underwater hydro-generators. The sailplan borrows heavily from
a Dykstra-Doyle collaboration on the similar size ketch, Aquarius II, which launched last year and takes full advantage of the headstay load reductions offered by its Structured Luff wardrobe. With a view to racing, however,
Aquarius II was not compromised by any requirement to fit under the Bridge of Americas at Panama, whereas Project Zero must comply with Panamax restrictions. ‘Consequently, Project Zero’s mainmast is six to seven metres shorter and the mizzen three to four metres shorter,’ says Sherlock. Nevertheless, by applying huge
roach to the mizzen and mainsail, the sail areas on both yachts are virtually identical at 2,000m2 and nearly 4,700m2
upwind downwind. The
downwind inventory comprises a Structured Luff cableless code zero and mizzen gennaker. ‘The headsails are all Structured
Luff,’ Sherlock continues. ‘The genoa cunningham will put 20 tons of tack load into the sail itself, while the staysail, without any forestay, will carry double that load through the tack. There is also a Structured Luff mizzen jib.’ The main and mizzen both
employ slab reefing. ‘We have to be able to reef while reaching,’ Sherlock explains. ‘We cannot turn up head-to-wind under power to reef with in-boom furling systems. Also, slab reefing consumes less energy, because we can do it manually, without hydraulics.’ As much as the all-consuming
Project Zero is technically futuristic in every aspect, Sherlock’s other major preoccupation extends back in time for close to two decades. This is the 100ft Leopard 3. Sherlock has played a major role
with Leopard 3 since she was built in 2007. From the outset, the boat was overburdened by its task as a luxury charter yacht, but beneath the opulent surface its athletic potential was always there. ‘It is the right length, the right
beam, it has a canting keel and daggerboards. If you were to design a high-performance 100ft boat today, Bruce Farr’s original lines would not be far off,’ says Sherlock. Following a Leopard 3 charter,
the Project Zero owner and his wife bought her in 2021 and set about unleashing all that performance potential. A crash diet saw all non- essential equipment and furnishings stripped out for a weight saving of 10 tons, while a total commitment to a wardrobe of Structured Luff Doyle Sails matched to a new carbon fibre rig significantly contributed to
Above: Doyle Sails Palma MD Chris Sherlock’s current projects include retrofitting Structured Luff sails to Leopard 3 and supplying a complete wardrobe for the new 69m Project Zero
the weight savings, halved the runner loads and turbo-charged the boat’s sailing performance. Leopard 3’s 2024 race results
fully rewarded the effort with a line honours victory in the RORC Transatlantic Race followed by sweeping the boards – 1st on IRC, 1st
IRC Super Zero class,
and line honours again – in the RORC Caribbean 600 Race. Ultimate validation, however,
came when Leopard 3 was crowned IMA Maxi 1 World Champion at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. (Also powered by Doyle Sails, George Sakellaris’ Proteus won Maxi 2 and Riccardo Pavoncellis’ Gaetana won the Maxi Multihull division). Leopard 3’s stellar results in
2024 have only raised the appetite for more of the same in 2025. Further surgery to shed another two tons awaits in the form of a new keel fin, 1-1.5m deeper, a lighter bulb, changes to the position and rake of the daggerboards, and new lower aspect ratio rudders to ensure the windward rudder clears the water at her optimum angle of heel. If Doyle Sails’ Structured Luff phenomenon is attracting interest from bigger and bigger superyachts, the same is happening with full-on racers as well. It doesn’t get much more majestic than the J Class and Scott Zebny is working with a new addition to the fleet which is set to launch later this year. ‘The whole focus is built around
our Structured Luff technology,’ says Zebny. ‘Our calculations indicate that we will reduce the forestay maximum load from 34 tons to 18 tons. The Structured Luff tack will carry 15 tons, up from five to six tons with a conventional setup. Forestay sag will improve from about 0.7 per cent to 0.3-0.4 per cent. ‘That is why they came to us.
This will be the first J Class yacht in overall
recent years to have a Doyle Sails inventory. It is a big deal for us.’ Zebny, who joined Doyle Sails
Palma in late 2019, has been part of the J Class scene for more than 20 years. During that time he has worked with Endeavour, Ranger, Hanuman, Rainbow and Lionheart. Alongside his Structured Luff
J Class new build, Zebny has been closely involved with the Baltic Yachts Café Racers, the Baltic 108 WinWin and the 59m German Frers ketch Maximus, launched at Vitters in late 2023, among others. He says the Café Racer concept,
with no backstays or runners, perfectly validates the Structured Luff concept as the headsails absorb the loads with minimal sag while a powerful luff cunningham in the mainsail enables a full range of shape adjustment. WinWin, like Leopard 3, converted
to a Doyle Sails Structured Luff inventory with the typical modifications to support a powerful tack cunningham system. ‘It made an amazing difference,’ says Zebny. ‘Instead of pulling three tons on the tack, it now pulls 12 tons. It’s been a complete transformation.’ The owner’s faith and investment
paid off at the 2024 St Barths Bucket, where WinWin bested her larger sister, the Baltic 147 Visione, with a closely fought 2,1,1 victory score in winds that were often in the high 20kt zone. Maximus made her racing debut
at the 2024 St Barths Bucket and steadily grew more competitive through the season, ending with a division victory at the Palma Superyacht Cup. ‘The difference between us in St Barths and us in Palma is massive,’ was the satisfied assessment of skipper Lars Loftus. Zebny was part of the Maximus
design team from its inception, with a full commitment to Structured Luff
SEAHORSE 69
JAMES TOMLINSON
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