Vendee Globe | designer’s perspective

När nu Vendee Globe börjar gå mot sitt slut (Mich Des drar ifrån igen) så är det många som har reagerat på hur mycket båtar som gått sönder. Tydligen är Mike Golding skogstokig då han explicit bett sina konstruktörer och byggare om att saker skall hålla (hellre än att vara superlätt). Vi får väl se vad som händer, men IMOCA har dragit igång diskussioner om hur man går vidare.

Här är intressanta kommentarer från konstruktörerna:

With a fleet of 30 boats on the start-line of the 2008/09 edition of the Vendée Globe, an exciting race was always guaranteed for its many followers. The first half of this race has been no exception. New boats versus old, rock stars versus rookies; sailors determined to win, others with the aim of simply getting round. Those racing on a shoestring, and others with more comfortable budgets.

Whilst the main protagonists are still at sea, we’ve talked to a group of people that have played a crucial role in getting the sailors to where they are today. We have asked the boat designers if recent events in the race have surprised them and if the skippers are pushing their boats too hard? We also hear from Alex Thomson who was forced to retire earlier in the race.

Merf Owen, Owen Clarke Design Group (Designer of Algimouss Spirit of Canada; Aviva; Ecover 3; Temenos II) : Breakages are rarely linked they all have their own causes. If a mast breaks it could be rigging, a tube or a fitting. If a keel is reported as breaking it can also be a generalisation – in Dominique Wavre’s case a fitting on the top of the keel, in other cases in the past a whole keel, or a failure of the hydraulic rams. I’m not at all surprised by the level of breakages and retirements. Historically in the Vendee it runs at around 50%. On this basis we could have a further four or six retirees. You are asking a lot of man and machine just to complete this course, when you turn it into a race at this tempo (particularly at the front) and put only one person on the boat then you have what is the Vendée Globe.

Pascal Conq, Finot-Conq (Designer of Brit Air; DCNS; Génénerali; Hugo Boss ; Akena Véranda; Roxy; Spirit of Weymouth; Aquarelle.com) : I have learnt several lessons from this first half of the Vendée Globe : the boats are going faster, the competition for the front places is more about the boats and who can last the longest..That has introduced an even faster rhythm to this race. In these sorts of conditions, it really is down to where each of the skipper puts himself that makes all the difference and that depends on his state of mind and how he/she wants to control their race. Its not about pushing the boats 100 to their potential. I’m not surprised or worried about the events that have taken place as we all expected lots of retirements. The fact that they are being caused by masts, keels or rudders, is nothing unusual. Right now, it is perfectly normal for them to be pushing themselves at this rate, but it could get worrying if they keep it up for the duration of the race. Stability has not been an issue for this first half of the race. We have to be careful not to draw any hasty conclusions..it is not an issue of stability or durability of these boats, but a question of finding the right balance between maximum performance and durability. Masts have always broken on yachts and in particular on Open 60s where the height and weight of the mast can help with power, but can also be the reason for failure..I am happy with our boats’ intrinsic performance, they’ve shown that they are up there with the best of them..

Simon Rogers, Rogers Yacht Design Ltd (Designer of Artemis) : « The new generation 60 have proved that they need considerably more time to set up and find their speed potential over previous generations. Miles on the water with their skippers are proving critical along with striking a balance between reliability and weight saving. With over a third of the Vendee fleet abandoned with the leaders only half way round the world, reliability is playing its hand and proving that the Vendee is largely still about the sailor. »

Marc Lombard (Designer of Veolia Environnement; VM Materiaux) : « The first lesson I’ve noticed about this race, is that the pace is so fast, as there is more pressure than ever to be actually leading. For now the retirement statistics are as to be expected. And this race started with a big gale in the Bay of Biscay which the last edition didn’t…and the competition in the south wasn’t as intense as this time. The hierarchy is more or less as expected with the old favourites all up there, apart from Seb (Josse), but he was also one of the favourites. The retirements are not surprising at all. Masts always come down as its such a crucial part of the overall performance. A mast that’s too heavy kills a boat’s performance, a mast that’s too light can break. Its durability also depends on how it is treated all the varying conditions and varying wind strengths. There’s no 1 reason for a mast breaking, sometimes its the mechanics, other times the original calculations or overworking the rigging. The only common theme is that it is a sensitive part of a boat ! Another learning is that the extreme boats don’t always pay off which is good news for the longevity of the fleet, boats from 2004 are still up there with the leaders. We know that the wider boats, more powerful boats can go quicker but they come with weight and structural problems.

Alex Thomson, IMOCA Executive Committee member & skipper of Hugo Boss : The Vendee Globe is proving yet again to be the toughest sporting challenge that exists on our planet today. As of today 12 out of 30 competitors have retired from the race with various problems from broken keels, masts, rudders and a serious injury. Is this normal, I hear you say? Well statistically around 50% of the boats don’t make it to the finish and seeing as this is the world’s toughest challenge, it shouldn’t be easy! Great to see the older generation of boats like Veolia, VM Materiaux and Roxy up there at the front of the fleet, proving that individual boats that have been well developed can have a life span of eight years. This is something very rare in yacht racing and suggests that it is more about the skippers than the boats they are sailing in. Time on the water is king as always but you still need a small amount of luck to get through.

Patrick Shaughnessy, President of Farr Yacht Design (Designers of BT; Delta Dore; Foncia; Gitana Eighty; Paprec-Virbac 2; PRB; Cheminées Poujoulat) :

Q : You had 6 new boats and 1 older boat on the startline in this Vendée. How are they matching up to your expectations?
Our expectation is that we provide research and design services that allow our clients to achieve their goals. We been very proud to see a good number of our teams in the top 5 or top 10 boats and at the same time we’ve been devastated by the retirements our teams have experienced. These skippers have so much emotionally invested in a race like this that it is really heart breaking to see all of that work come to a premature ending. Of course in the end we at Farr Yacht Design hope that one of our teams will ultimately win the Vendee Globe race. That said, it feels way too early to be talking about those expectations when the sailors have so much hard work in front of them. So we are fans like everyone else waiting for each position report and always ready in case one of our teams requires our assistance.

Q : How have your new designs compared to old ones and why did you feel the need for this progression?

Certainly the work is in two distinct generations. Design #498 (Virbac 1) was completed with minimal R&D work. The second generation of boats, design #’s 602 (PRB and Foncia), 603 (Gitana and Parec-Virbac), 609 (Delta Dore and BT) were a clear evolution of design #498 but also with about twice the R&D effort applied. The second generation of boats benefited from a better understanding of how the boats are sailed and generally explored more powerful solutions but also with a strong focus on balance and the skippers ability to use as much of the boat as possible. Now we are positioned to make a very big R&D push for our next generation of Open 60 work. We can bring a huge amount of R&D experience and knowledge from our Telefonica VO70 program and have worked to develop a continuation of that work specifically focused on generation 3 of the our Open 60’s. Now would be a very good time to commission a new Open 60 design from FYD because we have the future R&D work clearly planned out and initial work underway.

Q : Are there any surprising aspects to this edition? Is the pressure on even more this time?
Although not particularly surprising, the constant stream of retirements has been a cruel reminder of how hard the race really is. Early estimates were that roughly half of the fleet would be able to complete the race so everyone was clearly prepared for this outcome. To watch it happen has been hard.

Q : Are the skippers pushing too hard and has their non-stop pace lead to some of the disasters?
Presumably each individual failure occurred to date has an explainable cause. After the race has completed perhaps a review and understanding of each of these events will point more to one cause than another. I’m sure that fatigue amongst the skippers will have at least contributed to some of the failures.

The boats are sailed some amount short of 100% potential, an amount which varies depending on crew numbers, or race length, or sea state or some other factors. As designers we predict maximum loads and recommend minimum required breaking strengths for gear and systems and we do that relative to maximum sailing potential. Sailing teams in order to maintain a competitive advantage push for the lightest workable solutions. Those solutions in many cases may erode safety factors placed on equipment or systems because of what was workable in the past. Some solutions may ignore or more importantly not protect against what they consider is an improbable sailing condition. I believe that for the most part these are choices taken with a good understanding of the associated risks. The general trend in the class towards more powerful boats has coincided with phenomenal class growth and the two trends may have combined to produce what appears to be an alarming number of recent failures.