CATAMARAN EASYtoFLY (F26)

Well, the name says it all about the boat program: a low flying machine that is not pointed to top racers but to the average sailor that wants to have a lot of fun and experience what was reserved before for only top sailors. The Easy was designed by Guillaume Verdier (top racing NA) and it is built by Absolute Dreamer Jean-Pierre Dick's company. It has been nominated for the Yacht of the year contest on the Multihull division and I saw on  a video the faces of the testers: pure delight. What a luck to have a job like that☺!!!!

This cat has 8.1m of length, 4.3m of beam, weights only 325kg, has a max charge of 260kg, a big mast with 13.7m and it  was tested by Multicoque. com.... and we can feel the wonder of Briag Merlet regarding that test:

"The wind is a bit below 10 knots, enough for nice sailing, installed on top of the foils. There are many boats around us in the weak wind, but all seem to be stopped. The catamaran is sailing in the middle of them displaying peaks at around 25 knots. Yet it is difficult to realize the speed without  watching the other boats and the coast. It seems so easy ...If we look at the sails, it seems that the wind is turning with us. We are always regulated for a close haul. Indeed, our apparent wind is such that, once the boat on foils, all the sails are as tight as they can be.  A Gennaker was originally planned but was abandoned because even downwind it deflated automatically!"

http://www.bateaux.com/article/24004/easy-to-fly-j-ai-decolle-catamaran-volant

If flying on that one seems not only great fun but possible to the average sailor, having one seems more complicated since the top building, all in carbon, makes it very expensive, at 150 000 euros.

OUTREMER 4X, WHAT NOT TO LIKE?

The Outremer 45 looked already well, the 4X looks even better. Many said that the new 45 was slower than the previous model and even if that seemed not to have any downside on the sales (already 30 sold) it seems Outremer decided to correct that with the 4X.

The 4X is just a 45 with  a 2ft longer waterline due to the increase on the transom platform, with less 500kg due to many carbon parts, among them the daggerboards, the spars and also the suppression of the rigid bimini. The weight is now 8.2T and the genoa area was increased in 16m2.

The interior is the same, a nice one about the size of the one of a lagoon 42, kind of  diference in space between a performance cat and a condo cat, that and the speed. The interior can be about the  same size, but it is much nicer not with an apartment look, like on the Lagoon.

The Outremer 4x is surely a very fast cruiser having on the price the only thing not to like. If an Outremer 45 with a minimum decently equipment costed already about 600 000 euros (without VAT) this one will not sell for less than 750 000 euros, possibly more. I wonder what kind of fast monohull one can buy with that kind of money? A Solaris 50 costs way less than that, with its luxurious interior and all. Price is really the only thing I don't like on the 4X ;-)

POGO 30, ALREADY A CLASSIC

I found out that I don't have on the Blog a post about the Pogo 30, I mean, I have one regarding a movie with an ocean passage, but none about the boat. Quite incredible since I like a lot this little boat and only explained because I had posted about it on the Sailnet thread,  on one of the last posts.
So, lets talk a little about this fantastic pocket long range cruiser and I say long range cruiser because it is not only used for that (with several Atlantic crossings) as it was born out of the Pogo 6.5 mini transat racer and from the desire many sailors had to have an inexpensive fast small cruiser built with the same characteristics: Speed and seaworthiness, long range, but also with a functional and comfortable cruising layout.

Pogo satisfied that aspiration, back in 2002, with the Pogo 8.80 from whom the 30 directly descends. The Pogo 8.80 was a popular boat that made several cruising Atlantic crossings but the market regarding those boats was much smaller than what it is today and the Pogo 30 has much better accommodations, is more powerful and fast too. I suspect that in 3 years more Pogo 30 here sold than Pogo 8.80 on 10 years.

Designed by Finot/Conq, it can have a fixed torpedo keel (1.95) or a more popular swing keel (with all ballast on the keel - 2.5/1.1m) has a hull based on the mini racers, very beamy (3.70m) with all the beam pulled back and has a rounded bow. The deep draft, the considerable ballast and the large beam give it a lot of stability maintaining a very good reserve stability and a very good AVS.

The Pogo 30 is very light with only 2.8T and built like a racing boat, using infusion on all parts including the hull structure. The sandwich uses a mousse PVC (closed cells) on the core , the boat has two waterproof compartments one at the bow one on the transom, it is unsinkable and uses, like the other Pogo, a mast without backstay.

If you are looking for a 30ft, fast, seaworthy, offshore boat that deliver a lot of fun sailing and don't mind to have a basic but functional interior, you should take a lot at the Pogo 30, that costs about 90 000 euro on its most basic version, no sails, no electronic, no VAT. They provide on their site a complete list of extras with prices. http://www.pogostructures.com/en/

The popularity of the boat is responsible for a huge number of videos on the internet. I will select some, but there is more there and increasing every season. There is also a good test sail by Toby Hodges that had a lot of fun test sailing the Pogo.

VENDEE GLOBE: FIRST WEEK (GREAT MOVIE)

The first week of a great adventure (Week 1... por VendeeGlobeTV

What a race!!! I never expected to see, well below Madeira, 7 boats separated for less than 55nm. And what to say about the performance of Riou and his boat with old type foils?

For the moment Armel is ahead but only with a 9nm advantage over Riou while Alex and Hugo boss have been by far the fastest last night, recovering from his bad tactical option, winning 20nm to everybody, being now 3rd and winning miles on the two first.

If you have never followed the race try it on the tracker and you will see how amusing it is, with lots of options like seeing the wind they have and the one they will have ahead, trying to understand their tactical options in relation with the weather. Here is the tracker, now working well:

http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/gv5ip0/

FC3 53 A DREAM COME TRUE

We had already talked here about this boat, while on the project stage, but many of these projects are just dreams that never sea the light o the day... too good to be true.

Just look at this boat, all carbon, beautiful, with a dinghy garage and a swing keel (1.6-3.75m),  with all ballast on the keel weighting between 8.8/10.5T (depending on equipment), 1T of water ballast on each side, a big tankage (750L of water and 750L of diesel),  a comfortable interior and tell me if it is not too good to be true. 

The lucky owner, that commanded his dream boat to Finot/Conq, reached on the maiden trip over 24K. Good for him, not all have the possibility to see their dreams come true, but at least this guy had and I can say that I like his dreams, that, I am sure, would not be far from the dreams of many.

More about this boat here:
http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/11/fc3-61-and-fc3-53-by-finotconq.html

NEW YORK - VENDEE TRANSATLANTIC RACE

I know, I know, it was some months back, but I was cruising and the movie is really great, in English too. They caught a big storm and the images are quite interesting. So if you have not seen it I really recommend it to you.

VENDEE GLOBE: A RACING BOAT MEETS A CRUISING ONE

Arnaud Boissieres meet an old cruising boat out of the Portuguese coast. Even if Arnaud has not a fast boat (he is 14th sailing with the group of Pros with older boats) look at the diference of speed and also to diference in the trim, with the IMOCA going upwind and making a lot of apparent wind. Looking at the race it is with pleasure that I see a lot of close fighting with PRB and Riou, on the boat without the new foils pursuing Armel, only 10.5NM away. The first 6 are inside a radium of 36nm, really nothing considering this race. 

Great race for the New Zealander Conrad Colman (15th), for the Japonese Kojiro Shiraishi (21th) the American Rich Wison (23th) and the Hungarian Nandor Fa (22th). It may appear strange that I am looking at guys over the 15th place but that's because I know this race, I know  how good are the Pros that are ahead and what it takes for dreamers  and adventuriers to be on this race and sailing as good and fast as these ones are doing. They are all extraordinaire charachters with extraordinaire life stories. Trust me and read their life story on the links below and I believe you will not lose your time and will understand better how big this race is, not only for the race itself but by the ones that are racing it. For most a dream that they carried all their life, not to win it, just to make it.

http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skippers/81/conrad-colman
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skippers/86/kojiro-shiraishi
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skippers/69/rich-wilson
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skippers/77/nandor-fa