QUANT 30

The Quant 28 was already a very interesting boat with an incredible upwind/downwind performance, a Hugh Welbourn design using Dynamic Stability System (DSS). The boat was conceived as the ultimate sailor for the Swiss lakes and it is a blast. Chief tester of Yach de magazine, Michael Good, that has tested hundreads of boats when tested this one said that it as was one of the high lights of his career as a boattester. Yes, the boat is as extraordinary as that, been able to make on that test between 13 and 17kts, wind 9 to 11kts wind. A movie of that test:

The Quant 28 was much of a prototype, the Quant 30 aims to be a production boat. The design has been simplified, using two independent foils instead of one. Unlike other DSS-equipped boats that have a single foil that slides through the center of the boat the twin foils flip out laterally. Easier to build and easier to use. 

The objective was not making a faster boat but a more easy one to sail, able to be exploited by average sailors. Even with top ones the small difference downwind will probably be compensated in overall speed by its superior easiness.

If you don't know already how it works DSS you can learn it here, as also more about the Quant 30:

http://www.quant-boats.com/documents/Flyer_Q30_online_E_001.pdf

The DSS system is a way to provide more stability in a dynamic way through an immersed small wing. It allows an increase in stability very useful mostly to narrow boats, substituting the hull form stability of a beamier boat. That allows to take advantage of the superior finesse of a narrower hull without losing performance due to an inferior stability/power, specially downwind. Wild Oats (a narrow racer), the winner of the last Sydney-Hobart used DSS. 

But nothing as to look how it sails the Quant 30, and it sails very well. It seems a lot of fun to me ;-)

RC44 - CASCAIS

The Portuguese Leg of the RC44 started with an unexpected domination of the Russian team Nikita and a very good performance of a new team : Charisma. On the last days the more experienced teams dominated and the victory come to Peninsula Petroleum  followed by team Aqua (both British) that are also leading the championship by that order.

 A very good 3rd for the Russians from Nikita and a spectacular 4th to Charisma, a Monaco team on a charted boat. Well they can fly the Monaco banner but they have nobody from Monaco on the crew :-), the owner is a Dutch, Nico Poons. He won already the Swan 45 world championship and the Farr. 40 North American championship. The tactician  is the Australian Tom Slingsby ,olympic Gold Medallist and America’s Cup ORACLE Team USA strategist.

I bet these guys when they got their boat and started to be more used to it will be fighting for leadership on the championship. First race and they are already 7th!!!!

http://www.rc44.com/results/fleet-racing/2014

Also a note in what regards Russian teams on this championship: 5, and two of them doing very well overall. They are 3th and 5th on the championship. Some top American and Australian sailors but no American or Australian team. This seems to indicate that Russians like sailing and have sponsors (or rich owners) that can bring Russia to the top of the sail racing panorama. I hope this will be the beginning of a big Russian participation in what regards sail racing: sailing needs more countries deeply involved in international racing at top level. As a foot note, Russians are also among the ones that are following this blog ;-)

Regarding the sailing conditions in Cascais they were great for sailing as usual and allowed some spectacular images:

GWÉNOLÉ GAHINET AND PAUL MEILHAT WON THE AG2R TRANSAT

They have made a great race and were able to resist to a huge pressure on the final days after having overtaken Fabien Delahaye /Yoann Richomme at 500Nm from the finish line. Delahaye /Richomme did not give up and moved a relentless pursuit, having crossed the line less than an hour away. But the best finish was the one from Alexia Barrier /Laurent Pellecuer: these two that returned to the Figaro class after an absence of some years seems they haven't forgotten anything; at 950Nm from the finish they were 6th at 80Nm from the leader and at 69Nm from the ones that won the race. They finished 3rd at only 7.5Nm from the winners and at only 3Nm from the 2nd.

The winners are from the new generation of solo racers and for the younger, Gahinet (30) that's already the 2nd transat won, being the other the 2011 mini transat (serie), a first for Meilhat.

Also chapeau to Rolland Jordain, 4th that finished all over the 3rd. He won this race 20 years ago!!!

Le sacre pour Gwénolé Gahinet et Paul Meilhat por transat-ag2rlamondiale

WHY BERNARD STAMM's OPEN60 BROKE IN TWO

Finally some answers and unsuspected ones: The boat was not badly designed (it was  not too weak) and a previous boat repair was not the origin of the breakage. As strangely as it seems the problem on this carbon boat had to do with aluminum electrolysis and aluminium degradation.

Stamm's boat, a  JK design, used an unusual technique in what regards the core material on that carbon hull:  aluminium honeycomb. Almost all other boats use a carbon honeycomb as core (Nomex). The aluminium core was used on some Class America boats and also on the America's cup BMW/Oracle.

It seems that using that kind of core has some risks since the carbon is a very good electric conductor. All evidence points to the passage of an electric current that provoked an electrolysis and destroyed p'art of the core. There are zones that are impeccable and others completely destroyed.

It seems that after all the salvage of part of the hull was essential to know why that boat had break in conditions that were less demanding then many others that it had experienced before. For the ones that did not follow, they were in stormy conditions but not pushing the boat, on a delivery trip.

 It seems to me that given the extensive sailing program of those boats, namely non stop circumnavigations, that type of core should be banned from the IMOCA class: too many situations were an electric current can find its way to the  aluminium core on a Carbon boat.

videos - HOT: AG2R TRANSAT - THE FINISH

On the head of the race they are doing 10k and with that average in about one day they will finish. Who will finish first is another story. Since the last post there was some changes on the lead but they remain as close as before: The 5 first separated by 25Nm and the leader is followed by the 2nd at only 5.8Nm.

Two days ago  Delahaye/Richhomme were leading. Now they are second, having been overtaken by the ones that then followed close, Gahinet/ Meilhate; 3rd and coming from behind, passing Lunven/Péron and Rolan Jordain/Le Pape, a duo with a lady: Alexia/Laurent. They have made a fantastic race. They have been away from the Figaro class on the last years doing mostly IRC racing but it seems that they did not forgotten nothing about their sail background: Alexia on the mini racers, Laurent on the Figaro. Rolan Jordain/Le Pape are now 4th and Lunven/Péron are 5th. Some great videos:

Roland Jourdain and Martin Le Pape

A bord de La Cornouaille por transat-ag2rlamondiale Gahinet/ Meilhate
Traversez l'Atlantique avec Safran - Guy Cotten por transat-ag2rlamondiale

SAILING IS BEAUTIFUL

A beautiful movie  by Martin Keruzoré & Théo Reynal. It is about the Voiles de Saint Barth, but it could be just about sailing, beauty or enjoying life. Really  gorgeous.

Best Of Les Voiles De St Barth 2014 from Theo Reynal on Vimeo.

More about Saint Barth here:

http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/04/video-voiles-de-saint-barth.html

GT35, A NEW BRITISH SMALL OFFSHORE CRUISER.

When I saw the first photo of the new boat (above) I thought that it was a new Comet or at least a Vallicelli design. The boat from this angle seems like a smaller Comet 41 and the GT denomination made me thought that we would be looking to a fast boat...but that denomination is misleading and in many other aspects the boat is very different from a Comet. That is certainly not a fast boat, even if the designer says otherwise.

It is a designed by a British NA,one that has not been very active on the last years, Stephen Jones. He makes some comments about his new boat and I have to say that some of them leave me a bit surprised. He says:

GT Yachts established by Conrad Cockburn, a qualified Naval Architect from the commercial shipping world, has forwarded a lot of thought to the world of both weekend family cruising and also more ambitious voyaging requirements. ...

 The design requirement is not intended to be wholly revolutionary, but to provide a secure feeling,... the styling of the GT35 is modern whilst moderate; sharply defined and sporting generous freeboard, beam and importantly displacement. The latter is unashamedly provided by simply supplying the boat with more lead ballast low down, requiring a commensurate increase in structure and sail area. This greater displacement with high ballast ratio will give a steadier platform as well as ultimate safety and in many conditions more speed..... 

 A lead keel with a flared base to keep the centre of gravity low is attached below an integral stub keel for maximum stability; a lead keel of this configuration is simply unmatched for its effect on performance. 

It should be apparent from the above that the paths taken in the design are chosen for performance, security, comfort and seaworthiness in all its senses and not least equal effort has been expended in forming a great looking boat. 

As Jones says the boat is heavy for a modern 35ft boat with 7200kg but he says also that the extra weight is " provided by simply supplying the boat with more lead ballast low down." and that seems well to me but does not seem to match reality: the boat has a draft of 1.95 and a keel that, contrary to what he says, it is not one that will maximize lowering the CG. The B/D ratio is 36%, not a small one but not an exceptional one in what regards the type of keel and draft and certainly not a justification for the 7200kg of weight.

The Hull design seems modern, with a beam of 3.60m, except for the amount of immersed area due to the unusual weight and that leads to a odd design on the rudder area, one that was common in older designs, I mean the way the hull is discontinued on the transom.

With the exception of the transom design, that looks heavy to me, I like the way the boat looks, I mean regarding what you can see out of the water.  I don't really like the hull or keel design.

Some days back I posted about the new XC 35, a boat with a similar program and I was wondering who would want such a boat as a voyage boat, since for the same price of an heavier boat, it is possible to buy a bigger lighter one with a similar stability and seaworthiness, more interior space and speed. The little it cab be gained on a softer motion due to the bigger inertia would  be lost due to the better sea motion that comes with the bigger LWL:

http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/04/xc-35-modern-pocket-bluewater-cruiser.html

With the GT35 the same type of questions arise since its is even substantially heavier than the X35 (7200kg to 6450kg). Funny that while the GT35 seems more modern above the water line, ( the XC35 looks more classic) below the waterline it is quite the opposite: