Sportboat! Why another one?

- From where inspiration comes from?

- I have been a long-time admirer of Ray Hunt Designs, be it sailboats or powerboats. One is 110 Square/Foot Class, born with the desire to turn affordable racing with the speed and performance offered by more sophisticated and expensive models. Got me thinking of going out of the box of a 110 to come up with the Garage Rocket of similar length but oriented towards the Sport Boats of our era.

- So what is it, what to do?

Then, I got to think about 747, the David Raison Mini Transat with her Scow bow. I duplicated the design for R&D, observing that at a sailing angle of heel, the hull presented a large increase in wetted surface compared to the more "normal" Mini Transat that I used to compare with. The wetted area is the main ingredient of friction at low speed before wave resistance takes over. Then, I realized that all this surface is actually an elongated waterline with a high aspect ratio and prismatic coefficient, therefore a more efficient hull shape. Furthermore, this form with the given displacement distributed over the length on a shallower midship section has the ability to create lift over the whole waterline.

                                                                                              

                                                                                      Fish View @ 20 deg. of the heel.

Steel Boat 12 M. Launching.

                                              A 12M. (40') MBCC ( Modern British  Channel Cutter) built in Turkey.

The series name goes under "L' Oceane". She is part of a long line of MBCC sailboats, ranging from 26' to 52'. They have been built in wood, aluminum, and steel. Pure Offshore Boats feature a long waterline, the absence of overhangs, plenty of beam, moderate draft, and are cutter-rigged.

Chorus Demi-Coques.

- This is talent! I had the nice surprise this morning to receive a canvas of a Two-Tonner I designed in 76 Scaramouch for Mr. Merle Hallett of Handy Boat Works in Maine.

IMOCA 60 Shape and America's Cup 2013

                                                   
- Ellison: "Sailing has been changed forever".
When sailing is more like flying, with such sophisticated machines, how are the technologies adaptable to more mundane venues?
America's Cup boats have a way to continuously improve elements of sailing and even cruising. But, when we have all of a sudden such a leap forward, where new boats, catamarans, wing sails, and foils are thrown into the mix, what is going to happen?
The obvious is that the benefits are going to go to cats and trimarans. But what about regular sailboats? I will leave the articulated wing sail alone; they are not manageable due to reefing problems, but there are possibilities in the foiling area.

Carter. Richard E. 1928-

- I could not believe it today. I went with my daughter to the crowd gathering at the New York Yacht Club to celebrate the many accomplishments of Ted Hood, the sailmaker, entrepreneur, and yacht designer.

- One is dead; the other, Richard E. Carter, is resurrected.

Newport Boat Show 2013.

- View of the Newport Brokerage Boat Show at the Shipyard.
Few places in the world where you can see so many boats with very tall masts, all painted white.
I think the Sail and Power Boat Show was smaller this year, not too surprising, while the second-hand market was full of very large sailboats for sale, not surprising either. Quite a display as a matter of fact, and I had the pleasure to see again old Broker's friends pushing hard quality merchandise.
I am not fond of Boat Shows for new boats; it is actually depressing. The present form of going on the water is more like buying a condo, yes, here and there you pick one idea or two, mostly from a construction detail which I like, but the rest is plastic. It might also be because I do not have boats in shows anymore, yes, this must be it!

- A little side story.

After a Newport Show, taking the boat slowly back to my mooring under power and reaching a point halfway in the harbor, my eyes caught something white, bobbing around in the water. 

Approaching, I notice a mooring buoy with its pennant obviously separated from its supposed location. Surprise, my number 722 is displayed on the side. Now it is clear that, given a few hours one way or the other, this incident could have turned into a disaster. Luck, destiny, what?

My boat at the time. The T43 Toucan.

Porto Cervo 2013.

 

Ran, the Mini Maxi ran the clock with Rolex on this event. Photos by Dominique Tanton.

A little side story.

In 1973, yes, you read well! Porto Cervo was the brand new resort created by Karin Agha Khan on the Northern tip of Sardinia. With a man who receives his weight in gold each year (a religious thing), Porto Cervo is to this day, the ultimate resort in the Med. That year, the One Tonners gathered there for their World Championship. I delivered one of the Carter 43, to this amazing place to cover the event and serve as a base. Our own Ydra, a Carter One Ton, was the boat to beat, having won the previous year. We know the story. Ydra won again, but a small boat, Ganbare, stole the show with a newer concept about designing boats to the relatively new I.O.R. rule. 

- That is not the part I want to write about.
Sailmakers have been influential in directing potential clients to boat designers. They needed boats for their product. But, none did better at it than Lowell North of North Sails, a relatively small outfit at the time, soon to become the one Logo to have aboard. Here in Italy, rubbing shoulders with Ron Holland (with no boat there, but having just won the 1/4 Ton Cup) and Doug Peterson, we could sense the wind of change. Hood did too, and certainly at Carter offshore. North Sails created the marketing momentum to push customers for Doug, Ron, Dubois, and others with talent, to deliver new boats with the large inventory required to sail those I.O.R boats, and in the process, established a new era with new blood.