Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008 - (Page 56)

VOLVO OCEAN RACE which was all the easier, as we weren’t involved in the last edition. We needed to develop a lot of computer software, and we are learning a lot very quickly." A well known figure in RORC racing circles, Rob Russian Humphreys Challenge has not been involved in the crewed race around the world with stopovers since the Whitbread in 1993 – at that time he was behind the British boat, Dolphin & Youth. Since then, the designer based in Lymington worked on the Kingfisher project in 2000 alongside the OwenClarke team, as well as on the GBR Challenge campaign for the America’s Cup, while working for several yards on series yachts (Elan, Oyster…). Having set up a design team with seven people – including his son, Tom – in order to satisfy the requirements of the Russian, Oleg Zherebtsov (a businessman, who made a fortune in supermarkets), Humphreys admits he hesitated for a while before accepting the job. "A project for a boat that is destined to sail around the world is not something you take on without reflection," he explained. "It is of course very exciting and fascinating, but as soon as the boat is at sea, you’re worried sick. However, I could not turn this down… " Humphreys stresses too that the pressure and the lack of time on this type of project also made him think, to the extent that he already suffered Rob Humphreys ©P. Todd/OutsideImages After being sailed by Mean Machine, the former Pirates of the Caribbean, is now in the hands of the Russian syndicate from that in the 1989 Whitbread. There was only one month in fact between the signature of the contract and the start of the build of the Maxi IOR Rothmans, which gives us an idea about the stress for the designer. "I needed to trust my intuition, and forget everything else," he remembers. Today, with around nine months between the reception of the specifications and the launch, the time frame remains very narrow, and while, as the great talent himself notes, there has been a technological leap (CFD, VPP software etc), which allows certain hypotheses to be easily eliminated, nevertheless you still need to remain prudent as there is practically no limit to what the designer can take time to analyse. As for the next generation of VO70s, "People would be wrong to think that because we are talking about the second generation, there will be no problems (of reliability, editor’s note). Moreover, the new course changes the set up, as there will be a wider range of conditions and that influences the design work." For the moment, the Russian team, led by the skipper Andreas Hanakamp, is training on board the former Pirates of the Caribbean (Farr design), bought from the Mean Machine team, who have thrown in the towel due to lack of funding. Jocelyn Blériot THE MAIN CHANGES TO THE VO70 RULES • maximum keel weight (keel and bulb) : 7.4 tonnes • minimum displacement increased to 13.86 – 14 tonnes (as opposed to 12.5 – 14) • An additional sail rigged to the masthead is allowed • Furlers are allowed – furling systems for headsails • Ban on titanium for the canting keel system • Restrictions concerning the appendage configuration: two daggerboards and one or two rudders • No more spinnaker poles Ocean Racing - december 2007 http://www.atlantiquetempsreel.com

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