Tuesday, March 11, 2014

MAT 10.10

This very fast Turkish cruiser racer (Mills design) was tested recently by yacht.de and they made an interesting movie while testing it:


The IRC rating is very high, something like 1.039 while a  bigger A35 has a smaller one (about 1.033) and a similar sized JPL1010 has 1.011 but the boat has been proved difficult to sail to its rating and have been slower than boats with smaller ratings (a note for our American friends: contrary to PHRF on almost all other rating systems a bigger number means a faster boat). Contrary to those two boats (A35 and JPK 10.10) it is a much more dificult boat to sail solo, a true regatta boat while the other two are designed in a more polyvalent way, being suited for solo racing and also more forgiving  while cruising with a short crew.

On the old thread we had already talked about this interesting boat that is sold at a nice price. It is even more interesting due to his different design philosophy compared to the JPK 10.10 ( the MAT is a bit narrower with a different transom and hull and a bigger B/D ratio) I mean, more interesting to us that will be following the performance comparison of these two boats on real time on this year's races. I believe the boats will be close on performance but on compensated time probably the Mat will not stand a chance.


Eric:
Looking at this video report I had the growing feeling this is very much a Turkish Xp33... and this impression was confirmed at the end by the testers themselves. This kind of quality and technology never comes cheap, and so are the prices.

Although I'm a tiller adept, if it's positioned very far aft as on both these boats (logical from a racing point of view, freeing the cockpit for the crew), the performance cruising advantage consisting of a more forward and sheltered steering position (behind the sprayhood) is lost and so I understand the choice for the twin wheels. Both the X and the M.A.T. seem very much more oriented towards racing than (performance) cruising.

I quite like the interior lay-out, although the Xp looks more cozy and better finished (although I have not yet set a foot on either of the two boats). But even from a cruising point of view, I don't like the forward and quite high position of the water tank on the M.A.T.S. In racing mode it will of course be empty, but when cruising I think it will have a significant impact on upwind behavior in choppy conditions, especially with such a light hull. I don't understand why they didn't fit it underneath one or even both of the cabin seats/bunks.

 Hi Eric!
I agree with almost everything with you have said and I will add the the head of the Mat 10 10, just on the bow, should be very difficult to use on the sea, specially upwind with the boat pitching ;-).

It seems to me that not only the Xp33 has a far better interior as it is much more pointed to a dual use while the X1010 is much more pointed to racing. Regarding being similar there are some differences regarding both boats and some similitude. Both boats will be very good upwind boats but the MAT 1010 is a much more powerful boat with a much bigger B/D ratio (0.501 to 0.395) boosted by a bigger draft (2.10m to 1.90m with a similar keel) . The X 1010 has also a bigger beam (3.32m to 3.21m). This superior power is translated on the IRC rating that is of about 1.039 on the MAT (a very big one for the size of the boat) and 1.023 for the Xp 33, a very good one too.

To take advantage of all that ballast the MAT 10.10 has a very different transom (and different hull) designed to go upwind with a lot of heel while the XP33 has a more forgiven hull (certainly easier to sail downwind) with a marked chine and is designed to sail upwind with less heel and to have that chine working on that position, increasing stability at the optimal angle (on the pictures the first one is always the MAT):

These different characteristics will make the MAT 1010 not only a more difficult boat to sail (specially solo or with a short crew) but also a dart going upwind, specially with lots of wind where all that RM can be put at good service. That difference will it be even more marked if to that wind we join a nasty sea with waves. 

As negative points, sailing very fast the Mat 1010 downwind is for an expert crew. The boat has not "small wheels" on the side to help. I believe that a less expert crew or a cruiser will sail much more easily and probably faster, the XP downwind.

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