Contents November 2020 FEATURES
4 Low and fast NICOLAS PEHE
36 Every cloud Blame the Billionaire Club. Plus when a decent trophy would get you arrested. ROB WEILAND
Dramatic beats fast The televised 18ft Skiff Grand Prix series (seen here) of the 1990s is long gone but the 18s remain in rude health and, if ‘that which cannot be named’ stays under control in Australia, sailors are optimistic about getting in another good season. The 18-footers offer a useful reference for those interested in the big picture in terms of interest from sailing fans and the public. It’s many years since skiffs represented the pinnacle of monohull performance, not since the second-generation foiling Moths went afloat. They would face a tussle with other monohulls today too. That’s not the point. Every northern winter the 18ft class shows beyond doubt that to be interesting to spectators a boat must be fast enough, ideally must look unstable and above all it must always look ‘busy’. The 12 Metres looked busy, at least when it blew a little, the V5 ACC boats looked busy too. Neither were very fast (pointed high, though!). Match racing in small keelboats can look busy and is thus often entertaining. With the AC75 the rule managers to their credit made a point of requiring a good sized crew who must be physically tested. (The AC75 has other issues but we may still get a good event if two boats turn out to have similar speed…). So jam a boat full of people, make it properly messy in any sort of weather and make sure it goes fast enough; but get the first two conditions right and ‘fast enough’ will do. That is the lesson we gain from the crowds that every weekend turn out to watch a small Australian dinghy that first competed more than 127 years ago…
COVER: Jeff Crow/Sport Library INSET: Anne Beaugé
40 Evolutions and revolutions With only weeks to go before the start of this edition of the Vendée Globe FRANÇOIS CHEVALIER takes us in typically fine detail through the design progression of the most exciting monohull class in the world today
48 And now? With the Mini Maxi class at a crossroads TOBIAS KOHL of Judel Vrolijk proposes a workable-looking solution to the seemingly impossible challenge of trying to satisfy everybody
52 Fractious Is a rather charitable description of a damaging row that exploded between RORC founder GEORGE MARTIN and Wind in the Willows creator ARTHUR RANSOME. Historian CLARE MCCOMB unravels a sad story
56 Setting the record – Part IV By the end of the 1980s the Sydney Harbour skiffs were in trouble. However, a bold and to begin with contentious move towards a one-design solution would save the day. FRANK QUEALEY, BRETT VAN MUNSTER and MICHAEL COXON
60 Big daddy Even in today’s turbulent times we have no doubt that the 2021 Fastnet Race with its new finish in Cherbourg will not be cancelled. A tough race, more complex than the other 600nm classics, that will entertain you and educate you (and leave you longing for a warm shower – ed) JAMES BOYD
REGULARS
6 Commodore’s letter STEVEN ANDERSON
11 Editorial ANDREW HURST
14 Update The fascinations of sin, getting (fully) focused on the Hauraki Gulf, ‘she is a scow’ and she goes like hell, getting out of your comfort zone. Plus how to handle Covid – not your typical Kiel Week. JON EMMET, TERRY HUTCHINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER, JACK GRIFFIN, SIMON FRY
22World news The 2020 Vendée Globe… with five times the last Volvo Ocean Race entry – go figure, mes amis. Extraordinary design refinement, but pas de elevators. Liquidity – healthy market for used Ultims, flying Minis fly, why New Zealanders are buying in bulk, the tenacious but grounded DIDAC COAST, inside the Team NZ met ‘corporation’. Plus US west coast boat building history. ALAN ANDREWS, CHARLIE DALIN, CARLOS PICH, THOMAS RUYANT, IVOR WILKINS, PATRICE CARPENTIER, DOBBS DAVIS, ROGER BADHAM, BLUE ROBINSON
34 Paul Cayard –Working through it Flying level with Imoca (ideally), a tough time to be running a large yacht club. Plus go the Patriot!
38 IRC
– Are you looking in the right place? French IRC designs win (a lot), French IRC sailors win (a lot). So there must be a magic bullet, right? Wrong, says JASON SMITHWICK
62 RORC news
– You don’t control the weather EDDIE WARDEN-OWEN
63 TechStreet 64 – Technology 68 – Design 74 – Environment
71Seahorsebuild table – Tempted? Fancy impressing your friends? JUAN CONTE
76Seahorse regatta calendar
99 Sailor of the Month Anything we say will get us into serious trouble
There is indeed a J Class slipped in there between the Shuttle and Christ the Redeemer. An unbuilt 100m sloop was on the drawing board when the Apex 850 designer Malcolm McKeon was working with the late Ed Dubois. Not there yet… but a ‘next step’ looks a smart way to go!
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