The solo round the world race could be the fastest, fiercest and hairiest yet. Elaine bunting reports.
After solo skipper Sébastien Josse took his boat Groupe Edmond de Rothschild offshore for a photoshoot last year, the video footage went viral. In 25-30 knots of wind, Josse screamed off on a broad reach to show the new foils in action. When his boat rode up on them you could see the whole bow section flying clear of the water then plunging though the tops of waves.
However extreme the experience may have looked, this will be the reality of the Vendée Globe solo round the world race. It will be fast, fierce and at times as pummelling as front row rugby. The IMOCA 60s, always at the leading edge of oceangoing monohull design, have taken another leap forward and when the race begins on 6 November, it could be the ballsiest in its hardcore 27-year history.
A new generation of semi-foiling yachts, five brand new and two refitted older boats, will turbo boost the speed of this race in power reaching conditions and push it to a new level of brute velocity. Some say that in the right conditions these foil-sporting boats are two knots or more quicker.
The new boats, all VPLP/Verdier designs, are Banque Populaire VIII (skipper Armel Le Cléac’h), Safran (Morgan Lagravière), Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse), Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson), St Michel-Virbac (Jean- Pierre Dick) and No Way Back (Peter Heerema). The older boats retro-fitted with foils are Groupe Quéguiner (Yann Elies) and Maître Coq (Jérémie Beyou).
By the finish in January or February next year, we may be witnessing an impressive new record for one man sailing round the world, or a field scourged by damage and catastrophic failure – quite possibly both.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2016 من Yachting World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2016 من Yachting World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
5 EXPERT TIPS BOB BEGGS ON SAILING IN COLD WEATHER
As temperatures drop, Andy Rice gets tips on how to handle the cold from self-confessed Arctic weather fan and winning Clipper Round the World Race skipper Bob Beggs
SPECIAL REPORT EXTENDED CRUISING IN THE BALTIC
Sweden offers cruisers a warm welcome for winter - Janneke Kuysters has advice on how to boost your sailing time in the region
NIKKI HENDERSON
SEARCHING FOR MORE SPEED? BEFORE TINKERING WITH TINY ADJUSTMENTS, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT THE BASICS RIGHT THE POWER DRIVING THE BOAT
MATTHEW SHEAHAN
WHAT WILL THE BOATS OF THE 38TH AMERICA'S CUP LOOK LIKE? THAT'S THE $20 MILLION QUESTION IF BRITAIN OR NEW ZEALAND DECIDE TO DEPART FROM THE AC75
60-knot squalls hit Middle Sea Race
The 45th running of the Mediterranean offshore, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, saw a spectacularly random mix of conditions - even for a race which is famed for its variable weather patterns.
Italy win first Women's Cup
The first ever Women's America's Cup was won by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli after a single, twoboat shoot-out final on 12 October.
'Three-peat' for ETNZ
As Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand came into this year's 37th America's Cup as clear favourites. But the Kiwi camp has far more than just the structural advantage of being the ones that wrote the Protocol for the competition, and the originators of the AC75 concept.
ROOM WITH A VIEW
SWEDISH DESIGNER GABRIEL HEYMAN POURED A LIFETIME OF IDEAS INTO THIS PILOT SALOON CRUISER, WHICH INCLUDES ARGUABLY THE LARGEST COCKPIT AVAILABLE AT THIS SIZE
LIVING HISTORY
THE ICONIC SEASON-CLOSING REGATTA LES VOILES DE SAINT TROPEZ WAS AN IMMERSIVE HISTORY LESSON FOR CROSBIE LORIMER
CHANGE OF PLAN
LEAVING AUSTRALIA, MARIANNE URTH NEVER PLANNED TO MAKE LANDFALL IN THE ISLANDS OF VANUATU, BUT THE EXPERIENCE WAS MAGICAL