Space is back in fashion, and with media interest at a level not seen since the days of the Apollo lunar missions it can be difficult to keep up. Whether it’s SpaceX’s seemingly hit-and-miss approach to flight testing, or NASA’s declared aim to return people to the moon, there’s plenty to take in.

So, when details started to appear of a rival satellite-driven internet system to Elon Musk’s Starlink from Amazon guru Jeff Bezos in the form of Project Kuiper you could be forgiven for rolling your eyes at yet another display of wealth and ego. Or could a new, deep-pocketed player in the satcom scene provide more opportunities and a better deal for those of us down at sea level?

Surely Musk has this market stitched up, with over 6,000 satellites already in orbit? Starlink already boasts having over 75,000 commercial and leisure seaborne vessels served by its system. Yet, while the headlines may have been made by SpaceX’s triumphs and sometimes spectacular failures, Project Kuiper has been quietly getting on with it.

Details are still emerging, but the pitch is that Amazon wants to provide internet connectivity to those who currently have limited or no internet access. Its emphasis is on less-developed countries and people living in remote areas – which presumably includes use at sea. Another key objective is integration with Amazon’s wider interests such as its mobile devices and the AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud.

By contrast, it has been argued that Starlink is being used mainly to generate funds for Elon Musk’s well-publicised interplanetary ambitions – the colonisation of the moon and then Mars.

In its attempt to catch up, five satellites a day are being turned out by Amazon’s purpose-built factory near Seattle. A $140m satellite processing facility has already been established at the Kennedy Space Center that prepares them for lift-off.
Security is tight leaving experts still guessing about the design and size of the orbital units.

Article continues below…

What is known is that over 150 are already in orbit with new launches every few weeks boosting this number towards the level needed to roll out a viable service some time in 2026. Plans are in place to have 3,200 in low earth orbit as part of their ‘initial constellation’ – sufficient to provide near-global coverage.

But maybe the future isn’t about the number of satellites, but more about what they provide. Starlink has certainly made a dent in the use of the Iridium system that many of us have relied on for years for voice calls and simple text messaging. Supporters of that well-established system will argue this is a false comparison as Iridium’s robustness means it can be relied upon in rough weather, crossing oceans and in high latitudes – in a way that Starlink cannot.

Instead, the big difference is speed. With a stable connection, Starlink can deliver high-end broadband speeds allowing you to while away hours at the chart table, downloading complex weather data, updating charts, dealing with emails, watching the news, and whatever else takes your fancy. By comparison, Iridium works at the speed of a turn-of-the-century dial-up modem.

Before Starlink, the only viable comparable option at sea was Inmarsat, requiring a large outlay for the hardware and pricey subscription plans. The basic Starlink system means buying a flat plate antenna for not much more than the cost of a TV satellite dish, and subscription plans starting at £39 a month. But the ‘marine’ version of the hardware predictably costs a good deal more, and the plans start at a hefty £206 a month.

Boat owners are not going to be the primary market for Kuiper, but we can expect marinised versions of their equipment in fairly short order.
That Starlink is currently unavailable in Russia, Iran and China will come as no surprise, but less helpfully Turkey and South Africa also block its use, with the signal simply dropping out as you enter those countries’ 12-mile limits. There have also been reports of patchy coverage in the Caribbean. Starlink has to geo-fence its service wherever it has no licence to operate and Kuiper may be able to exploit that.

Amazon is playing catch-up, but when technology is developed in the slipstream of an early trailblazer it can often outperform and overtake it. Given how quickly and effectively Starlink changed things in our world, Kuiper has a similar feel about it.

And as for that new moonbase?

Let’s see.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post Bezos vs. Musk: Is Amazon’s Kuiper the real Starlink killer? – Matt Sheahan appeared first on Yachting World.

What should an Olympic medal represent? Is it still sport’s ultimate accolade? Is it a demonstration that you’re the best in the world and have dedicated your entire life to proving it? Or is it more of a blue Peter badge, a confirmation that you took part in a piece of sporting media entertainment that you should be proud of?

As we head towards the next Olympic Games regatta in San Diego there are a growing number of sailors who are extremely worried that the medals in 2028 will represent more of a memento for turning up rather than a celebration of being the world’s best.

It’s no secret that Olympic Sailing has had the sword of Damocles hanging over it for decades. An expensive, complicated sport that still isn’t as inclusive as the modern age requires has been a hard sell for a long time.

For years the sport has resisted a class cull to rationalise the overall fleet and bring the numbers down to more economically viable proportions. You could argue that it should have led the way and merged the genders for all of the double-handers to keep classes and disciplines while reducing the head count. And though this has happened in the 470s and Nacra cats, the sport has introduced the equivalent of BMX bike and skateboard categories in the foilers, in the hope these more street-style classes will draw in a huge new audience.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing in Marseille, France on 1 August, 2024. Photo: World Sailing / Sander van der Borch

I have nothing against foiling boards or kite foils – they’re exciting – but these new classes have not brought spectators and supporters in the kind of numbers that will turn around the economic fortunes of Olympic Sailing. And neither will changing the medal racing format by reducing it to a single, short, winner-take-all final race between the top four.

Apparently, this is what could be on the cards for Los Angeles. I’m told there are plans to reduce the fleet racing stages beforehand to just three days with no reserve or lay days – which surely doesn’t help to even out the spikes in weather and fortune that often influence our sport. And all in the name of creating a greater sense of jeopardy to make our sport more exciting.

Really? More of a lottery by the sounds of it. Imagine if you turned up at your national championships where you’d worked hard at consistently delivering the points during the week only to be told that the points buffer you’d accumulated counted for nothing when it came to a shot at the trophy.

That’s effectively what happened to British iQFoil sailor Emma Wilson, who was 31 points ahead in the games last year. We know how that played out for her… a bronze.

Surely what would help to get sailing back on track would be to take the racing to a venue that has a reputation for breeze on a stretch of water that can cope with a variety of wind directions and that isn’t hopelessly compromised by being too close to the shore where a few thousand people can watch.

Article continues below…

‘Teams don’t see The Ocean Race Europe as a walk in the park’ – Matt Sheahan

Given what the IMOCA 60 class was designed for – and the way in which blasting around the world non-stop,…

‘This America’s Cup dispute could lead down a difficult alley’ – Matt Sheahan

Unsightly and unnecessary public spat that has little to do with sailing… or another example of the extraordinary lengths some…

If we’re talking about sailing at the Olympics needing to be a sport that gets talked about and watched on TV for a global audience, a few thousand on the beach isn’t going to move the needle when it comes to balancing the costs of putting it on. It strikes me as odd that at a time when we can film sailing pretty much anywhere while relating the action with trackers and on-the-water commentary, we choose to move the racing to within shouting distance of the shore – why?

After what was clearly a disastrous sporting broadcast in Marseille for the last games it sounds like there are some pretty drastic changes being considered. But it also sounds like the Olympic broadcasters are having a big say in how the sport will look going forwards and, despite having worked in and seen the pressures that TV faces to bring sailing to our screens, I don’t think that’s the answer.

The television world itself is facing big challenges as audiences head to other platforms and media, and I don’t believe it’s in the right position to tell a sport how to conduct itself. Because you then risk creating something that bears little resemblance to the sport as its enthusiasts and grassroots participants know it – and then you risk losing the support of a community that should be the core supporters.

Imagine a future where we only have one race to decide the Olympic Games results. Is this really what winning an Olympic medal is all about, or are we gradually ensuring that sailing is driven out of the games?

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

The post Is the Olympic Sailing medal becoming just a participation trophy? – Matt Sheahan appeared first on Yachting World.

Despite looking like another bland piece of America’s Cup politics and procedure, it is difficult to overstate the significance of the newly formed America’s Cup Partnership (ACP).

First revealed a few weeks ago in the 38th America’s Cup Protocol, the ACP changes fundamentally the way in which the Cup will be run in the next cycle and beyond.

And while there are good reasons for the change, it’s not going to be universally popular. In fact, this could be the most controversial Cup move in modern times, some say it could even be the beginning of the end for the Auld Mug as we know it.

Sir Ben Ainslie, who has played a major part in creating the ACP – and whose team Athena Racing represents the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Challengers of Record – says this is, “The biggest step change in the history of the Cup,” and that the ACP is, “Critical to the future success of the Cup.”

His opposite, Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand representing the Defenders, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is equally punchy. “If we hadn’t have done this it could have been pretty much the end of the Cup.”
Both are bold statements and both will raise plenty of comment and fierce debate.

RNZYS Commodore David Blakey and RYS Ltd’s Bertie Bicket shake hands, watched by Sir Ben Ainslie and Grant Dalton, to mark the signing of the Protocol for the 38th America’s Cup, in August 2025. Photo: Suellen Hurling / RNZYS / America’s Cup

Spreading the load

Traditionally, if you win the America’s Cup you take on the responsibility for putting on the next event once a Challenger has thrown down the gauntlet.

It’s a big obligation, both logistically and financially and puts huge pressure on both the Defenders and the club they represent, especially in multi-challenger Cup cycles where the burden of hosting an event that runs for months can place huge demands on infrastructure.

Covering the huge financial costs is made even harder as the short-term nature of a Cup cycle that lacks any detail makes it especially difficult for sponsors to justify putting their hands in their pockets.

This means that the time frame between America’s Cup matches inevitably gets drawn out, which in turn causes its own problems when it comes to maintaining public interest in the event. Filling these gaps with more events costs more money and so the problem continues to spiral.

The financial. burden of hosting multi-challenger Cups, such as the very successful 32nd Cup in Valencia, Spain in 2007, is significant. Photo: Jose Jordan/AFP via Getty Images

The ACP seeks to change this by sharing the logistical and financial burden with the other competitors.

In simple terms, under the new structure when a Challenger enters the America’s Cup it takes a place on the board that governs the event. From here the rules, the schedule, the venue selection and every other detail of the cycle is agreed and actioned.

Dalton and Ainslie argue that this creates future structure to the event around which hosting deals can be made for future venues along with long term sponsorship deals and other financial considerations.

They also argue that costs can be better controlled and talk of spending caps which they say would help to increase the number of future potential teams.

No longer unique?

All of which sounds positive, especially given that this is how SailGP, which was born out of the 2017 America’s Cup, is currently growing.

SailGP has succeeded in creating a commercially focussed, spectacle-driven circuit – but is that the right direction for the future of the America’s Cup? Photo: Felix Diemer for SailGP

But there are those that will argue that democratising the America’s Cup strikes at the heart of its foundation.

Commercialising it in this way, and running a Cup event every two years as has been suggested, risks turning it into another world championships of sailing and removes the winner-takes-all aspect that has drawn a steady stream of billionaires for 174 years.

The appeal and potential commercial benefit of winning the Cup and bringing it home could also be gone if hosting deals have been made for future cycles. This could also reduce the appeal and prestige of the Cup making it harder to raise finances.

Big money deals

But Dalton and Ainslie don’t see it this way.

“We would dearly have loved to be able to negotiate with Naples for two cycles,” says Dalton. “Their infrastructure bill is €180 million, but when you can only plan for one cycle you can’t do long broadcast deals and you can’t do long sponsor deals which is the well known Achilles heel of the Cup.

“So, in this commercial world – and knowing that our sport is niche – we knew it was time to make that move. And so along with the Challenger of Record with support from the New York Yacht Club we have been able to do it but it’s not been easy because there’s a lot of stakeholders to be satisfied.”

Ainslie agrees. “The challenge has been trying to convince stakeholders that this is the right move for the Cup,” he says.

“Initially there was quite a lot of resistance for many different reasons and it’s taken 12 months to get to this point. But as hard as it’s been, actually the conviction from Grant that this is what we should be doing has delivered at the end of the day.”

The America’s Cup has endured since 1851, as captured in this painting of America running to the finish line of the RYS Cup in Cowes. Will these new changes secure its future? Image: duncan1890 via Getty Images.

But these are big changes, and even Dalton has his concerns. “We knew that if we didn’t do anything then we might not have a Cup in 10 years time.

“So, in the end this was a call that we had to make but you won’t be able to convince me that we’re right yet, I think only time will tell.”

The post Why is the America’s Cup Partnership such a big deal? (Or is it the beginning of the end….) appeared first on Yachting World.

Given what the IMOCA 60 class was designed for – and the way in which blasting around the world non-stop, alone, on foils in just under 65 days grabbed everyone’s attention last winter with the Vendée Globe – we could be forgiven for thinking that a six-leg, fully crewed, stopping service around Europe is a walk in the park for the world’s top sailors and their 60ft rocket ships.

You might not be surprised to hear they don’t seem to see it like that. After all, what’s the point in talking down an event that many of them have been talking up for months in the boardrooms of potential commercial backers?

I spent a bit of time with the skippers and crews on board their boats and on the dock ahead of the start of The Ocean Race Europe in Kiel, and it’s quite clear they mean it when they say that the 4,500-mile, six-week race would be extremely tough.

Sam Goodchild, who is sailing aboard Biotherm, looked me straight in the eye and said: “It’s not going to be easier than the Vendée Globe that’s for sure.”

Biotherm skipper Paul Meilhat, who finished 5th in the last race around the world, and who sailed Biotherm fully crewed in the 2022/23 Ocean Race told me that, while he had recuperated physically from his recent lap of the planet, he hadn’t fully recovered from the project mentally and that this race around Europe would give him, ‘the kind of slap in the face that I need to get back on track!’

Photo: Jean-Lous Carli / The Ocean Race Europe 2025.

Both of them talked of the intensity of the race and the focus it requires – particularly the complexity of a course that weaves itself around sand banks, rocks and wind farms to exclusion zones, shipping lanes and general traffic. They talked of the complex weather, the tides and, of course, their competitors. The crews may have barely discussed a watch system, given that there’s so little opportunity to operate one if you’re going to stay ahead of the pack.

The longer legs in this race from Kiel, Germany, to Boka Bay in Montenegro, each take around four days, around the time that the rest of us might take to do the Fastnet Race. But in their case, they do five of them back-to-back with just three days at best between each race. Each team is also limited to just five shore crew, which means the race crew will have to muck in at the stopovers if there is (and there will be) anything to fix.

The fact is that even though The Ocean Race Europe doesn’t really bill it like this, the crews see this as a very different and intense race for this class, something akin to the Figaro, or perhaps even a bigger version of the Tour de France à la voile of the early 2000s when it was raced in Mumm 30s.

So, whether you were talking to Yoann Richomme, Brian Thompson, Boris Herrmann, Cole Brauer, Pip Hare or Alan Roura, they all said much the same. They also said they were looking forward to learning from each other.

“When you sail on your own all the time you do tend to stick with your way of doing things,” Goodchild pointed out. “But working with others who have been your arch competitors provides a great opportunity to try out different techniques.”

Article continues below…

‘This one was special’ – Homecoming victory for Beccaria in The Ocean Race Europe Leg 4

Ambrogio Beccaria’s team Allagrande Mapei Racing made a triumphant finish to The Ocean Race Europe Leg 4 as they arrived…

Biotherm wins Ocean Race Europe Leg 3 after going neck-and-neck with Team Holcim-PRB

In the latest from the Ocean Race Europe Leg 3, Biotherm is still defending its perfect streak from Leg 1…

And therein lies a hint to something else that’s going on in this class. The ability to experiment, test, develop and refine the IMOCAs by pushing them harder with a full crew than you would alone is providing a form of accelerated learning in some cases.

The last around-the-world Ocean Race ended up attracting a lot of interest from the offshore rock stars as they started to see that some of their arch-rivals were collecting valuable data on the long ocean legs that might be useful in their solo campaigns. For some, that resource remains in their minds and they’re using the wide variety of races now available for this class as a means of learning more.

With 5-10 new boats expected for the next Vendée – several in build and price tags of up to €6m apiece – there’s no shortage of focus on winning the ultimate solo prize.

But the newfound intensity in crewed IMOCA racing can also come at a price, as Holcim PRB and Allagrande Mapei Racing discovered less than a mile off the start line in Kiel when a serious collision forced both of them out of the leg.

Dramatic as it looked, the large hole in the side of Holcim wasn’t the biggest issue, instead it was time. Fixing this kind of damage can be done, but when the round Europe schedule is as relentless as this one, a crisis like this can be a huge blow to a campaign.

No wonder the teams don’t see this race as a walk in the park.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

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The post ‘Teams don’t see The Ocean Race Europe as a walk in the park’ – Matt Sheahan appeared first on Yachting World.

If you ride an e-bike you’ll be used to being called a cheat. You’ll also be familiar with the way opinion has polarised in the cycling world on their benefits versus downfalls, particularly where there has been criticism from walkers who blame e-powered mountain bike riders for ripping up the countryside.

But what a game-changer they are, allowing you to explore further afield while making it more fun for those who’d otherwise be at the back of the pack.

Now, think about what might happen if sailing went down a similar route? If we thought that the foiling debate had stirred things up, just wait until the issue of powered race boats gets under the sailing public’s skin.

Because the next hot topic that the racing world looks set to grapple with is arguably even bigger. How much power can you use aboard a boat before it strays beyond the definition of sailing? Should electrical assistance be allowed at all? Some will doubtless argue that we shouldn’t even be talking about how much, as any assistance from power while racing is wrong.

Years ago, I remember being told by a fellow crew member about a rather unethical racing owner who was trying to convince the skipper and crew that running the engine in gear during a drifter of a race ‘just for a little bit’ was completely okay. He argued that it was fine as it would only be for a short distance and he promised he would switch it off as soon as they reached the little bit of wind that was currently out of their reach.

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‘The America’s Cup has always been pushing boundaries’ – Matt Sheahan

For a great pub quiz question, when was the first America’s Cup race? The answer to sailing fans is obvious:…

‘I don’t want to watch sailing with a calculator’ – Matthew Sheahan on Olympic Sailing for Spectators

How was your summer season? If you went to a major event like Olympic sailing, did you wonder where everyone…

For years, ‘just a little bit’ became the running joke aboard our boat when we were faced with the same lack of breeze or adverse tide. Clearly, turning the motor on is a ridiculous thought in sailing races. Or is it?

Last year SailGP revealed it was experimenting with an electric propulsion system that could provide a performance boost for teams to get their F50 cats back up onto their foils in light winds. On the face of it, a clever idea to help to keep the racing close and fair to all when the breeze is fickle and patchy.

When you look at the self-imposed tight two-day racing schedule and a small race course placed close to the shore to entertain the spectators in the stands it’s easy to understand why SailGP finds itself struggling with light shifty breezes so often. Add to this venues that don’t always provide clear breeze and it’s clear that developing bigger wing sails and lower drag foils have been a big plus for the racing.

Yet, while the F50s will fly in ludicrously light winds, when they do fall off the foils the races often become a lottery.

So, a little boost from some small, lightweight electric motors would keep the racing alive through the sticky patches. Controversial? Yes. But if the AC75s hadn’t been allowed to be towed up onto their foils before the start in the last Cup we’d have had a whole load of scores missing off the board. In the cruising world few think they are cheating if they motor-sail.

For all the thrill of the foiling racing, SailGP is much less adrenaline inducing in ‘low rider’ mode. Photo: SailGP

The power output of some of the small electric motors today is staggering and as batteries get more efficient the prospects of being able to do this are increasing.

The boat that got me thinking about how different the future might look when it came to electric power was the new Magic Carpet-e, which some are saying is the most advanced new Maxi to have been launched in many years. I spent a couple of days aboard this 100-footer and the electrical power system that drives the boat, the winches, the hydraulics – in fact everything – is fascinating. It’s a proof of technology on a scale I’ve not seen before in the sailing world.

While this is a boat that doesn’t seek to use her engine when racing she will be used actively as a cruising yacht as well and depend on her electric system for everything. Having experienced what an all-electric boat is like at this scale and seen the technology behind the scenes, I was not only blown away, but left thinking where the lessons learned may lead us.

In the meantime, while chatting to a few of the crew in the evening we got onto cycling. They told me about their road bikes with electric gears instead of cables and how it saved weight and made the gear changes much more efficient. I appreciate I’m behind the curve on this, but it seems small electric motors are weaving their way into life wherever we look.

Sailing could be next.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

The post Can battery powered boats really be called sailing boats? – Matt Sheahan appeared first on Yachting World.

Kiwis are hacked off. Even enthusiasts of the America’s Cup have strong opinions on whether the country should be spending large sums of money on hosting a sport for some of the wealthiest people in the world.

It’s a fair point, so some are pleased the country isn’t going to host the 38th America’s Cup. Having just spent a month in Auckland it’s clear to me that using taxpayers money to help run a Cup project is a contentious topic.

Businesses are being hit hard, the cost of living is going up and there are big financial pressures on a government that knows it has some serious domestic issues to tackle. It’s no different to many other countries where there’s real apprehension about where the world is heading.

Yet, the thing that really riles many Kiwis is the fact they feel they’ve been denied the opportunity to reap the rewards of a phenomenal and long-term sporting success. Theirs is a track record which makes them the most successful America’s Cup team in the modern age and the second most successful country ever.

New Zealand has won the Cup five times, yet only hosted it three times – and only twice have they been able to enjoy the commercial benefits (the global pandemic pulled the rug from under their feet in 2020/21, which was seriously bad luck). ‘What more do we have to do?’ they ask.

Article continues below…

“We’re in a holding pattern” – why uncertainty in the America’s Cup is hurting women’s sailing

The Puig Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona last autumn was a game changer: there had never before been a dedicated…

INEOS Britannia pulls out of America’s Cup – but what next for the Cup – and British hopes?

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Britannia will not compete in the next America’s Cup. The release issued last night stated: “INEOS…

The week in which the news broke that Auckland would not be hosting the next Cup was a busy one. Ahead of that bombshell came the announcement that the city would be a stopover in the 2027 Ocean Race. This is big for both the event and for the city.

If there’s one other area of the sport in which New Zealand has left a huge mark, it’s in this round the world race. A second announcement days later confirmed a new Kiwi Ocean Race team led by indefatigable Vendée Globe skipper Conrad Colman.

The Kiwi legacy in the Whitbread/Volvo/Ocean Race harks back to the dominant success of Steinlager 2 in 1989/90. I was able to join Colman aboard the mighty red Maxi, sailing Steinlager up the coast to meet a group of 25 teenagers (most of them non-sailors), who were on a 21-day outward bound-style course.

They’d hiked for several days to get to a beach, from where they swam out to the anchored boat before spending five days offshore. An incredible adventure for them – and seeing one of the most famous boats in the history of ocean racing being used for this while maintaining the spirit and layout of an ocean racer was a great illustration to me of what legacy is all about.

Bringing The Ocean Race back to a city that has hosted a stopover 10 times in almost 50 years will be a boost for sure, and having a local team to support will help too.

SailGP drew decent crowds for the Auckland 2025 event. Photo: Bob Martin for SailGP

Following on from the sold-out SailGP event earlier this year and the prospect of its return next year, the City of Sails will have two major events passing through. Both cost considerably less than hosting the Cup – the government is said to have ‘invested up to NZ$4million’ on hosting The Ocean Race (by comparison, the Cup estimate was NZ$40million).

The flip side is that neither will give the same financial return. It’s difficult to imagine supporters flying from Europe for the weekend to watch quick-fire SailGP racing from the stands or wait for Ocean Race boats to arrive.

Whilst in town I had a tour of Southern Spars’ facility – along with a nose aboard the world’s biggest privately owned ketch, Aquijo, which has two of Southern’s 92m (300ft) masts. Both were great illustrations of how big an influence the Cup has on New Zealand’s marine industry.

Southern Spars was born out of the Cup and has since become the biggest carbon mast manufacturer in the world. Taking Auckland off the table, while not surprising, will have implications.

While I’d love the Cup to return to this amazing sailing venue for AC38, in the current climate it’s probably the right decision. The Kiwis are a deeply resourceful bunch; as small, sparsely populated islands at the bottom of the world they’ve needed to be and this has been at the heart of their Cup success.

There’s an argument that says that for the promotion of ‘New Zealand Inc’ they’re better off taking the Cup to wealthier, more populated markets and using their expertise on the water to showcase what they do so well.

But for now, news that the America’s Cup is not coming home to Auckland will be a bitter pill to swallow.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

The post Where will the next America’s Cup be held? Not Auckland appeared first on Yachting World.

Close to the Spinlock stand at Boot Düsseldorf earlier this year were three white plastic dogs, canine mannequins sporting three sizes of the Spinlock ‘Fido’, the company’s dog flotation vest.

Despite being featureless statues, when real dogs passed by they seemed to know exactly what they were looking at as they stopped to take a sniff. Even when there was more than one dog present, they still explored the mannequins rather than each other. It was comical to watch.

Once Fido had been inspected by each real dog, it was time for a quick drink from the strategically placed water bowl before moving on – at least they would have done had their owners not inevitably been distracted in the meantime by the Spinlock stand’s wares.

“It’s been like this all week,” said one of the Spinlock staff. “We didn’t intend this to happen, we just brought the models to exhibit our new lifejackets. But the response has been impressive and has brought all kinds of people onto our stand.”

As I strolled through the show’s 18 huge halls that provide a spectacular reminder as to just how big the watersports scene is, it was also apparent that tough times often bring out the most creative solutions. Boot Düsseldorf 2025 had plenty of examples of this.

Be it power or sail, it seems new boat sales are facing challenging times right now. Fairline Yachts’ precarious financial position was just one of several talking points on the powerboat side of the exhibition, while in the yacht halls it was the number vacant spaces that were being discussed among the regular show goers.

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Best Yachts of 2025: European Yacht of the Year 2025 Winners

The European Yacht of the Year 2025 winners were announced this evening, Saturday 18 January 2025 on the first night…

The Hottest Yachts and Trends for 2025

Yachting Monthly’s Theo Stocker and Yachting World’s Toby Hodges have been scouring the halls of Boot Düsseldorf 2025, and after…

In Hall 16, which has been yacht central for as long as I can remember, giant potted plants and casual seating tried to mask the areas where some of the biggest European builders would normally have been. But it takes more than a few pot plants to disguise the absence of Hanse, Bavaria, Dehler, Oyster and Elan who were among those that had chosen not to come this year.

The theories for the lack of attendance were varied, the two most popular being the costs of exhibiting at Boot and the big increases in production costs that have wiped out any profit on boats that were sold on long lead times.

Among those that were in attendance were some exciting new launches from builders who’d shown us fancy renderings last year as they explained what was in store for 2025. Now they were here for real.

X-Yachts was proudly displaying one of its most ambitious design projects to date with the launch of its ORC-focussed race boat, the XR41. For a luxury production builder that has spent so much time developing its extensive range of performance cruisers, to invest in a fully optimised production racer was an impressive display of self-confidence.

Nautor Swan has done much the same with the ClubSwan 43 and 28, two exciting new models that were also revealed 12 months ago and promised for this year.

Grand Soleil was showcasing its super-sleek, super-Italian, Grand Soleil Blue, not just good looking but claimed to be 100% recyclable.

Last year French builders Wauquiez revealed renderings that looked more like radical blue sky thinking than a boat that would become reality – and yet here it was, the all-new Wauquiez 55 (see Yachting World’s YouTube channel for Toby Hodges’s boat tours and highlights from Boot).

Saffier, best known for its range of day cruisers, had taken a similarly big leap into new territory with its SL46 Med, an elegant performance cruiser.

Contest was revelling in the success of its immaculately presented 63-footer that won the luxury cruiser category of European Yacht of the Year while J-Boats was wearing its winner’s badge with pride too after the J/40 took the award for best performance cruiser.

All were drawing attention and all were displaying new, innovative and stylish features.

But if the daily queues to get on board were a reflection of popularity, Beneteau’s new First 30 was a winner from the off. Designed as a planing 30-footer that’s as much fun to race as it is to cruise, Beneteau has gone back to basics and created a modern day version of its hugely popular First 30 from the 1970s.

So, while the world’s biggest indoor marine show provided mixed messages about the state of the industry, exhibitors prepared to follow their noses were pulling in the crowds.

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That tens of thousands of Vendée Globe fans were prepared to get up in the early hours of the morning and camp out on a sea wall in the middle of winter to see a group of boats pass by is truly remarkable. I can’t think of another event in sailing that has this kind of pulling power on this scale.

There is no doubt the Vendée Globe is an extraordinary phenomenon. Forty years old, now in its 10th edition and with a record entry of 40 boats there’s nothing else like it in sport. The fact 39 boats made it down to the South Atlantic having crossed the Bay of Biscay was also a record.

But the success of this event has been no accident. Neither has the fact that the class is stronger than ever. That the Vendée Globe was oversubscribed this time around is evidence of that.

Yet success hasn’t been without its stresses, especially when it has come to deciding how to allow teams and their designers to continue to evolve and develop their machines at the leading edge of the sport. The recent development of the foiling IMOCAs has been fascinating to watch with speeds that are simply incredible.

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But to fly the boat using a pair of asymmetric hydrofoils and then balance it fore and aft by dragging the stern around is not the way you’d set out to create a leading edge offshore machine if you started with a blank sheet of paper. Designing an aircraft with asymmetric wings, a lump of lead on one side and no tailplane isn’t a popular approach either.

Lifting the stern out of the water with a T-foil rudder would make life easier, quicker and some say safer. But the class voted it out back in November 2023 as it considered what the rules would be, not for this Vendée Globe but the next one in 2028.

It had been a big topic of conversation with plenty of advocates for making an IMOCA 60 fly properly. But the class is as sensitive to costs as it is to preventing a technical arms race that would fragment the fleet. The class achieves this by acting as a democracy: it’s the sailors and owners themselves who decide the rules. And when it came to defining what an IMOCA would look like for the next Vendée Globe they focussed on a different approach.

T-foils were voted out, largely based on cost, not just of the foils and control systems but also as a result of the amount it would cost to re-think the next generation of 60-footers. Even for those looking to re-configure their boats rather than build new, (which currently is around €7million), it was said that the cost could be as much as €2-3 million for a full facelift.

To fly the boat using a pair of asymmetric hydrofoils and then balance it fore and aft by dragging the stern around is not the way you’d set out to create a leading edge offshore machine

To some this may have looked like the class had frozen in the headlights as it struggled to figure out how to handle a key technical upgrade. Yet, looking back at its history there are several areas where the class has looked at what would make the racing better, safer, more popular and more reliable instead of going for outright speed. The move to a one-design keel fin is a good example.

Producing a robust design for everyone meant that the horror of broken keel fins has – touch wood – stopped.

So this time around, instead of going for T-foils, the class decided to approve a new one-design mast. This has been much needed for a boat that has developed significantly more power since the foils that created greater righting moment. Keeping the rig in the boat is a tricky, and at times stressful, part of sailing these beasts where alarms are pinging constantly with load monitors in the red zone.

But apart from performance and reliability, the IMOCA class also feels a responsibility to encourage more sustainability throughout the build and campaigning of the boats. From reducing the number of sails that a team can have, to crediting points to teams that, say, share moulds, there are several incentives that have been introduced to reduce the class’s carbon footprint.

During the recent Yacht Racing Forum in Amsterdam we heard of ways in which designers and builders are using panels produced using flax fibres and a green resin for some of the non-structural parts of the boat

But the really clever thing is that this is happening without seriously compromising the performance of the boat and without disgruntled teams and owners drawing stumps and heading to a different class. To maintain this for over 30 years, while still pushing at the leading edge, is remarkable and an example to many other areas of our sport.

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What the eye couldn’t see was a big topic of conversation in Barcelona during the America’s Cup. With crews huddled down below the sheerline inside their individual cockpits, the only sign there were humans aboard was the tops of a few helmets.

In the images from the onboard cameras facing back at the largely expressionless helmsmen and flight controllers, we could only see below their goggles. Rarely did their facial features give anything away. Indeed, they frequently looked more like they were waiting for a bus rather than handling the fastest and most advanced sailing yachts in the world.

Even when we could see a cyclor putting in a herculean effort to provide power to keep the beast blasting along, the image did little to take us into their world of pain. It looked more like they were riding an exercise bike in the shower. So, despite this being the most extreme and technologically advanced America’s Cup to date it was the most difficult to relate to.

But there was one area that was quite the opposite. Seeing the invisible was now possible, at least for spectators who could now visualise what the sailors couldn’t: the wind.

Providing a live, visual map of the breeze as it flowed across the course brought the race track alive. Using a sophisticated LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) array that was beamed out across the course from three transmitters on the shore, CapGemini’s WindSight IQ technology revealed gusts and lulls across the entire course in real time.

The Emirates Team New Zealand sailing team congratulate each other. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

In simple terms, the colour map of the breeze replicated what you might see with your naked eye from above if you were looking for the darker and lighter patches on the water. But when the breeze was below 10 knots seeing this level of detail was hard if not impossible. And even if you were on the water, spotting the difference in pressure across the course was not possible for most.

“When we started discussions with America’s Cup about sponsorship we wanted to bring some technology to the event and we asked what kind of issues they had,” explained WindSight IQ’s chief engineer Keith Williams.

“And the one that team CEO Grant Dalton mentioned straightaway was that he wanted to make the wind visible in the broadcast. The idea was to make the experience more understandable for spectators, so when a boat went left or right, the commentators could explain more easily why the skipper had made that particular decision.

“This had never been done before. Emirates Team New Zealand gave us the results of some initial work they’d carried out with University of Canterbury in New Zealand and we started from there.

“We use long range meteorological LiDARs – essentially laser beams that reflect back off objects – to allow you to measure distance and speed. In this case the LiDARs are emitting 10,000 beams/second which are reflecting back from particles that are present in the air at a range of 6-12km. The LiDARs we used are typically used for wind turbine planning where they’ll run for months to collect wind data over a large area.

“The system then works on a combination of measurement and prediction. The racecourse is divided into just under a quarter of a million cells and each of those cells is either doing a forecast of what the wind’s going to do, or it has received a measurement. So, where a cell has not received a LiDAR measurement we do a prediction.”

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From here the detail of how the system operates gets complex, especially when it comes to accounting for the different types and quantities of particles in the air. For example, a rain shower flushes out these particles making it harder to get good measurements.

But the reality was that throughout the Cup viewers had never seen a race course in such detail. When I was first shown the system I wondered whether it would be counterproductive and highlight how wrong teams were getting it. There’s no doubt the start line, layline and ladder line graphics now common on America’s Cup and Sail GP broadcasts have made us all armchair experts. Surely this threatened to exacerbate this?

But instead, the most fascinating thing about WindSight IQ was that it frequently did the opposite and showed us just how good these crews are.

The technology frequently showed us what sailors – travelling at 40 knots, insulated from the elements with a helmet and goggles and only seeing one side of the race track at a time – could indeed pick out with their naked eyes.

I’ve tried identifying the true wind speed and direction while riding my motorbike along the seafront and I remain in awe as to how they do it. Seeing 1-2 knots more breeze on the other side of the course while riding a runaway bus is a phenomenal skill.

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Given that this was the second America’s Cup cycle for the AC75 design rule it seemed fair to assume ahead of the event that the racing would be closer than last time, as teams’ designers focussed on a similar area of the rule. We saw this trend back in 1995 with the second generation of the IACC monohulls, in a class that ultimately saw 100 boats built over a 15-year period.

Since 2007 America’s Cup design has been bouncing off the walls with giant cats, foiling cats, and wing-masted cats, before heading to foiling monohulls. Each iteration of the Cup has seen radically different designs leaving no opportunity for refinement.

But now there’s been some stability in the rule, albeit just for two cycles, we are starting to see what the future could look like. While few people predicted the result of the Challengers series, as the Louis Vuitton Cup played out it became easier to know where to look for clues.

To see the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli lose out in the Challenger selection finals was a surprise given that many had them down as the favourites. This was their seventh campaign, and they seemed to be more settled, more confident – and as a result more dangerous than ever before.

Having got through to the Cup Match twice before, they knew what it felt like to win and lose. Yet even with all this experience, the way in which they exited the competition provided interesting clues as to both weaknesses within their own team and hints of where the Cup had now moved to.

In short, they started the event fast but didn’t develop their boat or their racing sufficiently to keep up with the changing pace among the Challengers.

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There was a view among some observers and designers that, for all their complexity, the range of craft we saw in this Cup were in a much closer design space than individual appearances suggested. Righting moments were pretty much the same and the one-design foil arms and other components restricted teams’ ability to stray too far.

This meant crew work and reliability were the two main areas on which the racing would be decided.

At one end of the scale on the reliability front, Alinghi suffered the biggest failures with two broken masts, mainsail track problems and a major structural failure in the foiling cant arm area when it broke away from the hull.

American Magic had the most hours on the water but their performance seemed to lack consistency – especially when it came to flight control.

At the other end, INEOS Britannia made the most progress from mid-August to October and appeared to have a boat that was pretty robust and reliable. Ben Ainslie kept telling us that they hadn’t changed anything but that they were just learning to sail the boat better.

INEOS Britannia made some of the best progress in the last Cup

Whatever they did, it certainly made a difference.

Part of Britannia’s reliability may have stemmed from Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 at Brackley. Having spoken to some of the engineers, their ability to build complex, high quality, reliable components could well have been one of the biggest contributions.

Before the boat was trucked to Barcelona it spent time up at Turweston Airport, near the Mercedes base, where it was fully stress tested. Part of the process involved turning it upside down and putting it under huge loads to simulate worst-case loadings on the water. As far as I’m aware this level of detail is not common practice in the Cup world.

It may be that the number of breakdowns and lost time the team suffered with its LEQ12 test boat in Palma also meant they learned hard lessons which provided a sharper focus on reliability for the big boat.

So, if the next Cup is played out in AC75s chances are the boats will be even more closely matched, more reliable and able to deliver consistently close racing.

If you’ve read clause 23.2(d) in the 37th Cup Protocol you’ll know that those who signed up to this one undertook to continue in the next with AC75s if they were to win. If they decide not to, they’ll need to pay $20 million into a Challenger of Record bank account to be distributed equally among the ‘non-breaching parties to the Deed of Participation’.

And while that might only represent 10-20% of a campaign cost, it’s still quite an incentive and a sign that we might get to see some stability in the Cup. It’s been a while.

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How was your summer season? If you went to a major event like Olympic sailing, did you wonder where everyone else was? Cowes Week seemed to stir up plenty of debate as to why numbers haven’t returned to those of a few years ago. Among the many views, and setting that of cost to one side, a common one was how seven days of racing (plus the additional ones to cover getting there and back), doesn’t fit with people’s busy lifestyles any more.

If you weren’t at a regatta maybe you were watching the Olympic sailing? What did you think of the sailing in Marseille? I ask because this year I was surprised at how many people voiced criticisms that the Games format isn’t as fair as it could be and isn’t showing our sport in its best light.

Olympic Sailing for the spectators

Spectator sailing and the medal race system has been a source of debate since the day it was announced as the new configuration for Olympic sailing. Introduced for the 2008 Beijing Games to make sailing more appealing to a wider audience while making the sport of winning medals more dramatic, we were told that this was required to secure sailing’s future as an Olympic sport. Carry on as it was and the threat was that sailing could lose its place in the Games.

So, when it comes to attracting a bigger audience, making sailing look cool and securing the sport’s future in the biggest show on earth, has the exercise worked? I’m not sure it has.

Yes, there have been some developments that may have helped draw a bigger audience. The fact that half the Olympic classes are now on foils brings the sport bang up to date. As we’ve seen in the America’s Cup, doing 30 knots in a single figure breeze is pretty impressive and gets people asking how it’s possible before they even think of asking how the racing works. But how long does this interest last?

I’m all in favour of foiling developments and believe strongly that this discipline is here to stay. But in my opinion the relative lack of movement, when compared to traditional classes like the 470 or the ILCA, makes it harder to relate to and therefore less appealing in the long run.

But that’s not my beef. Compromising the sport for the sake of spectators is. Bringing the medal race course close to shore where the breeze is often lighter and more flukey makes delays more likely and TV broadcasters less likely to commit to putting sailing on screen. And when they do show it, often it’s not at its best.

It seems odd that with helicopters, drones, trackers and superb race course overlays to hand, if ever there was a time that we could put the racing where it was best placed to deliver a spectacle, it is now. Instead, we bring it close to the shore in front of a tiny spectator crowd where the conditions risk compromising the racing.

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I’m also not convinced the Olympic medal scoring system always brings the best talent to the top. World Sailing’s own description of the medal race format goes like this: ‘the double points on offer mean there is usually jeopardy heading into that final race. As a result, it provides all the drama as gold medals swap hands, podium positions disappear and calculators are kept at the ready.’

Is that really what makes racing exciting and engaging? I thought it was skill, tactics and tenacity. I don’t watch the track and field events to see people fall over – I want to see them succeed, break records and deliver outstanding performances. And I don’t want to watch with a calculator.

Setting national pride to one side, Emma Wilson’s result in the womens’ iQFoil medal race after a dominant performance beforehand is a good example. Yes, misjudging a layline cost her dearly, but so too did not being out on the course beforehand. Minimising the number of races before the grand final might work for running, but it’s a distinct disadvantage on the water.

An accumulated points buffer saved the Dutch team in the 49erFX when they made a serious error at the finish, so why not for Wilson? An all or nothing points system doesn’t do justice to a sport that can be influenced by uncontrollable variations in the weather. Plus, how can our sport be understood by viewers who are new to it when we have such different ways of deciding a medal for no obvious reason?

I wholeheartedly congratulate everyone who won a medal and it made for some great racing, but I’m not sure this Olympic cycle did our sport many favours in the long run.

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For a great pub quiz question, when was the first America’s Cup race? The answer to sailing fans is obvious: 1851 in the famous race around the Isle of Wight. For a bonus point you could add that it resulted in a humiliating British defeat and an apocryphal quote given to Queen Victoria about the absence of a second place.

Except this wasn’t the first America’s Cup race. The 1851 event was actually the £100 Cup. The first America’s Cup race was in 1870, 19 years later in New York and was a 40-mile race starting from Staten Island and heading out to the light ship off Sandy Hook and back. It was a fleet race with 14 American yachts and one British yacht, James Ashbury’s 113ft, 188 ton Cambria, which finished 10th on corrected time.

The yacht that won the very first America’s Cup race was the centreboard schooner Magic and while I’ve read the story many times, it wasn’t until recently that I realised what an impressive performance this was.

Magic was 90ft LOA and 80 tons, the smallest yacht in the race. Yet not only did she take the win on corrected time, but took line honours, beating the second boat home, the 114-footer Dauntless, by a minute and a half.

This was brought to life for me as I looked at Magic alongside Cambria in the New York Yacht Club’s famous model room recently.

I’d heard descriptions of the club on Manhattan’s 44th Street and its impressive model display and it’s been my ambition for many years to see it for real. Thanks to the kind invitation of the NYYC I got there a few weeks ago. When I did, nothing had prepared me for what the club and its collection of yachts looks like for real. Aside from the ornate grandeur of the club, inside and out, this has to be the most impressive display of yacht racing history I’ve ever seen. It’s incredible.

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Not only are there over 1,300 models throughout the club, but within the model room lies a unique collection that includes every America’s Cup Challenger and Defender from the yacht America through to the 12 metre Liberty.

These fully rigged, beautifully made models built to 1/32 scale are arranged in chronological order and grouped to reflect significant eras. Seeing the variety of shapes and sizes through different periods reinforces what the quest for the most prestigious trophy in sailing has created. Among those revelations is the striking example of just how small, flat bottomed and shallow Magic was, especially when compared to the deep draught ship-like style of Cambria.

The contrast and extremes of designs is a theme that repeats itself for decades until we get to the turn of the century and the biggest of them all, the 201ft Reliance.

Designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff as defender for the 12th America’s Cup she had a crew of 64 and was considered to be a ‘racing freak’, suitable only for certain conditions – after her win Herreshoff himself proposed the Universal Rating Rule to ‘avoid such extreme, dangerous and expensive vessels’.

Given the comments from those who don’t buy into the modern America’s Cup and accuse it of straying into extremes, this model – along with many other examples of pre-1930s designs – puts the Cup into context. The Cup has always been about pushing the boundaries of design and technology.

The J Class era that follows is beautifully represented both as an illustration of the elegance of the designs and also as an example of how class rules were trying to calm the arms race down, reduce costs and improve the racing.

And as we know, after World War II that scaling down came again with the era of the 12 meters, where the NYYC collection portrays perfectly what some think was the golden era of the Cup.

Travelling to Staten Island the next day to stand on the hill where tens of thousands of spectators had watched the first America’s Cup was also fascinating. Having not been to New York before I had little idea of the geography, let alone how similar the racing area is to the Solent. Narrow passages, shallows, strong tidal currents and the influence of the land on wind conditions: no wonder it was such a difficult trophy to try and win.

Having seen the models, artwork, architecture, trophies and topography related to the Cup, at the very least I now feel a bit better prepared for the pub quiz.

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The America’s Cup is as much a confidence game as it is one of design, technology and boat handling. Whether you’re a Challenger or Defender, asserting your authority wherever you can is all part of gaining the upper hand. On my most recent visit to Barcelona I was delivered a showcase display of just that.

The whistle of the foils came first, followed a split second later by Alinghi Red Bull Racing under full sail and at full noise as the Swiss scorched through the canal-type entrance, leaving the French base to port before spinning into the breeze in the modest sized basin. Stopping with a flamboyant handbrake turn, their chase boat locked into position as the sails came down.

It was a spectacular display of the size, power and speed of an AC75, but also an illustration of just how confident this team is in its boat handling aboard its priceless carbon machine. Trip up and the unforgiving concrete walls mean you’ll need a roll of bin liners rather than a RIB to get the boat back to the dock.

My viewpoint from the Orient Express Racing Team’s low budget base is close to the harbour entrance and while the French are away from the main Barcelona bustle, theirs is a prime spot for watching the comings and goings of their competitors. Indeed, when it comes to VIP sponsor activation, you could argue that this is the place to be.

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I’d been attending the christening of Orient Express Racing Team’s AC75, the last of the Challenger boats to splash. And while the French were the latest to confirm their entry to the 37th America’s Cup and the smallest of all the teams with arguably the least experienced Cup crew, they have one big advantage: their boat was designed by the Defenders.

As their black and gold AC75 slipped through the canvas base doors and into daylight, pulses of dry ice pumped out from the yacht’s cradle as if a steam engine was pulling her into the open. Aside from the stirring music, the christening was a modest affair, finished off with a predictably superb canapé lunch.

Keeping things simple and efficient is the French approach to this Cup, at least as much as it can be when dealing with the most technically complex America’s Cup to date. Buying the Kiwi design not only saved them time and money (while expensive, it was a cheaper option than a fully blown design team). It also meant the key design decisions – which needed to be made 18 months ago – were made by the current Cup holders, who know a thing or two about the AC75 concept.

The French have taken a gamble in waiting for what they call design 3.0, the latest Kiwi package. This cost them time on the water but gave them the latest technology, from top to bottom. All they have to do now is sail it like the Kiwis. And therein lies their next challenge.

Emirates Team New Zealand training on an AC75 with cyclors now returned to Cup sailing . Photo: Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

According to CEOs Bruno Dubois and Stephan Kandler, the target is to get to understand 90% of the package they have bought. “This is our goal, if we reach this we’ll be dangerous on the race course,” Dubois told me. “Whether we need to refine any details or add a foil tweak here and there is not for us now.”

Keeping things focussed is something the Kiwis have been very good at and it is this approach that the French identify with. Kandler and Dubois have modelled large areas of their team on the Kiwi example; a simple base, don’t reinvent the wheel, and be careful where you spend the money.

“We don’t have the time, money or people to waste, we have to be efficient.”

So, now we have seen all six of the new America’s Cup boats, talking to various teams suggests there’s no consensus yet on who’s quick and who’s not. What the techies will tell you though, is that according to their analysis the differences in hull shapes count for seconds per race while the variations between foils will be measured in minutes.

Ironically, when it comes to timing I hear that as the Challengers completed their set of five boats, it was the Kiwis who were the most nervous as their AC75 took the slow route by sea from New Zealand to Barcelona. With all that’s going on in the world right now the potential for a shipping delay is significant. Having created their perfect machine, demonstrated that it works and met all their internal deadlines in a long and complex timeline, watching the clock and crossing their fingers is an uncomfortable phase in a Cup where confidence is key.

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The post America’s Cup latest: ‘No consensus yet on quickest team’ appeared first on Yachting World.

Never underestimate the influence of sailing heroes. “When they saw Ben Ainslie walk into the room it was like they’d been electrocuted,” said Greig City Academy director of sixth form and sailing co-ordinator Jon Holt, speaking about some of his students. “Just seeing Ben in person was a huge buzz for them. And when he and Hannah Mills then came over and gave them tips on the sailing simulator it was clear just how much this meant to them.”

The Greig City Academy needs little introduction, thanks to the impressive and sustained amount of work to inspire youngsters from way outside sailing’s normal catchment to get involved in the sport. From taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race aboard their 45-footer Scaramouche, to dinghy racing at a variety of levels and venues, the Academy’s sailing programme continues to introduce waves of youngsters into the sport.

Crewmembers from Greig City Academy’s Project Scaramouche celebrating round the Rock in the Fastnet Race

This time though, Holt and his students were in central London, attending the official announcement of the British America’s Cup team’s sailing squad and major new sponsorship deal for the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup events later this year. They were clearly impressed and keen to master the pair of sailing simulators that had been set up.

But sometimes the admiration flows the other way. Having prised Ben off the simulator I reminded him about a comment he’d made about the Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and one sailor in particular, 19-year-old Marco Gradoni some two months earlier, at the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Jeddah.

“I stand by what I said then, it was one of the most, if not the most impressive things that I’ve seen in the sport,” he said, referring to the dominant performance that Gradoni and the three other crew aboard their foiling AC40 had delivered.

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“To be able to develop the skills so quickly from simulation to reality is super impressive. When I think back to my Olympic career and coming into America’s Cup match racing, it was a much bigger transition because you went from sailing a Laser to a massive displacement monohull with 18 crew. It took a long time to understand the nuances of match racing too.

“Now, if you sail a foiling Moth or a 49er or any high-performance dinghy there’s not a huge difference between those and getting on an AC40 or an AC75. I think that’s largely why we’re seeing a much faster transition and that’s great for the sport.”

But while the racing in Jeddah was impressive, it also made me wonder what the Youth America’s Cup might look like come the event itself this September. When other young teams get hold of their foiling 40s and drive them like they’ve stolen them, we could be in for a real treat.

The AC40 will be used for both the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups. Photo: C. Gregory / INEOS Britannia

On top of this, given the standard of female sailors being announced by various teams for the Puig Women’s America’s Cup that takes place during the America’s Cup itself, the same could be said for this inaugural event too.

As Ainslie and Mills set out the new British sailing squad and the solid financial support it has received from Cobham-Ultra, I realised I was still behind the curve when it came to understanding just how influential and far reaching the new age of high-performance sailing currently is.

“When Ben and I founded the Athena Pathway Programme one of our big goals was to put together a competitive team to challenge and win the first ever Womens America’s Cup,” said Mills. “Equally important was getting the next generation of young people, and particularly females, into the sailing and marine industry.

“Engineering is an obvious example but there are so many roles within the sport that we wanted to showcase the talent that’s out there as well as providing a pathway for them.

“In addition to this, with the modern boats the physical demands are far less of a limitation. All of the roles on an AC40 and at least half of them on an AC75 do not rely on outright physical strength so there’s never been a better time for women aboard these high-performance boats.

“But it’s the experience that’s missing, so we’ll have at least one female in the four crew for the youth event and hopefully other teams will adopt a similar approach to help create a base of women and youth sailors ready and able to step up to the America’s Cup.”

As the Academy pupils’ reaction demonstrated, having role models is key to that process.

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The messages have been confusing. The America’s Cup had barely left town on its long-haul flight back to New Zealand before news broke that Barcelona would not be hosting the event for a second round.

Given the local rumblings during the event where some of the anti-Cup protests started to gather momentum, this was disappointing to hear for those who enjoyed having the Cup in Europe. But it didn’t come as much of a surprise.

Yet, a few months later a report on the economic impact of the America’s Cup in Barcelona put the value at just over €1 billion. That’s quite a difference of opinion.

Even stranger was that the report had been produced by The University of Barcelona and the Barcelona Capital Nàutica Foundation which said 1.8million visitors were counted during the 59 days of the event of which 460,000 were said to have come specifically for the Cup.

On top of this, the report stated that almost 13,000 jobs had been created, generating over €200million in tax revenues.

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The big numbers didn’t go unnoticed down under by Tataki Auckland Unlimited, the events arm of Auckland Council. In a statement released following the Spanish report, its CEO Nick Hill said: “The post-event economic impact report for the 37th America’s Cup event held in Barcelona last year is extremely positive, illustrating strong return on investment. The benefits of hosting this mega-event go well beyond the obvious economic, trade, tourism, employment and social benefits for the region.

“Tataki Auckland Unlimited can confirm we are talking with Emirates Team New Zealand.”

Given how contentious the issue of support had been for the last Cup this public show of confidence will have been music to Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton’s ears. He continues to face criticism from those who say the Cup should never have left Auckland in the first place and who are fearful it will end up in the Middle East next time.

In an interview with New Zealand broadcaster Stuff, Dalton said the idea was always to win the Cup and bring it back to New Zealand if they could. “We’ve done exactly what we said we would do, and now we’re trying to come back,” he said.

A big spectator fleet ready to watch America’s Cup racing in Auckland 2021. Photo: ACE / Studio Borlenghi

The NZ minister for sport seemed less clear though, saying they hadn’t been approached from the team for funding – but that a feasibility study was under way.

Confusion is typical of this period between Cup cycles. As I write this I’m in Auckland, a stone’s throw from the Cup holders, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, which itself sits at the edge of the annual Auckland Boat Show. Like all boat shows around the world, gossip and speculation is plentiful but hard facts are in short supply.

It’s fair to assume the rosy figures on the one hand and the darker Spanish view of the Cup on the other represent two very different ends of the spectrum, but it’s still difficult to understand why the Spanish city wouldn’t want the Cup back, especially as a second round would most likely cost less to activate as they have a tried and tested blueprint.

It’s easier to see why Auckland may struggle to bring the Cup home given a cost that’s usually assumed to be on par with running a team – in other words around £100million.

Away from the politics, one of the other figures to stand out for me in the Cup wash-up was the 78 female sailors who were involved in this cycle, of which 17 were Olympic medallists. There’s still a long way to go to see women properly integrated into Cup teams and it’s frustrating to see such slow progress at a time when some of the physical barriers have been removed, but it’s progress nonetheless.

Outside the Cup there’s further evidence that the foiling world is continuing to influence the broader scene. Pensacola in Florida, USA, is the main training base for NYYC American Magic. The area recently hosted the latest Foiling Week, an event originally set up in Malcesine, Lake Garda, which has been running since 2014 and is now broadening its reach.

Racing included six boat classes, plus foil-assisted surf sports, stand up paddleboards, e-foils, wing sailing and kite foils – in fact foiling classes now represent 50% of the Olympics fleet.

So while the top end of the sport may be taking the rap among some for no longer representing sailing, the new world of foils gets bigger each season.

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Another AC40 streaked past the sea wall at 40 knots and I felt rather foolish. I’ve been following the development of these one design flying machines and reporting on their progress step by step since the concept was first announced.

I’ve sat in the cockpit of the Kiwi boat and been talked through the controls and shown how to get airborne, tack and gybe. I’ve even had a go in a couple of very realistic simulators to put theory into practice. And I’ve spent hours looking at the boats on the dock and even longer looking at footage of them in great detail when they’ve been training and racing.

Yet it’s not until you see one fly past for real that the penny really drops. These are insanely fast boats that are redefining what high performance really means.

In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the second of the America’s Cup preliminary regattas, the bottom of the race course was very close to a shoreline that is several hundred metres deep. So the fly-by each team performed before the start was spectacular and provided an opportunity for those on shore to get close to these beasts at speed. You could almost feel the vacuum they left behind and you could certainly hear the distinctive, spine tingling whistle of the foils.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and French challenger Orient Express. Photo: Ian Roman/America’s Cup

But this event was about far more than showing off impressive top speeds. It was an event that I and many others believe will go down as a benchmark in the development of racing on foils. It also delivered a serious shock to some of the big teams.

The three-day America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta kicked off with a steady 6-7 knot breeze, just enough to see the AC40s up on their foils. The action was close right from the start making it clear that teams had upped their game since the first event in Vilanova.

But it was the three races on day two that really grabbed attention. With around 15-16 knots of breeze the fleet was flying upwind at 32 knots. There’s nothing new in this, we’ve seen it before with the AC75s last time around and the SailGP flying cats. But what made this different is that everyone seemed to have figured out how to tack efficiently.

Typically, high performance cats, skiffs and foiling designs risk losing loads of distance through a tack – which in turn means they tend to minimise them and head out to the boundaries. This makes for little boat-on-boat engagement as teams bang the corners time after time.

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Not in Jeddah. All the teams have learned how to minimise the losses in a tack to such a degree that they were tacking up the middle of the course, throwing lee bow tacks underneath their opponents, or slam-dunking them from to weather.

The result was close action such as we haven’t seen since the days of the IACC lead mine monohulls. The pace at which the teams were locking horns was unbelievable. From closing speeds of 60 knots, to leeward squeezes and mark roundings that looked like the first turn in an F1 grand prix, the speed of the racing was incredible.

For the second and third races of the day, with a sea state building all the time, things got even more compelling. In these conditions it was easy to see just how on the edge these boats are, hurtling downwind at 43 knots as crews struggle to keep the drag down by flying the boat high, while also keeping enough foil in the water to avoid tripping up. Not everyone succeeded.

Ruggero Tito and Marco Gradoni impressed for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi

Talking to the crews afterwards they were clear this was new territory for all.

“We do these kinds of speeds all the time in training and have been doing this for quite some time,” Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Nathan Outteridge told me. “But doing it in a closely packed fleet of six boats that are all travelling at the same pace is a big step up. It’s taking us onto another level. The decision making has to be quick and precise.”

It’s easy to think the AC40 racing in Jeddah demonstrates how far this kind of sailing has strayed from the ‘real world’ for younger up-and-coming sailors. But the Italian performance countered this argument with 19-year-old Marco Gradoni one of two young helms who delivered a giant slaying performance to put Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli second overall.

High speed, close tactical racing and a new generation of impressive talent: if this is where the bar is now set, the Youth America’s Cup could be quite some event.

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That’s not racing. It’s cheating. If you’re going to use the autopilot to sail around the world you might as well simply control the boat by remote control from home.” Comments like these were common online and on the busy dockside in Alicante at the start of The Ocean Race in January.

This year’s start marks the 50th anniversary of the first edition of the most famous fully crewed round the world race of all, the former Whitbread/Volvo. With such a high profile has come plenty of debate as to how much has changed, and what the future really holds for this type of racing.

A fleet of just five boats going around the world means this race doesn’t currently have the punch it once had. The IMOCAs being used are notoriously fragile, which has led to concern about how the reputation of the race hangs in the balance if one or more of them was forced to drop out.

On the other hand, some say that while the fleet size is small, this is what the ‘real world’ looks like when teams arrive with their own funding rather than aboard campaigns heavily supported by the event sponsor. This race, they argue, is a transitional one where a new class and a new definition of fully crewed is setting a marker for future editions.

One of the big talking points is about whether it’s right to race around the world from inside using an autopilot. There were certainly plenty of onlookers on the dockside expressing such frustrations. The irony was that many chose to ignore the fact that the airliner they’d arrived in would have been switched to autopilot just a few minutes into the climb and flown by the computer for most, if not all, of the trip. I’m not so sure they’d have been as happy for the pilots to have been in their sitting room flying by remote control.

11th Hour Racing Team racing followed by a helicopter. Photo: Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race

Having sailed with 11th Hour Racing Team at over 20 knots in flat water it’s easy to see how disorientating and potentially puke-inducing the indoor experience would be in a sea state at full bore.

Inside, where the headroom is frequently safe for crawling only, crews are not only out of touch with the elements, but the noise and the motion are horrendous. Many are so worried about injury below decks while moving about that they’re wearing crash helmets as protection. But, is that any worse than seeing crews being smashed into pedestals, wheels and winches by waves that have come barrelling over the deck at 25 knots plus?

And then there’s the debate about the autopilot – sure, it would be great to think that performance is down to the skill of the helmsman and trimmer but this hasn’t been the case for ages. In the Vendée Globe skippers don’t helm, yet somehow that’s acceptable.

As a sport we can’t have everything. To insist on sailing by hand would be to impose a performance cap on the boats. And what if a heavier, fully crewed and manually steered IMOCA was slower around the world than a single-handed entry? Doesn’t sound like progress to me.

The fact is we can’t uninvent the wheel. Big speeds are here and there seems little chance of winding the clock back and pretending that cruising at 30-plus knots on a 60ft monohull never happened.

And for those who question what a high speed IMOCA has ever done for them and their 30-footer, take a look at Beneteau’s brand new and award-winning First 36.

The First 36 benefits from the decades of ocean racing that proceeded it

On the face of it this is a pretty ordinary looking boat with a cockpit that looks barely any different from the hugely successful, 24-year-old First 40.7. Yet the new 36 is not only 4ft shorter, but is said to go upwind at 8 knots and downwind at 15-20 knots. The 40.7 never did that.

The 36 is more than two tonnes lighter but you’d never guess it from the outside, or indeed from the inside where accommodation is pretty much what you’d expect for a mid-sized production boat. There is a shallower canoe body and a much flatter, beamier run aft to the slender and shallow twin rudders, plus more subtle details that contribute to this big hike in performance – details that have come from the offshore racing world.

Whether we end up sailing from inside in the future is difficult to predict, but it’s not hard to imagine this being a great selling point at boat shows to family crew who may be apprehensive when it comes to the idea of casual weekend cross-Channel trips.

Maybe then we can get away from selling boats by decorating them like a hotel guest suite. An upright saloon at a boat show that’s adorned with vases and sideboard pictures – now that’s cheating.

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It’s been a long wait for the next fully crewed lap of the planet since the last one finished in 2018, but finally The Ocean Race will start from Alicante on 15 January. The total fleet is expected to comprise 11 boats in two classes, including the VO65 one-designs from the previous two events and a fleet of five fully crewed IMOCA 60s.

Compared to the previous race around the world under former sponsors Volvo, there have been several key changes. The course now has fewer stopovers and some significantly longer ocean legs. But the most recent alteration is that not all the boats are going all the way round.

While the IMOCA 60s will complete a full lap of the planet, including seven legs to finish in Genoa, Italy, the VO65s will sail just the first and last two legs in what the organisers have called The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup.

A new trophy will be awarded to the VO65 team which accumulates the best score across three legs of the race; Alicante, Spain, to Cape Verde; Aarhus, Denmark, to The Hague, the Netherlands; and The Hague to the overall finish in Genoa, Italy.

The VO65 and IMOCA 60 fleets will both compete in the in-port races scheduled in those cities, although points scored in the in-port racing will only come into play for the overall trophy in the event of a tie-break.

IMOCA 60s go crewed

The last two years have been particularly difficult for the organisers of The Ocean Race. Finding a title sponsor has proved elusive, while enticing existing IMOCA 60 teams to consider reconfiguring their boats for a fully crewed round the world race has been challenging.

The biggest hurdle has been the global pandemic and the year long postponement that was required. This not only created a huge level of uncertainty for the organisation and teams alike, but the delay presented a potential clash between The Ocean Race and the single-handed French classic, the Route du Rhum, in which 38 IMOCA 60s took part.

Even with the will to do so, competing in both races was always going to be difficult for teams given the short time frame between the Route du Rhum finish in Guadeloupe and the start of The Ocean Race just a few weeks later. Getting the boat back across the Atlantic and correctly configured for a full crew was seen by many as being ambitious at the least.

However, four of the five-boat fleet, including three of the newest IMOCA 60s – Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm Racing, Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia and Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim PRB – returned relatively unscathed from the solo transat and headed straight to Alicante to be made ready for their circumnavigation.

The fourth was Benjamin Dutreux and Robert Stanjek’s GUYOT Environment-Team Europe, formerly Hugo Boss from the 2016-17 Vendée Globe Race and therefore more proven, which has helped to shuffle the odds in this fleet.

Previously, having been first in the water and having completed far more sea miles than any of the others, Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team was considered the outright favourite. But having not competed in the Route du Rhum means that the boat has not lined up against those that it will face from January onwards in a long offshore race.

The IMOCAs are sailed by a complement of five crew, including an onboard reporter (OBR) that takes no part in the sailing. Each IMOCA 60 team has to include at least one female sailor.

VO65s no longer go for a third lap of the planet. Photo: Robin Christol

VO65s Sprint

Although not delivering the original objective of getting two fleets around the world, the late addition of The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup has provided incentive to teams that had been in the wings for some time but unable to commit to a full circumnavigation. A flurry of activity in recent months has resulted in six teams signing up.

The 65s will have a crew of 11 including an OBR. At least three of the crew must be female and at least three of the crew has to be under 30 – the youngest, Polish sailor Mateusz Gwóźdź who is just 17 and competed in the Ocean Race Europe, is returning with the Wind Whisper Racing Team.

The Ocean Race 2023 teams IMOCA 60s

Photo: Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing

11th Hour Racing Team

First to sign up and with way more current sea miles under the keel than any of the other teams, 11th Hour Racing Team skippered by Charlie Enright has been the favourite for some time. Designed specifically for this race and with plenty of runway to refine and develop the boat including four transatlantic crossings, this is the best prepared team. The crew line up is impressive too.

Photo: Malizia – Seaexplorer

Team Malizia

Skippered by Boris Herrmann, who finished 5th in the 2020 Vendée Globe on his first attempt, his team launched their brand new, radical 60 with its distinctive central accommodation area last July.

The boat was designed by VPLP to not only compete in the Ocean Race but also for Herrmann’s 2024 Vendée Globe campaign. Little is known about the true potential of this boat as Herrmann was forced to nurse the boat across the Atlantic after a problem with the mountings for one of the daggerboards.

Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut/polaRYSE

Biotherm Racing

Another brand new boat is Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm Racing, which launched in August 2022. Having co-skippered with Charlie Dalin, Sam Davies and others, Meilhat is fully up to speed with the latest generations of IMOCA 60.

While Meilhat and his crew, which includes Paralympic champion and IMOCA sailor Damien Seguin, have had little time to refine the new Biotherm, they will have gained a great deal of confidence in the boat following Meilhat’s 6th in the Route du Rhum.

Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut/polaRYSE

Team Holcim – PRB

Designed by Guillaume Verdier for an Ocean Race team that fizzled out, Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim PRB is a modified version of the original design that Escoffier will also solo race in the Vendée Globe. Finishing 4th in the Route du Rhum has not only validated the boat’s potential in a very competitive fleet, but has underlined Escoffier’s credentials as a skipper.

Having finished 3rd and 1st in his two previous fully crewed round the world races with Dongfeng, Escoffier also knows how to get to the front in this long-haul competition.

Photo: ILP Vision/Charles Drapeau

Guyot Environment Team Europe

Winning the Ocean Race Europe in 2021 in an older, non-foiling IMOCA 60 provided the catalyst for Robert Stanjek and crew to compete in The Ocean Race.

Co-skippered with Benjamin Dutreux their boat may not be the latest but as the former Hugo Boss it finished 2nd in the 2016-17 Vendée Globe and is widely considered to be both quick and proven.

The Ocean Race 2023 Sprint teams – VO65s

Ocean Race Europe winners Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team return with an all-Portuguese team skippered by António Fontes who competed as a sailor in the 2017-18 edition of the Volvo.

Dutch Team Jajo is led by 27-year-old Jelmer van Beek with offshore legend Bouwe Bekking as a watch leader, an addition that must surely increase expectations.

Polish Wind Whisper Racing Team is skippered by Pablo Arrarte.

Viva Mexico is led by Erik Brockmann – aiming for a Mexican comeback of sorts after Sayula II‘s historic win in the first edition of the race in 1973.

Austrian Ocean Racing also returns, along with the Lithuanian Ambersail 2 team, led by London 2012 Olympian sailor Rokas Milevičius.

The Ocean Race Course

The course for The Ocean Race has a new first stopover mid-Atlantic at the Cape Verdes, before an extra long Southern Ocean leg of 12,750 miles from Cape Town, South Africa, to Itajai, Brazil. This new stage passes south of all three Great Capes and is expected to take 34 days.

After this mammoth Southern Ocean leg, the fleet then moves onto a series of much shorter legs. From Brazil they head to Newport, USA. They then cross the Atlantic to Aarhus, DEN. After that a very short hop from Aarhus to The Hague, NED fore a race from The Hague back to Genova, ITA.

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The post The Ocean Race 2023 preview: What’s in store for the new race appeared first on Yachting World.

As we slipped our lines from the dock in Porto Cervo I was trying to conceal my disappointment. After being present at the original launch of the design for the new ClubSwan 80 at the Düsseldorf Boat Show back in 2019 I’d been looking forward to the opportunity to climb aboard this super sleek, no holds barred, full carbon racing machine.

Now it was a reality, but as we headed out through the rocky entrance to this famous harbour, I was cursing my luck as the forecast light and fickle breeze had arrived and showed every sign of refusing to climb into double figures. Instead, the 8 knots that was currently on offer was hardly great testing weather for a boat that promised so much.

Yet, minutes later, with no increase in the breeze or change in the calm-looking sea state, there were suddenly 14 pairs of legs draped over her windward topsides and 14 heads had popped through the guardwires. Our keel was fully canted and visible for all to see as our upwind boat speed sat at 9-10 knots. Now the apparent wind speed was in the high teens.

In just a couple of minutes the act of setting sail and sheeting in had transformed the feel of the day and provided the first clue as to what the ClubSwan 80 is about. But it had also shown why it was best not to jump to any early conclusions.

Not just stunningly clean, the ClubSwan 80 proved slippery downwind, even if it feels like you’re heading upwind. Photo: Luca Butto

Why one-design?

The route from concept to reality had been a long one for the ClubSwan 80, thanks in part to the challenges that the global pandemic presented. The long gestation period had also allowed plenty of speculation as to why one of the biggest and best known quality builders in the world had decided to create a one-design class at the Maxi end of the scale.

Whatever the size, creating a new one-design class nowadays is a bold call and yet the motivation for creating a fleet of identical boats is clear.

For a builder, a one-design fleet makes sense from a financial point of view by spreading the development costs across the fleet you’re about to create. And if the class takes off and the build routine is established, the spreadsheet can look even better.

For owners, having the assurance there’ll be others to play with is also a strong incentive and helps to reduce the need to gamble on whether the boat will be as quick as her designers suggest. Safety in numbers makes it much easier for owners to consider taking the plunge.

The upwind performance is impressive too given the non-overlapping headsail. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi

But as we know, the real world isn’t always like this. There have been plenty of one-design promises that simply haven’t delivered. In addition, attracting owners to one-design boats of over 70ft LOA is particularly tough as in this league owners like to, how shall we put it, express themselves with a customised design rather than risk the embarrassment of losing to others in identical boats. It’s much easier to blame the boat.

Nautor Swan believes it has a few trump cards, one of which is the success of its existing ClubSwan fleets. Its recent ClubSwan World Championships in Valencia provided a good example and drew 34 boats representing 13 nationalities across four classes – all of them strict one-design classes, all with an owner/driver rule.

The centreline lifting canard has a variable angle of attack of +/-8°. Photo: Richard Langdon

Among those fleets it was the ClubSwan 50 that was not just the biggest class present but a good indication as to why Swan thinks it can make a bigger boat work. The ClubSwan 50 is a class that many said originally wouldn’t succeed because the boats were too big for many owners and that there were other racing alternatives at this size. The detractors also pointed to the failure of other attempts at a 50ft one-design racing class.

But it turns out they were wrong. While Swan acknowledges that it’s unrealistic to just scale up a 50-footer to 80ft and expect a similar success, it also believes there is plenty it can take from its current achievements and experience.

Solid foundations

Buoyed by the success of their radical, Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed ClubSwan 36 on the one end and the 125ft carbon Skorpios at the other, a full-on 80ft racer looked like a good fit in the range.

Juan K was signed up once again, but this time Nautor’s own Finnish yard was already at capacity so Italian composite expert Persico was brought in as strategic partners to build the ClubSwan 80.
The partnership is one that appears to have worked well to create a boat that has a sleek, elegant, and in many ways minimalist, low windage look. This is a yacht with beautiful lines from wherever you look.

Under A3 kite we sat at 16+knots in 12-14 knots true. Photo: Richard Langdon

As you step aboard it is the simplicity of the wide open, clutter-free cockpit that strikes you first. Aside from the single mainsheet winch slap bang in the middle of the cockpit just next to the navigator’s access hatch, the area is so open that it looks like there is something missing. And of course there is – a winch grinding pedestal or two – because this is a Maxi with powered winches. So, whether trimming the jib or mainsheet, this is a design that has swapped biceps and brawn for a boat that is controlled largely by fingers and toes. There is of course nothing groundbreaking in this, but it is an indication of where the bar is set on the ClubSwan 80.

Another can be seen with the push button controls at the steering pedestals where the well positioned and tidy control stations for the canting keel and canard belie the sophistication of what lies deeper within.

“The very light displacement at just over 19 tonnes is achieved in part thanks to the canting keel,” explained Kouyoumdjian, “as we can achieve the same righting moment with about 25% less displacement. Being able to generate righting moment more efficiently means you can have a shallower draught and when you compare the hydraulics required with those for a lifting keel, the canting system is lighter and less complex.

The running backstay turning blocks are covered with a fairing. Photo: Richard Langdon

“But a canting keel does have some downsides because the keel fin is being used to hold the bulb and not driving the boat upwind. Therefore, something else is required and in this case we have gone for a canard sitting in front of the keel that can be rotated plus or minus 8° in order to reduce the leeway and optimise performance.”

Meanwhile, back on deck the pit area is clean and tidy thanks to control lines that run under the deck, which also makes the foredeck more secure to move about on.

As you’d expect of a boat of this type, the chainplates run to the full width of the boat and when you look up at the three-spreader carbon rig the large square-headed mainsail says a great deal about the power this boat can generate, while the narrow sheeting angles on her jibs thanks to the two transverse sheet tracks illustrate the pointing ability of the ClubSwan 80.

Beyond this, the foredeck is completely clear apart from the foredeck hatch that doubles as a gennaker chute with a sock that runs all the way to the back of the boat.

“Clearly having a long bowsprit is an efficient way to fly the gennaker and Code sails but it also allows the jib to remain as the staysail of the boat,” continued Kouyoumdjian. “Not having to drop the jib helps with the handling of the boat while the retractable bowsprit makes the boat easier to manoeuvre during pre-starts and at close quarters.”

Cruising fitout definition is questionable, but the modular approach to the dual role is clever and suits those who are more interested in performance. Photo: Stefano Gattini

What isn’t so apparent when looking at the deck is that the ClubSwan 80 is a boat that has also been designed with fast cruising in mind. Perhaps not quite the style of cruising where the spray dodger goes up and a tender gets slung beneath davits, but the kind of day sprints where the focus is short-handed fast sailing for the fun of it rather than the level of luxury when at rest.

While Juan K and others explained this alternative style of cruising, I still found it difficult to envisage such a sleek looking racer in a cruising role. Nevertheless, the owner of My Song has already done just that.

There has been a great deal of effort put into this aspect of the boat, especially below decks where Nauta Design has created an impressive looking interior using a variety of modules that can be slotted into place.

On deck, cruising modules have also been created to provide sofa benches in the cockpit which transforms into an outside dining area.

The cavernous forward area makes for a huge owner’s cabin when the cruising module is in place, otherwise it’s simply open. Photo: Stefano Gattini

ClubSwan 80 – modular format

In the configuration we sailed her there were no cruising modules present, but subtle mahogany laminate strips and carefully placed LED lighting provide a surprisingly welcoming feel in what would normally be a carbon racing shell. They also provide references to the stylish renderings that show off the interior cruising style which interior experts Nauta has created.

“The brief was that this boat has to be transformed from a pure racer to cruising mode in a couple of days with the work of only two people,” said Martino Manjo of Nauta Design. “So, there’s a module that goes in the galley that is on top of the canting keel box and there are two modules which form the bed in the master cabin.

“We worked on making the structures part of the interiors, highlighting and underlining their presence.”

Just as on deck, it’s the space, volume and the uncluttered feel below that creates the first impressions. It’s a clever arrangement that will doubtless be overlooked when the 80 is being operated in racing mode. But look closely and it’s easy to see how the interior has been created around the structural items without giving the impression that you’re in a pre-preg carbon maze.

Moving aft as the deck starts to lower and the freeboard reduces, you enter more familiar racing territory where moving around towards the stern of the boat and the navigation station feels more like a caving expedition. But what else would you expect?

Cushions on pipecots aft, a luxury only for cruising. Photo: Stefano Gattini

The other thing to strike me was the quality of her build. There is no paint or treatment to the inside faces of the pre-preg laminate, making it easy to see the precision with which the CS80 has been created. I accept that it’s nerdy to follow individual laminates and bonding areas, but workmanship at this level is impossible to ignore.

Numbers game

It was probably simply habit that had me jotting down performance numbers periodically during our sea trials, which were part of My Song’s practice session ahead of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, but Kouyoumdjian had a far simpler way of explaining her performance profile.

“In essence, the performance upwind will range between 12 and 13 knots when the boat is fully powered and when we’re sailing downwind VMG we will always go approximately two knots quicker than the speed of the wind,” he said.

Even the carbon heads manages to be stylish
in a minimalist sort of way. Photo: Stefano Gattini

Which, looking back at my notes is pretty much how she played out in a breeze that to my relief, built beyond the forecast throughout the day. So much so, that by the time we saw 14 knots of true wind we were indeed sliding downhill at 16-17 knots. In the relatively flat water off Porto Cervo the ride felt effortless.

But like so many modern performance machines, achieving the predicted speeds is more about knowing the numbers you’re looking for rather than getting there by feel alone.

With the breeze up it was also clear that, like other modern lightweight yachts, the performance is more about understanding apparent wind sailing where bearing away doesn’t always mean easing sheets. At one point we were sailing at 12 knots with everything still sheeted in as if we were going upwind with the apparent wind angle showing 35°. Except we were actually sailing at 70° true. If you’re not keeping an eye on the numbers boats like this can mess with your mind.

What was easier to get to grips with, and fun to experience, was the rapid acceleration from 10 to 16 knots as we rounded the weather mark. We hadn’t even hoisted the kite at that stage, but the slingshot ride as we bore away felt more like a mark rounding aboard a multihull.

The ClubSwan 80 is clearly a slippery boat but as the crew got to grips with settings, numbers and routines there was still one big question that wouldn’t be answered until My Song got onto the race course for real. How would this 80-footer stack up against the competition in handicap racing?

The CS80 is beautifully built, looks superb and performs well. Photo: Richard Langdon

Because even though it has been designed for one-design racing, the reality is that the CS80’s future success will be built on whether it can square up to other boats in handicap competition.
Designs of all sizes have struggled or even fallen at this hurdle and with a brand new complex boat still to be shaken down in front of a competitive fleet at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup there was plenty of pressure for Swan.

“Given where we are with setting this boat up, my own personal expectation is that we’ll be lucky if we finish all the races this week,” said North Sails president Ken Read who was acting as onboard team coach. “That’s no reflection on the builders or the boat, it’s just the nature of the game, it’s a complex boat and it will take time.”

Less than 24 hours later, the crew of My Song had their first hint of what was possible, hitting the podium with a 3rd place in their maiden race. By the end of the week they had delivered a win with no dropped races to leave them 6th overall in the 13 boat fleet, a big result for a new launch.

Potential of the ClubSwan 80

So, can the ClubSwan 80 break the mould and become an 80ft one-design class for owner drivers? In my opinion it’s a big ask, but not because there’s anything lacking in the boat itself.

The CS80 is beautifully built, looks superb and performs well. And if you’re looking for a maxi sailing version of a sports car that can go touring as well, perhaps this is it.

From a cost point of view the price, when it is announced, is likely to be steep – but will be significantly less expensive than a one-off 80-footer and expected to be cheaper to run if the one-design format is adhered to.

From a one-design perspective it is difficult to see how Swan can build future ClubSwan 80s fast enough to create a fleet while the appetite among potential owners is there. But then again, plenty questioned whether the ClubSwan 50 could work. There’s a reason why Nautor Swan thinks big – it’s because it can and it knows it has frequently delivered.

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The publication of the 37th America’s Cup Protocol has delivered an eagerly awaited blueprint for the next edition of the America’s Cup.

From the next generation of AC75s that will be a tonne lighter and carry three fewer crew and result in higher top end speeds and earlier flight in the light, to the new AC40 one-design class that will be used for testing and training as well as the preliminary regattas, the overall mission was clear – to take the last Cup and tweak it to make it better, more accessible and more appealing to stakeholders and spectators alike.

37th America’s Cup Protocol in detail

The Protocol announcement, held jointly between Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Britannia this week, unveiled some key details.

Teams will only be allowed to build one AC75 and nationality rules are strict this time around requiring 100% of the race crew for each competitor to either be a passport holder of the country of the team’s yacht club or to have been physically present in that country for 18 months of the previous three years prior to 17th March 2021. Having said that, there will be dispensations for ‘Emerging Nations’.

Emirares Team New Zealand saw success in Bermuda with their Cyclors. These may well return for the 37th America’s Cup

Generating power with cyclists, as the Kiwis did to great effect in Bermuda, was outlawed for the last America’s Cup but with this America’s Cup protocol it seems they will make a return for this edition.

While the focus of debate may be on the additional power that legs provide over arms, it’s important to remember that the Kiwis’ advantage in 2017 was also that their crews’ hands were freed up to perform other functions.

With a reduced crew on board the new AC75s perhaps it’s not that surprising that both the Defender and Challenger of Record see this as something worth putting back into the mix, especially for the Brits who have strong links with the INEOS cycling team.

When it comes to the events, there will be up to three Preliminary Regattas, the first two raced in AC40s, the last one at the Match venue in AC75s. The Challenger Selection Series and the America’s Cup Match will be held in 2024.

There will also be a Youth America’s Cup as there was in Bermuda in 2017, but in addition there will be a Women’s America’s Cup in the same boats. (If the online chatter is any guide, this has already triggered some lively debate.)

Each team will be required to purchase a hydrogen fuel cell powered chase boat

It’s not all about the racing. Teams will be required to build a minimum of two hydrogen fuel cell powered chase boats capable of sustaining a minimum speed of 25 knots for no less than 75 nautical miles and hit a top speed of 50 knots, something that Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton describes as ‘a game changer for the industry.’

What next for the America’s Cup?

But this is also a bold Protocol in that it seeks to influence further than just the next Cup, something that few – if any – have made stick before.

By entering the 37th Cup, a team undertakes that if it is successful in winning it will continue with the AC75 class for any Challenger series and the 38th America’s Cup. And while the Brits and Kiwis announced this as a goal some months back, the reality is that it changes fundamentally one of the cornerstones of the America’s Cup in that the winner doesn’t get to make the rules.

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I have no doubt that their intentions are well meaning in trying to achieve consistency for the good of teams, hosts, sponsors, spectators and the whole sport in a way that has eluded most over the last 170 years.

The very thing that has kept the Cup at the leading edge is also the very thing that holds it back at times – by creating huge leaps of faith and radical changes that costs huge sums of money and frequently dilutes the number of teams and the level of racing.

INEOS Britannia’s AC75 in the 36th America’s Cup World Series

The Cup often suffers when it has big gear changes. For my money, creating a way of ensuring the development of these extraordinary machines provides an opportunity for the wider sport to benefit.

But I’m also sure that trying to bag the next Cup before this one’s been won will attract plenty of criticism from some quarters for seeking to effectively modify the Deed of Gift.

And where next…?

And while considering the criticisms, the lack of a venue is another that is fuelling a debate. Unusually for a Cup Protocol there was no mention of where the next Cup would take place. Instead, a new deadline of 31 March 2022 for the announcement.

The venue debate has been swirling around for months already, get set for some more, especially after Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton said in an interview that Auckland was ‘unlikely’ as a venue ‘but not ruled out’.

Whatever your view, like political debate, an America’s Cup cycle without controversy wouldn’t feel right.

For me, aside from the unknows the 37th Cup Protocol has plenty to be excited about.

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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How much faster could an IMOCA 60 go if it were really pressed? Not in bursts, not for brief peak speeds, but at a sustained average pace over days or more. In other words, how much faster would they go if they could be pushed harder, for longer, than a single-handed sailor could cope with at one stretch? The Ocean Race will answer many of these questions, but with The Ocean Race Europe now finished, teams are starting to get a better idea.

It’s a question that has been discussed for some time, even more so since the 60-footers started to fly five years ago.

Vendée Globe sailors frequently comment that they’re often sailing their boats at well below 100%, because they simply cannot keep up the intensity of going full-bore when they’re sailing alone.

But if you could keep your foot hard to the floor, day in, day out – just as a full crew would be able to – how much faster would one of these globe scorching monohulls go? And would their notoriously fragile structures be able to stand the pace?

As soon as The Ocean Race organisers announced that the IMOCA 60 fleet would be invited to join the VO65s in the fully crewed multi-stage race around the world (formerly the Volvo Ocean Race), speculation ramped up.

How could you fit a full crew into a boat designed for one or occasionally two? Just how many people is ‘fully crewed’ anyway? What would the crew roles be? And what would you do about the autopilot?

Many of the top solo sailors point to the fact that their advanced pilot systems can now steer an IMOCA 60 faster than a human at times. Putting a full crew on board, along with the associated weight of people and provisions, and then making them hand steer, could actually slow the boats down. (Come The Ocean Race 2023, autopilots will be allowed on the IMOCA 60s although details as to the limit of the pilot’s intelligence are still being discussed.)

IMOCA 60s are designed for manoeuvres made step-by-step, by one skipper. Photo: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race

The first opportunity to answer some of these questions was The Ocean Race Europe – an offshore event intended as a preamble to the postponed Ocean Race (which now starts next year, and in which crewed IMOCA 60s will join the VO65s around the world). It addressed some, but also shone the spotlight on other issues.

Five IMOCA 60 teams entered this summer’s event, a four-leg 2,000-mile offshore from Lorient, France to Cascais, Portugal, then Alicante, Spain, to the finish in Genoa, Italy.

The fleet included a range of designs and generations. The newest boats were Corum L’Epargne, Bureau Vallée (ex-L’Occitane en Provence) and LinkedOut, all designed for the previous Vendée Globe and sporting wing-like foils. Then there was 11th Hour Racing, previously the 2015 Hugo Boss, also sporting foils.

The oldest boat in the fleet was Robert Stanjek’s Offshore Team Germany and, aside from a cockpit that by today’s cave-dwelling style looked open and spacious, the most telling sign of her age was her ‘conventional’ straight daggerboards.

Although quicker in the right conditions, the foilers do have limitations in lighter weather and upwind. Photo: Bureau Vallée/The Ocean Race

But while this Owen Clarke design from 2011 might have looked a little dated alongside her flying friends, it was this boat that went on to win the event. It was no fluke either. Not only did this boat and her crew remind the rest of the fleet what all round performance looked like when the breeze went light and upwind conditions prevailed, but the hands-on, inshore style of sailing that the crew adopted seemed to pay off as well.

Crew member Annie Lush was already familiar with the boat, having raced with Stanjek and his crew in the 2019 Rolex Fastnet Race. But for the four-time match racing world champion and twice Volvo Ocean Race competitor, the race around Europe fell between her two worlds and helped to redefine what was meant by fully crewed.

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“When you look at what the designers and engineers have put in place to get round quite restrictive IMOCA rules…

“For over 90% of the time or more, the Vendée Globe sailors are not driving, the autopilot is. So, for me, that was a bit of a shock, realising that we wouldn’t really be steering in the race,” she said. “And even when you do it’s quite hard with a tiller, especially when it’s windy. It takes quite a lot of force and it’s also tricky to find somewhere to sit where you can drive and still be able to see.

“Inside the boat, it’s really designed for one small person, so it’s pretty cramped,” said Lush. “But when it comes to handling, one thing you notice straight away is that they’re a lot lighter so you feel the acceleration, but you also become aware about the limits to how hard you should push.

“I’m pretty used to the Volvo 65, which basically you can just push and push and push and they don’t break. But the IMOCAs can. So, knowing how hard to push and how far to take the boat is pretty new to me.”

This, by the way, is on a boat that by comparison with others in the fleet is pretty robust.

Highly protected cockpits on modern IMOCAs are a squash for a team of five. Photo: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race

Another sailor with both crewed and solo experience to draw upon was Pip Hare. Having recently completed the last Vendée Globe aboard Medallia, the contrast between sailing alone aboard an IMOCA 60 and sailing with a full team was very evident as she joined Louis Burton and his crew aboard Bureau Vallée for two legs of the race.

“It was an amazing experience seeing just how different the new breed of IMOCA 60s is,” she said. “On the leg from Cascais to Alicante we had the A2 up in 25 knots as we blasted past Cabo Vincente on our way towards the Gibraltar Strait. For me 22 knots of breeze would have been the absolute max and even then I’d be pretty nervous. When I asked Louis what the limit was he sort of shrugged his shoulders in a relaxed way and said, ‘I suppose around now’.

“And while I can see that he’s naturally a relaxed sailor, it was also a clear indication that even for experienced solo sailors this was very new territory where the confidence of having a full crew to get the sail down was allowing them to see just how much further they could push the boat.”

But while the fast downwind sections of the race were good fun, light conditions revealed some of the drawbacks of a full crew. “The cockpit has been designed around one, maybe two people,” she continued. “So, four or five is a squeeze. And when you’ve got lots of water coming over the deck, or it’s furiously hot, it’s difficult to manage with people. You’re trying not to be in the way, but it’s difficult not to be.

“We did two watches of two with Louis floating. And when you’re just trying to maintain boat speed in a straight line there is only enough for two people to do. In the super light winds, it was basically just go and lie in the bow. And that’s frustrating because we all wanted to do more and be more involved.”

Grinding is one of the few areas where adding more manpower can boost speed. Photo: Felix Diemar/Offshore Team Germany/The Ocean Race

Having competed in three Volvo Ocean Races 11th Hour Racing’s onboard reporter and crewmember, Amory Ross, is well versed in living aboard a carbon racing shell and keeping out of the way. Yet his blog outlined how different life was aboard an IMOCA 60.

“In contrast to the VO65/VO70 all you do down below is sleep and cook,” he wrote. “There’s no room for anything else. Eating, navigating, telling bad jokes all happens in the cockpit. If you’re important like Charlie Enright [skipper] and Justine Mettraux [crewmember] you get a luxury lee-cloth. We have no bunks. I’m like a house cat and roam. I enjoy the freedom.

“Sifi [Simon Fisher, navigator] is in the companionway with the tackable nav screen. The MSR burner and red butane canister is under the tunnel and between the longitudinals. Very conveniently located, ideal for operation in excess of 27 knots. It gets wickedly hot, wickedly fast. The rest of the boat is empty, dark and scary. It’s worth finding excuses not to explore!”

One of the biggest potential advantages of a full crew is the ability to change gear more quickly. A sail change which might take 45 minutes alone can be accomplished in 10 minutes with a full crew. But even this wasn’t straightforward.

“When you’ve got two guys on the pedestal in the middle of the cockpit they pretty much fill up the whole space,” said Hare. “Through manoeuvres, I managed lines and winches, but I had to squeeze myself down the side of the cockpit to grab lines. I’d know what they wanted and in which sequence but I’d have to squeeze round on the side of them so I didn’t get an elbow in the face. And while we found efficient ways of doing that, it was constantly a battle not to be in each other’s way.”

Sea state is of vital importance in navigation decisions for the foilers. Photo: Felix Diemar/Offshore Team Germany/The Ocean Race

Communication was also an issue. “We had headsets, because if you are running the pedestal inside the covered cockpit and there’s light reflecting off the windows there’s no way you can communicate with the bowman,” she continued. “So, for these situations they were wearing three headsets, one for the guy on the pedestal, one for the skipper and one for the bowman. As well as being able to carry out the manoeuvre you can do much more advanced peels and sail changes and can push sails right to the limit, so in that respect you can definitely push the boat harder.”

Even when they could talk to each other directly, communication still presented challenges between those used to working as a team and those that have led more of a solitary life afloat.

“For the Vendée sailors it’s been about getting used to having other people on board,” said Lush. “They’ve [told me] that they don’t really know how to ‘be’ on board with the team. They don’t know what to do or how to communicate. For me, I’m very clear on how I think the boat should run, I’m used to that role, but maybe not just with four. So, it’s a completely different viewpoint.”

Once routines and systems had been sorted, the advantages of being able to push the boat harder with a full crew began to appear. “In the Mediterranean when there was breeze and flat water you could get the boat into a mode where you’d constantly be making small tweaks and seeing the improvements in boat speed,” said Hare.

Amory Ross selfie shows how little room there is below on 11th Hour Racing. Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing/The Ocean Race

“Gradually, with the ability to work intensely for a short period and rotate through the crew we were achieving a pace that you simply couldn’t do on your own because at some stage you have to do other things such as navigate, cook, sleep or fix something.

“So, we got to see the real potential of the boat. Plus, for me, I learned what ‘good’ feels like, which is a really important thing. On your own it’s difficult to get to this level of performance and therefore difficult to know what you’re seeking and I think that will be true for even the experienced crews.”

All-round performance

With five Volvo Ocean Races under his belt, 11th Hour Racing navigator Simon Fisher is certainly experienced when it comes to crewed racing around the world. For him, IMOCA racing has involved learning how to race with a team of just four, as well as making the switch to double-handed racing with Mettraux.

In light airs it makes sense to vacate the cockpit. Photo: Corum L’Epargne/The Ocean Race

“I’m certainly learning all the time about how you operate with fewer people on board,” he said. “I get to be much more involved in the sailing than I’m used to and you start to see the French approach where short-handed crews need to be good-all round sailors. Everybody on our boat is capable of navigating as well as driving and trimming and going on the bow.

Corum crew and French solo rock star Sebastien Josse knows both the IMOCA 60s and fully crewed Volvo Ocean Races. What does he think a team looking to compete in an IMOCA 60 next year would need to succeed?

“You need to have a boat designed for it. If you use an IMOCA to do this race, you have to think about what life on board with five people for 10 legs around the world will be like, and then adapt it to suit. It’s not the same as going to a designer with a clean sheet of paper, which would likely deliver a very different looking boat.”

So, while The Ocean Race Europe started out as a promotional preamble to the big gig next year, the learning curve turned out to be steeper than many had expected. It also offered some hints as to the potential pace this new style of sailing might deliver, with speeds well into the 30-knot range. The IMOCA 60 could yet have plenty more to give.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post The Ocean Race: What’s it like on a fully crewed IMOCA 60? appeared first on Yachting World.

Clear skies at dawn and a hint of wispy cumulus rising above the mainland shore are early signs of a Solent sea breeze day. But where many other venues will gradually wind themselves up into a steady onshore breeze as the land heats up and sucks in the air, the Solent is far more complicated.

Working out if a sea breeze will develop later on in the day during events like Cowes Week is not always straightforward, but renowned meteorologist David Houghton’s ‘quadrant theory’ can help predictions.

Surrounded by land, flat to the north, high to the south and with plenty of twists and turns along a coastline of small rivers and wide bays, the Solent has topographical features that influence both the gradient wind and the development of a sea breeze.

Being able to identify early signs places you in the enviable position of being able to anticipate what happens next, handing you one of the biggest advantages the Solent can offer, inside knowledge on the weather.

Using Houghton’s original data, we summarise six of the most popular Solent scenarios.

Breakfast time with a north-westerly

Running down Southampton Water and off towards the eastern Solent, you will find a band of wind about one force stronger owing to the coastal convergence along the west shore of Southampton Water.

This band extends downwind through the east Solent, across the Ryde Bank and out into the Channel past the Nab tower.

The west Solent is a slightly more complicated picture. Wind bands about 10-15 per cent stronger than the prevailing wind will be blowing out of both the Lymington and Beaulieu rivers. The wind will also veer around 10-15º as it blows off the mainland shore.

Finally, there is a similar effect on the south side of the Isle of Wight with the wind again veering by up to 15º as it rolls of the shoreline.

Late morning following an early north-westerly

The band of stronger north-westerly wind coming out of Southampton Water persists for several hours longer than elsewhere – depending on how strong it was to start with.

The remains of the north-westerly down Beaulieu River will not last long – though again this will depend on the initial strength of the wind.

The sea breeze at the western end of the Solent will start to blow directly onto the mainland shore. This breeze builds out towards the island and veers. It is always strongest near the mainland and, after another hour or two, breaks through the north-westerly wind band eastwards across Bramble Bank to Hill Head and Lee-on-Solent. By mid-afternoon the sea breeze will cover the whole area reaching 20-25 Knots.

Stand well off the south-west shore of the Isle of Wight for the best wind. To the south west of the island, you will find weak sea breezes onto the south of the island, which are eventually swept up into generally south-westerly mainland sea breeze.

Late morning after a light south-westerly start

In the western Solent, the south-westerly sea breeze increases slowly and steadily as the mainland warms, by a total of about 5 knots by mid-afternoon.

The wind tends to be lighter near the mainland shore, however. This is very different from what happens on a genuine sea breeze day, which follows an early north-westerly wind. Look for a slight bend into Lymington and Beaulieu rivers.

On the north-western shore of the Isle of Wight there is a backed wind inshore which can be advantageous in some situations.

Over in the east Solent the situation can be much more complicated with the weak sea breeze attempts onto the east of the island least reliable here.

Midday to early afternoon with a north-easterly

In the west Solent, the south-westerly sea breeze will develop and is likely to veer to about 240º.

Further east, to the east of Cowes, there could well be a north-easterly still holding. East further still, off Portsmouth on the mainland shore there is likely to be a north-easterly with distinct bands of stronger wind blowing down Portsmouth, Langstone and Chichester harbours. This tends to persist depending on strength.

Further offshore, out to the east, the sea breeze starts to seaward and will extend slowly north eaast. There will typically be a clam zone separating it from the north easterly off Portsmouth as the two winds converge. This is often marked by huge cumulus clouds.

Late morning after a light to moderate south-easterly start

The best wind to be found in the Solent in this situation is usually near the mainland shore. But the wind will drop generally by about 5 knots during the course of the day as the mainland warms.

The Isle of Wight shorline in the Solent can see the wind become fitful with calms. There will often be weak and temporary sea breeze attempts wherever the initial wind is blowing offshore.

A typical easterly situation with wind Force 4-6

With the wind blowing directly down the Solent, much of the effects in the west are due to coastal convergence and divergence. You will also see the sluicing of air around headlands providing strong wind bands.

At the bottom of Southampton water, you will often find the wind veer and increase as it moves out over the water.

In the central eastern Solent you will find bands of stronger wind coming out of Chichester Harbour. You can also find similar strong wind bands downwind from the many other estuaries in the area or harbours lying along the wind direction. These are all very sensitive to wind direction, however. A shift of a degree or two can mean an increase or decrease of 2-3 knots.

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Matthew Sheahan investigates a new mid-range cruiser, the Westerly Ocean 37, to find out what you get for your money

There’s one thing that needs clearing up from the start. Whether Westerly intended her parentage to be common knowledge or not, the cat’s now out of the bag.

The new Westerly Ocean 37 has the hull of the early 1990s Dubois-designed Westerly Typhoon.

I’ve a hunch that some may criticise her for this, but not me. Typhoons were popular boats, with the kind of good manners and reputation that gets them into all the best households.

And makes them difficult to find on the second-hand market.

Most are snatched up quickly for the same money as when they were new, something that certainly can’t be said for many of today’s plastic fantasties.

In my book, the Westerly Ocean 37 starts on even points for looks when set against the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37.

She may have a more mature appearance in parts, with her slightly more pronounced overhangs and the square section teak rubbing strake.

But the bottom line is that she’s one of those boats that just looks right and for some buyers that could be all that’s required to tip the balance.

Elsewhere she’s been tweaked to improve her performance, with a larger mainsail and taller mast, along with new keel and rudder foils.

When you compare her with the Jeanneau she sets more sail (33 per cent upwind) and is stiffer which makes her a more potent yacht all round.

But despite turning up the power, she doesn’t feel over­powered. In fact, quite the opposite, thanks partly to the ease with which you can handle her.

A big factor here is the conventional block and tackle mainsheet system in the cockpit which allows quick, simple and safe control by the crew or the helmsman.

Her deep narrow cockpit is good news. It feels very secure when you’re moving about or trimming, especially when heeled.

Under these conditions, and especially when you go to put in a reef, the long trough-like companionway, (a popular detail on the 33 and deliberately included aboard this boat), provides a very safe area from which to operate the reef lines.

Elsewhere her deck layout is similar to the Jeanneau’s although I’d give the Westerly Ocean 37 the edge when it comes to overall quality.

Where she might lose out, however, is in her on-deck stowage-she lacks an anchor locker in the foredeck and a few smaller rope lockers would be useful.

Accommodation and construction

You’d be hard pushed to find a bigger difference between two similar-sized production boats than there is between these two clown below.

Where the Jeanncau is open, spacious and seems more living room than saloon, the Westerly feels small, narrow and traditional.

Rich, deep-coloured teak joinery emphasises the cramped feeling and the steep companionway doesn’t help.

There is no getting away from it, this is a boat with old fashioned values – but don’t write her off just yet.

Within minutes my attention had been drawn away from her chunky looks and solid feel. Lift a few cushions, open a few lockers and you’ll find everywhere behind the scenes has been finished to a high standard.

There’s not a hint or Velcro, nor a single plastic retaining catch to wrestle with at the bottom of a door. Instead, simple pop studs hold cushions in place and brass hooks stop the doors from swinging at sea.

This is a boat that has been built to last, whatever you do with her.

The layout is pretty conventional and broadly mirrors the Jeanncau’s with two double cabins, U-shaped saloon seating with a bench type saloon seat opposite and a galley and navigation station either side of the companionway.

When it comes to the basic construction of hull and deck, she’s built with a solid laminate hull with the additional stiffening laminated into the structure in the normal way.

Even though the Westerly is undoubtedly better finished, there is little to choose between the two if you were looking to base your decision on layout and construction alone. But where they do differ is in their proportions.

The Westerly’s wider side decks make it very much easier to move about on deck but this does cramp her style down below.

In addition to this, more space is given to the dedicated navigation station, where decent provision is made for instruments, charts and general stowage.

The Westerly Ocean 37 has two heads, further reducing available space and, although she has similar saloon seating to the Jeanneau, the Westerly’s feels tighter, more up­right and awkward to access.

Add to this the smaller galley worktop space, a considerably smaller fridge and fewer deck hatches, making her interior darker, the overall feel is one of a much smaller boat.

Westerly Ocean 37 under way

The Westerly has a simple bottlescrew on the backstay and pin stop genoa cars. The Westerly strains at the leash to show you just what she can do. But don’t get me wrong; she’s not a handful – quite the opposite.

The Westerly Ocean 37 is silky smooth, easily driven and quicker on all points of sail, easily slipping along at 6 to 6.2 knots in the same breeze.

There are some boats that just feel like they want to sail all day and night for as long as you like and the Ocean 37 is one of them. Present her with a few waves or a steep wash and she’ll simply slice through them.

She may only be 37ft but the Westerly Ocean 37 is a competent go-anywhere cruiser which is as happy pottering around sheltered waters as she is driving on when the going gets messy offshore.

It is at this point that her tighter-fitting accommoda­tion comes into its own-she’s a far easier boat to move about in underway when pushed than its rival the more spacious Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37.

But not everyone wants to pay for a boat with the kind of off-road capabilities that come as standard with the Westerly.

Indeed, many production builders have seen the opportunity to produce a cruiser that reflects the popular kind of cruising where overnight passages are an exception rather than the rule.

First published in the June 2000 issue of YW.

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Jeanneau are on a roll at the moment. Over the past few years they’ve avoided the bright lights and excitement of fancy racing machines and radical cruising designs in favour of more modest, subtle cruisers and their latest, the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 is once again in this mould.

The Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40 is a good example of this concept too. This is a boat that not only sails well and is comfortable above and below decks but actually looks good, too.

It’s easy to dismiss this last point but as far as I’m concerned there are far too many ugly ducklings out there and the 40’s new sister is not one of them.

A cracker from the start, the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 has inherited the same sleek lines in profile as her bigger sister and that puts her 15-love up immediately.

Looks count for lots in my book, especially when you’re spending as much money as you might on a house.

Of course safe practical boats are very important but the fact is that it is difficult to walk away from a family cruiser this attractive. Difficult but not impossible. She does have her weaknesses.

Designed by Jacques Faroux, the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 has been created to cater for a wide range of uses, from short-handed family sailing to fully loaded charter work.

As a ‘one size fits all’ type of boat, her brief is bound to lead to corn promises. Take the cockpit, for instance. Open, spacious, comfortable and convivial to seat six for an alfresco lunch at anchor. But under sail those with legs any shorter than Naomi Campbell’s will be struggling to stop themselves from sliding to leeward as the scats are set too far apart, with only a small teak strip on the cockpit floor to act as a foot brace.

Then there’s the old chestnut of handling the mainsheet from behind the wheel, (or rather not being able to), as well as a mainsheet traveller so far forward and so short that you wonder why it’s there at all.

There are a few cheap-looking shackles and light-looking fittings, too, making you wish a few more Euros had been spent just to lift the final quality of the boat’s basic spec.

But at the end of the day criticisms like these are just niggles because the rest of the boat is well thought out. Simple, comfortable and, in the main, practical for the usage she’s likely to get.

Accommodation and construction

Below decks the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 once again apes the style or the 40, with a large galley to starboard and a small face-to-face type navigation table to port.

The layout as a whole is typical of Jeanneau ‘s current approach which is to put greater emphasis on space and comfort than on the practical aspects of long periods at sea.

The ample seating to starboard and large bench-type settee to port, with little in between to clutter the space, is just one example of the simplicity of a layout that allows her accommodation to breathe.

The spacious and simple double cabin forward and the layout of the head continued the trend and only the slightly cramped after cabin contradicts the impression of spacious living.

In the case of the head aboard the two-cabin layout, the arrangement benefits from having a single, larger than normal, combined head and shower arrangement where the shower area and wet hanging space is divided off from the head itself with a smart perspex tinted door.

The layout and proportions of the head reflect a style more commonly seen in a Holiday Inn than aboard a 30-something production cruiser, but the change is a welcome one.

Interestingly, the style throughout the rest of the interior is considerably less adventurous and rather reflects a careful balance between efficiency and cosiness.

Deep behind the Velcro-hung cushions and roughly varnished locker lids, the basic structure looks well put together and chunky, leaving little to worry about on the structural side.

The construction falls in line with Jeanneau’s normal build system with a solid laminate hull and conventionally laminated longitudinals and transverse members giving her both the appearance and credentials of a robust cruiser.

Closer to the surface, although still normally out of sight, the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 was less well finished, with rough edges to some or the joinery and a varnish finish that felt a touch on the thin side.

Overall she’s still perfectly acceptable but will need to be looked after if she’s to maintain her looks for years to come.

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 Under way

Slipping out of even the tightest of berths should present few problems aboard the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37.

Her 40hp saildrive engine (27hp is standard) may not provide the kind or propwalk that can be used to crank you out of a tight corner but she’s still easily manageable, especially with her fixed prop.

Once under way she turns tightly, stops quickly and goes astern as easily as she goes ahead.

Under sail she’s just as well behaved. albeit subject to my usual round of reservations about not being able to handle the mainsheet from behind the wheel.

The masthead rig means that there is a large overlapping headsail to handle, which also means that someone in the crew is bound to get some upper body exercise as soon as the boat goes up­wind.

Once wound up onto the breeze during our test, the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 bowled along at around 5.8 knots in 12-14 true and a flat sea.

She felt pleasantly slippery, accelerating to slight increases in breeze but without ever feeling like she was about to misbehave.

Her wheel was large enough to provide good visibility forward and her gear ratio felt spot on. giving good feel through the helm.

Where l believe she could be improved is in the ability to change gear as the breeze comes up.

An adjustable back stay tensioner and a set of genoa car pullers are just two extras l’d want fitted to give me a bit more flexibility as the breeze fluctuates. It may sound too racy for cruising, but who actually likes putting reefs in? Changing gear with just these two controls is often enough.

First published in the June 2000 issue of Yachting World.

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Beneteau are clearly very proud of the new Beneteau First 34.7 have issued several bold statements about the complexity of the new boat in their ever expanding stable.

How could such a small production racer-cruiser be so complex? When viewed from her port side she hardly looks revolutionary.

Sure, her sawn­off transom is quite trendy, but overall her appearance in elevation gives her the look of a scaled-down Beneteau First 40.7 and although this boat has been a firm favourite with the IRC fleet, she doesn’t stand out in a crowd.

Look at the starboard side and you have the first clue as to what the fuss is about. A carbon retractable bowsprit, a first for Beneteau, is a standard item aboard this new model.

Her carbon mast on the other hand is a £9,000 option, which includes rod rigging. And all but a couple of the first 60 boats that comprise Beneteau’s 2006 production will be fitted with a black spar as opposed to the alloy standard.

Her large stainless wheel spans almost the entire width of the cockpit.

While not strictly a first for Beneteau, the rapid adoption of the carbon option is a significant change in the market.

When she’s viewed out of the water, the Beneteau First 34.7’s T-keel is another big change, as is her small rudder. So, what has spurred the switch? Within the brief to the Farr office was the stipulation that the new boat should perform well under IRC.

According to Farr Yacht Design president Russell Bowler the fact that stability is not assessed under the rule emphasised the need to produce a boat with as much righting moment as possible, yet light with it.

This meant there would be a big emphasis on weight in the keel and weight-saving everywhere else. Reducing the wetted surface area was also very important.

Nothing particularly new here other than that as a production racer-cruiser she had to be durable and built to a price, constraints that don’t always exist for full-on race boat commissions.

The design process began with accurate positioning of the centre of buoyancy to achieve a slippery yet seaworthy boat.

The First 34.7 is a bold move for Beneteau.

After this, early design considerations involved matching the centre of effort of the sail plan against the keel fin.

The balancing act continued with the centre of gravity of the keel bulb against the centre of buoyancy of the hull. A typical L-shaped keel would place the ballast too far aft and require more volume aft in the hull. The solution was a T-bulb configuration.

Here, a flattened bulb with soft chines to get the centre of gravity of the ballast as low as possible, as well as achieving the greatest effective span on the fin.

Above the waterline the sail plan is in keeping with similar boats, with a provision for overlapping head sails up to 150 per cent on the fractional rig.

The designers piled on ‘as much downwind sail area as we dared’ …

But when it comes to the downwind area, the masthead asymmetric spinnaker stacked on the cloth with 91m² (980ft²) of sail. In Bowler’s words: “We squeezed as much downwind sail area in as we dared.”

Maximising righting moment means keeping weight out of the boat elsewhere, but the brief for the Beneteau First 34.7 meant it could not be a stripped-out racer. Beneteau’s answer was a simple but bold one when it came to her layout and construction.

Maximising space

Down below, the absence of a forward cabin is noticeable from the minute you enter her saloon.

Instead of the more normal V­berth double forward cabin, a large heads occupies the space forward of the mast.

Positioning the heads here not only keeps the weight of a conventional cabin out of the bow, but provides a convenient wet area for retrieving the kite through the large foredeck hatch.

In fact, Beneteau have also developed an option for a 470-style kite bag that clips into the hatch area.

The nav station and galley are both well proportioned.

The main saloon has a pair of simple settee berths either side of the fixed table that utilise the inside face of the hull as the seat backs. This maximises the feeling of space and keeps weight to a minimum.

The chain plates are linked to mini-bulkheads that transfer the load down to the keel without the need for beefy longitudinals to attach tie rods to, again saving weight.

Further aft a simple yet spacious and effective galley is set to port with plenty of stowage space and easy comfortable access.

Opposite lies a small dedicated navigation area; again, practical, well-proportioned and with plenty of stowage for blocks, tackles, tools, duct tape and all the other odd items that keep a race boat going on the course.

Deceptively simple, the open and practical interior is actually much cleverer than you might think.

Stowage for the anchor, chain and warp is under the floor at the bottom of the companionway – easy to access and keeping weight amidships and low.

Under the cockpit lie two double cabins, which can either be supplied as an open-plan arrangement or with the starboard one of the two built with a door to form an owner’s cabin. I’m not sure why you might want this option aboard a raceboat, but no doubt there are some who think differently.

For construction, her deck has been injection-moulded to provide a clean finish inside, so no inner liner is required.

More significant is the move to a completely integrated hull and floor structure thanks to Beneteau’s new lnfujection system.

By using a set of inner and outer moulds, the hull and internal structure are created in one hit by a combined process of infusion and injection.

Although the construction technique has been driven largely by environmental pressures and the need to control emissions, Beneteau say it ensures greater accuracy in the resin-to-fibre ratio of the boats, as well as the consistency of overall weight.

What’s she like to sail?

But for all the techie talk, what is she really like? Such is the obsession with 40-footers, there’s a tendency to see something in the mid-30s as being on the wee side.

This is not the case with the Beneteau. Indeed, place her alongside a 36.7 and she feels a bigger boat in all areas apart from the foredeck. And the same is true when you take the helm.

Her large stainless wheel spans almost the entire width of the cockpit, the beamy open transom exaggerates the feeling of space and the long cockpit allows plenty of room for the crew to work the area without clambering over each other.

All this in a cockpit that’s deep enough and sufficiently secure to take the family cruising every now and then, as well as having a set of decent cockpit lockers, something the X-35 lacks.

Under way she has a solid, dependable, chunky feel to her helm. Lock to lock is just over half a turn, which on most boats would produce a twitchy feel, but not aboard the Beneteau First 34.7. In fact, it took me some time before I realised.

Easy and rewarding to sail.

Instead, she’s direct, smooth and has a comfortable seating position for the helmsman who can sit astride the wheel without crowding the mainsheet trimmer.

Upwind she’s easy to get into the groove and downwind she has the sprightly feel of a bowsprit-blaster, where the rewards of heating her up on a reach require a quick response to bear away as she picks up speed or a gust comes through.

Up to here she’s an easy boat to get on with, but lose concentration and she’ll bite. Although we never lost control downwind with the rudder completely immersed and the boat speed up in the 7-9 knot range in just 10-14 knots of true breeze.

Upwind she’s more prone to losing grip and rounding up if the helmsman and mainsheet trimmer are not keeping her on her feet.

Even in flat water and with what you might think is reasonable feedback through the wheel, she gives little warning and once the rudder has stalled there’s no regaining control until you’ve got her back on her feet.

The problem stems from the rudder’s size, a deliberate design trade-off under IRC. Rudders are not measured under the rule, so keeping it small reduces drag downwind.

But to make this side of the equation work, careful mainsheet trim upwind is vital to avoid unwanted handbrake turns.Aside from this little quirk, other niggles were to do with her control line layout, which isn’t as refined as the X-Yachts X-35.

Trimming the main with the coarse and fine tune in hand, along with the mainsheet traveller and the backstay, makes you feel like a circus act trying to ride two horses.

The fine-tune block and jammer need to be fastened to the mainsheet car rather than the pedestal moulding to make full use of the traveller and a windward sheeting car would make life that bit easier for the mainsheet trimmer through the tacks.

Elsewhere, cross-sheeting the spinnaker sheet onto the secondary winches might get your weight to weather, but the sheet chafes against the cockpit coamings.

Upwind the positioning of one of the stanchions makes skirting the genoa more tricky than normal and the solid kicker obstructs the 20/20 displays.

Admittedly these are niggles that could easily be sorted, but they are nonetheless further examples of the difference between this boat and the X-35.

Nevertheless, overall, I was very impressed with this boat. She felt like a good handicap racer, a boat that could be picked up and raced effectively in very little time and one that would light up in a breeze downwind.

This, along with her simple but practical accommodation layout, makes her a well-rounded design and an appealing choice.

First published in the May 2006 issue of YW.

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When it comes to serious numbers in one ­design yachts, the X-99 rates as one of the most successful designs of modern times, with 600 built since 1985. But after 21 years, the company that created one of the few big-boat classes to have ISAF status has launched its replacement, the X-Yachts X-35.

Given the huge success of the X-99, it’s clear X-Yachts have set themselves a very high target if they are to get anywhere near repeating this success.

But while no specific numbers have been issued on what X-­Yachts expect of this class in years to come, it’s clear they are planning to use a similar technique to kick-start the class.

More than a year ago and with little more than a few drawings to go by, 42 boats were sold in the first month of 2005.

Plans for the launch of the new model involved a distribution strategy to ensure that fleets stood the best chance of sowing the seeds from which future local classes would grow.

After a long wait and much talk, the first few boats are now in the water and the class is close to taking off.

X-Yachts have attempted to recapture their former success.

Partly through computer graphics being what they are and partly for reasons of cosmetic modesty, the X-­Yachts X-35 isn’t much of a surprise when you first see her.

In fact, she doesn’t stand out at all at the dock – at best she looks typical of a modern X-Yacht.

She has a simple open cockpit, a large wheel and a pair of cockpit seats flanked by shallow coamings. However, she offers a great detail in terms of her control line layout and setup.

She has more gears upwind than you’ll know what to do with at first.

Closer inspection reveals that, although she doesn’t have a large overlapping headsail and therefore a second set of tracks, she lacks few of the controls of a Beneteau First 34, they’re just incorporated more discreetly. The mainsheet is a good example.

You may not think it is necessary to have a ‘German’ mainsheet system (where the mainsheet is led back along the side decks to a pair of winches fitted on either side of the cockpit) on a boat of just 35ft. I certainly didn’t.

But having just a 2:1 purchase in the mainsheet system keeps the amount of rope in the system to a minimum and helps keep the cockpit clutter-free. The system also means a fine tune is not required, reducing the clutter even further.

On top of this, the mast man can bounce the sheet at its forward end at leeward mark roundings to help rapid sheeting of the mainsail.

Having started out wishing for a more conventional system of blocks and tackles for the mainsheet, when I tried it aboard the Beneteau I didn’t like it.

Under way she has a solid, dependable, chunky feel to her helm.

The layout of control lines on the top of the coach roof is another example. Here, jammers are staggered lengthwise to make il easier for more crew to reach them from the weather rail.

Such attention to detail suggests that the X will be an easier boat to handle under pressure than the Beneteau.

But elsewhere are clues that this has been at the expense of some practical issues. The lack of an anchor locker won’t trouble many racing sailors – some may see it as an advantage – but the lack of any cockpit lockers could become a nuisance.

‘Small’ interior

Such details on deck turn out to be clues to an accommodation layout that is lacking in several areas once you step below decks and first impressions are of a small interior.

Overall the layout is a simple one, with galley to port, nav station to starboard and a pair of simple settee berths either side of a fixed saloon table.

However, the X-35 has a forward double cabin, which although roomy enough to be used, will no doubt be a waste of space for racing owners.

The navigation station is fairly cramped.

Having said that, one of the reasons for incorporating such a cabin is to enhance the boat’s value later in life when the heat of the racing scene may have eased.

The same reason for the liberal use of teak in the interior instead of wipe-clean mouldings as was the norm in the IMX-38 and fair enough.

What I found less easy to understand was why the lifting backs to the saloon seating hadn’t been set up to provide an upper berth.

The X-35’s weakest point is below deck.

With full-width chainplates and no lockers or shelves (although these are an option), there are no obstructions to what would make a decent-sized berth to weather. Or, at the very least, a good and secure place to stow gear and kit bags.

Moving aft, the galley is small and awkward to use, the access to the after­berths restricted. And the top of the engine box has a curved surface and to my mind misses an opportunity to provide handy stowage for winch handles, blocks etc, just where you can get at them.

The lack of stowage is an issue throughout this boat apart from the cavernous space under the forward bunk, which clearly wouldn’t get used in racing trim.

On the starboard side, the outboard­ facing chart table is large and conveniently shares worktop space with the fridge to provide shy navigators with even less reason to come on deck. Overall, I was disappointed with the layout of this boat below decks.

Yet I also have to admit that for all my criticisms and given her primary objective, the accommodation would still not count for much in my own final analysis.

The X-­Yachts X-35 has a sandwich-construction hull and deck, using a combination of biaxial E-Glass and a vinylester resin. Throughout, she is built to the same high standards as the rest of the fleet.

With X-Yachts’ trademark galvanised steel gridwork providing the primary load ­carrying structure in the bottom of the boat, suggesting she’ll be every bit as robust as her sisterships. Whatever the other criticisms, longevity still counts for a lot.

Subtle under sail

If chalk and cheese describe the differences between the X-Yachts X-35 and the Beneteau First 34.7, the expression will also suit the match between the disappointment of the X’s interior with the way she behaves under sail.

I’ve yet to test an X-Yacht that doesn’t feel good on the wheel and the X-35 is no exception. She’s finger-light, even when pressed, she’s sensitive, responsive and has more gears upwind than you’ll know what to do with at first.

She might be plain on the outside but she’s anything but when it comes to sailing her.

Although she’s a doddle to handle in the broad sense, it takes no time at all to realise that she’ll be a very tricky boat to sail well.

The conventional spinnaker will appeal to more conservative sailors.

To get the best out of her you’ll need patience, total concentration, a magic marker, plenty of tape and a waterproof notebook and pen.

So subtle is the feedback through the wheel that you’ll need to mark and jot down key settings and numbers to build a picture of what makes her tick.

In my opinion, this is just what you need for a good one-design class where performance benefits and top results are achieved through the hard work of crews rather than some technical advantage.

She feels quite a tender boat too (much like the X-99), a fact borne out by her higher sail area:displacement ratio when compared to the Beneteau.

The X-35 might be plain on the outside, but when it comes to sailing her, she’s anything but.

In just 10 knots of wind and clocking 6.8 knots in flat water she feels fully powered upwind – anymore and you’re dropping the mainsheet traveller down the track.

But while she might feel slightly tender, she remains under control on the helm.

The seating positions for helmsman and crew works well for all. And the control line layout works as well as it looks both upwind and down to make this a very nimble boat around the corners of the racecourse.

In addition, what impressed me was the attention to detail. Such as the rings in the guardwires through which the traveller lines run to keep them to hand.

Or a shockcord retrieval system to pull the spinnaker guy in towards the foredeck to make end-for-end gybing that bit easier for the foredeck crew.

Details like these come as standard. Impressive stuff and a good indication of where the heart of this boat really lies -racing.

The X-­Yachts X-35 may have been designed with one-design racing as the main focus but, depending on how her IRC handicap shapes up she could prove to be a highly competent racer in the handicap scene as well. Something the X-99 never quite achieved on an international scale.

But if all this talk of racing is a little too hot, bear in mind that current X-332 owners are among the new boat’s target market.

Which should provide a rich source of secondhand 332s on the market, albeit with a ‘frequently raced and rallied label’.

First published in the May 2006 issue of YW.

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The Beneteau First 47.7 looks set to follow in the footstep of the latest yachts that have come before. Cost has clearly been a big factor but there are other good reasons for their popularity and versatility is at the top of the list.

The Beneteau First 47.7 offers a variety of standard rig, keel, engine and accommodation configurations to create a boat that is optimised towards either racing or cruising.

This is not new – several of the big production builders do the same – but Beneteau appear to do it to best effect.

Three Beneteau First 47s took 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the overall results in IRC Class 1 at the Hamble Series, while several cruising versions with shorter mast, smaller sail plan and shallower draught have turned up in the same neck of the woods.

The Beneteau is easily handled with just a few crew aboard.

Common to all versions of the Beneteau First 47.7 is the simple cockpit, with its single-wheel steering, low pedestal and conventional winch layout.

The cockpit is not as large as the Starlight 46’s since the 47’s maximum beam on deck draws in more towards the stern, resulting in a less beamy transom.

She’s also a far simpler affair, with no walk­through to the bathing platform, conventionally arranged cockpit lockers and primary and secondary winches fitted in the usual positions. Overall the layout on deck feels more angular and basic than the Starlight’s.

Despite lighter conditions during our test, the Beneteau First still proved to be slippery with a forgiving feel to the helm.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but where she does get marked clown in my book is her lack of foot braces, especially for the helmsman.

The single wheel means it’s more difficult to get well out to weather and once you’re there there’s little to keep you in place.

Apart from this, she remains manageable and has good quality equipment throughout.

The First 47.7 is a comfortable boat to sail.

Above the deck she has swept back spreaders. There are three sets of spreaders, a nine-tenths fractional rig, and she carries slightly more sail area in her racing guise.

Below decks and construction

To achieve the number of boats the French marque intends to build requires huge versatility, vast amounts of planning and considerable expenditure in tooling.

Indeed, it took a full year just to develop the tools and moulds for the Beneteau First 47.7.

The standard layout has an L-shaped galley.

Since Beneteau were criticised for their use or inner tray mouldings for large performance/racing boats, things have changed considerably.

The First range now uses latticework mouldings to provide the structural matrix within the hull.

Unlike their predecessors, these liners have no floors between the longitudinal and transverse members. which means each element can be bonded and glassed into the hull.

The hull laminate is more sophisticated, too, with a combination of chopped strand mat and woven rovings providing a solid laminate.

The huge saloon is great for entertaining but could do with more handholds.

When it comes to the interior joinery, don’t expect to find a quiet and sweet-smelling wood­working shop and a sea of wood shavings and off-cuts.

Instead you’ll find several massive factory units filled with huge CNC (computer numerically controlled) machines routing out hundreds of items from bulkheads to locker doors, before they are carried off for finishing and varnishing.

The huge saloon is great for entertaining but could do with more handholds.

To witness a modern Beneteau being built may not be quite the same as seeing multi-tooled robot arms flailing around on a car production line, but it’s not far off.

When you stand back and compare both building processes, the Starlight and the Beneteau are worlds apart.

However, that’s not to say the French production technique leaves something to be desired when it comes to quality.

Indeed. quality control checks are impressive, thorough and are made at many stages of the production system, which ends with a spell in the test pool.

The nav station on the First 47.7.

Below decks the finished product has the slick, glossy feel that has become such a trade­mark of Beneteau’s range.

From seating to locker doors, sweeping curves dominate most areas while the moulded headliner and highly polished stainless steel tie rods provide a sharp modern contrast throughout the layout.

And all the while the brochure details and salesman’s patter seem to have anticipated precisely the layout you were after, with colourful arrangement drawings you can mix and match to confirm your ideal layout – no wonder they sell.

This is an impressive boat for the money. But if you’re looking for differences, take a closer peek in front and behind the scenes.

Ample use of Velcro provides a cost-effective way of holding seatbacks and headliners in place and the floorboards creak throughout the cabins.

You’ll find neither on the Starlight. Light­weight panel mouldings and teak ply in-fills fastened with simple Philips screws are two more examples of where the differences start to appear.

Under Way

Unlike the current crop of popular deck saloon cruisers of a similar length, the Beneteau does not have a dedicated engine room, preferring instead to position the engine under the cockpit floor.

The result was Beneteau First 47.7 was noisier under engine than you might expect. The noise and vibration over six knots bordered on excessive and was very disappointing for a cruising boat.

In her defence, she was fitted with a two-bladed MaxProp which was thought to be over-pitched and could have contributed to the vibration.

Setting this aside and given it did not have bow thrusters, it easy to handle under engine. And light enough to respond quickly to the throttle ahead and astern and having tight enough turning circles to get you out of trouble. Little cause for complaint here.

Common to all versions of the 47. 7 is the sim­ple cockpit with its single-wheel steering.

Under sail, it was well balanced, responsive and gave the impression of being able to be pushed hard without causing the helmsman too much stress.

The Beneteau is easily handled with just a few crew aboard and the position of the secondary winches means short-handed sailing is not out or the question.

But where l believe this boat will score with owners is from behind the wheel.

It’s easy to assume that the more direct and responsive the helm the better, but not everyone wants sports car steering; systems that provide too much feedback can be intimidating.

Here a tolerant and forgiving helm will win the day.

And this is where the Beneteau First 47.7 scores.

First published in the February 2001 issue of YW.

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The Bowman Starlight name made a big impact on the performance cruising scene in the Eighties, particularly with the Bowman Starlight 35, of which 102 have been built to date. Now, the new Bowman Starlight 46 joins those previous yachts. But it does come at a cost, is the Starlight 46 worth the extra money as compared to some of her European counterparts.

On deck

The mission in creating the Starlight 46 was clear: to create a performance cruiser that would be equally at home bluewater cruising, doing the odd race round the cans or offshore.

These are precisely the qualities that had held the Starlight 35 and Starlight 39 in such good stead. A simple goal on the face of it but the competition in this league is fierce.

Clearly Bowman had to be shrewd to stand any chance. Top of their list were quality and performance, two factors that don’t always go together as the demands of quality often pile the weight on, reducing performance.

The keel is bolted to a moulded stub with 11 bolts and the cockpit drains exit below the water­line to avoid streaks on the hull topsides.

But Stephen Jones recognised the opportunity to produce a good yet manageable performer by using modern and well-balanced lines. The result is that the new Bowman Starlight 46 is one of the sleekest looking cruisers around.

Like the First she’s a beamy boat but the Starlight carries her beam well aft, providing a wide and powerful transom as well as a spacious cockpit, two significant advantages.

The downside is that such delta shapes tend to cause the boat to pitch down by the bow when heeled as the beamy after sections lift the rear out of the water.

The Starlight has the capacity to carry more crew when required.

This in turn can cause steering problems as well as a propensity to create weather helm. However, none is in evidence when you sail the Starlight.

Jones has managed to balance her waterlines by adding volume to the bow sections but without compromising her line entry forward.

On deck the first thing you notice is just how spacious and practical the cockpit is. Twin wheels dominate and provide plenty of advantages.

The 46 has a highly workable cockpit with twin wheels.

The walk-through access to the fold-out transom and boarding ladder is one. The position of the primary winches, inboard and close to the helmsman, is another. Halyard winches flank the companionway and all control lines are led back to clutches.

On the face of it, then, a conventionally laid out deck with a few clever details such as the easy access to all under-deck control lines.

The Starlight may have a powerful rig but she’s well suited to short-handed sailing.

But look a little closer and the detail starts to shine through.

Twin (switchable) engine controls for each wheel, two completely independent steering linkages and an independent link for the auto pilot provide four separate means or steering the boat if you include the emergency steering system.

She also has huge aft lockers, provision for several different control line layouts, she can be rigged as a cutter and can take a self-tacking staysail if required.

This is a boat that has been well thought out for most eventualities and configurations.

Below deck and construction

Doing battle in the production market has never been an option for Bowman, who have preferred instead to stick with their reputation for semi­-custom building.

The new Bowman Starlight 46 is no different and is a good example of how the company have managed to combine their wealth of experience in bluewater detailing with a modern performance hull form.

Although the performance aspect is new territory for them, when it comes to the basic build, there is little difference between this new model and the build of a rugged Bowman 48DS.

The longitudinal galley has plenty of stowage space.

Bowman may always produce their own plugs, but all their hulls are moulded by Northshore to a very high standard.

Not even the dark blue hull and a low winter sun could high­light any unevenness in the hull; this is quality right from the start.

During the fit-out the only areas to utilise any additional moulding are the heads, beyond this every bulkhead, longitudinal and transverse member is glassed into the hull.

The interior is thoughtfully finished throughout.

This method of construction takes time, but Bowman insist on sticking to their principles. And there are plenty of other examples of such high standards.

The rudder shaft has stainless Edson bearings, the prop shaft is supported in a full-length moulded-in shaft log to provide the best possible support – this is a shaft that is aligned for life, no matter what the prop might encounter.

The interior displays an impressive level of detail.

The rudder is mounted on a half-skeg, with a solid-looking and beautifully built bronze unit providing the bottom bearings for the rudder blade.

The keel is bolted to a moulded stub with 11 bolts and the cockpit drains exit below the waterline to avoid streaks on the hull topsides.

Whether you look at the heavy-duty engineering or the fine detailed design work, both are impressive, as is the consistently high quality of build.

As far as accommodation layout is concerned, you can have whatever you like.

According to Bowman boss Charles Maunder, a healthy chunk of the time at the beginning of the build process is tied up with developing the layout and specification with the owner.

The result on boat No I was a beautifully built, robust layout finished in American cherry.

This boat was designed for two families to share, with the option to sail together from time to time, so four cabins were required.

The Starlight has a huge chart table.

On the other hand, boat No 2 has just two double cabins and a completely different layout for the galley and navigation station.

The bottom line is that building to these standards takes time and Bowman plan to build around six or these boats a year.

Under Way

Unlike the current crop of popular deck saloon cruisers of a similar length, the Bowman Starlight 46 does not have a dedicated engine room, preferring instead to position the engine beneath the lower companionway step. The result was that it was noisier under engine than you might expect.

The Bowman Starlight 46 is fitted with a two-bladed MaxProp which was thought to be over-pitched which contributed to the vibrations.

Setting this aside and given that the Startlight 46 did not have bow thrusters, it was easy to handle under engine. And Light enough to respond quickly to the throttle ahead and astern and having tight enough turning circles to get you out or trouble. Little cause for complaint here.

Under sail, the Bowman Starlight 46 was well balanced, responsive and gave the impression of being able to be pushed hard without causing the helmsman too much stress.

Not only can you sit further and more comfortably to weather (or leeward) thanks to the twin wheels, but the helm feels direct and crisp without being too lively.

This is no mean achievement – in my experience, the complexity of such an arrangement means there are more builders who get it wrong than get it right.

But there’s more to praise than the feel on the helm. We tested the Bowman Starlight 46 in 17-32 knots true and even in the strong gusts she remained sure­footed and easy to keep on track.

Most of the time she seemed happy to cruise effortlessly at 9-10 knots, making her a fast and easy passage maker.

First published in the February 2001 issue of YW.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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Is the Beneteau Oceanis 473 just another average white boat? On the face of it, yes.

But as I eased the throttle forward and her engine revs climbed there was a hint that we were about to experience something quite different.

At the risk of sounding like a motoring mad teenager who judges a car’s top speed by how far round the needle goes.

I have to admit to being impressed by the Beneteau Oceanis 473 before we put the sails up.

At 3.000rpm most boats engines would be running out of puff as the increase in boat speed started to tail off.

The Beneteau Oceanis 473, however. was bowling along at 8 knots.

The handsome Beneteau Oceanis 473 offers plenty of space with a pleasing sailing performance and a turn of speed under engine worthy of a powerboat

By 3.500rpm you’d normally need a Ventol in inhaler to gel any more out of the engine but the Beneteau Oceanis 473 was just getting into her stride and upped the pace to 9 knots.

By the time we hit full throttle at 4,400rpm the engine’s turbo was whistling away.

The bow had come up by about 5°, the stern squatted in the water like a badly trained dog in the park.

And the boat speed had hit a staggering 10.5 knots.

Even more amazing was that she seemed happy to keep this up all day if required while remaining quiet and smooth.

All this from just a 78hp engine. There has to be a catch.

Bringing her off the plane I began to put her through a few manoeuvres.

Once again she responded well, her large three-bladed fixed prop and a good traditional shaft drive dragging her back end wherever you felt like putting it.

And with very little lag on the engine she was one of the easiest mid 40-footers I’d handled under power.

With an optional bow thruster fitted and an ability to power astern at speeds that could sink most boats. there should be lit tic reason to get caught out.

But this is a sailing boat and I had a suspicion that such sparkling performance under power might be providing some form of compensation for a lacklustre performance under sail.

If this were true, our light breeze of 8-10 knots would highlight any shortcomings. But first a few details.

Above and below decks of the Beneteau Oceanis 473

The Oceanis 473 is huge.

Once you’ve managed to scramble up the topsides and climb aboard (portable gunwale-hung steps would be a good idea), the first thing you notice is the ample beam, which seems to run right back to the transom.

The result is a vast cockpit area.

A beam carried well aft provides a large cockpit, an impression increased by the twin steering wheels rather than a single large wheel.

Nestling in each after-quarter are the two wheels separated by a walk through passage­way to the transom.

There’s a stainless steel bracing bar mounted in the cockpit, which also provides the mounting bracket for the cockpit table, neatly stowed in one of the many cockpit lockers.

For an aft cockpit boat her on-deck stowage is pretty good, with several amply proportioned lockers – on our test boat one or these had a generator fitted in it.

The primary winches are just forward of the twin wheels in a position that both the helmsman and crew can access comfortably.

The rig is manageable, with a wide chainplate base ensuring good support for the mast and two sets of aft-swept spreaders.

Layout is standard but spacious.

In fact, my only real criticism was my familiar old chestnut of the mainsheet positioned out of reach of the helmsman.

A detail which could have prevented a harmless but textbook windward broach later on during the test.

Elsewhere she’s a simple, practical boat with no fancy under deck leads for control lines.

Instead, control lines arc out for all to see and grab rails are of the chunky teak type.

Deck lights provide plenty of illumination and add to a feeling of space.

Her foredeck looks a little cluttered, with seven forward-facing low-profile deck hatches between the mast and forestay.

Presumably these make up for the lack of dorades in this area.

And she has bulwarks. albeit fairly low but still big enough to provide a firm foot brace.

Below decks there is a familiar Bcneteau layout: large saloon with an ample galley and navigation station slotted just in front of the main head.

The forward-facing chart table is competent.

The forward cabin is a standard double with ensuite head.

Perhaps the real point of interest is the hugely spacious double cabins aft – hardly surprising given her beam.

Other layouts provide either a two – or a four – cabin version.

Under way

To deal with the negatives first, she has a heavy helm which at times lacks the kind of feel you might expect on a boat of this size.

The reason seems to lie in the twin wheel arrangement, which adds friction to the system.

Having said that, you quickly get used to her slightly dulled feel and as the speed increases this is less of an issue.

And to my surprise, that was it on the debit side.

From the minute you set sail she’s off, ready to accelerate at the hint of an extra puff but well mannered with it.

There’s plenty of workspace in the galley.

In 8-1 0 knots or breeze she was clocking over 7.6 knots on a tight reach and slipping along hard on the wind at around 5.5 knots.

Downwind in such light breezes she lacked the fizz she had shown upwind but few could blame her for that.

This Groupe Finot design is a cruiser and will never challenge that more pumped up racer-cruiser, the Beneteau First 47.7.

Nevertheless, pop up the cruising chute and she’s off again.

In breezes of 10-15 knots she simply accelerates quicker, regularly bowling a long at 10 knots plus in stronger puffs.

The island berth up into the bows is comfy.

The cockpit may be spacious but the stainless crash bar-cum-table mount works well.

While the cockpit coamings are deep enough to provide security without making each trip to the cockpit feel like an assault on Annapurna’s south face.

For those who prefer to be higher up, the coamings are angled slightly outboard, making her comfortable here as well.

Conclusion

Having been taken by surprise from the minute we left the dock, I believe this is one of Beneteau’s best cruisers for years.

At a basic price of £116,515 ex VAT for the 78hp version, the Oceanis 473 is very good value for money.

But then she has to be as there are other boats breathing down her neck; Jeanneau’s Sun Odyssey 45.2, the Bavaria 47 and the Grand Soleil 46.3 are just three like­-sized cruisers with a similar performance.

For anyone seriously in the market it will be a tough decision and my best advice is to make sure you sail all four.

And be sure to give them the gun under engine, too.

First published in the June 2002 issue of YW.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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In the six America’s Cup regattas that I’ve now be present at and covered it’s never been daylight when I’ve written the final race piece. Today is no different.

As the celebrations kick off, no matter how neutral you may be, it’s the hardest night of the gig to write a piece with the noise, booze and bustle going on all around.

It’s fantastic and of course an absolute privilege to be here to witness it in any Cup cycle, let alone in these challenging times. We might have been here for four months, but that fact is not lost on anyone.

Today was an emotional day for all. The pressure of not knowing whether this one is the day when aspirations are realised and dreams crushed is as real for those ashore as it is for the teams afloat. And when the day could be defined by one race, the pressure raises exponentially.

Then add some uncertainty over whether the weather will play ball and everyone gets the jitters. There’s no mistaking it as the banter becomes more frantic wherever you are.

But what a race today. What a way for the Kiwis to finally stamp their authority onto the Cup.

Article continues below…

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This time they delivered a superb, confident start, set off for the side of the course they had won, took no risks in letting the Italians get the upper hand before lighting the blue touch paper and setting off like a rocket, leg by leg.

Ironically such a powerful performance will have helped the Italians to come to terms with their loss. For 25 of the 36 Cup matches the loser has failed to get a single point on the board allowing them time to get used to the idea that they would not be holding the Auld Mug above their heads.

A tight battle between Defender and Challenger of Record

Only six have scored one point and now it is only 5 that have scored more than 1 race win.

So with Luna Rossa Prada putting three wins to their name, for a few moments their Cup dream looked like a possibility.

In particular, the previous day they had sailed an immaculate race in a slower boat and made one mistake with just over a leg to go, simple as that.

But despite looking the business and doing complete justice to Italian chic, their boat was slower, less potent and ultimately unable to hold back a machine that many reckon still has more to give.

And as the Kiwis got their heads around how to handle their boat against live opponents rather than the chase boat they had been dancing with for the previous two months, they had found the final piece of the puzzle – Dealing with an opponent.

They didn’t need to start that well so long as they could find a passing lane, which is what they did time and again.

But in the final race of the 36th America’s Cup they delivered a polished performance.

With lockdown levels reduced to Level 1, fans could return to the race village

So for now, as the headaches subside from last night’s party under the boat and in the yard that has had its doors firmly locked to the outside world, we know that the America’s Cup remains with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

There’s going to be more news on its way shortly I’m sure when we get confirmation of what we expect will be an announcement about the UK’s Royal Yacht Squadron being the Challenger of Record for the 37th America’s Cup.

But for now, that’s a wrap on the Cup.

Thanks for all of your support, it’s been great fun both producing the content and getting all your kind feedback.

I’m now available for hire for the next gig!

You can read all of Matthew Sheahan’s America’s Cup reports on his website: planetsail.org.

The post America’s Cup: Matthew Sheahan’s final day report from Auckland appeared first on Yachting World.