News Around the World
The new YD37 designed by Brett Bakewell-White is a powerful pure race design that meets ORC Cat 1 Special Regulations. Though it was commissioned as a one-off, Yachting Developments have invested in more durable tooling to allow for more than one boat if the demand develops. The first YD37 is a replacement for Andrew Reid’s ill-fated J/111 Django II, which sank following severe rudder damage on the way back from Fiji (see last month)
so it is better not to try. What I was after was a horrible, wet, uncomfortable carbon hellhole.’
That brought into mind the hugely successful Bakewell-White 11m speedster General Lee, which over the past four years has trailed a blaze of glory out of Perth, western Australia. With its name and aggressive Dukes of Hazard paint job, General Lee was always going to be an attention-getter. But, in the hands of its experienced owners Scott Disley and Paul Eldrid, the boat has captured inter- national attention and established some impressive records, includ- ing eclipsing a Volvo 60 time for the Fremantle- Geraldton Race – not bad for an 11m pocket rocket. Reid explored the idea of buying General Lee, but again once shipping costs and tax were brought into the equation the notion of a new build became attractive. So discussions began with Brett Bakewell-White. ‘General Leeis the benchmark from which we began in terms of performance evaluation,’ said Bakewell-White. ‘But, apart from the overall length, this new design has moved on from there.’ The brief included meeting Category One safety requirements for offshore racing, so the boat will include berths, head and galley but it is a flush-deck, powerful racer. ‘I gave Brett a solemn undertaking that I would never go to him and ask for a fridge,’ said Reid. ‘It was always going to be about performance.’ As a consequence, Bakewell-White was able to say: ‘We have ended up making the boat more powerful than General Lee. It has more sail area and more righting moment and the VPP results show significantly higher performance. The loads are the equivalent of previous-generation 40-42-footers.’ In terms of VMG, the new design is roughly 1.5 per cent faster upwind and eight per cent faster downwind, with a similar improve- ment in reaching speeds. ‘The goal,’ said Bakewell-White, ‘has been to round out the boat’s performance as much as possible.’ The CofG is lower and the hull form is more powerful. ‘The one slight weakness we found in the General Lee design was in light airs, so we have addressed that by reducing the upright resis- tance. The new design is narrower on the waterline, but the over- all maximum beam is actually wider. The draft stays the same.’ While General Leeattracted attention for its whooping 30kt down- wind blasts with water flying, it has also proved to be a more than capable upwind performer. ‘She fights for the top mark against 40-50-footers,’ said Bakewell-White. A lot of work went into that in terms of the hull form, but also concentrating weight in the right places, with 60 per cent of displacement in the T-bulb keel.
14 SEAHORSE
Maintaining a similar or better upwind performance was key too. ‘It is one thing to blast off downwind with a fat boat, but if you can’t go upwind it is hopeless,’ said Reid. ‘With the new design we will have sheeting angles as tight as 4°, with an ability to mode into very high modes, or change gears quickly to foot off.’ Consideration was given to a canting keel, but Reid felt that the additional complication in a boat of this size would not yield dramatic improvements – except, perhaps, in the unlikely event of a race that comprised nothing but reaching conditions. Underwater drag is reduced by a retracting propeller and modern foils, although these will not be extreme to keep the boat manageable for long offshore races and shorthanded sailing under autopilot. For round-the-buoys racing a crew of eight or nine is envisaged. Armed with an exciting design, the next issue was to build it. A key to the whole project has been the way the New Zealand water- front has responded to create what looks like a very attractive turnkey package. ‘This is a totally Kiwi thing,’ said Reid. Yachting Developments immediately came to the party with an offer to build female tooling capable of supporting a limited pro- duction run. ‘It is a very exciting-looking boat,’ said YDL managing director Ian Cook. ‘I have a gut feeling there is a hole in the market for a boat of this type.’ He likens it to a high-powered sportscar. Construction will be all-carbon with a foam core. Reid’s boat is expected to launch in early March branded as a YD37. Based on a shared enthusiasm for the project and Reid’s long- standing relationships in the industry, the other elements quickly fell into place with Pure Design and Engineering doing the struc- tural calculations, Doyle Sails designing and building the sail wardrobe, Harken supplying deck gear, Beacon Marine the B&G elec- tronics and Hall Spars the carbon rig. ‘We are still working through the numbers, but with subsequent orders we are targeting being able to offer a turnkey package for around $NZ600,000,’ said Cook. Bakewell-White is greatly encouraged at the approach that has been maintained to retain the key performance personality of the design, even with a semi-production market in mind: ‘There has been no dumbing down in any area.’ That said, some practical solu- tions have been found to keep costs competitive. For example, the prod will be fixed rather than retracting, which has the virtue of relative simplicity and keeping water out of the interior. But, for ease of docking and so on, the bowsprit can be hinged back. Following something as sobering as losing a boat in dangerous offshore conditions, it is difficult not to get caught up in the infectious
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