No pressure… the deck and transom of the new Botín-designed Azzurra for the 2017 Super Series champions is gently lowered onto the hull at King Marine in Valencia. Much of the deck gear is already in place and Azzurra were out sailing just three weeks after this photo was taken
rule; this so far hardly triggered reliability problems, just hope solid carbon rods will not push us into further regulation. As in the rig department we see just
one main supplier for the deck gear and hydraulics: Harken. But certainly Harken is not without competition. Specialised companies like Jon William’s Stayinphase, KZ Racefurlers, Cariboni and many more find their way onto and inside TP52s. But you do not get where Harken is by
they closely follow and appre ciate each other’s work. So what will we see the first time sheets are pulled in earnest? Last year Platoon was the most all-
round Vrolijk boat and showed ample pace, certainly as soon as the breeze was up – enough pace to force Botín to rethink his work for the upper wind range. Mean- while, Botín’s 2017 Interlodge/Gladiator was clearly pressing Vrolijk to catch up in lighter conditions. Expect from both studios faster boats
upwind over the full wind range we compete in (5-30kt) and all new boats to be close in speed downwind, not noticeably different from the slippery 2015 boats – possibly marginally slower in the light due to hull volume distribution and appendage design and positioning being even more driven by upwind acceleration and keeping a comfortable high mode in the toolbox. Refinements in hull and rig engineering
to create stiffer boats and match higher loads are an easy prediction. Much work will have gone into engineering, mainly by specialist companies like Pure Engineering and SDK Structures. Expect the new-generation boats to
bend about 15mm in total over their length for a headstay load of eight tonnes. Quite something when you think about it. Hull weight is for me easy to extract
from the internal ballast numbers. The 2018 Botín boats have on average more interior ballast than their 2015 predeces- sors. Partly this has to do with Botín no longer using a steel frame in the keel area, which offered a relatively cheap and solid solution and at a VCG level was hardly different from where you would otherwise park the internal ballast. All fins now have a stub-socket conn -
ection to the hull. Also the equipment is lighter except for the new model engine. I expect to see around 125-150kg of internal ballast in the new Botín boats. As the Vrolijk boats have invested some
of their relatively high 2015 interior ballast number in beefing up high-load hull areas there will be considerably less spread in ballast weight between the boats. Alto- gether I expect to see no more than a 100kg range, one third of the previous generation. In the longer run this means we could go
32 SEAHORSE
down in displacement but as long as older generations still race in the Super Series we will stick where we are now (6,950kg). All nine new boats have rigs supplied by
Southern Spars and rigging mainly by Future Fibres, now a Southern subsidiary. Both companies’ products have ‘grown with the class’ to a standard that is near impossible to achieve in a one-off environ- ment, as is the case with the boats. To explain the complexity of these at first
sight rather simple rigs is not that easy – best compare a Formula 1 car with a high-end sports car. In knowledgeable hands with continual attention a formidable weapon but too specialised for average use. Never mind they are built in the same shop (from new mould designs), all the rigs are different and will react a little differently under the same load as a result of Southern translating clients’ wishes in different material orienta- tions and positioning of spreaders, deflec- tors, rigging and so on. Of course the result then is only a start point for further tuning. At the heart of the changes from previous
rigs is the never-ending search for higher loads, so stiffer sections, followed by the search for less drag. Most teams switch to solid carbon rigging to fight drag, like RAZR, but at what price in reliability? For sure this is not a product to try at home… Cautious teams will have a spare rig and
rigging and most will replace rigging as soon as there is any suspicion of having taken a hit. Long term I feel the resilience of this product will have to improve to achieve wider appeal. Keeping it all sane to some extent is the
document not many read, the TP52 Class Rule, in which the rig has its own box as it is defined in weight, VCG, materials and dimensions. At first sight possibly strange but without the box the rigs, like the boats, would be much less refined as then most effort and money would go to being con- ceptually different from the others and the resulting pace of action and reaction would not allow much time for refining concepts. Imagine a fully open class with only 52ft LH as restriction and you know what I’m trying to say. Then you will not worry about a gramme here or there! Typically rigging is not specifically limited for weight or diameter by the class
being lazy and there are so many upgrades by them for the 2018 TP52s of which quite a few have trickled down from the AC50. A quick list shows the Air250 winch with its low-profile drum and winch base now moulded into the deck in construction for weight saving and increased efficiency. Winch systems nowadays come with a
‘performance optimisation gear kit’, so that each winch can be assembled with dif- ferent gearing and optimised for its specific function. For example, runner winches will need to be slow and powerful and primary winches fast and just powerful enough to trim upwind. New-model winch gearboxes, easily
spotted as coloured yellow if you ever get inside a TP, are reduced in size and weight, again as a development straight from the AC50. Where the boats still have blocks we see Harken’s new V-Blocks with tita- nium caged V-bearings and sheaves and carbon side plates. Hydraulic systems have been improved with new-version dump valves and the Kick Y-Valve to which a red-coloured quadrant for control by hand while hiking can be added. Sailing is multitasking in the sense that
where you put your weight shall not be decided solely by the job at hand – better the job is brought to where your weight adds to the performance of the boat. To end under water, keel fins are milled
from a solid billet of high-tensile steel and fit into a laminated socket in the hull, while bulbs are milled to perfection from oversized lead castings. As with hull con- struction, also in this department the TP52 rule keeps things level and sort of sane. No extreme limits, no extreme materials, all to scantling guidelines and drawings to be approved by DNV GL. Not idiot proof but not without reasonable margin either. Not timeless but trying to encourage a
realistic pace of development and its asso- ciated spending. High-level sailing does not mean accepting equipment failure and endless spending as the ultimate decisive factor. Then again 52 Super Series and the TP52 Class are just one of the many ways to Rome. It is, however, good to see our road continues to be well trodden. Rob Weiland, TP52 and Maxi72 class manager
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