In the Vendée Globe, even the slowest sailor is a very good and experienced solo racer. His sailboat is a 60ft Imoca, and not one of the oldest because those don't pass anymore on the safety requirements. Those sailboats' safety requirements are the most demanding in all ocean races: boat stability requirements are very high, the yacht needs to have buoyancy, even if holed, and all sorts of safety equipment is mandatory.
To be qualified to enter the Vendée, it is mandatory to participate in at least a race from the IMOCA calendar, mostly professional Transats, and if one of those is made in duo, an additional controlled 2000nm solo passage is needed with minimum speed requirements.
However, the biggest difficulty to participate is not about the money needed for having a competitive IMOCA, it is much more to be among the best IMOCA professional solo sailors because those will not have difficulty in getting a boat for racing the Vendée, and be paid for doing it, even if a minimally competitive boat costs over one million and a half euros.
Of course, many of the 30 racers of the last Vendée were not among the best solo racers, and the difficulties to find a budget increases with the absence of top racing results, on professional solo or duo races.
Very experienced professional solo racers with medium results on top professional races have already difficulty in finding a budget for doing the Vendée on a competitive boat, often having to race it on an older and less competitive IMOCA.
Semi-Professional racers with a huge experience in solo and duo races, some having done other circumnavigation races, even having won them, have a much bigger difficulty in finding a budget to do the Vendée, even on a non-competitive boat, and amateurs, although with a huge racing experience in IRC/ORC boats will not be able to find a budget.
To participate they will have to be millionaires, to pay from their own pocket and even when they are really rich and can afford a top new boat, the sportive results have always been bad. This shows well what this race is about: a top solo race for top solo racers.
Contrary to what many think, the Vendée is not a millionaires' race, what really is needed is to be among the top solo sailors, and those are rarer than millionaires.
So, in fact, I am not really talking about a Vendée for the poor, but for amateurs or semi-professionals, for the ones that have the desire to make a circum-navigation race but are not good enough to race the Vendée, in some cases, not even very experienced solo racers, but adventurous sailors, that want to experience the thrills of racing on a circumnavigation.
With the increasing popularity of the Vendée Globe the offer of circumnavigating races for amateurs, or semi-professionals, has increased and there are now 5 different proposals for different types of sailors, from medium level professionals to amateurs.
Curiously, the security requirements regarding the boats' equipment diminishes with the racing level of the circumnavigation and the racing level of the ones to whom it is pointed at: the higher the level, the higher the safety requirements.
As in all sports where dangerous situations can occur, top professionals are always the ones more demanding in what regards security, and as the sportive level decreases, it becomes more of an adventure for amateurs, with risks that would not be accepted by professionals.
This does not happen only in sailing. In motorsports we can have as an example the highly popular Isle of Man TT, with its 260 fatalities, with deadly accidents each year, but of course, a very popular amateur race without any top motorcycle racers taking part due to the excessive security risks.
THE RACE AROUND - 2023
Regarding the proposed circumnavigation races done in smaller than 60ft sailboats, this is the one with higher sportive interest. It will be raced on CLASS 40 sailboats and it is also the one that has higher security requirements, which are expressed on the boat safety requirements, mandatory equipment, the qualification requirements and on the racecourse.
Today almost all circumnavigation races, solo, duo, or crewed, are done in IMOCA, the 60ft class that earned the right to be considered the most suitable yacht to perform them, the one that reunites the seaworthiness and speed to make them not only safe but competitive and interesting.
But an IMOCA is an expensive yacht, not too expensive for a top-sailor, but out of reach for dozens of competitive professional sailors, that have not yet reached the top level, not to mention hundreds of high-level semi-professionals and top amateurs.
CLASS 40, the solo/duo class below the IMOCA class, would be the obvious choice to consider for a circumnavigation race on a smaller and less expensive yacht. But they have not the same seaworthiness and it would not be safe to race them on the Vendée Globe racecourse, at high latitudes.
If it were safe the Vendée Globe would have two classes, one for IMOCAS and another for Class 40, like it happens on almost all professional solo and duo racing Transats. But that is not the case on the Vendée, and for that reason was not ever even considered.
For having a circumnavigation race on 40 CLASS racers, with approximately the same level of safety as the Vendée, another racecourse would have to be chosen, one without so much high latitude racing and the best way to manage that is to make it a race with several legs.
A race with several legs will also be easier in what regards the physical and psychological sailor demands, will allow small repairs on the boats and will make it possible the postponement of a leg start, if very nasty and unusual weather is forecasted, as a way to avoid it.
The choice of a duo race instead of a solo one has probably to do not only with making it easier, in what regards sailing, but also in what regards finding a budget, dividing the costs by two. However, if the number of entries is big enough I do not see any problem in having two classes, one for solo, other for a duo, even if previous experiences have shown that it is very difficult to find an acceptable number of racers for a CLASS 40 circumnavigation race.
There was already a similar CLASS 40 circumnavigation race, the "Global Ocean Race", that had very limited success and died at the end of two editions, not because the idea was not interesting, but because, due to lack of public interest (and sponsoring), the number of racers was too small.
On the Global Ocean Race first edition (2008/09) only 4 boats finished, the same number that finished on the 2nd and last edition, in 2011/12, but from those 8 sailors, two are today medium or top solo professional sailors and both have made the Vendee Globe, one being near to winning it on the last edition (Boris Herrmann). The other one is the NZ/American Conrad Colman. Quite a ratio that shows this race can be an excellent school for growing, as ocean professional solo racers.
"The Race Around" has the sponsorship from the official CLASS 40 organization and is the one that is pointed to CLASS 40 racers on competitive boats, meaning for the ones that race the 40 CLASS championship, not for the ones that without previous racing experience would buy an outdated old Class40, just to do this race.
The boats will comply with the safety requirements of Category 0 (the higher of World Sailing Federation), the race will have four or five legs and it will start in France finishing in Portugal.
The Race Around was announced in 2019, but since then few developments have happened: no list of entries and the site has not even a French page, and knowing that most Class 40 racers are either French or live in France, it is a very bad sign and it may indicate that a truly competitive circumnavigation on CLASS 40, with many top boats and top sailors, is still very much a dream, a nice dream though.
The biggest problem with this race is the needed budget, that although it is not big for a circum-navigation race, it is necessarily considerable and not at the reach of young sailors that are trying to continue their solo or duo professional sail career, unless they can raise the budget through sponsoring and that's where you can help because sponsors are only interested in the races that raise a big public interest, and therefore will bring them good publicity and revenues.
So if you think that this can be a great race, as I do, share this post, "like" their Facebook page and "like" their promo videos.
This way you are helping not only in making this race big, but also helping all those young racers that are trying to find sponsors. If things continue like before I would say that this race, as a big event, is doomed. And that it is a pity because it could be great fun and a spectacular race. Maybe the big success of the last Vendée will help to boost this race.
The Globe 40, is also a duo Class 40 circumnavigation, previewed to start in 2021, but postponed due to Covid to 2022. This postponement has had as consequence the retirement of CLASS 40 sponsorship. The race was taken out of their calendar due to the coincidence in time with the Route du Rhum, a Transat that is the biggest and more prestigious race on the 40 CLASS calendar.
This means that top Class 40 racers will not be racing it, and this re-oriented the race, which now does not point anymore to professionals and semi-amateurs with considerable racing experience in the class. The race is pointed now to good level amateurs and the boats used will be mostly older, non-competitive at the top level, Class 40.
Older non-competitive 40 CLASS racers are much cheaper, there are many of them and that can make it easier to find a budget, especially if we consider that on this race the crew is not a fixed one and can be changed in each race leg. This allows for a lower-cost circumnavigation race, allowing more sailors to share the budget costs.
Changing the crew at each stop-over, with the sole limitation of one of them having already sailed a leg, will allow a team of 6 sailors to do the race, alternating in each leg. It is detrimental for the sportive relevance of the race but it is understandable in what regards allowing amateurs to have the time and the budget to participate in the event.
A race pointed to serious amateurs and semi-professionals that want to have fun doing a circumnavigation race on an outdated but less expensive, 40 CLASS race boat. The race will have 7 legs, starting in Tangier (26 June 2022) and finishing, 30,000 miles after (140days), in Lisbon (March 2023). The legs for the front runners will be spread over 12 to 24 days.
The chosen stop-overs and legs give the warranty of not sailing at very high-latitudes, being the only exception the cape Horn, which will be crossed on a leg that starts in Papeete and finishes in Ushuaia. Due to the different performances of older and newer class 40, it is previewed to divide the boats according to their generation, allowing for several classes with separate classifications.
There are already 19 entries that surprisingly include some top professional solo sailors, namely the French Kito de Pavant (Imoca and Figaro racer) that sails with Gwen Gbick, a medium-class Figaro racer and the Spanish Guillermo Altadill, (Imoca and VOR), teaming with the Portuguese Felipe Silva, a Finn top sailor.
The Global Solo Challenge will start in 2023 and will finish in 2024. This race wants to be even more "popular" and cheaper than the Globe 40 and to make the boats "cheaper" only boats older than 18 years will be accepted (prior to 2005), and they have to be production boats with 20 built units. They cannot have less than 35ft and no more than 40ft, nor less than 5500kg, a IRC rating below 1.25, and a D/LOA? between 150 and 250.
Taking a better look at the rules we can see that all this is all "more or less" (~), that they say specifically that regarding the 20 production units it is only "preferably", that regarding displacement and D/LOA, it "may vary from some designs" and they say quite clearly " boats not meeting the above criteria may still apply and may be accepted at the sole discretion of the Event Organisers". This "more or less" attitude has little to do with serious racing, where precision on the rules is the essence.
And the "more or less" thing continues in what regards safety requirements: They begin considering the World Sailing Federation safety requirements for "Monohull Category Zero", the ones that according to the world sail federation are adequate for Ocean racing (not specifically for racing in high latitudes) but because probably most of the entries would be excluded, without costly alterations or inspections, they "reviewed and simplified" the rules, and we can see that a lot of those requirements are excluded.
But it seems that the safety rules that remained were still too much in what regards mandatory safety requirements and they ended up considering that those requirements are only "recommendations " and that "each boat should try to adhere as closely as possible to the recommendations set out below treating them as far as possible as requirements", and they end up with this more than ambiguous statement: "Compliance with the GSC Regulations issued by the organizers does not in any way constitute an indication of the suitability of a boat or skipper to take part in the event..."
Further confusion follows when we look at the list they propose as suitable boats, many with more than 40ft, some much bigger, or obviously completely out of the established acceptance criteria, with the following note: "Boats followed by “Please enquire” do not meet all parameters and ... they are more likely to be accepted for boat owners wishing to enter the event with the boat they already have."
They consider that this "race" as a "single-handed one, non-stop and without
assistance at sea" but as in what regards the boats' requirements there are exceptions, and the sailors can go to any port for repairs (with a penalty), outside routing is permitted, as well as the use of the engine for propulsion.
Due to the huge variety of accepted boats, the race start will vary greatly for the 6 previewed categories and will extend for almost 2 months! from September 2 to October 28.
The course will be "an around the world east-about circumnavigation, the
start and finish ports will be on the Eastern side of the North Atlantic and entrants
must leave “The Antarctic Region” to starboard and the three Great Capes to
port before making their way to the finish line. “The Antarctic Region” will be
defined in the Sailing Instructions."
And even if everybody talks about this as a sailing race, it is not. It is a sailing event, where the engine will be free to be used.
The main reason for this to be an event, and not a race, lies in the many shortcuts that are made regarding safety rules (regarding boats and equipment), that are mandatory in any offshore race hosted by a sailing club and under the World Sailing federation. The free use of the engine, by itself, is a motive for exclusion as a sailing race.
What seemed to be a good idea turned into a "race" outlawed by the world sail federation to the point of having to be called an event. Sailing non-stop circumnavigation race in different types of sailboats seems a good idea, but the bad ideas are so many that it is difficult to know where to start:
From the relativization of the rules (and exceptions) to determine which boats can enter to the huge differentiation in what regards acceptable boat performance (anything below more or less 1.25), passing by the prohibition of designs after (more or less) 2005, to the noncompliance with World Sailing Federation safety rules for Ocean racing, to the use of the engine for propulsion, the lousy ideas are so many that it is difficult to name them all.
Another two bad ideas are the aleatory choice of boats that according to the organization can enter the "event", many of them not complying with the "notice of event" and the choice to have course starboard to the three Great capes, excluding the Antarctic region. Such a course, due to the latitude of Cape Horn and whatever definition is given for the Antarctic Region, will necessarily imply racing at high-latitudes.
The Antarctic Ocean is generally defined as below 60º south latitude (cape Horn 55°56' South) but even if we consider the Southern Point of New Zealand latitude (47º 17' South) we are already talking about sailing at near 50º South latitude and that means not only sailing on the "Roaring forties" but also on the "Furious fifties".
Most of the sailboats that are "suggested or accepted" by the organization (some of them on the photos) are not designed to sail on high-latitudes, much less to race safely at those latitudes.
It is a serious case of hypocrisy to suggest those boats as fit to enter the event while saying on the notice that their choice "does not in any way constitute an indication of the suitability of a boat or skipper to take part in the event".
Regarding the limitation to boats designed previously to 2005, what can be seen as a way to lower costs and a good idea, has in fact very pernicious effects in what regards safety. Any insurance company will charge much more to insure a 20-year-old boat than a new one, and many try to avoid insuring them at all and there is a reason for that. A modern designed 15-year-old boat has already a need for serious and costly inspections and replacements.
From the rig to the keel, passing by chainplates, through the hull valves and rudder, all have to be inspected, many things replaced and even more for a boat entering an event like this sailed at many hundreds of miles from land on very cold waters.
Considering boats with more than 15 years, proof of inspection of the keel bolts (that can be made only by dropping the keel) should be made since there is no way to verify that any other way, as well as proof of detailed boat structure inspection.
All this contributes to making a choice of an older boat expensive if safety requirements are met, but the rules exempt these boats from inspections that are even mandatory for "Monohull Category Zero", a class that is meant for Ocean racing but not specifically designed for boats racing at high latitudes. This will increase substantially the risks.
It could have been a very interesting circumnavigation race for IRC/ORC yachts, if safety measures, size, and seaworthiness of the sailboats were adequate for racing in high-latitudes, and there was a narrower difference in performance between the sailboats (for instance only IRC Class 4 and 5).
As it is, it is not even a race but an "event", open to boats with completely different performances and not an event where the safety risk is at the level that World Sailing Federation deems to be reasonable, not even for an Ocean race, much less for a high-latitude solo race. It is an adventure and it is for each one to take the risks one seems fit, with his own life.
Other questions are the risks and costs that will be taken by the ones that will undertake the rescues, that the high risk of the event makes predictable. But that, as in many other activities that involve considerable risk, can be dealt with with mandatory covering insurance, even if it is not the case here (but should be).
Regarding participation in the "event", a minimum passage of 2000 nautical miles single-handed on the boat entered in the event is required, but as usual in this "event", there are exceptions, and "any other circumstance must be submitted to the organizers for consideration".
This race is well known by all, due to the media success of the first edition. The second edition will start in 2022, 4th September. It is a retro solo circumnavigation race, without assistance, without GPS, external routing, without AIS, radar, or any "normal" navigation aids. The autopilot will have to be a wind-vane and the boats have to have been designed more than 33 years ago, part of an approved list, and in between 32 and 36ft.
It was supposed to show that on equal conditions and without electronic aids good sailors were as good as Vendee racers, but a septuagenary, an ex-vendee professional racer, won the race sailing with an ocean of advantage over the 2nd, a young adventurer at the top of his skills.
The competitive interest was nil and only on the last part, when the old ex-professional solo racer, had to sail slower, due to big damage on the mast, some interest was raised in knowing if the younger amateur could reduce the distance due to the problems on the old man's boat.
On the first edition of this retro race (2018), the retirement rate was huge and only 29% finished it. Among the 17 boats three retired very early (Canary Islands) and from the 14 that continued two suffered very serious accidents that only by luck have not resulted in serious consequences for the sailors: one boat was pitch-poled and another one was rolled, both having broken the masts being one of them swamped. Besides those, three more boats lost the mast (five in all) and three abandoned it due to a broken wind vane.
In the first edition, navigating without GPS was not what happened, because the racers knew, from time to time, their position due to the tracker and long-range radio contacts, impossible to detect or to follow. They have only access to "old" weather forecasts received through radio or weatherfax, plus the "illegal" information or routing furnished by long or medium wave radio provided by radio amateurs that follow the race.
The Golden Globe "race" is also conducted out of the Sailing Race Federation (World Sailing) and their safety requirements. It is hosted by an odd sail club sponsored by the organization, the Royal Nomuka Yacht Club in the Kingdom of Tonga.
There are already many sailors interested and given as provisional entries, much more sailors than there were in 2018, being 35 the max number of entries.
The entries should have at least 8000 miles of ocean sailing experience, as crew or skipper, and 2000 nautical miles solo, non-stop ocean miles on the yacht that will enter the race, according to a previously delivered sail plan.... that without GPS or AIS will be impossible to check.
What I said regarding the Global Solo Challenge, in what concerns excessive risks is also true here, and that is the reason why this race is not hosted by any credible sail federation and subjected to the World Sailing safety requirements, in what regards ocean racing. The risks are increased by the absence of AIS or radar and that, for a solo sailor, increases collision risks greatly.
With 35 entries, if the 2018 serious accident average is considered, we will have 4 boats rolled or pitch-poled, 10 broken masts with only 10 boats managing to finish the race. As I said before, each one knows the risks that one finds acceptable, but this is much more an adventure than a sailing race.
Maybe we will see some old retired French professional sailors doing it, just for fun and in this case, maybe we will have some sort of geriatric high-level competition, that will leave all the amateurs behind. Anyway, that kind of competition goes well with the retro aspect of the race and can be great fun, making all of us older than 60 feeling a lot younger.
The Mini Globe Race is previewed for 2024 and contrary to what the name implies it is not raced on what is known as mini racers (6.50m) but on a smaller and less seaworthy sailboat, a one-class boat, home built, with 5.80m.
The 5.80 seems well designed, even if dated, and the building process makes sense. Several similar boats have been built by the designer and some have crossed the Atlantic at the right season.
The racing circumnavigation will not be by the "normal route", leaving to the North the three capes, but one that will not be raced at latitudes higher than 40º. It will be a solo race without modern instruments but not a non-stop race, crossing the Panama canal and having 6 legs.
For entering a sailor has to have 2000 miles of Ocean experience (crewed or not) and 750 miles of Ocean experience sailing solo on the 5.80 and in the racing configuration. It seems that it is also mandatory for a coastal race to take place in the summer of 2022 along the Portuguese West Coast.
Other solo Ocean races are previewed for the 5.80 before the circumnavigation, namely two Transats (November 2021 and 2023).
I have posted before about this proposed class and this circumnavigation race. Many have contacted me for more information regarding what I thought about this sailboat, and the post comments are interesting and complement the post. The link is below.
And the truth is that I find this sailboat interesting, as a means to have a reasonably well designed cheap and strong boat for coastal cruising, with some offshore ability but I don't find it an adequate boat to do Ocean passages and even less to do a circumnavigation.
By this, I don't mean that it is not possible to do navigation on this boat, much less an Ocean passage. What I mean is if there will be 20 boats doing this circumnavigating race several will be capsized, some rolled or pitch-polled, some swamped and some will manage to finish the race.
What I mean is that the risks are just too big for accepting this as a sportive event and that is why, to this boat, in many countries, will not be given a permit to do bluewater sailing, and will be illegal to do so on it. In those countries, it is only allowed to do Ocean sailing on a class A certified sailboat, and there is no way this boat could pass the certification requirements for a class A sailboat.
For the Mini Transat to be raced legally (on 6.50 mini racers) under the supervision of the French Sailing Federation, the race has to be accompanied by several support boats that will be ready for assistance if needed, and the 6.50 minis are more seaworthy sailboats, with a lot more stability than the 5.80 mini (see the article with link above).
Like the two previous events, much more an adventure (and a bigger one) than a sportive event. To each one to decide what risks to take, even if they are unreasonable high for a sportive event. If what you want to do is Ocean competitive solo sailing, buy an old 6.50 mini racer, make it seaworthy again and do the mini-transat. This event is a completely different thing and pointed to different sailors.
If what you want is a huge and risky sail adventure, then the 5.80 circumnavigation "race" may suit you....but in what regards performance sportive achievement winning (or even arriving between the 10 first) on the mini-transat will be much more meaningful than winning this circumnavigation.
On the mini-transat you will have as participants almost all youngsters that dream one day to become top professional solo racers (some have been working to achieve that for already several years and have done several Transats) while on the 5.80 circumnavigation you will have relatively inexperienced sailors (in solo racing), mostly adventurers that dream doing a circumnavigation-race.
I had already made a preliminary post about the Grand Soleil 44, a very nice design from which good things were to be expected, you can access it here:
But expectations do not always come true, and now, after some tests in different wind conditions, by different sail testers from sail magazines, it is time to see if those expectations came true, and if this beautiful yacht sails as well as it looks.
Looking at the design data and hull shape, I would have expected a boat with an excellent performance in light wind, a very good to excellent performance upwind, especially in light and medium winds and a good performance downwind (excellent in lighter winds). A yacht that in its racing configuration could do very well in a regatta, even at top level.
It is soon to see how well it performs in regatta, but in what the other predictions are concerned the different test sails confirmed the boat potential in light and medium winds. No test was yet made with winds over 20k, but I don't see any reason for the boat not to perform in those conditions according to expectations.
The sail test from "TuttoBarche" magazine has taken place under light wind conditions and it is probably for that reason that it is the most flattering of all test sails to date, in fact they seem to have been astonished by the superb light wind performance. The tested yacht was a mix between the cruising and racing versions, with carbon spars, six winches and lighter furniture (no cabinets in the saloon) but with teak decks and cruising sails.
They said that with only 4/5 kt of wind and code 0, they sailed at 7.0 kt at 35/40º of apparent wind. They considered the GS44 ability to make apparent wind incredible. With 7/8 kt wind, the boat sailed at near 9kts. Changed for a 110% genoa and they reported:
"We opened the smaller sail and the magic continued, now we really tighten to the wind, we pointed below 30 degrees, and we still sail at 8 knots. At 24 degrees of apparent wind, we are making 7.8 k, and the GS 44 crosses the waves almost without slowing down...no one touches a sheet, I helm from windward with incredible simplicity, the wheel has a millimeter precision".
With 10 kt of wind with the code 0, between 70º and 110º, they sailed between 9 and 10 kt, surfing in the waves at 11, 12kts and they commented: "there are 10 knots of real wind and this boat goes like a missile" and concluded:
"The new GS 44 Performance is a crazy boat. Associate uncommon performance with ease of use that, honestly, I have never encountered before. These hull lines are not only spot on, they are a new world or, if you prefer, a new way of sailing, different from what we have seen and tried to date. Briefly, I could define this boat as a 44-foot that goes like a 50 and that maneuvers like a ten-meter."
"Simple and fast, the new GS 44 Performance has hit the mark, creating a real fun machine, as perfect for racing as it is comfortable and simple for cruising, with family and friends who, inevitably, will have a lot of fun chasing and to “putting in the rearview mirror” any and all sailboats that come into view."
After these words, Matteo Polli's (yacht designer) comments, when he test sailed the boat for the first time, seem less laudatory, reasonable and accurate (quoted from Sea Horse Magazine):
"With the helm in my hands, I was able to judge the characteristics of the boat in various different wind conditions: the GS44 sailed well at all speeds, both upwind and downwind, confirming my expectations as a pleasant and fun hull to be at sea with, especially thanks to the ability to make careful and precise adjustments to the sails and the well-designed deck layout. Even in windier conditions, pointing high on the wind and at a steep angle of heel, the helm responds well."
"You can even afford some handling errors: her stability allows you to carry full sail even in strong winds, an interesting aspect for a boat that does not necessarily rely on having the weight of a full crew on the gunwale."
"We had a range of conditions between 6kts and 14kts with sea state from calm to 0.5m waves with a pretty long wavelength. The boat was equipped with a cruising fully battened mainsail and furling jib plus a furling Code 0 and sailed in double-handed mode.
Unfortunately, the instruments were not calibrated so we had the chance to check the speed but not the angles. That said, even with cruising sails the boat speed read-outs were promising. Top speed close-hauled was 8.2kts and 15.5kts was achieved on a beam reach with a Code 0, which is remarkable for a production cruiser-racer."
"The GS44 being larger and with a more cruiser-racer soul compared to more racing-oriented designs I did in the past, needed a diverse approach on the hull shape. Extensive use of CFD allowed me to find the best compromise between rating and performance while trying to maximize real performance, which is always important even when racing on handicap. "
"More attention was paid to the low wind range, where boats with such a high level of comfort tend to lack speed and fun factor. The most important feature of the hull is the ability to change the shape characteristics as the heel angle varies, passing from a relatively narrow, dry and low prismatic shape when upright to a wide, powerful and longer shape at higher heel angles.
It is particularly challenging trying to achieve this goal while maintaining the correct longitudinal trim balance and of course the volume for the interiors."
"The result can be easily seen looking at the boat from the stern and when entering in the saloon… hopefully soon we will also see it on the racing results! The GS 44 is very much an all-rounder. From the design perspective, I have tried to achieve an all-round performance profile without preferring one range of points of sail to another, looking for a balance that could be enjoyed both when racing and when cruising."
"Of course particular attention has been paid to VMG performance since it often represents the largest percentage of sailing, not only during inshore racing....Two things worth noting are the single rudder and lack of chines in the boat’s aft quarters. That decision has many reasons behind it. And it’s not really true that a single rudder blade configuration makes a boat more difficult to steer provided it is designed correctly."
"The twin rudders and chined hull combination works well at high heel angles and high speeds, but that only happens when power reaching in strong winds. On all other points of sail and also when mooring, a well-designed single rudder can be more efficient. For the GS44 I have designed a fairly big rudder blade and positioned it quite far forward to avoid ventilation at high heel angles. "
"This created some problems with the boat’s interiors, which the yard staff solved brilliantly and the result when sailing is remarkable. Pushing the boat hard at true wind angles of even less than 90° under a big Code 0 in 12-14kts and with 25° to 30° of heel, I never managed to lose control at the helm which is surely reassuring. The GS44’s big foretriangle is another key design feature. Large headsails help in acceleration not only out of tacks but also during starts, and it is particularly evident in light wind situations..."
Mauro Giuffrè that test sailed the boat for the "Giornale della vela" said: "Comfortable. This is the first sensation that we feel at the helm of the Grand Soleil 44. where comfortable, in this case, is the easiness while steering a true performance boat".
"At the helm the GS44 is precise and while correcting the course, in gusts, it gradually swerves to lean on the knee of the stern. At that point the inclination of the hull stops, or it increases even more slowly, giving a great feeling of stability and acceleration, as the waterline length increases."
With 12k true wind with a 110% gennaker at 25º to the apparent wind, the boat sailed between 7.3/7.5kt. With Code 0 with 60º apparent wind, sailed between 8.3/9.0kt.
With no French, Spanish or Nordic tests yet, the less enthusiastic sail review, and sail test, was the one made by Michael Good, for the German magazine "Yacht", the biggest European Sail magazine.
With German pragmatism, he points out that due to the fine hull entries, even if the GS has a small sail locker in the bow, the forward cabin is not wide on the forward side, and that, at shoulder level, the available space is only 1.25 meters, and that is a bit tight for two adults.
Obviously, that can be solved by sleeping with the feet towards the bow...but the reading lights are at the bow side, and all is conceived to sleep the other way around. He is right, the space should be redesigned reversing the sleeping position, with the feet to the bow, with all necessary design implications that imply.
He complains that the saloon is nicely designed but with little storage, though of course, if you want you can have cabinets on the saloon (Performance cruising version) even if you chose in all other components the Racing version. In fact, you can have your proper mix, between the racing and the performance version.
He also says that the storage space outside is not much, and again I agree. The sail locker is small, there is a dedicated space for a life-raft and a reasonably sized locker on the cockpit floor but there is no storage space under the cockpit seats, being all space used to give more interior volume to the aft cabins.
If you want to use this boat for cruising and living aboard for considerable periods, probably you will have to use one of the aft cabins for storage, unless you don't stay much at anchor. He complains also that, for the ones that need to use a cabin for storage, this would be better achieved if the boat had a two-cabin version, allowing for a smaller cabin/storage space and for a truly decent-sized chart table and seat, instead of the small one that is provided.
Racing version interior
I agree that for some sailors, including me, a two-cabin version would be more interesting even if I would choose to prolong the galley over a bigger chart table, but I know that the three-cabin version would be much more popular, and can understand the savings that are obtained proposing a single interior layout, but still believe some would be glad to pay more for that solution.
He had bad luck because the boat he tested had the rudder cables too tight, and that made for a hard rudder with a lack of sensibility. Because this contradicts what other test sailors said about the rudder feeling and precision I assume this was a problem with that particular boat.
Performance cruising interior
Besides that, in what regards sailing, he says about the same as the others, that the boat is very good with light wind, that is very dynamic while maneuvering and that it allies power and fun in a very pleasant and satisfactory way.
So, by now, you should be thinking: well, that's a lot of data, but what I want to know is what difference this boat has in what regards other fast performance sailboats with different hulls, for instance, how it sails compared with a Solaris 44, or a Pogo 44? Ok, let's accept the challenge and try to explain the differences, the stronger and weaker sailing and cruising points of each one of them.
Pogo 44 interior
Starting with the Pogo 44, which is really a smaller yacht (not a 44ft boat but a 42ft boat) with a hull lenght of 12.80m (GS - 13.40), but even so a much beamier boat, with a 4.5m beam (GS - 4.27), with an ultra-light building, and to save weight, a very simple interior that dismisses all interior trims and materials that provide insulation, and even dismisses all doors, with the exception of the head one, a spartan and less comfortable interior.
The Pogo displaces only 6900kg (GS: 9000 - 9500kg) with a non-discriminated ballast and a swing keel with 1.38/3.10m draft, while the GS has a 2.40 to 2.80m draft. However, if the boats were the same length, the Pogo would be proportionally heavier, having, maybe, around 8200 kg displacement.
Besides length, displacement and beam, the hull form is completely different, not only due to beam, but also due to transom shape. The Pogo is a boat designed to sail with small angles of heel and to provide maximum stability and power on a beam reach, and downwind, while the GS 44 has a hull that is designed to offer minimum wet water surface when sailing with small angles of heel. It was a hull that "has the ability to change the shape characteristics as the heel angle varies, passing from a relatively narrow, dry and low prismatic shape when upright to a wide, powerful and longer shape at higher heel angles".
These characteristic give the GS44 a much better sail performance in light winds and upwind, and even if the hull characteristics mentioned by his designer minimize the losses on beam reaching and downwind potential, if compared with a more traditional hull maximized for upwind and light wind, like the one of the J45, it will never have the power or hull form stability of Pogo's hull, while power reaching or sailing downwind, with high-medium, or strong winds.
On a circumnavigation, on a Transat, or sailing on the trade winds, the Pogo will be a faster and easier boat to sail, but on variable and coastal conditions, with weaker and variable winds, with more of a 50% of upwind and downwind conditions, the GS44 will be faster. On coastal traditional regattas, with upwind and downwind sailing, the GS44 will always win and I don't mean in compensated (where it will be hugely faster) but in real-time, over the water.
In what regards offshore regattas or races, it will depend on the conditions. On a Transat, the Pogo will be faster, probably it will be faster also on the Caribean 600, or any other offshore race with a lot more beam reaching and downwind sailing, than upwind sailing, and where the winds are high-medium to strong.
On a Fastnet, it will depend on the edition, on the Sydney Hobart the Pogo will be slower, as well as on Med and Baltic races. On races with a fair share of upwind and downwind sailing, and a fair share of different wind conditions, the GS44, will always be faster, unless very unusual conditions prevail, and I am always talking about real-time over the water, because on compensated time (handicap racing), maybe except on a Transat, the GS 44 will always win.
Regarding cruising advantages, the Pogo offers the fantastic potential of a swinging keel, that when up has a draft of only 1.38m, allowing the boat to go to any small and swallow port or anchoring where others will not be able to. It offers a very stable platform, sails with a small heel, and offers great fun and ease in sailing very fast with beam and downwind winds, with the advantage of being easy on the autopilot.
GS 44 Racing Version
It offers also an unbeatable price for the performance, especially if we consider that a swing keel with all ballast on the keel is expensive. The Pogo costs standard almost 50 000 euros less than the GS44 and that difference will be even bigger on fully equipped boats.
As for disadvantages, the Pogo is an uncomfortable boat to sail upwind, slamming where the GS44 will go smoothly, it has no interior insulation, it has almost no outside storage space and it has a functional luminous interior that many will find too stark and devoided of coziness, with no doors, small cabin cabinets, very basic and with little storage.
Pogo 44
While on the GS44, due to the outside storage, it is possible to live and sail on the boat using the three cabins, on the Pogo, in any extensive cruising, one of the cabins will have to be used as storage space, due to the almost absence of outside storage space.
It would be tempting to say that Solaris 44, in what regards sailing characteristics, is in between the Pogo and the GS, but it would not be entirely true.
Although the Solaris 44, due to the transom design, seems beamier than the GS44, actually it is narrower, with a 4.18m beam (GS - 4.27) and it is also a bit smaller in length, even if it is hard to say how much because they don't give the hull length, only the overall length (43.8ft). However, the 41.7 LWL indicates that it is a smaller yacht, maybe a 43ft.
Solaris 44
These three yachts have very different hulls, all very well designed but maximized for different purposes. In what regards transom design the one of the Solaris will not allow the excellent light wind performance of the GS, but will allow a better one, if we compare it with Pogo's light wind performance.
If compared with Pogo, the Solaris will also have a better upwind performance, because Solaris hull transom shape allows more heel without increasing so much drag. This is true also on stronger conditions where Pogo will have a disproportional increase of wave drag, due to its much beamier hull.
GS44 Performance version
To understand better those differences you can follow the performance of Hermes, a Pogo 12.50, and Baltazar a Solaris 44, on the 2019 Caribbean 600 edition, which was raced with medium-high winds and that as usual, was mostly beam reaching/downwind sailing with very little upwind sailing. Look how the Pogo goes away downwind, and how the Solaris 44 catches up on the small upwind legs:
Due to the very particular GS44 hull design, even considering the narrower hull of the Solaris (4.18 - 4.27) and its bigger B/D, probably only with stronger winds and only upwind will the Solaris be able to match the GS44 performance, unless there is a full crew sitting on the side of the GS44.
However, the comparison between these two boats is difficult due to the vagueness and confusion regarding the GS44 displacement and ballast, which, in different documents from the shipyard, varies a lot: the hull between 9000 and 9500kg and the ballast between 2700 and 3000kg. I asked for a clarification from the shipyard, but I have received none.
Gs44, Pogo 44, Solaris 44
For the same draft and keel, it's very different to have a 9500kg displacement yacht with a 2700kg ballast or a 9000kg one with 3000kg ballast. One will have a 28% B/D, the other 33%, a very considerable difference that will give it a very different performance upwind with stronger winds as well as a better performance beam reaching, with medium-high to higher winds.
And then there is also the problem, that I have referred to in previous posts, regarding too optimistic projected design displacements, that later. when the boat is built, have no correspondence with the real boat displacement, and that most of the time are not corrected on the shipyard site.
That was not the case with Solaris 44, which was initially given with a 9900kg displacement, and then corrected to 10500kg. But even so, the Farewell IV, a Solaris 44 that has made some races on the Italian ORC championship, displaces, according to its ORC file, 11433kg without sails or tankage and 12778kg in sailing condition.
This yacht seems not to have carbon spars and almost for sure it could be lighter, but it is certainly lighter than most Solaris 44 that are bought for cruising. Regarding the first announced displacement and the weight of Farewell IV (without sails or tankage), there is a 1533 kg difference, that was reduced to 933kg, when they modified, on the shipyard information, the displacement attributed to the Solaris 44.
GS44, Pogo44, Solaris 44
The Solaris 44 has a 3600kg ballast but considering the same standard torpedo keel with 2.60m draft, this ballast has a different meaning on a boat with 9900kg, 10500kg or 11433, giving respectively a 36.4%BD, a 34.3%B/D and a 31.5%B/D and the sail performance will vary the way it was described above for the GS44, with a bigger or smaller B/D.
The GS44 is too new to find any ORC file, but as a way to see if the divergence in displacements given by the shipyard and the real measured displacement is so big as on the Solaris case, we can look at the GS44 big brother, the GS48, that has already a ORC certificate.
The Athyris was the first GS48 built, an R version (Racing), not the full carbon one, but with lighter furniture, with spars and other items in carbon, racing big draft keel, a version that according to the shipyard is 1000kg lighter than the Performance version.
The GS48 shipyard displacement is 10500kg, the ORC Athyris measured displacement, without sails or tankage, is 11327kg, adifference of about 827kg.In sailing condition the Athyris displaces 12651kg.
They could say that 10500kg is the displacement of the full carbon version, but if so a 1000kg difference to the performance version seems far-fetched and taking into consideration the fiberglass hull and deck, the smaller draft (and bigger ballast), the teak deck, the aluminum spars, it should be more than that, and I bet the performance version, without sails or tankage, will displace about 12300/12500kg (and not 11500kg). If we consider that the GS48 is a bigger yacht, even so, perhaps a smaller difference between the given and real displacement on the numbers given by GS shipyard, if compared with Solaris' ones.
Grand Soleil 44
With this incertitude regarding the real boat's displacement, and the ballast used in different keel versions, it is more difficult to make conclusions, but assuming that between these two brands the difference in the displacement given by the shipyard, and the real one, is not very different, the Solaris 44 has a superior B/D for a similar keel and it will sail probably faster upwind with strong wind (unless there is a crew seated on the GS44 side).
Pogo44, bellow Solaris 44
Downwind with medium-high to strong winds, the Solaris, even if not probably faster, it will be easier to sail by a short crew, with less heel, and on strong sea conditions with big waves, it will roll less, being also probably easier to be sailed (on those conditions) on auto-pilot.
The GS 44 will be faster and more fun to sail in light and medium winds, and in what regards racing and overall performance, will be always faster than the Solaris 44, unless in very specific and limited offshore situations. If the boat is used for racing and cruising the more adequate boat will be the GS 44, for cruising it depends on the sailor's preferences.
The superior Solaris aptitude in stronger conditions upwind is a relative one, and I don't have doubts that even, if not subjected to those conditions in any test (yet), the GS44, due to its fine entries, hull design, draft, ballast/type of keel, will have the power to have a good performance upwind in strong conditions, and anyway, those are conditions that most cruisers avoid (sailing upwind with more than 20kt).
The sail hardware is of similar quality, with the difference (on the GS44) of having as option transversal rails for the small genoa. Both yachts offer similar equipment and the possibility of having very good and complete sail hardware, even if on both cases, fore having a top one, there is the need of selecting several options, on the GS case, from de "Racing" version.
GS44
The interiors have a similar quality (I have not been yet inside the GS 44, only inside the GS48) but offer, by design, a different feel and liking more one than another is as much a personal thing as preferring the sailing characteristics of the Grand Soleil over the ones of Solaris, but regarding that, you will have no problem in choosing, and I hope that in what regards sailing characteristics this article will help.
The main difference is that the Solaris offers a true chart table with a dedicated seat while the GS only offers a small one, using not a more comfortable dedicated seat, but the salon seat. For some that will be a big issue, others could not care less. On the Grand Soleil there is the possibility of choosing between the lighter interior of the racing version and the one of the Performance version, with cabinets on the saloon.
GS44
Regarding storage, if we consider the GS44 Performance version with cabinets on the saloon, the difference in storage will not be big, even if the Solaris has cabinets on the forward cabin and I am not sure about that on the GS performance version (no information), and there is more storage space on the galley superior cabinets, where the GS does not present a great solution. Maybe they will improve it on the Performance version.
In the outside storage, the Solaris sail locker seems a bit bigger and more usable (less narrow) and there is storage under one of the seats, while on the Grand Soleil both spaces under the seats are used for increasing the space on the aft cabins. This is somewhat compensated by the bigger space on the stern under the cockpit that is provided by the GS, due to his more advanced ruder position.
Anyway, two great performance cruising boats, with the GS44 offering more versatility in what regards the possible combinations between a faster version, more race-oriented, or a simpler and cheaper version, more cruising oriented.
Gs44, Pogo44, Solaris 44
In regards to building, all three boats use vacuum infusion, fiberglass and a sandwich with a foam core.
The Pogo uses polyester resins and only uses vinylester on the outer layer. The bulkheads are made of cored fiberglass.
Only on the GS Racing version are used fiberglass sandwich on the main bulkheads, on the performance version they are made of maritime plywood (bonded and laminated to hull and deck).
On the GS44 hull and deck are made with a fiberglass sandwich having Airex (high-quality PVC foam) as core and vynilester resins. They also use carbon fibers where bigger reinforcements are needed, namely on the keel structure.
As it is normal, on the three boats, monolithic laminate is used on the keel areas, hull windows, and through-the-hull passage areas.
On the Solaris 44 the forward and main bulkheads are made of sandwich composite, on the others they use plywood.
Airex is used as core in hull and deck, carbon reinforcements are used on the boat structure, but in what regards the used resin, even if some boats have been made with epoxy resin, on the technical building specifications the type of resin is not mentioned.
There are several types of resins, but not even the best Polyester resins are as good as Vinylester resins, which are epoxy-based resins, and Vynilseter resins are not as good as true Epoxy resins.
GS 44
The prices grow, from Polyester to Epoxy, being Epoxy resins several times more expensive than good Polyester resins.
Vynilester and Epoxy resins are waterproof and have other superior characteristics. Polyester resins are not truly waterproof, with time they absorb water, and that's why on boats with hulls where polyester resins are used, many times the first fiberglass coat, the one that will have contact with the water, is made with vinylester resins.
Regarding prices, the Pogo 44, which is a 42ft boat, is the least expensive and a decently equipped boat will cost about 350000 euros (plus VAT) and discounts are not to be expected. On the GS 44 and the Solaris 44 (43ft?) a small discount is possible and in the end, between these two the prices will be very similar and a relatively well-equipped boat will cost just a bit more than 400,000 euros (plus VAT).
