Zealand from where he remains active managing Kwok’s Beau Geste team, which has recently grown further to include a MOD 70 trimaran. In July the Beau Geste Pac 52 won Class A at the Offshore Worlds in The Hague and then went on to do the same in the IRC 1 Class at Copa del Rey, after which Gavin found time for a long overdue catch-up with Seahorse…
‘Winning the Offshore Worlds on our first try was pretty good. This is our third year in this boat, it was the first of the Pac 52s so we know her well. It was also interesting to learn a little about the ORC system since we’ve only ever raced under IRC and occa- sionally on the US west coast using ORR. Getting the ORC and IRC numbers right for the event kept us busy! When we learned Outsider was coming in TP52 class trim initially we considered going to a stiffer upwind mode to stay ahead on the beats, but when we ran the test ratings it was not worth it so we kept as we were. ‘The regatta was really fun, the format was great and Karl had a blast. What was nice with Outsider and Ado [tactician Adrian Stead] is we had a competitor who was faster on paper yet mature enough not to pull us into a match race and drag us both back. Certainly the TPs and TP-type boats are super-competitive under these systems, but IRC is reacting to this sensibly, trying to gently slow them down with a hit of about 5pt per year – about 15 seconds in a one-hour race. But then of course the sailors, sails and designers are matching this each year with better performance! ‘That said, when these boats have a sniff of a big handicap prize I worry as people reconfigure them at great cost for one event. Look what’s happened in the Maxi72s: no one is in class trim any more and the newest, largest boat will always have an advantage on handicap. This can’t be good because it makes otherwise great boats obsolete really quickly.’
On switching to a new game in offshore multihulls, Brady admits they have taken a cautious approach to learning their new boat. Ever since taking delivery of Phaedo’s MOD 70 after last year’s Transpac the team have been sailing her around the Hauraki Gulf… but never pushing too hard. They’ve also flown in sailors from the French multihull scene to help shorten the learning curve. Brady says the exchange was interesting in revealing the strong
differences in cultures… ‘We have very much a playbook that involves all members of the team with their specific roles. Our helmsman knows to drive a heading, and we have someone else to monitor the foils, adjust the trim and so on. The French seem to prefer a top-down approach where the helmsman is the skipper and makes all the calls. This is probably from their preference for shorthanded sailing – while we will typically race with 10 onboard.’ Brady is realistic about what to expect from such a powered-up offshore machine and is being quite methodical about learning and proceeding safely. ‘Four out of the seven of these boats have capsized, so we want to know the limits. Fortunately this boat seems to have more miles than any other and we’ve had no structural problems at all. I rather think these boats are like planes – you’ve got to fly them to know them and not just let them sit.’ He also uses a flyer’s analogy of where they are on the curve after a year of training and their upcoming entry in the Hong Kong to Hainan Race: ‘I reckon we have one stripe on our shoulders, and we’ll need to keep working hard to earn our two more to be proficient. But it’s been a fun process, like learning to sail all over again.’ Beforehand Brady will be back in San Francisco for the Big Boat Series with Frank Slootman’s Pac 52 Invisible Hand, which is followed by the class championship. His view on the Pac 52 class is interesting, having been instrumental in getting it off the ground three years ago: ‘Two types of teams are now evolving: some that are happy to go offshore and others that focus on inshore racing. ‘We also have a group who prefer to stay in southern California so the regattas there are generally better attended. The schedule I think they’ve done right, with races in the early end of the season (February-March), a long summer break to do other events, and then come together again in the autumn.’
And the America’s Cup… ‘Obviously I enjoyed the Cups I did, but to be honest I really don’t pay too much attention to it these days. These boats have so little relevance to the rest of sailing, not like in the Version 5 boats. When it starts I’m sure it will be interesting to watch… but probably more for the designers and engineers than for the sailors.’ Dobbs Davis
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