All things Class40

slug zitski

slug zitski

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Scillyjosh said:
These boats are probably also just pushed really really hard! I reckon in delivery mode they would have all made it fine, it looks like the class 40 sailers can really put there foot down
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Hard to say

the typical philosophy with champion speedsters is don’t step on the gas…don’t break anything

most of those dramatic , pedal to the metal , pictures you see are made for publicity

drop outs can be anything …autopilot, energy storage , sails , rigging

many times they drop out ..to live for another day

a broken mast , even if you have the cash for a new ..could sideline you for a year

difficult , strategic game …
 
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Jono

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The second/third tier of Class 40s are the amateurs living the dream and young guns trying to come through.
Usually older boats, smaller budgets, less fit sailors, less training miles. The early fronts would have been tough if you weren't 100% ready. It looked like a few had preparation problems (esp electrics and auto pilots) that were found out. And a few possibly found the dream didn't match the reality.
 
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38°59'N

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Jono said:
The second/third tier of Class 40s are the amateurs living the dream and young guns trying to come through.
Usually older boats, smaller budgets, less fit sailors, less training miles. The early fronts would have been tough if you weren't 100% ready. It looked like a few had preparation problems (esp electrics and auto pilots) that were found out. And a few possibly found the dream didn't match the reality.
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I haven't looked, back further, but the attrition rate in 2018 was 19/53 against 18/55 in 2022. So, this round wasn't different than the prior round. There is always an element of luck involved and surely that came into play here for some even in less obvious ways than hitting a UFO (as happened to at least one). The difference between the mast staying up or not might be one hard wave impact revealing a hidden flaw that even the best prepared teams can't find.

Still, there were choices to make about those fronts (for example, further south with potentially slightly more moderate conditions) and, even given a routing decision, how hard to push at any moment. Those were tradeoffs in finish times and in risk to the boat and everyone had to make that personal decision.

Some of the prior generation boats had a lot of miles and testing by their current skippers (both amateur and pro) and others had been purchased more recently and had undergone refits without as many miles. It helps to search for and find the weaknesses in boat and sailor. In the new boats, for some at least, there was still learning taking place about how hard to push and what can and can't be done to moderate the stresses on the boats (e.g. more heel in bad sea states to decrease slamming).

The wind in the fronts wasn't horrible, but, in the last one, the sea state was a mess and quite rough and even violent at points. Rough enough to find and expose issues that might not have been uncovered over the summer.

Both the new and more traditional designs are amazing machines and are beautiful to sail. The boats evolve constantly and issues crop up and solutions follow as the next round of evolutions appear. It is a really special class and an amazing learning ground.
 
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huey 2

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Whiskey Jack at the Horn

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Tucky

Tucky

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Brian Harris and Micah Davis from Maine, the first Americans in the Globe 40, are around Cape Horn and over the finish and heading for Ushuaia.
 
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huey 2

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pelagic_racing

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Third edition of the Class 40 newsletter has a nice interview with Andi Robertson and Alex's Mehran's great Route du Rhum performance and an interesting overview of the activity in the vintage category.

"Andi Robertson interviewed British ocean racing legend Mike Golding who joined the class in 2021 and this year alongside the Americans Greg Leonard and Alex Mehran, sailing, coaching and to a greater or lesser extent helping them get the most from their Route du Rhum prep and races. And ace French journalist Aurélia Mouraud caught up with fans of the older Class40s. Speaking to Morgane Ursault-Poupon, Mathieu Claveau and Geoffrey Mataczynski their thoughts are insightful and inspiring in their own ways. And so we end 2022 in a certain style and rock into a winter period when it is time to plan for 2023 and beyond..."
 
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