News Around the World
A special kind of ocean race and often a lonely one. In typical Sydney-Hobart conditions the fleet tends to spread out more than in the other 600-mile classics – even the Fastnet where most boats are rarely out of sight of one of their rivals. With strong currents and regular storms that leave big seas long after the wind drops, only the best Hobart crews will achieve the same consistent level of performance as on shorter coastal courses
to provide a fixed sailing draft of 2.6m; the up position allows berthage in about half that depth. A pair of 500-litre water ballast tanks further boost righting
moment. These features influenced other decisions too: twin rudders and distinctive hard chines, extending from a narrow waterline beam to push the water ballast tanks as far outboard as possible – while also providing plenty of form stability when heeled. Each ballast tank has its own electric pump and a scoop that can
be lowered and swivelled fore or aft to fill or drain respectively. The water can also be shifted rapidly side to side in tacks and gybes. Snugged in its marina berth with barely a ripple in evidence, the
boat dances and tugs at its mooring lines signalling its lightweight construction. ‘With its wide beam this is not a small 30-footer,’ says Elliott, ‘but the displacement is only 2 tons. Even performance production boats of this size in Europe tend to be about 2.5 tons, some closer to 3 tons.’ All this translates into sparkling performance. With systems and
set-ups still being sorted and a starting sail inventory limited to main, jib and gennaker, the first outing saw the boat sitting on 16kt in an 18kt breeze at an angle of 130°. The second outing was in lighter conditions, averaging 10kt of
breeze. Upwind it nudged 7kt, while downwind saw 10kt with minimal pressure lifts resulting in glimpses of 12kt. Observing from off the boat, it was striking how neutral the helm was on all points of sail and how little fuss was left in the wake. ‘On both occasions we were probably a bit light with weight on the
rail,’ says Wade, ‘and we did not use water ballast at all. Let’s get the basics sorted before adding that to the mix. But with a bit more righting moment the numbers would probably have been a bit more.’ Although Wade found his first foray into carbon construction
extremely labour intensive – ‘it took two and a half years to build’ – the result is an impeccable finish, testament to old-school crafts- manship. He is also impressed by the performance gain: the structural stiffness means no more issues retaining rig tension, which obviously makes the sails more efficient and with instant acceleration. Wade believes a crew of five to seven would be about right for
most racing – and that is how he intends to campaign the boat, primarily in passage events. However, all its features – including a removable camping galley – also make it an ideal candidate for our steadily growing two-handed racing scene, with events like New Zealand’s hotly contested Round North Island Race, or even the Sydney-Hobart. ‘The idea was for this to be a two-handed boat,’ he agrees, ‘but I
am getting too old for shorthanded racing – that is a younger person’s game. But I might let somebody else use the boat for those types of races.’ (Using Wade’s mould, a second version, with a canting keel,
26 SEAHORSE
is already under construction specifically for two-handed racing.) Wade is more interested in events like New Zealand’s premier
passage race, the 120nm Coastal Classic from Auckland to the Bay of Islands. Greg Elliott’s designs are writ large in the records for that race. His 35SS design, Crusader, holds the 10-hour-plus-change record not only for its own size category (sub-10.66m) but also for the next size up (sub-12.91m). Elliott acknowledges this new boat has a strong resemblance to
his 35SS design, but with the benefit of more than a decade’s devel- opment. It is, however, strikingly dissimilar to another Elliott 9m design, a narrow canting keeler called Overload, which set a 2009 Coastal Classic record of 10h 23m in its size band. Elliott was onboard for that race and is clearly itching to topple his own record with this new project. Not usually given to hyperbole, he is clearly smitten with this project: ‘It’s bloody awesome,’ he declares. ‘It is very user-friendly too. Good materials, careful design and
very clever build work have kept the weight down and achieved healthy stability. There is no secret in yacht design: it is about the lightest boat with the most stability. It is as simple as that. That is the game we are playing.’ Ivor Wilkins
AUSTRALIA Punch and counterpunch Ask most crew members what they are thinking about before the start of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race, and it is not about Hobart, or the Derwent River or even Bass Strait. What is most on the mind of crews heading south on Boxing Day is all about easing past South Head in reasonable shape after the start, without any small red flags fluttering nearby. The combination of nerves and the push to get clear air among
the fleet – this year 103 boats including 10 international entries – all heading for the turning marks at the harbour entrance will always lead to a few moments, the most visible as usual being among the big boats. With four 30m maxis on the startline it was always going to be tight, and the main jousting match came between SHK Scallywag and Andoo Comanche. Scallywag, helmed by David Witt, was give-way boat in a port-starboard situation, but held its line right until eyebrows and heart rates were raised in the cockpit of Andoo Comanche. No contact, but a small red flag was fluttering. First off the line at the 1pm gun was Christian Beck’s Juan K 2008
design LawConnect, but after their furling line exploded Scallywag led the fleet out of the harbour followed by Andoo Comanche, then LawConnectand finally the newly stretched Wild Thing 100skippered by Grant Wharington (where the work lists were still being ticked off by boatbuilders the day before the race start).
KURT ARRIGO/ROLEX
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