position is displayed at the helm station using LEDs.
Fast forward to sea trials in April 2018 in Croatia and it was with a great deal of anticipation that the crew slipped the lines on a grey and blustery day. With a complete refit there was a great deal to check and a conservative approach was very much the order of the day.
The initial sailplan was a Dacron delivery mainsail, cut down so that it was the equiv- alent of a deep first reef, and we also used an old 3Di J4. Wind was northerly 18-22kt. We began the trials by sailing without the DSS and checking the structure and initial rig loads. By now the yacht had not been sailing for a year and all the various systems needed to be checked and the new structure progressively loaded up.
The first impressions upwind with the DSS were favourable. The motion was very significantly dampened, with pitching greatly reduced. Since the initial tests we have been working to identify the correct crossovers for when DSS is appropriate sail- ing upwind in different conditions. What we found early on is that crossovers tend to be primarily sea state driven and so the reduc- tion in pitching increases VMG through better height as opposed to increased speed. We then bore away and set the old A3 gennaker from the bowsprit. The speed was consistently 4-5kt above the existing polars and the bow trimmed up nicely, allowing the crew to work the middle of the boat rather than hang off the transom. This has transformed the yacht offshore
– in the 2019 Rolex Giraglia, until the main halyard lock failed, Wild Joe was a solid frontrunner in rough running conditions between the mainland and Giraglia Rock. Conditions that compelled one mini maxi to stop racing and bail until enough water was out of the boat to resume racing… Since that first day of sea trials progress has been continuous and driven predomi- nantly by sail development in the hands of Doyle’s four-time Whitbread/Volvo winner Stu Bannatyne.
As expected, the extra righting moment and speed available by introducing the DSS foil meant that the sail inventory had to be re-evaluated. The target apparent wind angles and speeds were updated and, when combined with the latest cable-less sail tech- nology from Doyle, new flatter designs were developed for the reaching and run- ning sails. Happily cable-less technology allows luff loads to remain low, therefore no modifications were required to the bowsprit structure to fly the new generation of reaching sails including a jib top, frac- tional zero and masthead zero.
Addition of a whisker pole further enhanced reaching performance when, with the combination of new Doyle cable-less sails and DSS foil, Wild Joe has been consis- tently performing as much as 30 per cent above her original polars. Needless to say, this has given a nearly 20-year-old boat a whole new lease of life and made a very happy owner look forward to attacking the international circuit with renewed vigour. Following a full year of sailing to validate
the DSS system, Wild Joe will take on a wider range of events over the next two seasons – which was always the plan when considering installing DSS in the first place. The Middle Sea Race, RORC Transatlantic 2021, RORC Caribbean 600, 2021 Transpac and Rolex Sydney Hobart will give Wild Joe plenty of opportunities to stretch her legs.
Interesting too is that the switch to DSS has not been very expensive in terms of IRC rating. In simple terms this means that Wild Joe has gone from having no chance of winning with her previous rating and per- formance to having a chance or two at least. Which to any racing yacht owner is surely a night and day difference?
Obviously offshore and coastal races now suit the boat better, but windward-lee- ward racing with a canting keel was never going to be a happy hunting ground. And there have already been some special moments with DSS now on tap. Sailing at 26.8kt in flat water at last year’s Sardinia Cup reaching with a cable-less jib top and reefed main… plus flying past the 90ft Maxi Alfa Romeo earlier the same week felt pretty good too.
As for owner Marton Jozsa… ‘I am delighted to have gone for DSS – not only has it transformed the performance of the yacht, sometimes sailing up to 6kt over the original polars, but it has made the boat more seaworthy and better equipped to take on the longer ocean races, which has always been my dream.’ Happy customers are good for everyone.
Harnessing the Competitive Ed • 140KSI BILLET TITANIUM
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