Left: the first of designer Jacques Valer’s new JPK 1030s will not launch until next year; this boat will be more in the vein of the Ofcet 32 than the JPK 1010, targeted mainly at offshore sailing with a small or shorthanded crew and with the ability to maintain high average speeds relatively more easily. The best known of the early genre of offshore-oriented IRC designs (below) is the original Teasing Machine designed by Bernard Nivelt back in 2013 and since progressively developed into a hugely accomplished offshore raceboat
‘the effects of this bulb will include some useful extra lift to reduce leeway.’ In terms of build the goal was to gain
300kg to be put back in as ballast. The first 100kg were found in the hull and deck. To get there, hard angles were intro- duced to the deck shaping, where the JPK 1010 presents smoothly rounded but ‘resin greedy’ changes of direction. The new boat therefore features a faceted coachroof, and where the bilge runs up to the bow the hull shows a marked change of direction. Small gains that quickly accumulate. In the end, according to Jean Pierre Kel-
bert, the 1030 will be ‘more powerful than the 1010, and should be much easier to sail fast once you ease sheets. But Jacques has also done what is necessary,’ he adds, ‘to maintain similar strong upwind perfor- mance which should match or be only slightly below the speed of the 1010.’ With the JPK 1030 Valer and Kelbert are
with only one set of spreaders, similar to the Ofcet 32 – it will also start racing at least in single-rudder configuration. The plan is to later switch the first boat to twin-rudders for a direct comparison. For its first race boat no1 is entrusted to
Frenchman Gérard Quenot, an experienced soloiste who in two participations in the Transquadra has scored a win and a third place overall. On his JPK 1010 Alkaïd- Nautistick Quenot also finished third over- all in the 2015 Fastnet and won IRC 4. The MMW 33 will only launch a few
days before its first event, the new Gascogne 45/5, a ‘round trip’ between La Rochelle and a weather buoy anchored in the Bay of Biscay at 45° N and 005° W. In other words, whether the skipper has a brilliant first race or a bad one it will only be later in the season that we can start to see what the Molino plan has in its belly. Meanwhile, in Lorient the first tooling
for the new JPK 1030 is complete. The design of the boat was obviously entrusted to Jacques Valer, longtime accomplice of Jean Pierre Kelbert, designer of all the JPKs from the original 960 to the most recent 1180, including the JPK 1010 which over many years now has accumulated an extra- ordinary racing record, crewed, two- handed and solo, both in the southern hemisphere and in European waters. It is difficult to replace such a trophy
hunter, all the more so as with the benefit of age allowance these older designs see their ratings decrease year on year, on top of which as the IRC formula is adjusted the
changes in ‘taxation’ do not affect boats designed before the modification of the rule. These provisions are in place to protect
manufacturers by avoiding obsolescence for their previous, older models. On the other hand, bringing out a new boat that is capable of matching its predecessors on corrected time can be a headache… JPK solves the problem by launching its
1030 into a slightly different slot from the 1010. It is not only longer (10.34m) and a little more expensive (by some 10,000 euros), it is again also more offshore oriented and for a small crew, even if that means sacrificing a little flexibility in all-round performance. According to Kelbert, Valer spent nearly
10 months on the drawing board before signing off his newest design, ‘studying various hull options, all the way through to some scow-type shapes, before arriving at a boat with lines that are a little more accentuated than the JPK 1010 and with visibly more volume forward. But as a result of the rating refinements and a more powerful hull the displacement compared to the smaller 1010 is reduced by 500kg.’ On the JPK 1010 the straight keel has
proved to be the most efficient option (it is rare that owners prefer a bulb keel even racing with reduced crew), but the 1030 will be fitted with a L-profile keel with a triangular section bulb, ‘a bit like some of the J/Boats’ according to Kelbert. The cast iron fin will also carry some
lead ballast in galleries to allow easy changes in trim. ‘For this boat,’ says Valer,
not chasing the ‘off-road’ qualities of the JPK 1010, ‘a versatile boat par excellence, competitive inshore as well as offshore, crewed as well as single or double- handed… always provided it is well-opti- mised and sailed of course!’ says Kelbert. ‘It would be very complicated, for ex -
ample, to reproduce with the 1030 the JPK 1010’s overall victory at the IRC European Championship.’ The 1010 will therefore continue to be produced by the yard while the first 1030 should appear in March 2019. In conclusion, another lesson we learn
from the story of these new IRC designs is that as the boats become more profiled towards a particular type of racing, to continue to ensure at least reasonable all- round performance (necessary if boats are to sell in volume) a well- managed process of optimisation should be expected. This trend first became apparent with Bernard Nivelt’s previous 43ft Teasing Machine – which was originally intended to become a new Archambault A43 (before the yard went bankrupt). With her then unusual straight keel,
with no bulb, lighter displacement and more form stability, it took a long time before Teasing became competitive in all conditions. Eventually, however, she was developed into one of the most successful IRC yachts of her era. This same process of evolution has been
apparent with the development of the equally radical Ofcet 32 and will no doubt be the case with some of the other IRC designs we have been talking about. A little patience is required.
SEAHORSE 51
q
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
