Left: hard to beat… the Vrolijk-designed Maxi72 Proteus was built by Persico in 2014 as Rán but was soon sold to renewable energy pioneer George Sakellaris. But the success of both the Maxi72 and TP52 in IRC racing is largely down to the benefits of boat-for-boat tuning. Certainly these boats are very competitive on handicap, but they also have some of the best sailors and the best sails and equipment and are always beautifully prepared. Above: rather than blame the rating sometimes more radical action really is necessary. Charles Dunstone’s WallyCento Hamilton proved a great disappointment on the racecourse and was quickly sold to Thomas Bscher who instigated a ‘rewrite’ including a deeper keel and an increase in length to 107ft. As Open Season she is now a regular race winner in the Wally fleet
their boat with a dedicated team who practise and push themselves, and who combine a serious approach with having some fun together, are far more likely to find a spot on the podium than a team where the concentration and effort are put into finding problems with the rating rule under which they compete. Instead of looking for excuses, of which the rating system is the
easiest target, the best teams look for solutions. That is where the TP52s are in their element. They have been developed with no compromises in sail handling and crewing set-up and are designed simply to provide the most efficient sailing platform the class rules permit. That means that when a crew steps on an existing TP52 for the
first time they are merely following on from the experiences of the previous crews’ refinements to a boat where every element of making it work better has already been tested. You don’t step onto a 10-year-old TP52 and find cockpit layouts
that don’t work, or jib leads that could be better positioned. Nor do you find waterlogged internal lockers or unnecessary plumbing. Maybe that is why the TP52 is seen as a great raceboat; not because the TP52 class is in a particular sweet spot in the rating world but because the boats simply work very well. Does this mean that to get this level of refinement, which cannot
be picked up by any rating system, you have to save up and look out for a secondhand TP52? Certainly not. All of the development that has happened over the years in these boats is not lost when the sailors who have raced them move on elsewhere. But the class has helped more of us get higher up the learning curve. So now these efficiencies are available to more people. Also, we mustn’t forget the other new boats of different sizes
and type that are coming on line. Large raceboats are complex and sensitive beasts and, exactly like the TP52s, all of them need a lot of hard work by their crews to get them to perform to their best. We have only just seen the start of the development of the new Nivelt-designed 54-footer Teasing Machine 3, for example. And a good number of other new designs are appearing that don’t fit the TP mould but are going to be very exciting to watch developing and maturing over the years. Seeing that the previous 43ft Teasing Machine took an
experienced and skilful team several years to really get going should give heart to all of us that dedication and persistence do eventually pay off in offshore racing. And that having a rule bandit is steadily becoming a thing of the past… James Dadd Project manager and class management consultant
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