NEO 350...WHAT A LOOKER!!!

After the incredibly good performance of the big sister, the Neo 400 on the last middle sea race, under gale conditions, there was no doubt that the boat had a big offshore potential and also that the inverted bow helped to control water projections and to keep its nose up. A big design success for Ceccareli and after such a good boat we all wanted more and more to come.

The first one after the Neo 400 is a 350 that can have waterballast for racing offshore. The boat is as beautiful or even more beautiful than the big sister and contrary to it, it is not made of carbon. To keep costs down it is basically a vacuum infused epoxy e-glass boat with some parts in carbon (spars, rudder, bowsprit,tiller, bulkheads, keel frames).

Keeping costs down is a way of speaking because such a high quality built is expensive and this beauty costs a bit less than 200 000 euros (with VAT). Two versions will be available, a cruising one with aluminium spars and a racing one but I bet that even the "slower" version will be a very fast sailboat, able to win races.

The Neo 350 will have a hull length of 10.70m will weight only 3650kg of which 1500kg are ballast on a lead bulb at the end of a steel foil. The beam is considerable (3.53m)the draft is moderate (2.05m) and the RM is huge, allowing for 72sqm of sail upwind.

The interior disposition is interesting, similar to the bigger boat, but only when the first boat comes out we will see if it is as much spartan as the one of Neo 400 or if this is a boat that is pointed to a more vast clientele with a nicer finished interior.

Anyway a very beautiful boat that will make proud any owner and will raise a lot of envy looks: Italian design and boat building at its best ;-)

The Neo 400 blasting on the last Middle of the sea race:

GLOBAL OCEAN RACE 2015/2016

Maybe it is this year that this race gets the number of entries to make it a major one on the offshore solo/short crew racing scene. The idea is just great and it became even better: An affordable racing 40class boat for all, solo or duo crews and a circumnavigation race. Better because now, instead of multiple legs it is a circumnavigation with a single stop in Auckland. More interesting as a sporting event and also less expensive and less time consuming for the participants.
The 30 000nm race will start from Southampton in September 2015 and will finish in Portsmouth around March 2016. There are already 8 teams in and I am impressed with the American Dave Rearick that will race a Kiwi 40FC Class40. He is doing right now a solo circumnavigation on that boat....just for training for the big one LOL. Meet the guy, quite a character and ....not a young guy anymore. Cheers to him.

I am quite sure this is a great race, at least for the ones that are racing it...most of them have made more than one edition and keep coming back. This race has the potential to become a classic and I really hope that to happen: A non French major solo race, that would be interesting and would help to spread the concept of solo/short crew long range racing among other countries.

RM 1070 FIRST TEST

By voile magazine, and one of the long ones, a 100nm test. The magazine is available on Zinio but I can advance that they only say good things. It was the twin keel version and it performed as expected and that means well. They gave some numbers: 15K wind 8K speed, 40º TRW 6.5K speed. Not a mean machine upwind but not bad, considering the twin keel setup. A boat for voyaging on the trade winds and certainly one of the best at that, size by size.

As usual on this type of very large transoms the engine performance was poor and the cruising speed is just 5.5K. Anyway this is a sailboat and the 80L of diesel tankage does not give it a big autonomy while on engine. 

GREAT IMAGES FROM 2014

Three great movies: A kind of Middle Sea race surfing best off, Concise, the Ker designed 40class racer blasting downwind and a kit surf movie, a great one: Gorgeous scenery, great sailing fun, beautiful girls. Those guys seems to have it all ;-)

TRANSQUADRA: JPK BIG VICTORY

Congratulations to Jean-Pierre Kelbert (JPK), his boats dominated the race: The first two to arrive were JPK and on the 8 that arrived already 5 were JPK!!! He sailed himself on the first leg (Saint Nazaire to Madeira) the new JPK 10.80 to the victory. He did not sail the boat on the second leg and curiously the victory did not go neither to any of the two big rivals, the JPK 10.80 or the Sunfast 3600, probably the two fastest boats but to a JPK that had already entered the realm of legendary boats, winning all that was to be won, in real time and handicap, the JPK 10.10, first and second on this Transat.

The third boat to arrive was  a big surprise, a boat that I had always considered a very good offshore boat, an Elan 350, a boat from another league that showed that he can be as fast offshore as much more expensive boats. He arrived on the tails of the second JPK, crossing the line 9 minutes later.

The 4th was another legendary boat, a Sunfast 3200 that beat his new and more powerful brother, the new 3600 that arrived next followed very close by the new JPK 10.80 (1 hour 40m). Then two more JPK 10.10 closed the first 8 to arrive.

All the above were duo teams, the first Solo did not arrive yet but two boats are very close to the finish and away from all the others. If all goes right the first Solo boat will be a Jeanneau 3200 and the  2nd another JPK 10.10.

The big loser is Archambault, many times winner of this race with the A35 and with very good results with the A31....well, where are they? What happened? I am very surprised not to see them on the leading positions this year.

http://transquadra.geovoile.com/2014/?leg=2

VOR: DONGFENGH THE CHINESE BOAT MADE MILLIONS PROUND AND HAPPY

The Chinese boat has aboard only two Chinese, both relatively inexperienced sailors that are surrounded by a strong core of Britons and a Basque (French), mostly with solo/short crew racing careers that are showing again that it takes not much time to learn the ropes of the new game. I bet it would take a lot more to make a crew racing sailor (without a vast solo experience) a winner on top solo racing :-)

The Skipper is Charles Caudrelier a winner of the Solitaire du Figaro and other Figaro races, winner of 2 transats  (duo, 2nd in command) one on Open 60 other on a 70ft trimaran and part of the Camas team last year. A very good sailor but not one of the French stars. I can be wrong but probably it will become one on this  race. Last year Camas needed some time to adapt to a new boat and a new crew and after that it was no sweat. Let's see if with the Charles is the same.

Probably the most influential man after him is Pascal Bidégorry also coming from the Figaro (winner of the Solitaire du Figaro but that on the last years has been racing multihulls. He was part of the crew when "Banque Populaire" beat the Atlantic record and also part of the crew when the same boat beat the 24 hour sailing record with an incredible average of 38k. Also won a Transat Jacques Favre (duo) on a Orma class 60ft trimaran.

A solid core that is completed by another French, Kevin Escoffier, an Engineer specialized in racing boat structures ( he is the one in charge of the development cabinet for Banque Poulaire) but he is not only that, he has won with is father a Transat Jacques Favre on a trimaran and was part of the crew on Banque Populaire when the giant trimaran beat the world circumnavigation record that still stands.

So I would say: Watch out these Guys, they have learned the ropes on the VOR thing :-)

THIS OLD HULL NEEDED A REPAIR....

Well, boats don't last forever and once fast old hulls become slow and in need of repair, so do people and in this case the "old hull" needing a repair was my skeleton. It is repaired now with a brand new hip prosthesis. All is well I am burning the recovery time to be able to sail my boat next season, but it is painful and no much will to post. That's the reason things have been slow here and will continue that way for some time.

Fair winds to all,

Paulo