Update
almost a ton of weight overall means many changes, the most visible being the ability to fly in less wind than before. The larger size of the foils is important too and will also help to push up the boat in light winds. One of the goals of the new rule was for these boats to be able to foil in light wind, and both changes will make that easier. Last time the drifting around in light air was rather embarrassing. SH:Will the increased foiling ability change the tactics of the starts? FB: Hmm, I don’t think so. [Obvious silence…] SH: Do you have plans for other regattas (TP52, Maxis…) outside the Luna Rossa programme? FB:Until this Cup is over my decision is to keep my mind fully focused on this America’s Cup. I will not compete in the 52 SuperSeries because the TP52 circuit requires a lot of time and commitment. In Maxis it is different –maybe I can do some of the Porto Cervo regattas, but I will not make any decision until two or three weeks before the event. I am not going to schedule anything more in advance, it will be a last-minute decision. SH: Not even in the Moth? FB: It’s a boat that I love, but again I’m putting my plans aside until after October 2024. There are two very interesting championships that I would like to do: a World Cup in New Zealand at the end of 2024, then in 2025 the World Cup will be in Italy, on Lake Garda. The boat is fascinating and the number one school for foiling. She also still has very technical and challenging development possibilities. The class rule is very simple with just 10 lines of text and few restric- tions, leaving most fields open to try new concepts. Except for the beam, length and maximum sail area, the rest is almost free. Even in the sail you have to consider if the maximum size is the
best solution or not. Then each season you can use two foils and two rudders, but you can build as many as you want and then choose the sets to measure in. That gives you an idea of the many options if you can prepare and develop your boat well… and of course you have enough resources. Being a small boat, everything is more affordable, but the boats are still expensive because of the build level. Yet even after 15 years on the foils the boat is still getting faster
every year. Each world championship the boat sails half a knot faster, it’s impressive. I remember when I started seven years ago… today we sail upwind at 20kt or more, at the beginning it was only 15kt! q
DR JOHN WILLIAMS, 1950-2022 – Alan Green In the early 1970s the RORC wanted to upgrade its timekeeping system at the finishes of races to better than one second accuracy and examined possibilities including expensive but fragile marine chronometers. Via this magazine the club asked for an expert among the membership who could design and assemble such equipment to make the whole task of timekeeping simpler and less error-prone. It would also have to survive the rigours of transport and deliver
faultless operation over long periods in unfriendly locations such as Horse Sand Fort, a mile out to sea in the eastern Solent. Dr John Williams, a genial member whose day job was designing control systems for Britain’s nuclear power industry, volunteered. John sat down with myself, then a RORC staff member, and
produced a superb system with illuminated clock figures (‘Nixie tubes’ – like very small neon signs) showing time, which would freeze at the push of a button on the arrival of a boat. At the same time the selected button would simultaneously fire
a theatrical maroon (first in class) or sound a Maserati air horn (for each other finisher). John’s system was the heart of the operation and sat on the duty
recorder’s desk with a timekeeper and spotters in support. Other equipment included from time to time radar, a powerful image inten- sifier, a serial time-stamp clock that backed up the duty recorder’s primary record and also a state-of-the-art electronic chronometer. Boats would talk to the team by VHF (as now) to aid identification. Tidal effects – especially in the Solent – would sometimes bunch
up a large fleet, but John’s system coped beautifully day and night and was highly effective in co-ordinating the efforts of the team in delivering an accurate timekeepers’ record. A fine legacy.
20 SEAHORSE q SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
l No sh*t… Sherlock… l ‘Francis… set the bar very high,’ said routeur Christian Dumard l As he morosely… watched two more attempts on the Jules Verne splutter and die this winter l Since… Francis Joyon set his 40-day record no one’s come close l And… the greatest distance racer of all was on a 15-year-old boat! l Albeit… stripped of anything that could possibly be removed l For Francis… a watch, compass and some food will do fine, thanks l Not cheap, either… those JV attempts, when you have to pay a pro crew for weeks on end to not go sailing as you wait for the weather l Apparently ‘everyone’… apart from Canada’s SailGP team saw those storm clouds roll in that destroyed the rig of their F50 cat… l It says a lot… for public engagement that literally hundreds of Sydneysiders phoned or wrote in after watching it all unfold… l ‘Muppets’… was used a fair few times… l Also… ‘do these famous sailors ever look up?’ l Meeowww… but they have a point…. l It’s public interest’… that SailGP is chasing, so maybe a good thing? l Not… if you’re a Canuck l Malcolm Page… Greg Fisher and now Paul Cayard... l All seen off… at/by US Sailing l Gotta admire… those management skills l Welcome to… the US Olympic sailing squad, young man… l You are officially… screwed l Mature… Tom Slingsby dominated the first two years of SailGP l Trousering… ‘big’ bonuses for his loyal (and handy) team l Now he’s lobbying… to distribute prizemoney more evenly, moving away from the all-or-nothing final that’s treated his own team so well l Slingers… is currently struggling to raise funds for the next series which makes the big picture attitude all the more impressive l Bravo… to designer Tony Castro whose little 20-year-old SB4 daysailer is the current ORC European Sportboat champion l Though not… to everyone’s taste... l His boat was subject… to seven measurement protests at the event l The more we learn… about Anton Flettner’s brilliance (April issue) and in particular the more we learn about his ‘rotor’ system for harnessing wind power the more gobsmacked we are (sic)… l Look away now… we plan to share a lot more about this maverick genius in the coming months… l Sadly… we failed to get a column from the man himself… l Bummer l Another bummer… Ineos UK technical director James Allison has left to return to Petronas F1… l The latest… F1 name to pass briefly through the AC paddock l A cheaper option… was the plan... l A new Ocean Fifty tri… now sets you back 3.5 million euros… l To be on the safe side… call it 4 mill… l But… running costs are only 800,000 or so euros per annum l Only?… that’s a quarter the cost of running an Imoca programme l We don’t care… how this story now finishes… l On International… Women’s Day South African skipper Kirsten Neuschäfer was (comfortably) leading the fleet up the Atlantic on the home strait of the Golden Globe l Her decision… to take along a 200-year-old clipper ship routeing map has proved extremely shrewd… l And smart… think slow, heavy yachts with poor upwind pace… l File under… it all adds up… l The latest… F1 fireproofs from Puma now feature custom perforated Velcro strips and featherlight fabric zip pullers l Another 2g… saved l Which… becomes 8g in a 4G corner l Real raceboat refinement… it’s only just begun (sorry, Karen) l This month… we lost the wonderful Gonzalo ‘Old Man’ Diaz l Godfather of the Snipe class… and much loved member of an extraordinary sailing dynasty l Frankly… the story about the ‘Old Man’ escaping to Florida with his family aboard one of his Snipes is absolutely incredible... l It is also sadly… untrue l Something more suitable can be found at…
RaceboatsOnly.com l While for everything else… there’s (still)
Eurosailnews.com
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