OUT OF NOWHERE? – Joe Lacey Yves Ginoux helmed his Mumm 36 to victory in the last IRC European Championship and is also the driving force behind the UNCL’s new Class 30 initiative which caught many people completely unawares when it was announced in May. Seahorse caught up with him to find out about the project. SH: So, Yves – tell us why you’ve launched this project? YG:At the UNCL we noticed a demand for a new boat in three different markets. The first – and the primary motivation for the UNCL – is the need for a fun, affordable, offshore-capable boat that our yacht clubs and sailing schools can use. The second, which is similar in terms of requirements, is from companies organising corporate regattas who want to renew their fleets. The third is the need for a boat for a younger generation of amateur offshore sailors; a step up in size and safety from the Mini 6.50 but cheaper than a Class40 – plus it must also be more exciting to sail and more affordable than a typical 33ft IRC boat. Boats like the Cape 31s and the HP30 class in the UK are
fantastic, but we wanted an offshore-capable boat. However, the best way to keep costs down is to increase sales volume – so we’ve taken these different market demands and created one project. SH: OK – and what progress has been made? YG:We discussed the idea with the RORC in the UK and the Storm Trysail Club in the USA and they agreed to join us in the project. We would be more than happy for other clubs to join us as well. We launched a competition for naval architects and boatyards to propose their ideas for the Class 30 and had quickly received 25 responses from all over the world. We created a jury comprising four UNCL board members, three RORC committee members and the Commodore of the STC. We selected the eight best proposals to move into a secondary design phase which is underway. We hope to announce the winner of the design competition and present the boat very soon and have boats launched during 2022. SH: Do you expect the boat to be designed and built in France? YG: We would like the boat to be built in Europe (or our favourite 28th member!), as at this size we believe the cost savings from building in Asia are cancelled out by the shipping costs to Europe. We really do not mind where it is designed; of the eight projects left four are from France, two from Italy, one from Germany and one from the USA. SH: Do you have an idea how much the boat will cost? YG: The idea is to create two versions. The ‘club’ version with an aluminium mast, and one-design sails and electronics, has an on-the-water target price of ⇔80k. A premium version intended for private owners with a carbon mast and water ballast has a target price of ⇔160k ready to race including sails and electronics and autopilot. This is a considerable saving versus the ⇔250k+ price tag of existing new boats with all the options needed to win in IRC. And the Class 30 should also be a more exciting boat to sail. But we know that running costs are at least as important as
purchase costs, and we are trying to reduce those costs in two ways. The first is to limit sails and electronics and we will certainly introduce significant cost controls of some kind. The second regards financing and insurance; we are currently looking for a financial partner, who could even become a title sponsor of the class, in return for offering attractive financing and insurance options to clubs and owners. SH: So is the aim to create a one-design class or an IRC boat? YG:Both. The design brief calls for a boat that is competitive under IRC racing in longer offshore races like the Fastnet or a Transat either fully crewed or two-handed, but we are happy to accept a boat that will not be competitive under IRC on windward-leeward courses. SH: Do you have any one-design events in mind? YG: The Tour de France à La Voile was a fantastic event that gave young crew offshore experience, and it is a shame the move to 24ft trimarans changed that. We would like to create two three-week events, one in northern Europe and another in the Med, with a series of six to 48-hour offshore stages moving from town to town. Of course, if the Class 30 really takes off as we hope then events can be organised in other countries as well and we could even think about a world championship at a later stage. SH: And a future Olympics?
YG:Who knows! The Olympics was never the basis for this project and the UNCL is not capable of financing a free fleet of boats for an Olympic competition. But for sure if an offshore class does finally join the Olympics – maybe in 2028 – and we have developed a strong class by then, why not. We would just need to add some cameras to the Class 30 and it would then comply with Olympic requirements. Offshore sailing is booming in France, but mainly solo or two-
handed, which in most cases for amateur sailors means you need to be wealthy enough to buy at least a 50 per cent share in a boat. If some young people get the opportunity to race offshore on some cool boats and fall in love with the sport because of this project then we will consider it a success!
NEXT UP PLYMOUTH – Rob Kothe In its second season SailGP is recognised as the pinnacle global high-performance sailing series. But by whom, you might ask? Well. Start with Sir Ben Ainslie, Billy Besson, Peter Burling, Nathan
Outteridge, Phil Robertson, Nicolai Sehested, Tom Slingsby and Jimmy Spithill. Eight of the best sailors in the world, now racing in
SailGP Bermuda – when Nathan Outteridge and Team Japan realised that they were not going to make the duck on USA they went for the crash tack… the result was elegant but expensive as the Japanese entry lowered itself ‘gently’ onto Spithill’s boat, taking both F50s out of the running for the rest of the regatta
SailGP’s F50 foiling catamaran, the world’s fastest one-design sailing boat in an eight-event world series. And it is unlikely that the host of Cup sailors and Olympic medallists among their crews are going to argue. This season started in Bermuda, then moved to Italy. Next up,
the fierce battles will resume this month in Plymouth, England. So far at least Sir Russell Coutts, SailGP CEO, is a happy man: ‘The racing in both events so far this season has been sensational. We could get some pretty strong winds in Plymouth, but with the small 18m wing we are in good shape for racing there. ‘Plus by Aarhus the fleet should have the 29m wing. It’s just 8kg
heavier but a lot more powerful so at the lighter end of the range it is predicted to drop foiling windspeed by about 1kt. But, more importantly, it will power the boat up, will be better through the manoeuvres. I expect the fleet will use it in under 10kt. It’s likely to be especially useful in Aarhus and St Tropez. And when accom- panied by three-up crews it also provides a lot more certainty for our broadcast schedules!’
THE STORY SO FAR Bermuda – April Tom Slingsby’s Team Australia, the season one champion, won all three races on the Sound on Day 1. On Day 2 Ainslie’s Team GB then clearly won the race four start, Slingsby was second at the first mark, and so they finished. But behind there was chaos. Outteridge’s Team Japan, the give-way boat, miscalculated a tight cross with Spithill’s Team USA. A slow crash tack from the Japanese caused
SEAHORSE 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120
