Update
SQUARING UP – Andy Claughton Over the past several seasons the offshore and keel boat racing fleets have seen several developments in reaching sails for yachts that race regularly offshore or on traditional inshore round-the-buoy courses. These lighter, faster boats pull the apparent wind forward of the beam even when sailing downwind, hence the technology of cableless furling sails has developed. Also, the contortions sail designers were performing to get a close-reaching sail that measured as a spinnaker seemed counterproductive. With these developments gathering pace the ORC’s International
Technical Committee (ITC) set out to produce handicaps for yachts that carried Head Sails Set Flying (HSF), ie headsails with any mid- girth. A family of aerodynamic force coefficients was introduced to bridge the zone between two existing sail types: a mid-girth to foot ratio of 50% (jibs) and 85% (asymmetric spinnaker). There is a gradual variation of the lift and drag coefficients between the original ones contained in the 2019 VPP for a luffed headsail and those of an asymmetric spinnaker. In this way all the 50% HSFs and the asymmetric spinnakers above 85% mid-girth ratio will have the same treatment as in 2019, and it is the intermediate sails (ie those with the ratio between 50.1% and 84.9%) that will have a handicap that will change smoothly in this range. This means that all HSFs and asymmetric spinnakers with mid-
width to foot ratio less than 85% will have new certificates for 2020 and beyond. The yacht’s certificate will now record the dimensions and the area of each HSF and spinnaker with mid-width less than 85% carried onboard. The VPP runs each sail and produces a best of the best performance envelope. This is a significant change from predicting performance based only upon the largest sail of each type in the inventory. This VPP refinement should allow for better HSF sail designs for
those who choose to carry them and is a very positive development. In addition, for everyone who decides not to purchase and carry one, they will now not be disadvantaged because their rating will not include any contribution of performance from these sails. This is a significant improvement to the VPP; we have had to
resolve the issue that jibs and spinnakers had their area measured in different ways, and adapt the VPP to run specific individual sails rather than just the largest. This is another step towards the VPP reflecting how boats are actually sailed. The New Speed Guide output of the polar curves will now show the crossover curves of the largest spinnaker, any small asymmetric spinnaker (between 75 and 85% mid-girth ratio), and any HSF in the range of 50-75% mid-girth ratio in addition to the normal VMG headsail. Finally, this does not mean everyone must rush out and buy a new sail. We are acutely aware that any handicap rule must neither
stifle development nor encourage profligate spending to be com- petitive. Because the ORCi can handicap based on the course sailed and the wind conditions the predicted polar speeds are only modified when a particular sail is set, and so handicaps are only affected when the sail is actually used.
q SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
The generosity of our American friends often shames other wealthy nations when it comes to good causes. The 1932 log canoe Flying Cloud is currently the subject of a nut-and-bolt restoration at Campbell’s Boatyard in Oxford, MD. Flying Cloud is owned by a log canoe trust which raised $75,000 towards the work plus a further anonymous donation of $20,000. The total of $95,000 was then matched dollar for dollar by the family of local canoe enthusiasts, the Pragers. And to add a very classy cherry on an already pretty special cake, the Cloud’s new skipper is retired astronaut Capt Kenneth Reightler Jr. That is just so cool
18 SEAHORSE
l Leading the charge… against unlimited pumping in the 470 class? l Windsurfing god... Robby Naish l Utter… sh*te to watch, by the way l Creates… an ‘ugly visual dynamic’, says the golden god l As we said… sh*te l Ooh err… but we thought we were a custom builder… l Seems… building the odd Laser with different internal stiffening was not in the spirit l Neither… was forgetting to pay the designer any royalties l Nor… it seems the letter l That would be why… the District Court of Connecticut awarded $6,857,736.30 to Laser designer Bruce Kirby l Courtesy of… the piggybank at former Laser builder LaserPerformance l Our old friend… Bruce Kirby, that is l And… if he ever gets paid, our new bestie l He’s a wise man… however l And we doubt… he’s spending it just yet l Gotta love… that 30 cents, though l Hmmm… serious talk about cancelling Tokyo 2020 for coronavirus l Bet… they don’t (hope they don’t) l Sadly… there’s no shortage of abandoned Olympic infrastructure around the world to borrow l It’ll… change our sport for ever… l But we… don’t want it changed (like that) l The makers… of the Tricon Venus bino’s claim a minimum 500m upwind wind-mapping capability l OK, we cave… Michel Desjoyeaux’s Mer Agitée are working on their own system with an initial upwind ‘viewing’ range of 1.5nm l Awesome… how about Team NZ picking up backing from the Golden Arches! l A… ‘family partner’ no less l Reaching… the wider public l Literally… (sorry) l Our money says… the US Stars+Stripes Challenge will still be ‘going well’ long after the 2021 Match l Gotta… admire the chutzpah l Fabulous facts… Gitana facts… l Wanna know… how many fibre optic load sensors feed onboard mission control? l More more… 500 at the last count l Techno crazy… makes it easier to understand why Gitana Team felt they had to leave the Collectif Ultim (class association to you) with their development ability compromised by the current rules l Value for… money… l £20million… is all it took Ineos to become a title sponsor of F1 world champions Mercedes Petronas l Take it… from us l That is really… really cheap l Tough… sponsorship market in 2020? l F1… wing mirrors once went for £1million apiece l It’s certainly… a mega deal compared to the America’s Cup game l Unless… you win it at the first attempt (perhaps) l Fingers… crossed, men l Retirement sale… the 1983 12 Metre Victory 83, two-time world champion, immaculate in every way l Classy… way to daysail l Props to… Team GBR’s John Gimson and Anna Burnet, 2020 Nacra 17 World Champions l Why for… them? l Because… we can l There’s more than… just Victory 83 at
raceboatsonly.com l Or uncover… the history of your yacht porn at
eurosailnews.com
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