beam. Also no further appendages or moving bits below the waterline please and a sail area-to-displacement ratio no less than the current TP52s, preferably slowly coming down in displacement for the same sail area.
Leave water ballast, stored power and reaching sails and equipment to the real offshore boats. So keep it simple, you will quickly find out that it is still quite complicated to get things right. Californian ULDB pioneer Bill Lee’s credo ‘Fast is Fun’ is less appropriate a slogan since foiling really took off… I feel ‘Fun to Sail’ gets closer to what we are seeking here. It does not exclude any one type of boat but puts the focus firmly on participation, driven by enjoying the activity itself as well as the company you go afloat with and the fleet you race in.
For sure winning races will add to the fun but to achieve that the hardware parameter must be pure performance, rather than tweak- ing towards a lower rating which often has a performance risk. Within reason of course. Certain optimisation choices are so obviously over or undervalued by rating systems that you better pick up the bonus or avoid the penalty. But focusing on boat performance will pay off best, certainly long term as these days rating systems tend to address loopholes rather quickly.
This brings us to the eternal optimisation dilemma of the TP52 class. Yes, it is a development class but do we choose to develop within a fixed rule or do we develop the rule as well? So aiming higher on two fronts, playing today’s game as well as moving the goalposts at regular intervals to keep things interesting. It was the rather big move of the goalposts in 2010/2011, and then smaller rule changes in 2015, that gave the class a new lease of life now already lasting 15 years. But to put this in perspective: a 2008 TP52, Red Bandit, with the benefit of age allowance still wins the Rolex Middle Sea Race on handicap – while not standing a chance racing boat for boat against a 2024 TP52. Also Red Bandit has been tinkered with over the years, replacing spinnaker poles with a bowsprit as well as playing around with marginal variations in draft and bulb weight. In essence, however, she is very much still the boat that Peter de Ridder launched in 2008 and raced in the Audi MedCup as Mean Machine.
As the TP52 class and its members are optimising for boat-for- boat windward/leeward racing the focus is quite different from when optimising for a mix of rated offshore and inshore courses. And today, with a healthy fleet racing the 52 Super Series events, at first sight there is no reason to move any goalposts, just make sure the pitch is in perfect shape. That is the general mood of most owners and sailors right now.
Those in favour of stimulating progress will highlight that faster is more fun, those hesitant reply that one should always be careful not to obsolesce the existing fleet. Hesitant purists will claim that even small rule changes will make existing boats obsolete, while history shows that is an exaggeration; although this is hard to quantify as those building new boats improve in all areas rather than just in specific areas triggered by the latest rule changes. Those keen to build new and speed up will claim the steps proposed are not big enough to create new interest in the class, nor indeed for them to build a new boat. And they will probably race several more years perfecting the already near-perfect. Progress never stops, even when no rules are changed. So are we wasting time discussing rule changes in the TP52 class? Certainly not, because slowly new options become clearer and gain support. Some of the choices made by ‘TP52-beaters’ will help us to understand the effects of these decisions, as we learned in the past when we had out-of-class 52s racing with us on an invitation basis.
It is often argued that limitations breed creativity. I am sure the TP52 box rule helps to focus development and steers teams away from being distracted by having too many options to optimise. Keep it simple! Careful optimisation of he box rule limits, however, has been and I am convinced in the future will again be, why the TP52 class survives, if not prospers.
The TP52 rule is one of the two legs we stand on, the other is the Super Series. Like boats, equipment and crews, both require constant rethinking and tinkering to remain interesting as an exclusive niche in the sport… and good fun. Foremost good fun! Happy holidays and wishing you some great sailing in 2025!! Rob Weiland, TP52 Class Manager.
Manufactured in the U Keelboat Hardware
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GILLES MARTIN-RAGET
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