Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008 - (Page 53)

Can you please tell us what campaigns vice-président the Farr of Farr Yacht Office are involved Design with for the next Volvo Ocean Race? We are working exclusively for a Spanish VOR Challenge. As a team we made the conscious decision to work exclusively with one well-funded team. That choice has allowed us to become fully immersed in the whole of the team and to embark on a significant amount of research and design work. We will be able to continue that dedicated focus around the world to help ensure the best possible result. In this particular team we have a wellshared desire to return to the Volvo Ocean Race and to make an emphatic statement. Patrick Shaughnessy For the next generation, is an increase in performance likely, or is it only a matter of optimising and making the boats more reliable? With each generation of design development, an increase in performance is likely. Because this version of the race is using a very different race course, the wind speed and wind angle focus of the boat has shifted. The difference in the input weather means that a direct comparison between a 2006 race boat and a 2008 race boat doesn’t really tell the whole story. A 2006 race boat in the 2008 race would look very slow, but conversely a 2008 race boat in the 2006 race wouldn’t necessarily look so spectacular. our CFD code was working properly. I don't believe that tank testing can give good answers for this type of boats. CFD is a lot more accurate and as such no design decisions were made based on tank results. What changes will there be to the VO70s because of modifications to the rules? Unfortunately it has made them more expensive because the rule has been tightened, particularly around the keel. The cheapest and most efficient Rules are the ones that remain very open, the perfect example is the Open 60' Rule. I hope that Volvo understands that the next race should be done in Open 60's. No doubt, the new course, where there are likely to be long stretches of light airs, has also had an influence? The new route is a bit of a myth because it has not been confirmed yet, there is a clear intention but VEMUK [Volvo event management UK] can change this if they want. Also they have not yet confirmed the point scoring, which greatly complicates things. In fact, they have published an NOR, but it has changed so much since that it has become irrelevant. But to answer your question, the next race seems like lighter winds, particularly as El Nino can play a big role here. (Editor’s note: This is a strong maritime current, which regularly appears along the coast of Peru, on average twice every ten years. The first indication is a strengthening of the SE’ly winds – which leads to a buildup of warm water in the Western pacific. As soon as these winds ease off, the warm water moves into the Eastern Pacific, and the phenomenon begins – a temporary, yet intense weakening of the highpressure area centred over the mid-Pacific, and lighter SE’ly trade winds. This is a very simplified analysis of what happens…) Juan Kouyoumdjian ©S. Collison/PumaOceanRacing genius to work out that it is the Spanish team, Alicante – which has officially announced the participation of two boats, without giving the name of the designer. There will also be two boats representing Ericsson… at least that is what we had expected – as Juan Kouyoumdjian, working exclusively for the Swedish team, revealed to us that this option was no longer the one they were working towards! Here is what the designers had to say… What will the next generation of boats bring compared to the previous one? Any rule as it matures brings a focus of boat concept and a refinement around a smaller rule area. The Volvo Open 70 rule is the same, especially with a smaller displacement range and the tighter restriction on appendage configurations. The general public will see boats that look conceptually similar to the last fleet. However the trained eye will be able to spot significant refinement in all aspects of the boat. We have started our work with a clean sheet of paper and have focused a significant amount of energy on every aspect of the boat. (in comparison to the 2005-06 edition). When the product of our work is unveiled it will be easy to see that we have left no stone unturned. Those changes by themselves do little to shift the intended design space and instead primarily tighten the rule space around the existing fleet. The changes to the race course have had a much more significant impact on our work because they alter the matrix of wind speeds and angles that the boat will be required to excel in. Ericsson’s research campaign has been very Ericsson impressive in Racing Team terms of simulation tests. Can you give us some of the details about them? We perform a race simulation for every candidate boat/appendage, which consists in routing such candidates in all legs using a weather and current database of 15 years. On top of this we simulate 31 starts of every leg 15 days before and after the schedule date plus, of course, the schedule date. This gives 15*31=465 simulations for each candidate. We've tested over 100 candidates, so something around 50,000 simulations. Unfortunately this does not mean much because it is fully dependent on the quality of the candidates. We could have simulated 50,000 losing boats and it would have been a waste. On the other hand, if we've done our job properly, then this certainly helps make more intelligent decisions. You have been working at the DGA tank test centre in Val de Reuil. How many hulls have you tested? We tested 3 hulls in VDR at the very beginning to make sure Ocean Racing - december 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008

Cover
Edito
Contents
What they said
News
Portfolio - The news in the picture
Transat Jacques Vabre - Monohulls in power
In the words of the skipper - Michel Desjoyaux, A little bit more
Barcelona World Race - A couple sailing around the world
Imoca - Growth crisis in the Imoca class
Transat 6.5 - A whole series of records
Mini Class - Anatomy of a winner
Multihulls - What sort of trimarans tomorrow ?
Volvo Ocean Race - Second generation
Trials - Mach 45 : an unusual IRC
Match Racing - King Richard
Tactics - A good start
Portrait - Jacques Caraës
Lab - Tubular or wing mast ?
Forty years ago - Chichester, the lonely sea and the sky
Equipment - Shop window
New products - From the drawing board to the boatyard
Opinion - The mirage of worshipping technology

Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008