AUSTRALIA Passion
When you speak to Guido Belgiorno-Nettis about sailing, the key emotion you register again and again is passion. This is a sport he deeply loves, and it’s clear that he is one of those people who is genuinely excited about spending time on the water. McConaghy built a 50ft cruising boat for him in 2001 but he admits that back then he was somewhat naive and didn’t understand cruising boats very well. This has changed, as have Guido’s circumstances. He has made a conscious decision about his commitment to business, creating a little more of that rarest of commodities: family time. So he spoke to Jono Morris about revisiting the cruising boat concept and, having selected McConaghy Boats in Sydney to bring this vision to life, what is emerging at the Mona Vale facility is something extraordinary. Guido approached six naval architects for this project, commis- sioning them to bring their ideas forward for a rather special 57ft high-performance cruiser. In Guido’s words it was fascinating to see who engaged and who didn’t. One who did was Mani Frers in Milan, and after a succession of Skype calls a clear synergy emerged between the two. Guido explains: ‘He just got it, he got what I was after and we came up with this wonderful design. This is a combination of all the ideas I had related to ergonomics, utilisation, how the boat was going to perform and how it would service our needs. ‘My experience as a sailor has obviously improved, with Sydney
38 and Farr 40 programmes, plus ocean racing including a Hobart on Wild Oats XI. So this is the amalgam. Mani Frers really enjoyed this project and there was not a conversation between us that was less than two hours long. Mani would adjust the design as we talked and it worked so well – I had a very strong view on the functionality of what I was trying to achieve.’
Selecting McConaghy was an easy choice, with strong oversight a crucial part of Guido’s involvement. ‘One of the key reasons for building at Mona Vale is I can be there. This project has so much of me in it, it was impractical to build overseas. ‘I go to McConaghy’s every week and clearly being an engineer is
helpful. Because of my background I understand all of the things that are going on the boat and can have that professional discussion with the whole team, Olectric Systems, Greg Waters, Workshop28 and McConaghys themselves. I am not an electrician, I’m not a hydraulic engineer, but I understand the principles, so when they explain a problem I can ask if they have thought about this or that…’ This may be a cruising boat, but there is a strict weight target, which drove the choice of carbon pre-preg and Nomex for the hull and deck, calling on McConaghy’s raceboat experience to deliver the project well under 13,000kg. Another key driver was low freeboard, so the cabin sole structure is minimal. Guido had clear objectives about weight, utilisation of space and functionality. As an example he wanted air-conditioning for Aus- tralia’s high summer and for tropical cruising. The team came back with a big air-conditioning package and he paused them and said, ‘Guys, what I really want is if it’s 32° outside I just want to knock it down to 25, no more, so let’s get rid of a third of the output we theoretically need to cool the boat; so we cut the weight of the components by 60 per cent and the energy consumption by 50 per cent, meaning the boat will be functional, but not over-delivered.’ For the interior fit-out Troy Tindill at Workshop28 was one of two firms who tendered, both fully aware that the weight component of this project was crucial. This is an extremely powerful, high- performance yacht, but with all the creature comforts for extended cruising. The first tender had the interior package come in over 900kg, but Workshop28 did it for less than 750kg – Tindill is a long- time Wild Oats crew member with America’s Cup experience, which guaranteed he understood the goals and challenges involved. Guido galvanised the team to push the boundaries in construction and weight, but he has held back from extremes, reluctant to pursue any canting-keel or DSS options. With a fine bow, beautiful Frers lines, twin rudders and broad, powerful aft sections, the North 3Di RAW inventory on a Hall Spars rig is going to push this boat very quickly. Aware of this, Guido wanted a conventional keel system to allow him to depower the boat easily when necessary. ‘One of the things I don’t want is to scare my wife or guests. Michelle is a confident sailor but this boat can be fired up very
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