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Above/right: the latest Rob Shaw-designed speedster, the 11m Little Nico, displaces just 3,000kg. With zero need for accommodation, the new daysailer has already shown enough performance to have seriously troubled the handicap managers on her home waters on Sydney Harbour. The boat was very well built by Van Munster Boats – a company more used to producing cutting-edge 18ft skiffs
was reduced to 2.8m with a bigger bulb to compensate. Given the intended racing, the engineering of the boat – which weighs just 3,000kg – is to ISO Category Three for inshore use, but the keel structure is designed to ISO Cat One. ‘We wanted to keep that area as strong as possible and there is not much to be gained from keeping weight out of that part of the boat anyway,’ says Shaw.
The profile is low, with a flush deck and vertical bow and stern making every last millimetre of length count at the waterline. The double-spreader carbon mast is situated virtually amidships, with a central daggerboard forward of the mast to provide lift. ‘Because we are not contemplating hard running in offshore waves the freeboard is kept quite low – but not as low as some similarly sized raceboats.’ Beautiful detailing is evident in the chamfered hull-deck junction, while the deck layout reflects a lot of thought with control lines running mainly under the deck. The sailplan reveals a large square-top mainsail. With the boom extending all the way to the transom, the traveller spans the aft end of the cockpit, with the mainsheet led forward under the deck to emerge through the side deck. The mainsheet winch is recessed into the side deck to shorten up the lead so there is no risk of sitting on the sheet.
The crew arrangement has the runner trimmer sitting aft, then the helmsman then the mainsheet trimmer, with headsail trimmers and pitman forward. ‘This arrangement means the main trimmer, helm and runner trimmer are all close together and can commu- nicate easily,’ says Shaw.
Soft hank non-overlapping headsails are used, with a small inventory of light, medium and heavy jibs keeping things simple. The idea is to select sails on the dock and get it right, rather than doing sail changes in the middle of inner harbour races. Headsail control is via athwartship tracks, while the masthead and fractional gennaker are set on a 3.5m retractable carbon prod. There is also provision for a Code Zero to tack down halfway out on the prod,
18 SEAHORSE
which is supported at that point with a bobstay. The mainsail and headsail are secured using halyard locks. New Zealand Rigging supplied the high-modulus carbon mast and boom, complete with Future Fibres composite standing rigging. C-Tech built the prod. The planform reveals a moderate wedge-shaped hull with a wide, shallow cockpit providing the crew with plenty of room to work. Six top-handle winches, three on either side, deal with the sheets and runners. Mast and halyard controls lead down to a set of jammers at the front of the cockpit, with a single centreline winch mounted on the aft end of the engine well to handle the gruntwork. After a number of yards were considered the build was contracted to Van Munster Boats, at Morisset, New South Wales, between Newcastle and Sydney. Van Munster Boats have a good track record of building high-tech skiffs and GP26 keelboats with capacity to produce yachts up to 18m. The hull was built on a male mould using pre-preg carbon over mainly Nomex cores, with some PVC foam. The deck was female moulded, while CNC moulds were produced for the foils and rudder. Finish is exemplary. Little Nicowas launched in February and Shaw flew to Australia for the first few commissioning outings. The first competitive test came at Port Stephens Race Week with Little Nico taking line honours in all five races and claiming the overall series win in the performance racing division.
‘In a fleet that included a Farr 40, a Kirby 43 and a Farr 36 canting- keeler, this saw the boat off to a good start,’ says Shaw. ‘Even though the handicap was tweaked a couple of times during the regatta Little Nicostill managed to win overall… which was pleasing.’ Returning to home waters in Sydney Harbour, the Shaw machine has been racing in the CYCA Winter Series. The hot little newcomer started off racing in Division A2 and promptly came away with a line and handicap double in its first outing.
This precocious debut was duly punished by banishment from Division A2, to mix it up with the big boats in Division A1. In among boats up to 80ft this newcomer is being expected to punch way
MICHAEL CHITTENDEN
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