2016 MIDDLE SEA RACE IS ON

Those are images from the 2014, a spectacular edition with strong winds, not such look this year but lots of boats racing, many of them performance cruisers and a good race to see what they really worth in med conditions.

For me an additional point of interest is that a sister boat of mine (Prospectica, a Comet 41s) is racing on the double handed division, one of the more interesting regarding performance, since short handed sailing has more to do with cruising than full crewed racing. So far so good, they are in 3th place in real time (2 handed division) and they only have ahead a Solaris 42 and a J109. They are slightly ahead of a First 44.7 and all are beating several race boats among them a Class 950 and a Farr45. Last on the class and on all fleet, a RM 1260.

You can follow the race on the tracker, here:
http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/tracker/#pt

MAXI 1200 NEW VIDEO TEST

Another test, this one with beautiful images, that concludes that the Maxi 1200 is a great boat and very good value for the money...and yet the boat is not a sales success. I find that ironic since this boat is all that many sailboat forum posters are demanding: less beamier, fast, well built, with a superior quality interior at a very nice price...and they seem not be buying it!!! LOL. 

The reason this boat is not a success is because what most cruisers look for in a first place on a sailboat is the biggest interior they can afford for a price and that is not what they got with the maxi 1200.

Having talked, over the last years, with many cruisers that do 1000's of miles on each season and live several months on a sailboat (and those are a minority among cruisers) I reached the conclusion that most use the boat as a mean of transport and as a house, being sailing ability in itself and sailing pleasure a very small part of what they search on a a sailingboat. That explains the little success of the Maxi 1200. 

That and for the ones that like sailing, the absence of a traveler, that ironically a professional racer that tested the Maxi 1200 says it is a good compromise. The boat features a central two way electric winch just below the boom, allowing for high tension on the leash and the reverse function on the electric allows to spill wind quickly. Being the winch very close to the helm it makes easy a bigger ‘dump’ if needed. In fact, sailing solo, more easier than on most cruiser racers, where the traveler is on the other side of the steering wheel and you have to move around to let it go.

More information on previous posts:
http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2015/11/maxi-1200-one-of-best-cruising-boats.html
http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2015/01/maxi-1200-does-it-worth-money.html
http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/12/maxi-1200.html

JPK 45 ANOTHER GREAT VERY FAST VOYAGE BOAT

We had already talked about this boat here: http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/09/jpk-45.htm

and I was expecting a great boat but the truth is  that it looks much better than on the drawings and that is quite rare.

I said that the boat on the previous post, the X6 was probably the perfect performance voyage boat and probably it is for the ones that want a big boat with luxurious accommodations or sail with two couples but this one seems the perfect voyage boat for me, I mean for the ones that are just a couple or a couple with kids, like to keep it simple and fast and dispense luxurious accommodations.

It is also sufficiently small not to make maintenance very expensive and even if it is thought with voyage in mind, it is more adjusted to coastal cruising, with a draft of only 2.25m (or a lifting keel 2.9/1.5m)) and a two rudder set up, that is always very convenient in what regards med mooring (a single deep one is problematic going backwards).

Compared with the Pogo 50 it offers not only a better cruising interior but also a more sheltered cockpit and a better view forward from the interior. Compared with the X6 the JPK 45 not only offers a better protection to bad weather as also a rigid large spraywood besides the better view forward from the inside of the boat.

They have changed the specifications in what regards weight that is now 9.5T and the ballast, that is huge, with 4.1T. A B/D ratio of 43%!!!! That, on a torpedo keel on a 45ft with a beam of 4.5m will make for a very, very stiff boat and a very powerful one, with a great AVS and safety stability.

The boat was designed by Valer (the NA that designs all JPK sailboats) but the characteristics were defined by Jean Pierre Kelbert (JPK) that has thought it as his perfect long range cruising boat and knowing that JPK was (and is) a successful ocean racer and a long range cruiser, with a huge bluewater sailing experience, it is not to to find strange that such a great boat was the result.

http://www.jpk.fr/?titre=jpk-45---projet&mode=voilier_jpk&id=924
http://www.voilesetvoiliers.com/chantiers/coeur-de-chantier-jpk-jean-pierre-kelbert/

(Special thanks to Thomas that pointed the new video to me.)

X6 FROM XYACHTS, A GREAT BIG BLUEWATER CRUISER (test sail)

Contrary to the X4 the X6 seems just about right to me as the almost perfect bluewater yacht for the sailors that like to cruise fast in a sporty but comfortable way, assuming they have the money for it ....and that is a lot of money but no more than boats with a similar quality.

The X4 seemed to me not really having many advantages regarding the Xp line, not having a substancial diference in space or comfort but that does not apply to the X6.

Big interior looking modern with lots of light and outside views, comfortable and practical with two long holding bars (that are absent in so many big boats), a huge galley with support for standing no matter the boat heeling, a huge tankage, with all the weight centered on the middle of the boat and a big garage.

The X6 features a very strong keel and shrouds steel support structure that contributes to makes it a very strong boat and allows it to have a relatively light weight.

The more conservative will say that the steering station is not protected and that is true but you cannot have it the two ways: maximum pleasure steering and a full protected wheel station. Clearly they opted here for sail pleasure.

 Anyway when the weather is not nice the boat would be sailed on autopilot and regarding that there are cover options that will cover all the cockpit living area, from where the boat would be steered on those occasions.

The more sportive versions will be handicapped by draft regarding small ports and small marinas but the shallow draft with 2.6m will be small enough to grant access to almost everywhere and I am sure the performance will only just be handicapped upwind, where a 3.4m will make a difference. But I bet that even with the shallower keel the performance will be good upwind.

http://www.x-yachts.com/range/x/x6-3/

COMANCHE HAS THE NORTH ATLANTIC RECORD

Comanche was built to break records and slowly it has been beating them, first the 24 hour record for a monohull (618.01 nm, averaging 25.75) then, some months ago, the record of the North Atlantic from West to East with an average speed of 21.44k. They have beaten the old 2003 record hold by Mari Cha IV (that was a big sailboat but not a race boat) for more than 24 hours. The new record stands in 5 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes 25 seconds, not particularly impressing if we compare it with the absolute sail record that has already 7 years and belong to the Trimaran Banque Populaire (Pascal Bidegorry), with an average speed of 32.94K, in 3d 15h 25m 48s. Sure big maxi racing trimarans are faster but a diference of more than 2 days seems too much to me and I am quite sure that one of the new ones can make better.

2017 EUROPEAN YACHT OF THE YEAR, THE NOMINATED BOATS

The 25 boats nominated for the 2017 European yacht of the year, are divided in 5 categories: Family Cruiser, Performance Cruiser, Luxury Cruiser, Multihull and Special Yacht.

Family Cruiser: Django 12.70, Ikone 7.50, Jeanneau 51, RM 970, Sunbeam 22.1.

Performance Cruiser: Dehler 34, Grand Soleil 58, J 112, EOfcet 32, Pogo 36.

Luxury Cruiser: Bestevaer 45ST Pure, Garcia 52 Exploration, Italia Yachts 12.98, Oceanis Yacht 62, X-Yachts X4.

Multihull: Lagoon 42, Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40, Nautitech 46, Outremer 4, XTricat 30.

Special Yacht: Bihan 650, Easytofly, Scow FR18, Seascape 24, Spirit 47CR.

The boats were nominated by the staff from 11 major yachting magazines across Europe and they have already tested the boats  at Cannes in mid-September and at the La Rochelle, some days ago. The first movie is from Cannes were apparently the wind was too light and the one below from La Rochelle were the conditions seem better.

Lot's of very interesting boats this year and among then this one, a Marc Lombard design that I hope it will sail as well as it looks:

And probably it will, because the hull design is an evolution of the MC34 Patton and that one is a blast to sail. The winners will be announced in January at the Dusseldorf boat show.

POGO 36, SOME MORE INFORMATION

First Thomas then Tunes called my attention to the video above that was posted just some days ago. It is from a Danish sail magazine (BådNyt) and even if they call it a test, it is just a boat presentation but for the first time we can see the Pogo 36 interior. Tunes asked for some comments and here they are:

The interior seems  better than the one from the Pogo 10.50. More light coming from those almost frontal "windows" and the lateral storage space is also bigger, being now the full size of the saloon, but in what regards space and light effect it is a long way for what the first drawings. Look at the picture on the right.

Even if better it leaved me a bit disappointed, not only because the interior feeling is not the one given by the photos, but also because the frontal windows are not so frontal and their practicability in what regards looking forward is not that good. Look at the movie, min 5.55, when the skipper looks outside to see if there is no obstacles ahead and see the position he has to reach for doing that and you will understand what I mean.

Don't take me wrong, I am sure the Pogo 36 is a great boat, better than the 10.50 with whom it shares many similarities but I think that in what regards the cabin and the new design, it could have been better, not only in what regards practicability but also outside looks.

Regarding outside looks they made it worst because they did not followed the designer drawings in what regards paint scheme and made all deck and cabin the same color and that is a basic design mistake that make the boat look fatter than it really is. Just  look at the original paint scheme with differentiated colors on the deck and cabin and what happens when you use white everywhere.

The boat is being tested by Voile magazine on its annual big testing section (with the readers) to chose the magazine boat of the year, so soon we will have more information.