impression that the next match will be less close than in Bermuda. SH: But races with longer legs, without boundaries and starting upwind, surely that will add interest? JK: These are details that help to recover the spirit, but they seem insignificant compared with the lack of possibilities for real match racing. At least in Bermuda there were some interesting skirmishes – well, until the first mark. There is always some sort of battle in an America’s Cup match, but this time it will not be sufficient to live up to the essence and tradition of the Cup. It is sad how Luna Rossa conceded on
their original idea but in the circumstances I do not know if they could have done much more. It all started with the desire to return to a well-defined modern Archimedes mono- coque, but Team New Zealand imposed this ingenious invention that is uninteresting for those who love a traditional America’s Cup. SH:Do you think there will be more than four teams? JK: We must wait to see as some potential challengers will only react to the final rule for the new boat. But if you need a budget in the order of ⇔180-200 million to compete with any chance of success then it will be difficult for many of them. If that is the case it’s not impossible we may lose one of the four challengers we currently expect. SH:⇔180-200 million is asking a lot. JK: There is a minimum annual spend of ⇔30 million and I think that large teams will at least double that figure. But it will depend a lot on the rules for the new boat.
SH:Do you have options with a team? JK: Some… We are working with a group of people who are interested. They are known, serious people from the Latin ‘environment’. In June we’ll know if it is feasible to present a challenge. I won’t say any more because to be honest the possibilities are still remote.
The Imoca 60 After his experience in the Imoca class designing Pindar/Hugo Boss in 2007 and Cheminées Poujoulat in 2011, Mr K is drawing the new boat, Arkéa-Paprec, for Sébastien Simon to race the next Vendée Globe. The team includes Vendée winner Vincent Riou as technical director. Riou will also race this year’s Route du Rhum with his VPLP/Verdier-designed PRB, reconfigured by the Argentine designer. SH: Excited about this new boat design? JK: For sure! Actually, both projects are closely linked. Vincent will compete in the Route du Rhum with his existing boat, to which we are adding foils, and that will serve as a laboratory for Simon’s new boat. It is a nice horizontally structured team that leaves me a lot of freedom because I do not have any other management responsibilities; as you know these always bother me… and distract me from my work! Vincent is also excellent as a technical director. SH: Is the change in the Imoca rule around use of foils significant? JK: Yes… The new possibility of adjusting the foils has a big effect on the dynamic foil loads compared to the previous generation of boats that had fixed foils. Now the foils
can be more efficient, but the increase in loads will require significant changes to the structure of these boats. SH:Will it influence the rigging too? JK: The design of the one-design rigs that must be used by the new boats is a limiting factor in the use of the foils. Knowing how to work within the limits we have on rigging loads will be very important. SH: So the rig assumes more prominence… JK: Yes, in several ways. Besides the stand- ing rigging you also have limits in other areas. For example, if you choose the mast with outriggers, as everyone has done so far, then the angle of the outrigger is limited to 23.3° from horizontal and this drives the beam of the boat. Without this restriction the optimal hull form would be narrower, but this rule prevents that. SH:Are there more traps along the way? JK: Well, some! The limits on righting moment at 25° of heel combined with the minimum positive stability at 110°, when you try to optimise to these numbers using all the available combinations of water ballast tanks and keel you can end up with some rather extra-terrestrial hull forms. SH:A trip back to a past time of heavily distorted IOR hulls with 21st-century foils! JK: (Laughing). Exactly! The need to distort the hull shape to make it measure is certainly repeated, but I hope not quite as much… And then of course, rather ironically, the introduction of foils has left the keel rule a bit obsolete. When the one-design keel was introduced the foils did not exist. Now dynamic righting moment is much greater so
46 SEAHORSE
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