Contents October 2017 FEATURES
24 Most satisfactory Good enough in fact that several new boats are into final planning for 2018. ROB WEILAND
26 Development – one year on MAURIZIO COSSUTTI had quite contrasting examples of his design work racing in European regattas this year. He’s also fast coming around to the virtues of rating simplification…
Fortuitous That the J Class revival (here in Newport) and the explosion in superyacht racing both accelerated during the last America’s Cup cycle was timely for the many hundreds of sailors and shore crew stranded by the introduction of one-designs cats for AC35. Fortunate too for sailmakers and rig and equipment suppliers for whom the last Cup offered meagre pickings. The converse is also true, many superyacht programmes only happen because of the encouragement of pro sailors, reassuring new owners and then helping them deliver a satisfactory performance. In contrast to an AC Class cat with six crew, three one-design jibs and almost everything else built in-house, the superyacht Hetairos usually races with 40+ pro sailors (and guests) working away beneath a rig comprising many millions of dollars of sails, spars and rigging. Shore support is also immense. The J Class is even more intense and personnel hungry in its latter-day incarnation, both in terms of sailing crew and more recently because of continuous boat optimisation. Having won the AC regatta in Bermuda, the recently minted J Class world champion Lionheart paused before Newport to fine-tune rig and ballast, adding weight for more sink (sailing length) and a little more stability ahead of the 2017 worlds. The expectation is that the next America’s Cup class will mean considerably larger crew sizes – in part for greater visual impact. This will absorb a good number of today’s superyacht sailors but the recent expansion in activity also had the benefit of helping bring on a new generation of younger crew who are at ease racing these very large – and sometimes potentially very dangerous – yachts. Cause and effect… all very neat and tidy
COVER: Paul Todd/Outside
28 Cup heritage? Often quoted, frequently used in arguments over the Cup’s future but where does this heritage ‘stuff’ all actually come from? ERIC HALL
34 Talk about sex Certainly the issue is going to be central to the whole 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race. BLUE ROBINSON
36 Something else! Read the following few words carefully… The 2017 J Class World Championship! KEN READ found himself totally immersed
38 Engineered to win IVOR WILKINS talks brave calls and no going back with Emirates Team New Zealand technical director DAN BERNASCONI
42 Cut! Farewell, Bermuda… And long live the 36th America’s Cup. ANDY CLAUGHTON
46 Boats to bridges Old GRP yachts don’t die, nor are they very good at just fading away. But things are changing…
REGULARS
4 Commodore’s letter MICHAEL BOYD
9 Editorial ANDREW HURST
10 Update The politics behind the Protocol, MALCOLM PAGE has his feet firmly under his US desk and a difficult Porto Cervo ahead. CAROL CRONIN, JACK GRIFFIN and TERRY HUTCHINSON
14 World news France, France, France, the perfect reminder, muted celebrations in Barcelona, PARKO moves to the back of the bus. Plus when should you leave it to the elders to drive progress? IVOR WILKINS, CARLOS PICH, PATRICE CARPENTIER, DOBBS DAVIS
22 Rod Davis – What now?
The multiple America’s Cup skipper, helmsman, tactician and coach has a clear idea what lies ahead
48 Design – One issue at a time Lots of smart people are now working to develop the ‘usable’ wing rig with numerous different approaches being explored. RANDY SMYTH, TOMMY GONZALEZ and ERIC HALL
52 RORC – France (again) EDDIE WARDEN-OWEN
53 TechStreet Make it light but make it strong. All of it
58 Seahorse regatta calendar
60 Seahorsebuild table – A growing force Now here’s one you (probably) never expected to see in these pages. Or even expected to see at all
87 Sailor of the Month Young blood and great expectations
No sooner had word got back that New Zealand will host the next America’s Cup than the local geniuses got to work looking for an angle. This was one ‘architect’s’ early suggestion; we suspect they could squeeze the Volvo course in there as well, though perhaps not run at the same time. That would be silly
PAUL TODD/OUTSIDE
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 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
