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

TRANSQUADRA 2nd LEG: MADEIRA - MARTINIQUE

Qq images du départ en attendant le montage... by overlapprod

 As most certainly will know this is a Transat solo or duo race for amateur sailors (at least 40 years old) with sailboats below a given limit of IRC rating. Mostly small fast boats (31/36ft) with some bigger comparatively slower boats on the mix...lots of boats, over a hundred.

The second leg started 3 days ago and they have been sailing fast with 20/25K steady winds and that has been taking a toll on the boats: Two boats lost the mast, one ripped the main sail and another with one of the rudders broken.

You can follow the race on the tracker here:
http://www.transquadra.com/positions.php
And on the news, that unfortunately are only in French:
http://www.transquadra.com/actualites.php
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Transquadra/213972661966974
Some great movies from the first leg of the race (St Nazaire/Madeira or Barcelona/Madeira):

THE SEXIEST BOAT (A44) WON THE EUROPEAN BOAT OF THE YEAR CONTEST

I am talking about the Advanced yachts 44 and the "sexiest one" was just my opinion that I posted some months back here:
http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/10/the-sexiest-boat-around-is-on-water-a44.html

Off course, I did not have sailed the boat (unfortunately) and what I said was only based on the yacht design, technical characteristics and my knowledge about sailboat design but it seems that my assessment was correct and what 11 boat testers from 11 different countries said about the boat was not less enthusiastic than what I wrote on that post. The boat won the 2015 boat of the year contest on the category of special yachts and the comments the diverse test sailors made about the boat (sailed on demanding conditions) deserve to be read:

Yachting World, UK: ..wild and different. The Advanced 44 lives up to her name by being the most contemporary monohull of 2014, and one that puts sailing pleasure above any trivialities like practicality and cost. And what a sensation she provides… the ride is stable, direct and super-responsive – this is a true supercar of the sea....A great job by Nauta Design and Roberto Biscontini, she has performance to match the style –and congratulations to Advanced for having the balls to do such a project! "

Fare Vela, ITA:“An extreme and expensive weekend fast sailer, which shows one of the best open-style hulls ever tested. We sailed the Advanced 44 in extreme conditions, not exactly her field, but she moved softly and powerfully in big and confused waves, as well as surfing for long periods in a very stable way, even when underpowered. Plus she has a very interesting interior concept".

 Voile and Voiliers, FR: “If a boat deserves this nomination, it is the A44. Yes it is much too big for a day cruiser, much too expensive for the average sailor and much too powerful for a crew of two. But its sailing ability upwind is nothing short of fantastic"...

Yacht.de, GER: “This disturbingly new yacht, which refuses to fit in any known market segment, elevates performance sailing to a new level. In cross-seas and fresh breeze she keeps her groove almost by herself, allowing fingertip steering and offering the finest feedback. Simply the best serial production big boat I have sailed to date. Its a Ferrari Enzo on the water: expensive, unreasonable, impractical – but oh so great.”

Marina.ch, SUI:  "Italian style at its best! With the Advanced 44, an experienced crew will win regattas. But this boat is also a luxury daycruiser and weekender too.”

Seilas, NOR: "A small big yacht – The Advanced 44 has a cockpit of a 60 footer, and can keep a 60 footer’s pace through the water. We did 15 knots downwind with a gennaker in 18 knots wind! The upwind performance was like a racer. The interior is open, modern and stylish. This is Italian craft at its best.”

YachtRevue, AUT: “The Advanced 44 is an individual design with extraordinary performance, smart styling, sophisticated deck-layout and a special atmosphere below deck.”

BadNyt, DEN: “A statement of what is to come to the keelboat market in the near future. It goes with the trend that weight is becoming essential for both the performance and in particular for the sensation of sailing.”

Published on Toby Hodges blog: http://www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/toby-hodges-blog/5-top-new-yachts-crowned-european-yacht-year-2015-winners-25-tested-61420#esF4hlEIY2OOsDHS.99

25 YEARS LATER ANOTHER DRAGONFLY 25

The 25 was the first Dragonfly so a new 25 means something, this was supposed to be a very special boat and it is in fact a more modern design but I think they could have gone further. The floaters are beautiful with a lot of buoyancy (160%) but the central hull could be nicer (in what regards that the new Corsair daysailer seems nicer to me).

A very nice boat with an interior suitable for short range coastal cruising and certainly a good racer, a very fast sailing boat for sure. They have already sold 5 boats that should cost about 69 000 euros (without VAT) with a 5hp outboard and sails.

They say about the boat:

"Both versions will have the same offcenter Kickup centerboard in the mainhull, to create more space inside the boat and the centerboard casing is hidden inside and under the port sofa seat in the center cabin. Both rudder systems will also be able to kickup.

The standardboat will have a 10.50 m Aluminium rotating mast and the Sport version will have a 11.80 m rotating Carbon mast.

The floatdesign is in a total new design and construction, still asymmetric shapes to get better hydrodynamic lift and also to get more buoyancy in the right place. The floats are in new and better hydrodynamic design, so the floats will be more fun to push harder and will have better waterflow. 
The floats will have 160% volume, and will be the highest volume floats we have yet ever made in our designs. This means the boat can actually easy fly the centerhull, not that this is the purpose, as the boat will be fastest when the centerhull is just airborne, but it will give more safety as also the floats are actually 30 cm longer forward of the centerhull to give more diagonal safety and stability."