And so the dam breaks
One of the great sailing mysteries of recent years is why the Mini 6.50 fleet has sat back and allowed itself to be repeatedly pummelled by David Raison’s scow designs. Joe Lacey and Fred Augendre talk to a rather underrated naval architect who is starting to have a very serious influence on offshore yacht design…
For six years David Raison-designed Mini 6.50 Prototypes have won everything there is to win in this competitive fleet, but it is only now, after a second dominant Mini Transat victory for one of his scow designs, that Raison is about to launch a series-built version of his all-conquering blunt-nosed
36 SEAHORSE
rocketships – to be built by IDB Marine. Based in southern Brittany, this will be
IDB’s first raceboat, a rather special begin- ning, especially since in order to be homolo- gated into the Series Division for the 2019 Mini Transat at least 10 examples must be launched before the start of the race. When in spring 2010 this French archi-
tect-builder appeared with his original Mini scow, no747 Magnum (named after his favourite ice cream), astonishment across the fleet was total. But there was also scepti- cism, reinforced when Magnum was forced to retire from her debut event. But Raison was patient, he’d done his
homework and was confident his boat would succeed. Over the months he elimi- nated the technical weaknesses of his ‘big’ Mini and she became faster. By the start of the 2011 season she was at times proving unbeatable and won that year’s big transat- lantic race easily with Raison himself at the helm. Magnumwas sold to Italy’s Giancarlo Pedote and she carried on winning. Despite this success it would be nearly
four years before Raison’s next scow, no865 Maximum, touched the water, soon demon- strating the same contemptuous disregard
for her conventional rivals as her predeces- sor. Now it was co-owners Davy Beaudart and Ian Lipinski reaping the benefit, Lipin- ski capping an unbroken 15-win streak with a comfortable win in the 2017 Transat. It was seen as bold, if not rather auda-
cious, when Raison showed his unswerving commitment to transposing the philosophy of the scows of the American midwest to the European offshore scene. Yes, the US boats were only ever raced in sheltered inland waters but, argued Raison, the naval archi- tecture principles remained the same. By employing very wide, flat underwater sections, to move the centre of buoyancy rapidly to leeward with heel, an offshore scow would achieve unprecedented form stability and reduce the reliance on water ballast and a heavy bulb. Of course existing Minis, like the big
Imocas, were already flat and wide aft, but the genius of the scow concept is carrying those flat sections right to the bow to elimi- nate the diagonal heeling that afflicts most conventional designs, while also providing massive forward buoyancy when powering downwind. In fact, the overall righting moment achieved by these offshore scows is
FRED AUGENDRE
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