Left: the Chinese-French entry Dongfeng, skippered by Figaro Solitaire star Charles Caudrelier, was one of the sensations of the last Volvo race. It is highly unlikely that Dongfeng and other ‘new’ teams like Alvimedica would even have got near the start had the event not gone over to one designs. That said, the bigger test comes as we approach the next race in 2017-18
We also have to consider that the weather systems that the fleet experienced this last race would not have produced any records had the fleet been VO70s. Yet the leg from Auckland to Itajaí was still completed faster than last time, and it was a sailboat race the whole way. And I don’t know about you, but I also struggle to see the dif- ference between 24 and 26kt when watch- ing via YouTube. So while the perfor- mance is important, it must not come at the cost of everything else. That is what has already been proven, so let’s move on. The problem with performance upgrades is that they virtually all boil down to righting moment. Increase right- ing moment and it invariably means an increase in loads. In the past 12 months we have seen that the current safety factors are doing their job. Nico and crew stepped off onto a reef and other serious groundings have been experienced with minimal dam- age to structures. The rigs have also seen loads that would suggest that increasing righting moment would require a whole- sale rethink. Requiring a multimillion euro refit goes completely against the idea of the VO65 project and reducing the entry costs. As such, this list is short, and pretty much limited to learning from the first- generation sails and making the kind of tweaks that you would expect to see in developing second-generation sails and consumables that will be replaced by the next race anyway.
is yet to be confirmed, but we have some ideas that we are currently discussing. These upgrades fall into two categories; system tweaks and performance improve- ment. Some of the system tweaks are due to the simple fact that we didn’t have the time or resources in 2012 to build a proto- type and ask the best ocean racers in the world to test it for nine months… We have had that chance now, so should use what we have learnt. Thanks largely to the Volvo Boatyard, run by Nick Bice, we have a huge amount of data and input on what worked and what didn’t. The great thing is that the top of the list items are heads-plumbing and the galley arrangement. In my view, if these are at the top of the list, we should be very happy with the original set-up.
The next group is the performance upgrades. I have seen a great deal of dis- cussion on forums about the boats being slow; though I personally don’t consider a 24-hour run at an average of 23kt slow.
There are, however, areas where system tweaks could also improve performance. With the constant improvements in com- munication equipment we are looking at streamlining much of the media equip- ment, improving connectivity, speed and reducing complexity and weight. This might sound like a trivial gain, but when all is added up we could save several hundreds of kilos, noticeable windage, and make the boats look better. This then goes further into hopefully reducing the fuel demands of this equipment, along with the general electronics package.
Doing all this will also hopefully allow us to look at alternative power sources. This could simplify systems, reduce heat build-up in the cabin and open up the space below to improve ergonomics. Plenty of gains there. But it could also reduce the all-up weight of the boats. Right now the aim is a weight reduction of 500kg in sailing weight condition. Not something I will be able to see on YouTube, but something that will bring all of the last crews back down the learning curve a distance, and allow new teams to make gains so that next race we have more boats and even closer competition.
SEAHORSE 41
Speed Dialing!
ANTIGUA
T +1 268 562 5725 E
andrew@sales.northsails.com AUSTRALIA
T +61 2 9997 5966 E
office@au.northsails.com BELGIUM
T +32 3 325 6720 E
info@be.northsails.com CROATIA
T +385 21 66 11 55 E
info@cro.northsails.com DENMARK
T +45 39 20 40 90 E
info@dk.northsails.com ESPAÑA
T +34 986 54 81 32 E
info@es.northsails.com FINLAND
T +358 2 247 1000 E
info@fi.northsails.com FRANCE
T +33 2 97 40 90 90 E
info@fr.northsails.com GERMANY
T +49 40 745 7778 E
info@de.northsails.com GREECE
T +30 210 9910722 E
theodore@gr.northsails.com HOLLAND
T +31 36 5460190 E
info@nl.northsails.com IRELAND
T +35 32120 61769 E
info@irl.northsails.com ITALY
T +39 0185 35261 E
info@it.northsails.com ITALY (NORD-EST)
T +39 045 6201090 E
info@itne.northsails.com MÉDITERRANÉE
T +33 4 92 28 25 00 E
info@med.northsails.com NEW ZEALAND
T +64 9 359 5999 E
sales@nz.northsails.com NORWAY
T +47 6679 8914 E
info@no.northsails.com PALMA
T +34 971 745 610 E
infopalma@es.northsails.com SOUTH AFRICA
T +27 21 511 2154 E
info@za.northsails.com SOUTH AMERICA
T +54 11 4725 0200 E
sudamerica@northsails.com SWITZERLAND (SUISSE)
T +41 22 782 3222 E
info@ch.northsails.com SWITZERLAND (SCHWEIZ)
T +41 71 686 8525 E
daniel@ch.northsails.com SWEDEN
T +46 8 54480770 E
info@se.northsails.com TURKEY
T +90 212 696 9915 E
kemal@tr.northsails.com UK
T +44 02392 525588 E
info@gb.northsails.com NORTH AMERICA
T 800-SAIL-123, ext. 850 E
info@na.northsails.com
The Power to Perform
www.northsails.com
YANN RIOU
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76