GREAT JPK 1080 VIDEO!!!

Just some days after that post about the JPK 1080 interior Yacht.de posted a video with them test sailing the boat. The video is great but Michael Good, the test sailor, has to improve his solo sailing skills LOL. The video:

http://www.yacht.de/yacht_tv/test_technik/racer-fuer-lange-schlaege-jpk-1080/a94009.html
I Really like the boat, from the way it sails to the interior.

POINTER 25 VERSUS WINNER 8 VERSUS MAXUS 26

Pointer 25

Small interesting boats seem to come recently from Holland and Poland. The ones from Poland are mostly centerboarders with limited final stability, the ones from Holland are mostly keeled boats with a much bigger B/D ratio and modern bulbed keels. Let's have a look at the two more recent offers from Holland, one of them, the Pointer 25 (nominated for this year's European boat contest), the other the Winner 8 and one from Poland, the Maxus 26, also a new boat.

Winner 8

Looking at the boats they don't seem that different on the outside but there are significant differences among them. Let's start by looking at the dimensions of the three boats, in m, kg, m2,. First the dimensions of the Pointer, then the ones of the Winner (two versions) and for last the dimensions of the Maxus:

Maxus 26

Length: 7.70; 8.00; 7.62. Beam: 2.50; 2.65; 2.62. Weight: 1500, 2400 or 2300, 2350kg.

Draft: 1.20; 1.00 or 1.50; 0.35/1.43 B/D ratio: 47%; 42% or 39% , 26%; SA upwind: 37, 40 or 45, 35. Engine: SD 9hp, SD 9hp, outboard not included. STD price incl 21% VAT: 59500€, 74500€, 42603€.

Maxus 26

The prices indicate  that in fact the boats are very different:

 Regarding the interior, the Winner has a not very different interior from the Maxus 26 even if the quality of the Winner would be probably superior. Anyway a very nice interior in what the Maxus is concerned. The Pointer has a very basic naked interior although it has also what is needed to cruise, including a true marine wc, even if an open one. A spartan interior that can be suited for some but much less comfortable than the other two.

Winner 8

In what regards sailing it is the opposite, it's the Winner that is close to the Pointer in sail performance, being the one from the Maxus much lower, specially upwind. The Maxus relies on form stability to sail and the 26% of B/D ratio is much lower than on the two other boats and that relative ratio, even if already low, is much lower than what it looks, since it corresponds to a ballast on the bottom of the boat while the other two have most of the ballast weight on a bulb at the end of the keel. That's the main reason why the Maxus is so inexpensive: the hull can be less reinforced as well as the boat structure, that, and the outboard engine.

Pointer 25

Considering the Pointer and the Winner, the first one has a narrower hull and relies more on ballast while the Winner has a lot more form stability and also a considerable B/D ratio. A very stiff boat specially on the version with the bigger draft. Probably the Pointer will be as fun to sail due to the narrower hull, big ballast ratio, small weight and big sail area. A lot of fun for the price ;-)

Pointer 25

So what is the best sailboat? As usually that depends of what we want. If I wanted a boat for all family to sail ( small kids) on a lake, or sheltered waters, to live sometime aboard, to learn how to sail and to move around exploring the shores, the Maxus 26 makes sense. If it was me when I was younger, with kids and all, I would take the Pointer: not expensive, a great sailing performance, fun to sail, more seaworthy...I would trade all that by the extra comfort of the Maxus and I would even consider that difference in price fair.

Maxus 22

 Regarding the Winner, I love the boat, specially the performance version that will cost way more than the basic listed price...but if I was a young man looking for my first boat I would look at something bigger for the the same price. The Standard Bavaria 9.9 Easy costs less 14000 euros than the Basic Winner 8.

Winner 8

The price restricts a lot the ones that will be interested on the Winner 8: A very rich kid looking for his first boat or a middle aged guy that wants a fast boat for having fun on semi sheltered waters and wants to sleep sometimes on the boat. If we take price in consideration the Pointer seems very attractive and with a bigger market. The Maxus too, regarding the ones for whom the interior is the most important feature of a sailboat, and they are many, has a great price for what it offers.

You will know what is the one that best fits your life style...and your budget ;-)

FC3 61 and FC3 53 by Finot/Conq

Two extraordinary one off by the famous pair of Naval Architects, fast performance cruisers having as hull base the ones of Open 60's solo racers.

The bigger one is already being built and the other is already commissioned. The FC3 61 was designed for an owner, a very experienced racing sailor, as a family cruising boat for a couple with a child. The program is long range cruising on a very fast, short handed boat. The boat will have 18.50m, it will be comfortable, with a quality interior but will remain as simple as possible to improve reliability and lower the weight. That explains the choice of a fixed keel.

The dimensions are not given, except the weight, that will be less than 14T but we can also see on the drawings that the boat will have a big draft and a big torpedo bulb. It has the traveler for the main on an arch, but contrary to their design on the Oceanis, it is situated aft on the cockpit, at the end of the boom, maximizing its efficiency.

The yacht will be made of carbon and will have a tailored interior to the owner wishes, with only three cabins and an elevated saloon/galley to allow outside views.

The FC3 53, equally based on Open solo racers seems even more interesting to me, featuring a swing keel (3.75/1.6m) and a big main traveler on the transom. I like more the design of the smaller boat that looks more elegant, particularly on the cabin design.

The FC3 53 was designed for an experienced sailor that wanted:"a fast cruising yacht, comfortable, safe, very easy to handle double-handed, and very stylish, both outside and inside". It will be a carbon made boat, very light (10.5T) with 1T of water ballast on each side, a big tankage, a dinghy garage and a nice interior.

JPK 1080 CRUISING INTERIOR

I have already talked on the blog about this extraordinary boat and its very close competitor, the Sunfast 3600. The two are very fast and very close in what regards performance. The JPK 10.80 won the first leg of the Transquadra but the difference was so minimal that either boat could have won. They are also both very good at crewed regattas and again very close, but the JPK 10.80 is incomparably better in what regards a cruising interior and cruising potential.

Looking at this photo we can see that the JPK 1080 offers a nice and comfortable interior, not properly what we would expect on a racer and one that will allow for family cruising out of the racing time. A true cruiser-racer while the Sunfast 3600 has the minimal interiors of a racer. This make the JPK a more versatile boat...and those two openings that allow a forward view from the interior, besides being useful give it a very distinctive look, a cute one.... I like it a lot ;-)

GARCIA EXPLORATION 45 VERSUS COMET EXPLORER 46

Two boats pointed to the same type of sailors but two very different boats even if sharing a kind of similar look. The Garcia is an aluminium centerboarder with almost all the ballast inside the boat, the Comet is a swing keel boat with all ballast on the keel. Both have a cutter rig.

This gives Garcia an advantage in what regards simplicity and  Comet a clear advantage in what regards performance: For the same RM the Comet will only need a percentage of the ballast that will be needed on the Garcia.

The Garcia is almost integrally built in Aluminium, the Comet is made of vinylester resins, Eglass and kevlar and carbon reinforcements, using an infusion process. The finality is giving max impact and compression resistance on critical areas. The boat has a sacrificial crash box at the bow and another one at the stern. The cabin can have a watertight door. Even with all the kevlar reinforcements in what regards resistance to impact I believe that the aluminium hull will be a better option.

Regarding dimensions (m, kg, m2, L): LOA:  G - 14.21; C - 13.99. LWL: G- 12.57; C - 13.97. Beam: G - 4.44; C - 4.50. Displacement: G - 14 100; C - 11 500. Draft: G - 1.14/2.90; C - 1.60/3.50. Ballast: G - 4300; C - 4800. Sail Area upwind: G - 91.0; C - 85.3 (with Jib) 116 (with Genoa). Engine: G - 55/75hp; C - 75hp. Tankage: G - Water 500; Diesel 700; C - Water 440; Diesel 680.

From the dimensions we can see that to a very close LOA and Beam correspond a bigger  LWL and ballast on the Comet. The max draft is also deeper but the really huge difference regards RM and almost for sure AVS and inverted stability. The Comet has more 500kg of ballast but most of all it has all that ballast on a keel wilt 3.5m, while the Garcia has most of it inside the boat, just a bit below  the water line. The difference of effectiveness of both ballasts is huge as the stability of both boats, not in what concerns overall stability, due to the Garcia bigger weight, but in what concerns the stability/weight ratio.

The Comet will not only be a much more powerful boat in what regards sailing as  it will have a better reserve stability and will recover much quickly from a knock out. The Garcia has the advantage of maintaining intact its stability with the centerboard up and that can be important regarding seaworthiness in extreme weather but probably the Comet with the keel up will have a similar stability to the one of Garcia.

It seems to me that the Garcia is a more specific yacht, pointed to voyages in extreme latitudes while the Comet will also be able to do that (even with a less resistant hull) but will be a more versatile sailboat with a much better sailing performance, a long range cruising boat with a big autonomy and seaworthiness.

 Both boats can be sailed from the interior and have an all around view from the cabin and the rigging is designed to be used by a solo sailor.

The Comet  looked a lot worse on the first low quality drawings. On the new ones the boat looks a lot better and more elegant than the Garcia that,as I have already said, looks fat and too high to me. Not that I find the Comet particularly beautiful even if I like the hull.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE, GREAT VIDEOS WITH +30K WINDS

                                                                                                                          Photo by Charlie Shoemaker/Volvo Ocean Race

Time for a check up on this great race: the First leg had a great final with several boats battling till the finish line: Abu Dabi won the leg over Dongfeng and on the last positions the girls (SCA), with the finish line on sight, overtook Mapfre. On Mapfre that with AbuDabi I had considered the big favorites things did not went well and Desjoyeaux leaved the team.

        Photo by Gilles Martin-Raget

They tried to make everything look like normal but the fact is that nothing went well on the boat, the conflicts were many, the Spanish skipper did not follow the advise of the French navigator (Nico Lunven) and the last drop was near the end where against Luven opinion, Íker, the Spanish skipper, decided to go for the final approach near the coast, instead of a more offshore option, having as result to be overtaken by the girls. Too much for the French sailing star, Desjoyeaux, that is not used to lose, much less to come in last.

http://www.abc.es/vela/noticia/desjoyeaux-se-baja-del-mapfre-por-desacuerdos-con-iker/

Photo by Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

Things continue not to be well for them: they made again last on the Cape inshore race and even if they made a great start with strong wind, starting the race in first and are among the first now, I don't see them as favorites anymore ...unless Íker starts to listen to the new navigator instead of deciding himself about the best course.

You can follow the race here:
 http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/virtualeye.html
The start of the leg two, the inshore race and a resume of the leg one, all great movies:

NEW SALONA 38PC AND 38PR

Thanks to Anders, that call my attention for it, some images of the new Salona 38PC.  It is designed by Cossutti, the one that designed  the NM 38 and that means a boat that probably will be very competitive in handicap racing (ORCI and IRC). Avery good looking sailboat too!

Regarding cruising that will mean a boat not very different from the actual 38, that by the way was nominated by Sail magazine for boat of the year (like the 35 and 44), but a bit better specially downwind. A boat maximized to sail upwind and with very light winds: my kind of boat ;-)

They will have a performance cruiser version (PC) and a performance racing version (PR) and probably that denomination, like on the Dehler R is a bit misleading since the PR it will be probably just an upgraded epoxy boat with a lead keel, more draft and better specs. Sure they will also make a true racing version for the clients that want to make top racing but then it will be a boat based on the PR with higher specifications, like basalt/carbon bulkheads, carbon spars and even special keels. Anyway, very curious to see the hull dimensions and the B/D ratio, even if I don't expect nothing very different from the actual 38. Two completely different boats, not sharing the same hull with the same basic name: Salona 38. That's quite unusual.