News Around the World
American Magic’s second AC75, Patriot, is lifted into the water for the first time with evidence of dramatic development in foils and fairings. At first glance the team’s switch from a scow (the team’s boat 1) to this skiff looks equally dramatic but there are still plenty of similarities. The American Magic design team led by Marcelo Botín remains very sensitive to aero drag (read the label on the side) but now with finer bow sections that produce less drag in displacement sailing than the previous fat scow bow did. There is also the introduction of a slender bustle, but more subtle than on Patriot’s rival generation-2 AC75s… except for Prada’s second Luna Rossa which followed the theme of the Italian team’s first boat so closely as to imply that they clearly believe they are onto something good
be very technical with a wide variety of weather systems, and strategic because the influence of the Saint Helena High quickly disrupts the data you spend so long building up! ‘The human factor still outweighs everything else on this course.
Fatigue, weariness, reduced alertness – and then the inevitable mistakes that follow.’ New foils were installed on Arkéa Paprec just before sailing for
Les Sables d’Olonne, as Sébastien Simon explained: ‘Following the damage to our foils during the Vendée Arctique we decided to rein- force the existing foils and continue sailing with them while we made sure we knew how to get them right. This allowed us to train, to make the boat reliable and to learn how to use C-foils properly. ‘We acquired data on their strength and the behaviour of the boat
but I was still not totally confident. The alarms sounded a lot, we were often at the limit of their use and, in my opinion, even with more reinforcement they were not suitable for a round-the-world trip. This is why a new pair of V3 foils identical in shape to the previous ones but more reliable (engineered by Pure in New Zealand) was ordered from Persico in Italy.’ Sébastien’s new foils arrived only just in time to allow Arkéa Paprec
to reach the Vendéan harbour for the start. This Juan K design has been equipped with seven foils since her launch: the primary V1 shape (broken during the Transat Jacques Vabre), the V2 (two foils plus another reversible spare) one of which broke during the Vendée Arctique Race, then the two new V3 foils. Knowing the average price of a foil is about ⇔200,000 (not for a pair!) the final cost is steep. The V3 is fine on Charal, however! ‘The V2 had allowed us to
make up for the deficit we had in running conditions with the V1,’ explains Jérémie Beyou. ‘This V3 brings a little extra, in the sense that it allows us to take off earlier than with the previous one, which is what we were looking for. Also the boat has better flying behaviour than with the V2, and is definitely faster all-round than with the V1. ‘The decision was therefore to go for the VG with this latest version
which gives us complete satisfaction. Hats off to the technical team who worked really well at the workshop this summer!’
24 SEAHORSE Samuel Manuard, designer of L’Occitane en Provence, believes
his boat will also work well as a platform for a full crew. ‘We focused 100 per cent on the Vendée Globe and all the design features and de cisions were taken with that in mind,’ he said. ‘Nevertheless there will be a lot of similarities between what is
important for a boat that is efficient for the Vendée Globe and for The Ocean Race. And some decisions that we have taken are in line with what you need for The Ocean Race. For example, the cockpit is pretty far aft with big companionways so that we have a roomy space inside. The volume inside is good and I’m sure that living with five or six people onboard will be perfectly OK.’ One of the features of the new boat, which was moulded in Hungary
and completed at Black Pepper Yachts in Nantes, is the (unusual) facility to retract the foils but still be able to sheet the headsails properly without obstruction. Manuard believes this is an important option for Armel Tripon when he needs to tame the boat’s power. ‘We told ourselves that there will be times in the race when you want to switch off the foiling mode or at least reduce it,’ he said. ‘It is a very tough race and you can find yourself in a difficult
situation where you’d be happy to have a mode where the boat doesn’t accelerate too much, so we wanted to be able to retract the foils as much as possible for safety… This feature could be handy if the boat goes on to compete in The Ocean Race in 2022 when the fleet is likely to encounter light winds at leg starts and finishes.’ Race director Jacques Caraës explains about the Covid test pro-
cedure in Les Sables d’Olonne: ‘Everybody in the teams working in the Race Village has to have a PRC nose test every 72 hours during the three-week preparation. And we require the same test for the media coming into the village. The skippers must undertake two tests, PCR and serological [blood test], before their quarantine from 31 October to 6 November. Unfortunately it means that no skipper will be visible in the Vendée Globe village during that period. ‘On Friday the 6th, two days before the start, the race organisation
will give all competitors a new PCR test. If unfortunately a result is positive the skipper cannot start the race on Sunday 8 November.
WILL RICKETSON
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