Domination of Juan Kouyoumdjian designs
We express our gratitude to Donan Raven for the translation of this text (French to English)
http://sailingtrivia.ravenyachts.fr/
The 72nd edition of the Sydney-Hobart race has been a
complete success for the Juan Kouyoumdjian design studio, both in corrected
time and elapsed time. Perpetual Loyal
set a new record of 1 day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds, breaking the
previous record of 1 day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds held by Wild Oats XI since 2012; An impressive gain of 4 hours, 51
minutes and 52 seconds. In corrected time, Perpetual
Loyal arrived in second place.
Perpetual Loyal,
ex Rambler 100 ex Speedboat, had been
purchased by Australian accountant and yachtsman Anthony Bell, who had
previously won line honours in the 2011 edition of the Sydney Hobart race,
narrowly beatingWild Oats XI by 3
minutes and 8 seconds on another boat, Investec
Loyal, ex Maximus, a 2005 Greg Eliott
& Clay Oliver design.
This Kouyoumdjian design, launched in 2008, seemed really
extreme at launch; Half her displacement is located in her canting keel, which
can be rotated to windward. This year, Anthony Bell hired Olympian gold
medalist Tom Slingsby as his relief helmsman and co-skipper, as well as
navigator Tom Addis, and the following crew: Tony Mutter, P. Arrarte, R.
Sutherland, B. Kellett, J. Clougher, E. Molan, A. Mons, M. Parker, T. Oxley, J.
Flannery, N. Dana, C. Nicholson, P. Caligeros, J. Akacich, A. Pratt, C. Maxted
and J. Winning.
In corrected time, the Tattersall Cup was handed to Giacomo, ex Groupama 4 (winner of the 2012 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race),
acquired in 2013 by New Zealander Jim Delagat, owner of the Delagat Wine
Estate. She arrived in Hobart in second place on elapsed time, less than two
hours behind Perpetual Royal and
ahead of the previous record held by Wild
Oats XI. The yacht had arrived in sixth position in 2013.
Scallywag
ex-Ragamuffin 100 was third across
the finish line, just 2 minutes and 10 seconds behind Giacomo, and sixth on corrected time. The Ragamuffin yachts are an intricate part of Australian yachting
history; Their owner Syd Fisher has taken part in the Sydney Hobart race 46
times, and earned countless prizes since the first Ragamuffin in 1968.
Designed by Andrew Dovell, Ragamuffin 100 is first and foremost a compromise yacht,
competitive in all weather conditions, including light winds. Her hard-chine
bilged hull is not exceedingly wide, features a short and flat waterline, as
well as water ballasts to adjust heel angle and pitch angle. Her new owner Seng
Huang Lee, from Hong Kong, hired skipper David Witt and his crew to sail the
yacht in this year's race.
Wild Oats XI, always
slippered by Mark Richards, was not able to complete the course this year
because of hydraulic keelram problems, despite leading the fleet at Flinders
Island, north of Tasmania. Launched just three weeks ahead of her inaugural
Sydney-Hobart race in 2005, Wild Oats XI
was able to dominate all her opponents in her first season. Since then she has
collected enough silverware to appear invincible: ten Sydney-Hobart line
honours, amongst which two trebles (winning both Illingworth and Tattersall
Cups as well as setting new records) Since 2005 she has undergone continuous
appendage modifications to improve her performance: originally a
canting-ballast-twin-foil, her forward canard was removed, she was fitted with
two midship daggerboards as well as a bow centerboard and a horizontal lateral
retractable foil amidships in 2013. She underwent a complete hull surgery at
the McConaghy yard in 2015, where she was topped 10 metres at the bow and
tailed 2 metres at the stern in order to sleeken her waterlines and deepen her
bow. Her bowsprit was lengthened by 75cm in order to carry up to 600sqm of
light wind head sails. The horizontal foils were removed this year to save
weight, as they were no longer deemed efficient with the new bow. The new lines
of Wild Oats XI feature a hull with a
slightly more rounded bilge, flaring topsides, an extremely sleek and narrow
waterline (4.10m). Notably, the centerline of this narrow hull barely changes
as the yacht heels, allowing for excellent upwind capability.
CQS
ex-Nicorette III, ex-Aapt, ex-YuuZoo, ex-Tokolosh VI,
was designed by Simonis Voogd Yacht Design in 2004 with a 90 foot length. She
was redesigned and lengthened to 100 feet by New Zealand naval architect Brett
Bakewell-White in 2016. Although the original Nicorette III was already an innovator thanks to her canting keel, CQS innovates again with a few original
innovations: Her reverse tumblehome bow resembles that of AC45 catamarans. Her
faired shroud outriggers widen the yacht from a 4.70m beam to 7.35m. A forward
centerboard and horizontal foils amidships were fitted to the yacht and the
deck now features an overhanging ledge on either side of the stern, for a
better righting moment when the crew is hiked. Please find detailed plans on
the team's dedicated website:
http://www.bigboatracing.com/about-boat
In November, CQS took line honours and set a new record at
the Royal Akarana Yacht Club's Round White Island Race. However, due to
problems hydraulics and foils already at
the start line, CQS only finnished in
seventh place, and 63rd overall, but seems determined to take part in the race
next year.
François Chevalier
Boat specifications
Perpetual Loyal
ex-Rambler 100, ex-Speedboat
100ft IRC supermaxi
Sloop
Yacht designer: Juan Kouyoumdjian
Shipyard: Cookson Boats, Auckland, NZ
Date of launch: April 17th, 2008
Length of Hull: 30.48m
Load Waterline Length: 29.99m
Beam: 7.35m
Draught: 6.22m
Air Draught: 47.00m
Bowsprit length: 5.00m
Displacement: 30.6 metric tonnes
Water ballast: 8,000L
Mainsail area: 375sqm
Upwind sail area: 660sqm
Maximum downwind sail area: 1,340sqm
Giacomo
ex-Groupama 4
Volvo Open 70
Sloop
Designer : Juan Kouyoumdjian
Shipyard: Multiplast, Vannes, France
Date of launch: May 16th, 2011
Length of Hull: 21.50m
Waterline Length: 21.50m
Beam: 5.70m
Draught: 4.50m
Air draught: 31.60m
Bowsprit: 2.00m
Displacement: 14 metric tonnes
Ballast: 7.4 metric tonnes
Upwind sail area : 315sqm
Maximum downwind sail area: 675sqm
Scallywag
ex-Ragamuffin 100
100ft IRC supermaxi
Sloop
Designer: Andrew Dovell
Shipyard: Cookson Boats, Auckland, NZ
Date of launch: December 2nd, 2014
Length of Hull: 30.48m
Waterline Length: 28.65m
Beam: 5.78m
Draught: 5.65m
Air draught: 45.40m
Bowsprit: 4.55m
Displacement: 32 metric tonnes
Water ballast : 6,000L
Mainsail area: 375sqm
Upwind sail area: 610sqm
Maximum downwind sail area: 1,300sqm
Wild Oats XI
100ft IRC supermaxi
Sloop
Designer: Reichel/Pug
Shipyard: McConaghy Boats, Sydney, Australia
Date of christening: December 2nd, 2005
Length of Hull: 30.48m
Waterline Length: 30.48m
Beam: 5.10m
Draught: 5.94m
Air draught: 44.00m
Bowsprit: 3.50m
Displacement: 32 metric tonnes
Mainsail area: 390sqm
Upwind sail area: 630sqm
Maximum downwind sail area: 1,400sqm
