pedigree, the ORC42 is a very forgiving platform with generous hull volume (at least when compared with an Ultime) which means the boat also performs well when loaded with cruising gear for an extended voyage. For the ORC50 the performance dial was turned up a notch further, leading to a very exciting boat but one that is less forgiving to less experienced crews and has a proportionally lower load carrying capacity.
The Lombard design office was thrilled to be entrusted with the design of the 57, and lead designer Eric Levet says, ‘even though we didn’t design the ORC42 or the ORC50, we were huge fans of the boats. It’s this kind of project that our team gets excited about being involved in. Our challenge was to combine the best elements of the 42 and the 50, and that meant designing a boat that was as easy to use as the 42 but with the performance to match what could be delivered by a scaled-up version of the 50. We’ve invested heavily in the project and I’m confident we’ve delivered on that brief.’
Marsaudon Composites’ CEO Damien Cailliau says, ‘with the 50, 20kts feels quite calm, 25kts feels quite fast but you can still put the pilot on and go inside, whilst 30kts is possible when pushing hard with a race crew,’ so if the 57 is a step up it will be quite something! Polars for the boat, developed independently using Wolfson Unit software, suggest an upwind VMG of more than 9kts is achievable in the right conditions, which means the boat will be a rocket even in this supposed weak spot of multihulls. At 11.3T (light ship), the boat is over 2T lighter than some more expensive boats that might nominally be considered to be in the same category, and when sailing off the wind the ORC57 will have a performance edge that reflects that.
Both the mast (optional carbon version is naturally provided by Lorima, the Imoca mast supplier located next door) and the inclined daggerboards have been moved further aft than on previous models, creating space for a range of different sized headsails and leading to an efficient high aspect-ratio mainsail. This solution should allow for the boat to remain well-balanced and well-mannered under a wide range of different sail configurations depending on the wind conditions and on whether the boat is being cruised or raced.
The design of the Ocean Rider Catamaran range aims to generate a feeling of connection between the sailor and the sea, and aboard the 57 this is enhanced by larger windows than on previous models. The 57 comes with carbon tiller steering as standard, but is the first model in the range to offer a wheel steering option, and this system has been carefully designed to maintain the feeling of connection between the helmsman and the rudder. All sail controls are led back to the helming positions on each side leaving the central cockpit as a rope-free lounge area that is well protected from the elements, in a configuration similar to that on the 50 which has proven very popular with existing owners.

Above and below: the interior of the ORC57 takes live-aboard comfort to a new level while preserving the light weight, high performance DNA of the ORC brand. Extensive use of foam-cored composite furniture saves a lot of weight, while this design also features much larger windows than previous models for increased natural light

Marsaudon Composites employs 82 staff and will produce nine Ocean Rider Catamarans this year. The team now includes an interior designer and structural engineers, as well as a highly skilled build team. These capabilities allow for a semicustom approach, with customers able to modify the interior based on their needs or choose full carbon construction if desired. Even the base version of the ORC57 is made via an infusion out of fibreglass with a PVC core and with substantial carbon reinforcements to increase stiffness where it matters most. The quality of the composite lay-up is a source of great pride within the company, and the finish is so smooth that the need for interior linings to hide the composite work is eliminated. Cailliau has a background in aerospace composites production and his influence is clear to see in an impeccably well organised boatyard.
Interior design has been a major focus of the ORC57 when compared with previous models, with the extensive use of curved foam-cored composite interior furniture providing a soft and elegant touch whilst also saving weight. Indirect LED lighting and leather wardrobe handles add a touch of class, demonstrating once again the company’s dedication to developing solutions that increase comfort whilst reducing weight.
In terms of configuration, while the base version includes four double cabins, an optional “owners’ hull” with double bed aft and large ensuite forward can be added portside. For the first time within the range, the team is also considering a lightweight, low-consumption “air conditioning” option in the cabins and a dedicated skipper/crew cabin with its own en-suite accessed from the deck, as it’s expected that at this size some owners will expect more comfort and more assistance from a professional crew than is the case with smaller models. Washing machines and other appliances can also be specified as options for those with longer distance cruising plans.
Owners of the ORC42 and 50 have found that a large solar panel mounted on the davits generates sufficient energy for all onboard needs in anything but abysmally poor weather, but the 57 has the option of additional roof-mounted solar panels which will likely be needed to power air conditioning if specified.
Cailliau sums up the Ocean Rider Catamaran range: ‘we know that we have a very small niche within the catamaran market, we make boats for sailors who love the sea and the sensation of sailing fast, and who are willing to sacrifice a little bit of luxury for the sake of performance. Amongst our existing client base, I would say the use of the boats is 50/50 between racing and cruising, although most owners do both to a certain extent. We have a very highly skilled workforce who love to sail and who are passionate about building great boats, so for that small niche of sailing enthusiasts looking for a catamaran of this size we have a product that we hope is a long way ahead of any other brand’.
With a base price of €1.1M and a sail-away price of €1.5M including sails and electronics and most other options, the ORC57 offers fantastic value for money, and there are few if any other brands offering models with similar racing and cruising credentials at a similar price. Boats number one and two are already sold and number three is available for autumn 2022, although if you want that one you’ll probably need to get the order in quickly as Marsaudon Composites look like they have another success story on their hands…
Click here for more information on Marsaudon Composites »
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Two handed marks the spot

Two-time winner of the Silverrudder Hans Genthe explains his radical new doublehanded raceboat concept
Aeolos Yachts is addicted to scientific approaches. The base for our yacht design is market research and competitor analysis to understand the customer benefits. Aeolos does not design boats which suit everyone. We build boats which are perfect for a certain target group and which can be produced economically.’
The Aeolos P30 design
Hundreds of hours of optimisation result in a highly optimised shape. Our team tested various modifications of the hull with more rocker and/or more volume in the mid section with different fins and rudders. For all variations we checked the influence on the rating.
- Simple, reliable, light
- Full carbon prepreg (hull, keel, rudder, mast, bowsprit)
- Quick to assemble (without a crane), easy to transport
- Single/doublehanded (OSR2) and inshore racing with six crew
- CE-Norm Category B (offshore), upgrade to Cat A is possible with additional equipment
- Length: 9.14m
- Beam: 2.91m
- Displacement: 1.55t empty but rigged boat without sails and motor
- Sailing displacement: 1.98t doublehanded, fully equipped for three days’ sailing with 160kg crew
- Ballast ratio: more than 50 per cent (800kg)
- Draught: 2.3m to 0.5m
The most difficult issue in good boat design is three-dimensional thinking with heeling and waves. The Aeolos P30 is designed for shorthanded sailing with a crew of two, and for medium-range offshore use (up to 500 miles or two to three days) with a windspeed of 12-14kts (typical Baltic Sea and Solent conditions). The boat also works well around the cans with a crew of five to six.
The trim target is to sail the boat at the design heel angle of 25-30°. At this angle the keel bulb generates an enormous righting moment so you can carry big, powerful sails that produce a lot of forward driving power for much longer than usual.
The major innovation is the flat stern section. When heeled, the exit angle of the stern lines is almost zero, which gives a perfect planing shape. This boat moves through the waves quite smoothly when heeled – the bow section always has the same shape between 0-30° of heel.
One, two or three rudders?
The CFD calculations proved that a single rudder and a close eye on wetted surface is the best for short and medium distance racing in typical wind conditions. The double rudder version is recommended for long distance offshore racing at an average wind speed above 20kts upwind/16kts downwind (with kickup for UFOs: underwater floating objects). The rudder design is inspired by the flippers of humpback whales, which rely on its superior manoeuvrability when catching prey. A foil with tubercles offers safety in high waves because it improves the tolerance for the autopilot, meaning you can carry the big kite for longer. If you are unsure of your intended use, you can choose both systems and switch from single rudder to double rudder and back in a matter of minutes.
In light winds the Aeolos P30’s hull form has little wetted area and a very slender waterline. The circular shape in the front section offers maximum volume with minimum surface area when sailing upright. To improve its light wind performance, the P30 can be easily trimmed with crew weight on the bow to reduce its wetted area still further.
The cockpit layout is optimised for three downwind and upwind crew positions for light, medium and heavy wind. Downwind with light wind the crew stands beside the mast and trims the gennaker directly without winch. The helmsman sits to leeward, steering with the telescopic tiller extension. In heavy winds the crew uses the backstay winch behind the helmsman. The backstay is only necessary for trimming. Downwind the backstay can be left cleated.
Wind resistance increases at the square of speed
Due to the low, round sheerline, the P30’s aerodynamic coachroof has a considerably lower wind resistance than many yachts in this segment. Especially when heeling, the air flow to the jib has less turbulence. That means the jib is much more effective as it has more usable profile/area – and this without rating penalty. If you have to move to the bow in windy conditions you will love this shape, the deck offers an almost horizontal gangway when the boat heels.
The wide transom gives crew weight maximum effect and there’s a great view forward from the helm. In doublehanded mode you sleep in the carbon pipe cot below, with nearly the same righting moment as if sitting on deck with legs outside. The bunks are mounted relatively high at the boat’s widest point.
Protect yourself
A flat deck looks nice and has low wind resistance. But these boats are very, very fast, which means a lot of spray. After two nights in the spray without shelter, you will change your mind about a deckhouse. The P30’s deckhouse will adequately shelter the cockpit and the crew. Its wings hide the clutch bank for the halyards, which are set up so you can hoist the kite from the cabin entrance.
Rating or handling optimisation?
The ORC survey calculates quite accurately - that's why we see more potential to win a race by improving the handling of a boat than to optimise the rating to the last one. The Aeolos P30 allows easy, effortsaving sail changes and continuous trimming, while enabling dry sail changes at sea and peaceful sleep.

Above: the gennaker take down system is similar to those used to great effect by the TP52 fleet. When the kite is dry the crew just haul it in by hand, but when itʼs damp and heavy a high speed winch with four gears gives extra grunt.
Below: the P30 is designed to be eminently trailable as well as easily launchable without a crane, which should save a lot of expense when itʼs time to move the boats around

Sails
The large A2 gennaker stays attached in a gennaker sock and is set through the forehatch. The spinnaker retrieval system is one of the most powerful tools on board. A similar system driven by a grinder works well on much bigger TP52s. It is a unique combination of a smooth foredeck hatch, two ball bearing rollers below deck to compress the sail, a Teflon coated gennaker sock and a four-gear high speed Karver winch on the retrieval line. Normally it is possible to pull the gennaker in without needing the winch, but if the gennaker is wet, the Karver winch is a big help. In first gear the winch pulls approximately 65cm with each turn (standard winches pull 15cm). Changing gear is easily done with a rotation change. A water trap below the hatch catches spray, ensuring that when water is shipped it flows out easily.
In harbour the jib, cutter jib and trysail are stowed below the front bunk and at sea they’re kept above the front bunk. The code zero and flying jib are stored in the cockpit below the hatch, while the small gennaker hangs in a bag in the companionway, partly sheeted, and has a second set of sheets, blocks and clamps.
The mainsheet system is doubleended and offers three ratios with fine adjustment, giving purchase options of 1:4, 1:8 or 1:16. This enables fast trimming while saving you effort. The traveller is direct sheeted and runs easily with oversized blocks. All trimming systems are easily accessible.
Aeolos Design Process
- Market research & competitor analysis for customer benefits
- Virtual reality for ergonomics
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for speed
- Finite Element Method (FEM) for strength
- Continuous improvement process for value
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) based quality management for reliability
- Customer relationship management (CRM) for service
Engine
The Aeolos P30 has an option to fit an electric motor (pod system) or a 2-6hp outboard engine beneath the cockpit hatch in an outboard well that seals with a removable plug. This enables you to leave harbour unassisted and gives you the safety to motor if becalmed. A 5hp outboard will propel the P30 at 6-8kts in calm conditions. When the engine isn’t needed, it can be pulled out and a fairing plug put in to reduce hydrodynamic drag.
We have developed a simple solution for the installation of the NKE Autopilot Jefa Drive. The drive is mounted under the cockpit floor and two Dyneema ropes are attached with two cam cleats at the tiller. Two elastic cords retract the ropes when unused. The huge advantage is the full, unrestricted ‘feel’ and feedback of the helm when it’s disconnected.
Good rest means faster sailing
The offshore interior layout is optimised for efficient workflow and use at sea. This interior option works well at a heel angle of 20-30° and allows you a fast rejuvenation while sleeping, cooking or navigating in heavy weather conditions. Inside you can hold on, change your clothes and slip easily into the pipe cot.
Finally, this boat is trailable, which will not only save you money, but give you the ability to do a lot more races and training. One weekend you can sail on Lake Garda, the next weekend you can be racing at Cowes Week. During a three year racing campaign the running costs are usually higher than the cost of buying the boat, so launching without the need for a crane is a big saving.
Click here for more information on Aeleos Composites »
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A most robust pedigree

It began with laying down one Kevlar thread at a time using a converted ballpoint pen... today things are a little different
Twenty years ago, in an old-school Auckland sail loft, Doyle Sails’ Richard Bouzaid began experimenting with a new way of building sails utilising an adapted ballpoint pen to direct single fibres onto a substrate in line with the predicted loads.
In many respects this was typical of what New Zealanders refer to as a number eight wire approach to innovation. Number eight wire is what sheep farmers use to fence their paddocks; the idiom relates to the combination of ingenuity and self-reliance an isolated island nation had to develop in order to flourish.
‘We could only lay one Kevlar fibre at a time through an adapted ballpoint pen,’ Bouzaid recalls. ‘It was a very typical Kiwi way of doing things.
‘We were using a heatset glue on prepreg fibres with a plotter that was only 1.4m wide, so the sail panels had to be very narrow. We had this little laminator we ran the panels through. A young Spanish kid was working for us at the time. He ended up writing our original software to do the fibre layouts and generate files for the shapes.’
Although this was a decidedly small beginning, Bouzaid had big ambitions. New Zealand’s superyacht industry was fast gaining global recognition and the country had also just staged its successful defence of the America’s Cup, the first nation outside of the United States to achieve that.
Richard Bouzaid is the third generation of a sailmaking family stretching back to his grandfather, Leo, and the days of cotton and canvas. Bouzaid’s father Chris, also a sailmaker, was one of the trailblazers of New Zealand yachting’s extraordinary ascent to the pinnacle of international yacht racing, winning the One Ton Cup in Germany in 1969 and again in Australia in 1972.
At the start of a new millennium, with New Zealand riding a wave of success, Richard was eyeing the lucrative superyacht market. ‘Obviously, laying one fibre at a time wasn’t going to work for superyachts, so we had big strides to make.’
Those early crude experiments were the beginning of big strides towards what eventually became Doyle Sails’ highly respected Stratis system and structurally engineered sails. Utilising multiple fibre types and membranes, Stratis tailors a precision product for specific applications, from weekend warriors and club racers through grand prix round-the-buoys machines to round the world campaigners and luxury superyachts.
At the time of those first small steps with Kevlar fibres, Bouzaid was in a Doyle franchise loft in partnership with Chris McMaster, who became a big driver in the development of the new system. In 2017, the ownership of the Doyle Sails International brand was acquired by a partnership of Mike Sanderson, Richard Bouzaid and David Duff. All 50 Doyle lofts around the world rely on the New Zealand operation for their supply of Stratis, ensuring consistent quality in every product. Almost all the custom design is also done in New Zealand with approximately 70 per cent of the Stratis output exported in kitset form for the other lofts to assemble and finish.
‘Originally it wasn’t called Stratis,’ says Bouzaid. ‘I think we called it Fibrelay. The Stratis name came from a Doyle Group seminar in 2008. We tossed around names. Robbie Doyle had developed a whole lot of products with cool names. There was the StackPack and Swing Battens, all sorts of things.
‘We felt we had to have something that would stand out a bit. I can’t remember all the candidates that came up in our brainstorming session. We felt Stratis stood out and it has worked well. It has gone from strength to strength as a product.
‘Two things are incredibly important to our manufacturing process,’ Bouzaid continues. ‘They are high pressure laminations and a predictable environment.
‘Everything is humidity and temperature controlled. We also deploy significant heat sensing monitoring and instrumentation, so that when we laminate, we have an incredible degree of control over the product’s consistency.’
At Doyle Sails’ 11,000m² purposebuilt headquarters in Auckland, the Stratis operation takes place in a separate climate-controlled area where the sail fabrics are built on three flat platforms, 46m, 50m and 65m long, all at 11m wide.
The construction process involves laying down a complex matrix of fibres under a combination of vacuum, direct pressure and heat. Fibre combinations of carbon, Technora, Ice, or Polyester are applied in varying ratios depending on the application.
‘Each sail is designed and engineered for the customer’s yacht and application, whether it is intended for cruising, club racing or grand prix campaigning. Every time the Stratis machine runs a path of fibres, it’s entirely custom-made for that sail.’
Computer-controlled machines lay down the precise arrangement of fibre threads as they pass backwards and forwards across the panel. Laminating machines exert 12 tonnes of downward pressure and infra-red heat on the surface, fibres and adhesives, which, together with extreme vacuum, ensure void-free lamination of the membrane.
It is highly automated and very efficient. On average the CAD fibrelaying machines travel 150,000 metres a week, laying down about 1.3 million metres of fibre and consuming nearly 150kg of carbon and 190kg of para-aramids. The flat beds mean a whole range of different size sails, or sections of sails can be built simultaneously, maximizing the production capacity at all times.

Above: Stratis technology isn’t just for hi-tech racing boats; it has major advantages for almost any type of sailing yacht.
Below: Doyle’s Structured Luff and Cableless sails have not only delivered significant performance gains, they have also changed the way that the hull of a new maxi racer like the Botín 85 Deep Blue can be engineered and built to deliver valuable weight savings

‘A small sail that would have taken two days to build 20 years ago, would now be ready for finishing in a couple of hours,’ notes Bouzaid.
It is a modern, hi-tech production system, although a fair dose of Kiwi number eight wire ingenuity went into building it. Much of the machinery was modified from other industries — some from carpet manufacturing, some from laminating industries and some of the heating and sensing equipment came out of the food industry.
One of the early decisions was to build the sails on flat surfaces, as opposed to three-dimensional moulds. ‘The throughput with moulds is very slow,’ Bouzaid says. ‘To keep costs down, the build process had to be much more efficient.’
Another early decision was to reduce reliance on third-party suppliers and bring as much of the process as possible in-house to ensure consistent quality. This was a lesson born of harsh experience when, across the industry, early laminate sails suffered glue failures.
‘We tried all kinds of glues until we finally developed our own formula. Reliable glues are a key component to this whole process. The glue we developed in-house was far superior to anything we had found on the market up to then.’
As part of that drive for quality control, Doyle Sails continues to devote resources and attention to research and development. ‘We are always investigating new technologies and looking at new products and refining what we do. That could be process-driven, design-driven, or related to mechanical componentry.
‘We have one R&D focus on automation, another on glue, fibre and lamination, while the whole design group is constantly paying close attention to structures. Technology evolves within our own group,’ Bouzaid continues, ‘primarily in New Zealand but also with valuable contributions from other sail lofts within the group located all around the world.
‘We also work closely with universities and research institutions and have had engineering interns working here on specific projects. A big focus is on making membranes do more and on developing smoother, more durable outer surfaces without adding weight.’
Involvement with grand prix programmes at America’s Cup and Vendée Globe level also brings the company into close contact with leading edge science and technology in futuristic composites and nano fibres.
‘There are always exciting things happening around these big campaigns, which often raise questions about how they might be used to advantage in sailmaking down the track.’
Much of the early advantage in the transition from Dacron panel sails to Stratis products related to weight reduction. Back in 2001, when those single-fibre ballpoint pen trials were starting, Bouzaid received an order for a cruising mainsail for the J-Class yacht, Velsheda.
When the Dacron-panelled sail was completed, it weighed 1200kg and it took 20 men to manhandle it down the narrow stairs from the mezzanine loft.
‘We have recently completed a beautiful cruising mainsail for the J-Class Lionheart,’ says Bouzaid.
‘It weighs about 300kg. Stratis has changed everything. I cannot actually remember when we last built a panelled sail.’
In the past 10 years, with the weight-saving benefits already embedded in the process, attention has focused more on performance and how the sails work. ‘A great deal of what we do now is about how we can manipulate our membranes to do more. It is not just about sails retaining rigid shapes. Our structures are designed to be manipulated, hence the evolution of Structured Luff and Cableless sails.
‘This ability to manipulate the shapes means you no longer need five codes of each sail locked into a narrow working range. Our inventories provide flexibility.’
Advances in sail technology also feed back into broader areas of performance and design. On their own, lighter, stronger sails reduce weight aloft, which improves performance, but Structured Luff and Cableless sails also reduce loads, placing less demand on rigs and supporting structures.

‘We are able to take load away from the mast and stays and carry more load in the sails,’ says Bouzaid. ‘There are big gains being made there.’ This has obvious benefits in racing applications, but also creates a virtuous cycle in superyachts, where reduced loads and weight can lead to smaller engines, reduced fuel consumption and better sailing performance.
As to the future, Bouzaid says tools developed in-house and the ongoing research into how all aspects of rig and sail systems interface are revealing things operators and designers could never see before and will lead to significant improvements in aerodynamics and all areas of performance.
‘Increasingly, sails are going to be a lot more intelligent and provide a great deal of information through monitoring systems, fibre optics and data-streaming, much of which is coming from grand prix race programmes.
‘Sails will probably look quite similar, but they will be doing much more than they are doing now.’ Just as the technology has made astonishing strides in the past 20 years, Bouzaid predicts there will be no let-up in the pace going forward. ‘You will be staggered by the progress,’ he says.
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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Tailored beauty

Tough as boots but elegant enough to frame and hang on your wall
For the past 15 years, stayinphase has been quietly fulfilling the demanding engineering requirements of some of the most iconic racing yachts of modern times. Now this small but highly nimble engineering company is looking to deliver the same expertise and attention to detail for the superyacht industry.
Based in the west of England, far from the traditional hub of the marine industry, CEO Jon Williams and his expert team have made a name for themselves working behind the scenes on high-end racing projects such as the 100ft Maxi yacht Comanche, the Maxi 72 Bella Mente, SoftBank Team Japan and Artemis Racing in the 2017 America’s Cup, and the AC75 American Magic in the 2021 America’s Cup. In the offshore world, stayinphase has worked on a number of Volvo Open 70 and Imoca 60 projects over the past 15 years, including Ericsson Racing and Groupama’s victories in the 2008-09 and 2012-13 Volvo Ocean Race.
So what exactly does stayinphase do? ‘We work closely with our clients in delivering winch systems with the highest levels of reliable performance and efficiency, along with many other advanced development projects for performance craft,’ says Williams. ‘We aim to take the load off the boat captain or project manager, because they’re already busy being pulled in a hundred different directions.

‘A lot of projects will take delivery of two crates of boxes from an OEM manufacturer, and then it’s up to the project manager to work out how to fit those winches and other deck hardware to the boat. This stuff shouldn’t be an afterthought, and clearly lots of people in the industry agree with us because that’s why we’ve been kept so busy. Our particular approach is to ensure that the hardware is fully integrated into the rest of the boat so that everything is aligned for maximum efficiency and reliability.’
Williams built his reputation working for BMW Oracle Racing for the 2007 and 2010 editions of the America’s Cup. That led to being asked to do some of the detailed engineering on Torbjorn Tornqvist’s TP52 Artemis for the 2007 season. It was a ground-breaking boat that caught the eye of the rest of the TP52 fleet and helped to launch Williams’ new business.

Below: Increasingly, stayinphase is developing its own range of hardware rather than integrating other firmsʼ equipment


Word of mouth recommendation around the racing scene has kept stayinphase busy on exciting projects ever since. ‘A notable project for us was the 100ft Comanche during 2014. This was a programme that was simply unwilling to accept the risk of compromise by using underspecified equipment. This project gave us a full-length runway with all the resources we needed to design, construct and install a class of equipment never seen before. This team went after the biggest prizes in ocean racing with a system they could depend upon and push to the maximum. That’s what they asked us to deliver, and Comanche’s results speak for themselves.’
In a racing environment, every second around the racetrack counts. Breakdown is not an option, although Williams has been surprised at what the marine industry has been willing to tolerate, even at America’s Cup level. ‘On the OneWorld campaign from 2000 to 2003, 75 per cent of my working time was undertaking basic maintenance, replacing broken or worn equipment, not actually asking the fundamental question of whether we could create better systems that wouldn’t fail in the first place.’
Part of the reason why Williams is so intolerant of failure is due to his background in motorcycle racing. One of his close engineering colleagues, Tim Preston, went on to become F1 world champion as Damon Hill’s race engineer. ‘Tim and I were always tinkering around, looking for new and better ways of solving old problems, and that’s the attitude I’ve carried over to the sailing world. With our winch systems, we approach every new project as being a progression from the last and with the enthusiasm of our first, and now we’re looking to do that for the superyacht world.
‘Just as in the racing environment, with the size of loads involved in a typical superyacht, you can’t afford high wear and mechanical failure because the result could be catastrophic. A lot of the equipment that we have been asked to put into these boats, to be honest, the service capability, the service life, and the performance of the equipment is just miles away from where it should be, which is why increasingly we have developed our own hardware range.’
Stayinphase is ready for the next phase of its life in the superyacht world. As the dreams and desires of naval architects and superyacht owners become ever bigger and more ambitious, so do the engineering solutions need to be world class and beyond question.
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