SYDNEY HOBART: THE MOVIES 1

Comanche did not won, but I would say they had a bit of bad luck: What a boat!!!
The next movie, the start taken from a fast boat, a Lyons 60, a 10 year's old racer that was refitted to this race: and the last but not least, Wild Rose, the winner on compensated time, a 29 year's old Farr 43, doing an acrobatic figure: Yes, wild guys on wild rose: lots of wind, full main and a big spi??? Too wild LOL.

MAXI 1200

As you can see, it looks well, the new Maxi. For the ones who don't know Maxi Yacht was a Swedish company that made expensive performance cruisers, not really cruiser racers, but fast cruising boats with luxurious interiors, having Pelle Petterson as a designer .

The brand was bought by Najad and when Najad went down and was bought by other companies, Maxi yachts was left to die. When everybody thought that Maxi yacht was finished  an improbable savior appeared, the Polish Delphia.

Delphia is a relatively new company that started with a technological help of the Italian Comar (the ones that make the Comet) and soon it was making reliable quality sailboats even if the designs are a bit under average regarding other mass production builders (they insisted in having their boats designed by Polish NAs).

They had the good sense to ask for help to old Pelle Petterson to finish the model that Maxi was developing when it went down, a more sportive model and Pelle accepted the challenge of working with the "kids" from Delphia and it seems they got along together notwithstanding the age difference. I am very curious about the result that will be presented at the Dusseldorf boat show.

It is not only a difference of age but a difference of methods in designing a boat, being Pelle from the old school, designing by hand and applying intuition and the knowledge of a life designing fast sailboats, complemented with the work of the new Polish NAs that design with cad and use modern VPP and CFD to improve the design.

As I said the hull looks very nice, relatively narrow, with 3.75m for 11.56m of hull length, a considerable draft with a torpedo keel (2.32m) a light weight (6900kg), specially considering that 36% of it is ballast, mostly on that torpedo. Being a narrow boat allows it to have less sail area than a more beamier one and it carries upwind only 84m2 sail area.

In what regards design, a very interesting boat with a hull with chines, that will allow a considerably heeling angle before hitting the water and for what we can see of the building, a top boat that uses carbon to reinforce more stressed areas and a structural grid to distribute effort by the hull . The hull  is a cored one (with PVC as core) and laminated with vinylester resins, being the keel area  monolithic with reinforced lamination using carbon fibers.

The interior layout seems very good and I am very curious regarding the quality of the interior design, that contrary to other Maxi is a more modern one. The designs don't look great but they are just hand made designs and what matters is the real thing.

The rigging is adapted to solo sailing and makes a lot of sense regarding cruising but I don't understand two things: The fixed cockpit table and the absence of traveler. That is a big disadvantage in what regards club racing and even in what regards cruising, I like to have the sail properly trimmed with the help of a big traveler and I like to take the cockpit table away and have all the cockpit space available.

 Probably a small traveler can be mounted but only over the cockpit seats and that will make awkward the passage between the wheel and the forward winches. I really don't like the boat design in what regards that and I think it will not be easy to find an alternate solution, giving the cockpit design. Great for fast unconcerned cruising but not a polyvalent boat, able to cruise and race and that is just a shame since it seems a very fast hull.

 Maybe the boat is just meant to offer only that since I don't see also an adjustable backstay and it seems the boat is offered standard with a bowthruster, that seems dispensable to me in a boat with those dimensions and weight. Off course, another matter I am very curious about is the price. Will this boat have Maxi prices, that were really maxi or will be at mid way between Maxi and Delphia prices? Much of the success of this boat depends on that.

WILD OATS WON THE SYDNEY HOBART

For the 8th time and that is just incredible on these days were boat design evolves so quickly. That can only be explained by the very particular conditions that we find on this race that, contrary to most sea and wind conditions, favors narrow hulls and as we know that recent design hull developments favor beamier hulls. Also the use of the recent foil technology to increase dynamically righting moment (DSS) allowed just the bit extra performance to this already old hull to continue to be the fastest on this race on these conditions,

Comanche lost the race when he meat confused seas and light winds were the difference in speed for Wild Oats can be huge. Comanche, had found on the final part of the race stronger downwind winds and calm seas and started an impressive recovery but not in time to catch Wild Oats.

Regarding the rest of the fleet we assisted to several boats giving up with problems, among them some of the favorites, Giacomo with a broken mast, Perpetual Loyal making water after having hit something and a favorite of mine, Last Tango, the Salona 44 with bad luck having to head for port with a crew member with problems on his back and damaging the sails while trying to get back to the race. Other boats are making a great race too and I confess that besides the ones that win on real time I like to have a look at the smaller boats doing a great race and that's the case with Chutzpah, a Caprice 40 (Rachel&Pugh), Patrice, a Ker 46 (Ker), Simply Fun, a Chinese made HH42 (Judel&Vrolijk), Midnight Rumbler, a Ker 40 (Ker), Cadiparra 8 an older Jones 42 (Jones), After Midnight, a modified Farr 40 and the first "cheap" boat, Ariel, a First 40, all of them surrounded by much bigger boats.

WILD OATS LEADS THE SYDNEY HOBART

That was before, now Wild Oats leads with a comfortable 40nm lead, the biggest difference between the two boats and confirms my suspects that on Comanche they should have kept a low profile in what regards all those statements about their boat being the fastest sailing monohull on the planet. I don't think Comanche will be able to catch Wild Oats that sails for another of the many consecutive victories on this race. What happened? Easy, light wind and bad seas, the worst conditions for Comanche type of boat, put him sailing at about half the speed of Wild Oats. The weak wind was enough to allow the  low drag hull of Wild Oats to slice through the confused seas while not enough to allow enough power for Comanche to force the passage trough it.
http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/

A great race as usual, cheers to the Australians and New Zealanders whose sailing passion has only a parallel with the French. I wish more countries will follow them on the love of sailing  that is also ours.

Some great movies about the Sydney Hobart race:

SYDNEY HOBART : COMANCHE STILL LEADS BUT LITTLE BY LITTLE...

Wild Oats is coming closer and closer, on the upwind strong conditions...and if the conditions will prevail I bet we will see another leader, specially if the winds continue to fall of intensity. Great racing and great fight, so great that I have not have even looked conveniently to the smaller boat's race. Some more great movies, one taken already at open sea and two different ones from the start.

 Comanche is really impressive on a beam reach but I had noticed two things: It has to carry a lot more sail than Wild Oats, it takes much more time taking the sails out (rolling) and he makes a much bigger wake.... But what power and stability!!! It was to be expected the boat to be a rocket downwind and on a beam reach but I am amazed at how little it loses to Wild Oakes upwind on nasty conditions and on pointing ability. Truly outstanding: Verdier and VPLP have pulled out a boat that would be pretty much unbeatable on most conditions. I guess the most unfavorable will be here, with strong upwind winds and nasty seas and on the med with weak and variable winds.
http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/

SYDNEY HOBART 2013, COMANCHE LEADS

What a smocking start!!! With plenty wind and on a beam reach there is no faster boat than Comanche, that's for sure...but now they have plenty upwind ahead and some heavy seas...and Wild Oats is not far away. It is going to be very interesting :-)

A pity the stone age tracker :-(

http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/

BARCELONA WORLD RACE

It starts at 13.00, 31 December, a good way to start the year :-) a non stop circumnavigation race for duos on IMOCA racers (Open 60's). Unfortunately not many teams, only 8 and not all top teams. The good news is that Spaniards are really on the short crew/solo racing. Half of the teams are Spanish and that is a first: a duo circumnavigation race that has not a majority of French teams!!! Not yet favorites, but as Alex Pella showed on the Route du Rhum, it is a question of time.

The favorites are the usual, even if many top sailors are not racing this one. They are two: Stam/Le Cam and Alex/Ribes with an outsider on his first big circumnavigation race, Riechers, here teaming with Audigane. No favorites among the Spanish? I don't believe so...well, if Pella was on Neutragena maybe an outsider but it is Altadill that is the skipper, teaming with Muñoz. Great sailor but more of a team player than a solo/duo sailor, but maybe he proves me wrong.