Deliver advantage, create demand
With three new TP52s in build for the 2018 52 Super Series, the Marcelo Botín designs Luna Rossa and Phoenix along with the new Judel-Vrolijk design Provezza, Persico Marine is currently busily engaged raising the bar for the ‘most refined inshore racing yacht class in existence’
‘All the TP52s are at the pointy end of the design spectrum so finding many small gains is very important,’ says Persico Marine operations manager Mark Somerville. ‘The main challenge is to reduce
the part count and parasitic weight in a class that has been around for so long. We have a reputation among industry professionals for doing that particularly effectively, and fortunately our clients are aware of that. ‘Our own TP52 story started in
2015 when we produced Rán and Gladiator, Judel-Vrolijk-designed twins from shared tooling, and they made a big impression,’ Mark adds. ‘With TP52 measurement certificates being freely available, it was clear we had built two of the lightest yachts; anyone who went below found a clean, simplistic interior – not one that needed finishing to look that good, just built to perfection.’ CEO Marcello Persico echoes
that challenge and explains why TP52 builds are so important to his company. ‘The TP52 is without doubt the most refined inshore racing yacht in existence today. The class rule has been relatively stable since 2007, and every year naval architects, engineers and builders are challenged to build new boats that are somehow even better than the previous generation. After all this time improvements are hard to come by – and we all work incredibly hard for marginal gains. The work we do with TP52s pushes us to develop solutions that trickle across into our other projects, like our recent Wallycento, Tango, and the upcoming Felci65.’ Persico has a number of
advantages when it comes to identifying and delivering the more subtle gains. First is a very strong in-house engineering team, which works directly with naval architects from the moment projects are conceived. ‘We don’t just build from a set of premade established drawings,’ says Mark, ‘we work with the teams, designers and engineers to integrate our knowledge and experience into the
Persico’s first TP52, the original Judel-Vrolijk Gladiator, was built in 2015 with a hull sister, Rán, for Niklas Zennstrøm. The next Rán will be a Carkeek Fast40+ while the Gladiator seen here was seriously damaged by a ‘not quite ducking enough’ port tacker at Key West. She was quickly replaced with a new boat while Persico executed the massive rebuild which now looks – and weighs in – just like new
yacht. We design the process engineering from tooling to parts and integrate these seamlessly to achieve the most lightweight, simplistic part-to-part mating pieces, no matter what the size.’ As a result of this collaborative
approach to structural engineering, more and more of the boats’ systems – from spinnaker take- down drums to hydraulic oil tanks – are incorporated into the main structure as load-bearing elements in order to minimise redundancy. The second is technological.
Persico’s CNC five-axis milling machines can be used to make incredibly accurate moulds, which means less filler and glue is needed to fill joints and imperfections and that results in lighter structures. Its suite of autoclaves allows in-house construction of composite components instead of outsourcing, which ensures the highest quality and enables better leverage of the internal engineering expertise. The third advantage is simply the
size of the operation. Its ability to produce different components simultaneously means large and complex boats can be built very quickly, which means architects and
engineers can be given longer to refine their designs. ‘Persico now has vast experience and an outstanding facility,’ says Tobias Kohl of Provezza designer Judel-Vrolijk. ‘Just one example that makes
life easier and the boat better is its huge capacity for milling moulded parts. We can get the fin and bulb manufactured there too, as across the Persico Group there is near-legendary experience of precision milling both industrial- scale tooling and metal components. That sets it apart.’ A final advantage is the
knowledge shared across the group, because marine is just one business unit of Persico, as Mark explains. ‘I really enjoy working with our automotive engineers. We have an enormous number of very talented people and we’re constantly cross-pollinating ideas and developing new processes. These tend to be deployed first in the build of racing yachts, to create an advantage, then we step them on to the next project, whether that’s the Felci65, or even the Wally 145 we are building. This is an incredibly exciting place to work!’
www.persicomarine.com
q SEAHORSE 59
NICO MARTINEZ
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