Cautious Confidence - VOR Iberdrola In-Port Race

10:27 AM 0 Comments


Yesterday was the opening in port race of the Volvo Ocean race 2011/2012. What looked like a breezy and rainy race day cleared into a relatively soft and partly cloudy day come start time.

Our group on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing absolutely nailed the start mid line. The team was able to hold their lead even though the wind became quite patchy and difficult to navigate near the top of the beat.


What was a narrow lead at the top stretched slightly into a better margin at the bottom of the run. A good change into a masthead 0 for the leg 3 reach gave our boys a bit of a clean exit relative to some of the other teams who had different ideas about their sail call, and were in closer proximity to other boats.

By the top mark of leg three our team had stretched to a near 5 minute lead. The reach back to the finish line saw them pile on the margin to end with a near 14 minute margin of victory.

Although the conditions for the race were certainly patchy, I think you can start to see the cream rising to the top here after several practice races and one real one. Our guys are quietly optimistic and certainly feel good about their preparation and position in the overall race as they head into the “real” start on Saturday.

Yesterday’s inport race win obviously came with some emotion for me. Winning the first one feels fantastic for our whole team after all the hard hours we’ve all put in. Certainly there is a long way to go before feeling completely justified in celebration, but yesterday felt good. Really good. Our team home in Annapolis at FYD deserves to feel good. They’ve put in an enormous effort and deserve to feel very proud. The product of that hard work is innovative and special.

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on that hard work and to thank the whole team. Alon, Bobbi, Britt, Bruce, Bryan, Chris, Emerson, Jennifer, Jim, Keith, Luke, and Russ thank you so much for the incredible work ethic and willingness to make this happen. We wouldn’t be here today if we weren’t such a great team. Take a moment to enjoy this feeling.

Patrick Shaughnessy

 

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Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Gearing up for the Volvo Ocean Race Start - by Britton Ward

4:56 PM 0 Comments


Once again the Mediterranean port city of Alicante is host to the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. Since early October the six competing yachts have been assembled in the port each going through the rigorous scrutineering process required to be issued a valid certificate prior to the start of the race. In between measurement sessions there is a seemingly never ending job list with the army of dedicated shore crew working through the final tweaks to the boat, spars, rigging, canting system, electronics etc. Final race sails are being delivered for all teams and each needs to be hoisted and thoroughly checked before being accepted. Everything is double and triple checked so as to be 100% ready to go by the time the start gun fires on November 5th.
 
I recently returned from a week with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in Alicante. The race village is open and thousands of people are visiting each day to see the boats and visit a number of interactive displays and events about the race. It was my first opportunity to see our competitors so I spent a good deal of my time looking over the other boats trying to assess where their strengths and weaknesses may lie relative to our design choices. Besides competing in the Fastnet race and a short 250 mile qualification passage that was sailed in very light air and used primarily to test race systems and emergency techniques this new fleet of boats has had very few opportunities to go head to head with each other and as a result the strengths and weaknesses of the different teams is still a big question mark. Every team is busy observing each other and trying to handicap the fleet before the start. While the differences amongst the boats are significant the choices in sail design are even more so and that may ultimately be the biggest differentiator in boat performance.

Over the course of the boats design and testing we have worked very closely with the sail designers, navigators and meteorologists in analyzing expected scenarios for the race, and performing detailed weather routing studies using historical weather information to explore the effects of different sail styles and inventories on each leg in expected conditions. This visit provided an opportunity to review this information with a special focus on the recent anti-piracy modifications to Leg 2 and 3 and to consider what implications this has for sail design and sail delivery strategy in the coming months.

In addition to observing the other boats this visit provided an opportunity to check in with the measurement process and to make sure that everything is checked off and all the documentation in order before the race starts. The list of outstanding measurement items has dwindled to a handful that will all be taken care of in the next few days. The number of rules the boat has to comply with and the sheer amount of documentation required to be certified as a Volvo Open 70 is astounding. Throughout the design process we had to monitor the rules and be continuously aware of the requirements as any rework to correct a deficiency could be extremely expensive in both time and dollars and with so little sailing time available any downtime could have a big impact on performance. Fortunately, the measurement of AZZAM has gone without a hitch with the boat hitting every one of our target measurement values with no modifications required.

A week prior to the start of Leg 1 is the first in-port race and that requires its own amount of preparation. Six boats sailing at very high speeds in extremely tight confines will pose a significant test of the crews skills. Starts, mark roundings, short course tactics, spinnaker hoists, gybes and drops and inshore sail selection all have to be practiced and refined to be ready on the day. These maneuvers would be challenging with a crew of 15 or 20 so trying to complete them with a crew of 10 adds a whole new dimension to the racing placing a premium on communication and technique. I was fortunate to spend a few afternoons sailing in a range of conditions with the team while practicing these maneuvers and it is impressive to see how quickly the crew of AZZAM has integrated the inshore skill set into its repertoire.

The team has been meticulously recording data since the boat was launched and we have been working very closely with our navigator Jules Salter to produce the best possible set of polar speed and performance information for the boat. The polar information is displayed on board and utilized in on board routing simulations during the race so the more accurate this information is the better decisions can be made on the race course. This has been a continual process of comparing actual performance under different sail and appendage configurations to our detailed Velocity Prediction Program results and integrating this information to produce refined on board polars. This visit provided an opportunity to review the latest information and look at possible refinements to be completed before the start.

It is always valuable to have the opportunity to see the product of our labors in real life. AZZAM and her crew are ready to go on what may be the most closely contested Volvo Ocean Race ever. We will be closely watching the fleet in the in port race and throughout the first leg to assess our performance and to continue to support the team.

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Sailing on SOJANA at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup by Jim Schmicker

11:11 AM 0 Comments



Every year in the first week of September, the world’s most competitive maxi yachts gather in Porto Cervo, Sardinia for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. For the last two years, SOJANA, the Farr 115’ ketch (design #442) has competed in the supermaxi division against the likes of SAUDADE, VISIONE, NILAYA, HETAIROS and others. This year I was able to join SOJANA in my usual position as mizzen trimmer.

Porto Cervo can serve up a myriad of conditions and this year was no exception. Racing on day 1 was canceled due to winds in excess of 30 knots and on day 2 the winds “moderated” to just 25. For SOJANA, day 2 saw our #3 jib come apart along the leech and foot on the first upwind leg. After more than 2 years of excellent service, the material had reached its limit. Knowing the wind forecast predicted more days of strong winds we needed to recover the sail if there were any chance it could be repaired. By the time we carefully furled the sail and hoisted our staysail we were quite far behind. The same night a group of 7 of us in the crew, led by Andrew Dove and Andy Mitchell, were pressed into service as sailmakers to repair the #3. Laying a strip of Spectra all along the leech may not sound like much work but when the leech is over 38m (124 ft) long it takes a while. The repaired #3 served us well on Thursday, day 3, with the winds still ranging above 20 knots. Friday was a bit frustrating as the easterly sea breeze fought against a north-westerly at the bottom of the course. We were amongst the leaders when all were caught in the transition zone. The others escaped from mere boat lengths away on capricious zephyrs while we sat becalmed. We went from anticipating our best finish of the week to actually achieving our worst. Saturday’s final race was our best under the unique averaged IRC and ORC scoring scheme. Our final result was fifth out of nine.

One of the most enjoyable things for me as a member of the SOJANA crew is participating in the continuous effort to improve the boat both in outright performance and in performance versus handicap. During her next maintenance period a retractable bowsprit will be installed. Spinnaker area will increase nearly 15% and the more forward tack point for the spinnaker (+3.5m) will allow the setting of a spinnaker staysail for even more effective sail area reaching and running. The estimated increase in the IRC rating (+0.012) is limited because the current spinnaker area on SOJANA is below typical norms. The new configuration will be tested in SOJANA’s next race, the Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Cup starting from Tenerife on November 21st.

Attending major sailing events like the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup keeps our team up to date on the latest developments in the maxi yacht classes including trends in owner participation and the desires of the owners and sailors in design features for both winning races and for achieving suitable levels of comfort and style. Staying on top of these trends is essential to continuously improving our designs and keeping FYD at the forefront of maxi yacht design.

Contact Farr Yacht Design at info@farrdesign.com if we can help optimize your boat for future events, or if you would like of our staff to do some regatta sailing with you.



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