the planet – nothing quite prepared Ferris for the conditions after the start where an outgoing tide met with opposing winds up to 40kts. ‘There were several times when we stopped racing and moved into survival mode, nursing the boat through the conditions.’ At the notorious headlands along
the south coast of England, the wind over tide conditions heaped up severe standing waves. One boat sank and the record entry of 430 yachts dwindled as 166 retired, many with damage. The worst of it was at Portland Bill, near Weymouth. ‘The movement of water there was like watching Olympic kayaking where it looks like the paddlers are getting sucked under heavy rapids before they pop back up again. ’ Once through the worst of the
storm, the Caro crew swung back into full-race mode, meticulously planned and executed their dawn rounding of the iconic Fastnet Rock, took two strategic hitches to the south to escape a light patch of breeze and set up a faster angle back to England and launched a barnstorming 20-kt plus run to the finish in France. ‘We really pushed the boat. We
were doing things we had never done before – on the ragged edge all the way.’ And, in the process, delivering the owner with one of the most cherished trophies in ocean racing and an experience ‘I will tell my grandchildren about’. During his periods back in New
Zealand between racing, he lives 10 minutes from Doyle Sails’ headquarters and spends time working on his own specific projects, but also in the broader development of products and technology. At present a buzz of creative
energy surrounds Doyle Sails’ new Hybrid material, which is set to take the eternal search for weight saving another step forward. The Caro project was the first full-size race yacht to receive a Hybrid headsail.
Above: Caro in offshore racing mode. A notable feature of this boat is that it has two very distinct modes for inshore and offshore use. Above right: in inshore mode Caro won her division at Hamilton Island Race Week
‘We have used our Hybrid
development sail in training and it is proving very good,’ says Ferris. ‘We aim to change the whole inventory to Hybrid as it becomes available in the near future; it has the potential to be a game-changer. ‘The weight savings would be significant. On a programme like Caro’s, taking up to 50kg of weight off the boat for the same number of sails would be huge.’ This is the working embodiment
of the Doyle Sails “By Sailors for Sailors” credo. Spread across its network of lofts, Doyle Sails’ brigade of top-flight grand prix sailors like Ferris are actively racing in all areas of the sport. On the water, they occupy senior positions and apply their experience and expertise to their respective racing campaigns. Off the water, they bring back
new ideas that feed into Doyle Sails’ perpetual quest for refinement and progress. The relationship is symbiotic, benefitting both sides of the equation. Within the Doyle Sails group, the
dynamic is co-operative on technical development and innovation, but competitive on specific design. Proprietary materials like Hybrid and concepts like Structured Luff are shared. But, when it comes to how each designer shapes the technology to create his race team’s inventory, it becomes much more compartmentalised and confidential. With his devotion to detail, Ferris limits himself to five fully-committed race programmes a year, along with design sales support for a number of Doyle Sails lofts around the world. His close involvement with the
Fastnet win, for example, followed a line honours win in the Transpac on Rio100, the much modified Bakewell-White 100-footer. Rio100 is a labour-intensive proposition with all-manual systems to qualify for the Barn Door trophy, which it has won three times. Built in 2003 and extensively modified and lengthened
in 2014, Rio100 also features old- school spinnakers and gennakers. After the Fastnet, another decisive
win in the 530-mile Brisbane to Hamilton Island race on the Reichel Pugh 66ft canting keeler, Alive. In fresh downwind conditions, this was another 20-kt blast all the way, winning on corrected time by six hours. Here again, Ferris’ pre-race homework identified a predominantly broad-reaching course. With Alive’s relatively narrow hull form in mind, Ferris rated the boat with a reaching strut, which came with a rating penalty but proved a good investment on the water. ‘The ability to carry bigger sails for
longer and maintain a more efficient flying shape was a real benefit in terms of boatspeed and heeling moment. In 18-20 kts of windspeed with night squalls rising close to 30 kts, we were smoking,’ says Ferris. Each programme has different
personalities and motivations. Some are fully professional, others a mix of pro sailors and amateurs. Callisto, a PAC52 owned by James Murray, is a case in point. Murray and his friends are from the American Midwest and raced competitively on the Great Lakes before graduating from a J109 to offshore campaigning the bigger boat. Callisto’s 2023 season resume
includes winning the 811-mile Miami-Montego Bay Pineapple Cup race, and 2nd
in class in the Caribbean 600 (4th overall and
first of the 52s). While this range of boat types and skill levels obviously demands a need to accommodate different experience levels, for Ferris the objectives never change: the first is to finish; the second, to finish first. ‘If I ever showed up to race and
got told, “let’s not push too hard”, my response would be: “why am I here?” It has been bred into me that when we go racing, we go racing.’ Like the Edison formula, it is another pretty successful recipe for success.
www.doylesails.com
❑ SEAHORSE 55
SALTY DINGO
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