Contents September 2023 FEATURES
4 Aloha indeed SHARON GREEN
36 End of an era ROB WEILAND remembers his lifelong friend, mentor and sometime skipper PIET VROON
42 Gentleman Jim BLUE ROBINSON in turn revisits the remarkable life of a great Australian yachtsman (and vintner)
We made it… just (Well, most of us). Kevin Escoffier was lucky to be around to contest The Ocean Race on his new Holcim PRB. In the last Vendée he suffered a catastrophic deck failure not dissimilar to that of YoungAmerica but in the Southern Ocean as opposed to the Hauraki Gulf. After three brilliant opening legs Escoffier had moved into the lead of The Ocean Race but was then dismasted on Leg 4 to Newport RI. Then, before the start of Leg 5, the PRB skipper stood down amid claims of inappropriate behaviour ashore. PRB’s race was now effectively run. Every Imoca in The Ocean Race suffered major damage of one sort or another, to be expected the first time full crews pushed these shorthanded yachts around the globe. Much more significant was the massive core failure in the hull bottom of tailender Guyot, the Imoca that was first launched in 2016 as Hugo Boss (so not an old boat). Hugo Boss 2016 was a no-expense-spared design built to rules that then still allowed honeycomb core in very highly loaded areas. Remember the Nigel Irens quote: ‘these (composite racers) are not monuments’. Like a state-of-the-art racing car a cutting-edge racing yacht has a safe operating life. More, a cutting-edge race yacht is probably run on a much smaller budget as it is passed on to subsequent owners. Charlie Dalin, no less, points out (p44) that ‘these older honeycomb boats are a problem’. And there are a lot of them. As with Guyot, the core can be replaced at huge expense, or the whole problem can be slipped beneath the carpet. You would never join the board of the Imoca class in search of an easier life…
COVER: Jesus Renédo/SailingEnergy
44 Massif (in every way) The much anticipated new Imoca 60 of CHARLIE DALIN did not disappoint. He explains his methodology to PATRICE CARPENTIER – plus DALIN’s new co-skipper PASCAL BIDEGORRY talks development
48 A worthy goal For watchmaker RICHARD MILLE there are only opportunities. And the latest opportunity turned out to be breathtaking. DAN HOUSTON
54 Stronger and smarter Composites engineer PAOLO MANGANELLI talks hard and soft high-speed landings with JOCELYN BLERIOT… and how to survive them
58 Once is too often – Part II This month RICH DU MOULIN looks at one of the toughest issues of all in a man overboard situation… how to get the casualty back aboard
REGULARS
6 Commodore’s letter JAMES NEVILLE
11 Editorial ANDREW HURST
14 Update The big-hitters go at it immediately, welcome to Barcelona (PS some of us have been here a while), those waves in detail, the ‘only’ way to Hawaii yet so few can see it (scared – ed). CAM LEWIS, JACK GRIFFIN, TERRY HUTCHINSON
24 World news The new kid’s just a kid, two-handed magic, a Transat at last, bonkers Minis, stand clear please – the Cape 31 invasion, young brilliance in Spain, American Magic win them over. Plus anything but normal… Transpac 2023. CARLOS PICH, BLANCA FERRANDO, CHRIS BOUZAID, IVOR WILKINS, DOBBS DAVIS, PATRICE CARPENTIER, TONY MUTTER, MAGNUS WHEATLEY
38 Paul Cayard – the best The Olympics, The Ocean Race and of life just being pretty darned good
40 ORC – The cat is out of the bag
ANDY CLAUGHTON 60 TechStreet
69 Seahorsebuild table – Reassuringly expensive That America’s Cup technology is finding all sorts of new applications in all sorts of different places
77 RORC – Big year JEREMY WILTON
78 Regatta calendar 110 September 1993 – Top of the curve
111 Sailor of the Month Time to give a boost to the Special Relationship
Whatever yachts the Cup is raced in breakages are expected – or it’s hard to justify that ‘cutting edge’ tag. A member (left) of YoungAmerica’s shore team just hopped on for an initial look at a ‘severe’ structural issue in 1999 (the solid carbon deck compression planks have just given up). AC75s seem robust by comparison… but the big trouble is below; shorted-out electrical systems, maybe a flaming battery or two, all guarantee a string of all-nighters once back on dry land
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