The ends of the 11.98 have been drawn in at the waterline relative to its smaller predecessor to take away some wetted surface and improve performance in light airs. At the same time, as well as adding stability and power, fuller mid-sections combine with the finer ends to allow the boat to be very easily trimmed fore and aft, giving the crew more flexibility than a higher-prismatic design would
was started two years ago, with the first hull and deck finished in November of 2017, and tooling finished in June of 2018,’ he said. ‘The factory was busy, so we took our time to get the tooling and all the details right from the start. We must have made the right decision, because right away seven boats were sold even before the first boat was launched. And following the worlds there are now quite a few more interested suitors!’ Interestingly, those with early interest
coming into the 11.98 are not brand-loyal fans of Italia – only one is stepping up from the 9.98. This may change now following the win in Class C in Šibenik, where the class was overflowing with 55 entries. And there does seem to be interest across the perfor- mance spectrum: one of the boats launched to date has tiller steering and minimal inte- rior, while another has twin-wheels and more comprehensive interior comforts. ‘Several of the boats we have sold will fea-
ture carbon spars, but the weight difference is relatively small at about 40kg,’ says Polli. ‘The cross-over for a rating advantage, in
ORC at least, of having an alloy versus a carbon spar used to be at about 40ft overall. But ORC no longer gives much help to alloy spars in this size range.’ Polli should know, he has sat on the ORC Technical Committee for some time now. In terms of hull form Polli says he looked at the relative weakness of the 9.98 in light
68 SEAHORSE
air (the super-light 2017 worlds in Trieste was the only edition since 2015 when a 9.98 was not on the podium), and with help from some new CFD studies, he has made some scaled changes he thinks are improvements in the 11.98. ‘This hull shape has a lower prismatic and a finer entry, with lower wet- ted surface overall,’ he said. ‘The wider BTR is also what helps keep this boat within the CDL limits of Class C.’ The boat features long stern overhangs to minimise IMS- measured length but with enough volume forward to increase waterline when heeled and also increase stability when it’s needed. The hull and deck are built in an E-glass/
vinylester laminate over a 25mm core for the deck and a thicker 30mm core for the hull topsides, producing good panel stiffness with- out a lot of extra weight: the hull weighs in at a not embarrassing 700kg. Below the water- line a composite sub-frame around the keel takes the mast compression and keel loads, a structure engineered to exceed ISO standards. The interior layout is simple but clever, form- ing part of the main structure and contribut- ing to global stiffness. There are a number of interior options that will drive the final dis- placement ranging down to a choice of hard shell or fabric storage lockers. Similarly, the keel fin is cast lead with a
steel internal structure incorporating ballast windows that allow a substantial 500kg variance in weight for trim purposes (there
are no pockets in the lead bulb itself). The result is a boat with a Stability Index of 115°, the minimum needed for most off- shore races, and a STIX value of >35. Standing rigging is attached at the
extremities of the boat to accommodate a generous sailplan which completely fills the large-aspect ratio foretriangle and mainsail ‘spaces’. And don’t be fooled by the bolt-on inte-
grated carbon bowsprit. In big fleet wind- ward-leeward racing where good VMG sail- ing can deliver the small advantage needed at the gate marks, the 11.98 may carry an S2 on a pole yet also have an A1 flown off the sprit in lighter air. This is a handy versatility, to be able to switch downwind modes according to the race format. In longer offshore contexts the sprit can also take a Code 0 or ‘headsail set flying’, a masthead beast of a sail between 55 and 75 per cent mid-girth that can be devastating in light-air close reaching. We have yet to see how the new 11.98
fares under IRC but there is no reason, on paper at least, why the boat – which is far from a light-displacement design – should not be equally at home as under ORC. So could this typically pretty Italian
design be a nice machine with which to travel to Newport RI for next summer’s combined IRC/ORC Worlds… depending on the waiting list, of course. Dobbs Davis
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 |
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 |
Page 121 |
Page 122
