as Volvo Ocean race ceO Knut frostad announced the new boat for

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as Volvo Ocean race ceO Knut frostad
announced the new boat for the 2014-15
race, the details read like a dream ticket
wish-list. Who wouldn’t want the boat that
he described? Matthew Sheahan
lifts the lid.
farr yacht design
Talking Technical
A
t 65ft LOa the new
machines will be shorter
than the current Volvo Open 70s
yet faster, more reliable, robust and
affordable. at around €4.5 million
each they will cost 30 per cent
less with reduced running costs
to match. the new design is also
guaranteed to be competitive for at
least the next two events. But, for
many, the big surprise was that the
next generation would be a strict
one-design, from the board of farr
yacht design, a first for the race
and a radical move that frostad
and his team believe will see a
bigger fleet in 2014.
“there were a number of
objectives in developing the new
boat,” he explained. “the first was
to have a minimum of eight boats
on the start line of the next race.
the next was to lower the cost of
entry for teams, but we still wanted
to be true to the dna of the race.
We want high performance boats
that are kings of the ocean and
capable of breaking records.
“a one-design helps to reduce
the overall cost of the boat, but
this approach can also influence
other areas such as shore support
and the availability of spare parts,”
he continued. “We have also
designed a boat for the media. the
footage broadcast from the boats
continues to be a very important
part of the race and the deep, well
protected cockpit not only makes
life more comfortable for the crew,
but it provides somewhere secure
for the Media crew Member
(McM) to interview on deck, which
addresses one of the issues with
the current boats.”
so how have the rule makers
achieved this apparent design
nirvana?
One of the clues lies in the
canting keel. While the new boat’s
hull is 5ft shorter than the current
breed, her keel will be 200mm
deeper which, when swung out
to 40 degrees, the same angle
as currently allowed, will help to
generate relatively more righting
moment for her size and hence
more power aboard a boat that is
over three tonnes lighter.
the sail configuration provides
another indication as to the
thinking behind the design. given
that the boat is smaller it is of
no surprise that the mast will be
correspondingly shorter, but the
sail wardrobe has also shrunk to
just seven, down from 10. among
the sails to be scrubbed is the
large overlapping g1 as well as the
loose luffed a2 gennakers. aboard
the new boat many of the foresails
will be mounted on furlers, which
will help to reduce the physical
demands on the crew, where the
numbers have also gone down
from the current nine to eight plus
an McM, although female teams
will be allowed an additional
two crew.
and so the logic continues.
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14 • LIFE AT THE EXTREME
14.15.16.17.18.19.indd 14-15
LIFE AT THE EXTREME • 15
25/7/12 09:12:27
Talking Technical
16 • LIFE AT THE EXTREME
14.15.16.17.18.19.indd 16-17
“
ian rOMan/VOLVO Ocean race
We’re super enthusiastic about the
challenge we have in front of us. it’s a big
challenge but i think we’re well suited to meet
it, and we’re really excited to be part of it.
We’ve been involved in the Volvo Ocean race
and the Whitbread round the World
race for over 20 years and it’s
a great honour to be part
of what’s considered
going forward.
”
PatricK shaughnessy
to involve a third-party engineer to
review the structure of the boats
you might have thought that we
would be reluctant. But the truth is,
we couldn’t be happier. this isn’t
about keeping secrets, it’s about
the safety of people. no one wants
boats to break.”
Building an identical fleet of
technically advanced expensive
boats is also a challenge both
financially and from a one-design
point of view. here the answer
has been to adopt a similar build
concept to airbus and utilise a
consortium of companies led by
green Marine Ltd (england) and
including Multiplast (france),
Persico s.p.a. (italy) and decision
s.a. (switzerland) to spread the
workload.
“the boats will be assembled
and sold by green Marine from
components that the other
companies produce,” said
frostad. “the arrangement will
allow us to produce a completed
boat every seven weeks from June
next year.”
and for those who question
whether a one-design could still
deliver boats at the leading edge,
frostad had a simple reply.
“the boat that we will have
will be as advanced or more than
we have ever had. this is a highly
developed, high performance
boat. in deciding on our approach
we had to choose between high
technology or boats that were all
slightly different. We decided that
having a high performance, high
technology boat was the most
important factor for the race.”
there is still no doubt that in
choosing a one-design for an
extreme race, the bar has been set
very high. But the logic that has
been applied suggests that the
next generation of Volvo boats will
indeed be dream machines.
Frostad
targets new
frontiers
seahorse international sailing editor Andrew Hurst talks to
Volvo Ocean race ceO Knut frostad about identifying the way
forward for a classic ocean contest where improving costefficiencies means a lot more than simply slashing operating costs.
Value for each sponsor dollar is the key.
A
How the new one-design compares with the volvo open 70
nEw CLASS
voLvo opEn 70
LEngTH
19.80 M (65 ft)
21.50 M (70.5 ft)
bEAM
5.60 M
5.70 M
MAX dRAFT
4.70 M
4.50 M
boAT wEIgHT
10,750 Kg
14,000 Kg
RIgHTIng MoMEnT (RM 25)
InCLudIng STACkIng And wb
33,000 Kg/M
40,000 Kg/M
CAnT AngLE
40
40
RIg HEIgHT
30.30 M (99.4 ft)
31.50 M (103.3 ft)
FREEboARd AT MAST
1.72 M
1.60 M
MAInSAIL AREA
151 M2
175 M2
woRkIng HEAdSAIL AREA
135 M2 (J1)
200 M2 (g1)
bowSpRIT LEngTH
2.15 M (7 ft)
1.82 M (6 ft)
nuMbER oF SAILS InCLudIng SToRM SAILS
7
10
wATER bALLAST
1 x 1000L (centerLine, fWd)
2 x 800L (aft Wing tanKs)
1 x 1600L (centerLine, aft)
PauL tOdd/VOLVO Ocean race
“for its size the new boat
has relatively higher freeboard,”
explained Pat shaughnessy,
president of farr yacht design.
“We have given the cabin top
more height and increased its
width so that it goes out to the
sail stack. the combination of the
two factors means that we hope
to reduce the amount of water
coming on deck and then prevent
what does from running back to
the cockpit between the stack and
the cabin.
“the companionway access
has two doors which means that
we have been able to centralise
the machinery space inside the
boat and set up the winch pedestal
drive system to be arranged
longitudinally down the centreline
of the boat.
“Moving the sails in and out
of the boat is also made easier by
using twin companionway hatches
so that sails can be stowed directly
into bays below without getting
caught up on pedestals. the
cockpit is also deeper.”
yet creating a new high
performance globe trotting onedesign is not without risk. set the
wrong parameters and the whole
fleet has a problem rather than
individual teams.
“it’s a valid point,” replied
shaughnessy. “historically when
you look at one-design boats
there is always a possibility that
if one boat suffers a failure then
the whole fleet will suffer, but if
you manage your risks well you
can deliver reliability in a fleet.
this class will always be more
susceptible to damage because of
the environment that they operate
in and the aggressive manner in
which they are sailed.
“We’re not pursuing an
unbreakable boat, but what we are
doing is trying to achieve a greater
reliability than we have now.
“We have opened ourselves
up to significantly more scrutiny
than we have done in the past and
when Volvo said that they wanted
The New One-Design
s Knut frostad
happily surveyed the
20,000-strong crowd gathered
in galway the evening before the
boats arrived, the Volvo Ocean
race ceO was in relieved mood.
the format for the next two races
was in the public domain, the first
objections had been aired and it
was time to move on to the detail.
“as a start point we looked hard
at the current event,” says frostad.
“We have been pretty happy with
how the stopovers have worked,
and at the big improvements in the
media model, but we know we have
to increase the size of the fleet and
set ourselves a minimum of eight
boats for 2014.
“Once we accepted six boats
was our lot for this race, we got
on and worked hard with what we
had. there were problems. With six
boats you are much too vulnerable
to damage. Leg 1 and then Leg 5
to Brazil were tough for that. But we
still ended up with a fantastic race,
a true global sporting contest.”
today’s teams spent €20-30m
and frostad’s objective is for a
winning campaign in 2014-15 to be
possible for €12-15m. introducing
the new one-design concept will
contribute to a halving of the cost.
“that’s still a lot of money,”
concedes frostad, “but it’s spread
over 30-months and there’s every
reason to believe that for the first
time, boats will remain competitive
for two or more events.”
the gestation of the new boat
raised a few eyebrows among
those on the outside who expected
a more transparent process. “there
was no open tender, rather we set
extremely clear parameters for what
we had to achieve, starting with the
minimum fleet size; from that we
defined five different approaches.
“these included a design
freeze of the Volvo Open 70,
modifying the rule, and a
multihull. We invested heavily
in each approach, starting last
LIFE AT THE EXTREME • 17
25/7/12 09:12:30
Marc Bow/Volvo Ocean Race
The New One-Design
autumn and took each to quite an
advanced level. For the one-design,
for example, we needed to identify
a team that would deliver 8-10 of
the best possible boats in a tight
timeframe. One-design experience
was vital for that.
“We tested each strategy with
the current sponsors and it became
clear that only a one-design would
allow us to meet our objectives. By
the time the decision was made
in May 2012, we were well down
the chosen path. I believe we have
made good choices and we will
have a great boat.”
Frostad and his team have
put in place working groups
covering speed development, build
development, systems etc, and
each group has one representative
from each of the current teams.
“These will be good boats with
a lot of thought behind them. Given
the demands of creating such a
boat as a true one-design, they
may actually be more sophisticated
than the current boats. We are
incorporating the best bits from the
Open 60s and Volvo Open 70s,
and for one-design aspects we
also looked closely at boats like the
MOD 70s, RC44s and AC45s,”
Frostad says.
“Once the boats are sailing we
will still be working hard to keep
down costs. We have not yet made
a decision about multi-boat teams,
but there will be no more giant
test programmes; and if a team is
allowed two boats both will have
to race, and race properly. That is
non-negotiable.
“Rigs are still being discussed.
A decision on whether to go with
a single sail supplier is being
debated. If there are to be multiple
suppliers there will be tighter
controls on sails than ever in this
race... and that drew enough
complaints.”
18 • LIFE AT THE EXTREME
14.15.16.17.18.19.indd 18-19
The big sponsors
need a global
event, which
delivers a global
audience.
In a changing and challenging
world, balancing the 39year heritage of the race with
commercial reality is key.
“By taking the race back to
Auckland we have gone some way
in that direction; with maybe half
of the original Southern Ocean
mileage. But, to be honest, I do not
believe the race will ever go back to
how it was 20 years ago. The world
has changed, sailing has changed
and this event must change with it.
“Many traditional enthusiasts
objected to the current course;
but I would challenge them to have
seen the crowds in Sanya and Abu
Dhabi and tell me that this is still
a bad thing. More countries are
getting into sailing and we cannot
stay stuck in the past. Today in
Galway there are 42 accredited
Chinese journalists! From the UK
we have five... Is that a bad thing? I
don’t think so.
“Sure, it is tricky to race to
China, to the Middle East, even
to the United States. But it is
still about tactics, strategy and
boatspeed. It’s still sailing.
“Set against this is the high
level of satisfaction from current
sponsors and teams, and I expect
at least three of them to return,
which would set a new record in
terms of returning teams. The big
sponsors need a global event,
which delivers a global audience.”
How important then is the need
to retain the sailing audience, while
at the same time engaging with
a wholly new fan base? In Itajaí
260,000 people visited the race
village. Many were interested in
sailing, but very few had a boat of
their own. Are they sailing fans?
“I would argue that if we are
serious about expanding sailing,
then we need to look far beyond
our current audience,” says Frostad
firmly.
“There is a generational shift
taking place. The majority of those
playing the Volvo Ocean Race
Game and visiting our website
are interested in sailing, but most
are younger than the established
audience – many of whom are
now unlikely to change. And we
are recording nearly five-times
the online hits compared with the
previous race.
“We also must account for the
difference in our funding model
compared with other technical
sports. In Formula 1, for example,
the companies mostly involved use
technical advances to improve a
commercial product. CAMPER
make shoes and they want to
sell more footwear. Therefore
we have to offer them a wider
and bigger audience. They have
no use for developments in
daggerboard technology. One of
the points made most frequently by
current sponsors is that although
the technology of the race is
interesting, for them it has
little or no commercial value.”
Raising the profiles of the
crews, whose race around the
world is key to drawing in a
global audience, is of paramount
importance to Frostad and the
change to a one-design boat can
only be positive in this process.
“We began to see this at the
new stopovers. When people
had less knowledge of the boats,
they focused on the people. We
intend to accelerate that process,”
explains Frostad.
Given the exciting future ahead,
will the Norwegian with four
appearances in the Volvo Ocean
Race under his drysuit be sticking
to the desk job for another two
editions of the race that has taken
over his life, or will on the water
challenges be too hard to resist?
“I do enjoy working in this race,
and I want to stay a part of the
biggest change since the launch of
the Volvo Ocean 60 back in 1991.
We have so many great ideas
especially on the communication
and media side and I have plenty to
keep me busy for a while yet.”
Raising the profiles of the crews,
whose race around the world is key
to drawing in a global audience, is of
paramount importance to Frostad.
PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race
LIFE AT THE EXTREME • 19
25/7/12 09:12:33