Louay Habib Caribbean blog: A Fast Clean Shave
by Louay Habib 10 Mar 2014 07:20 PDT
6-9 March 2014
It is time to take your head out of the sand...
I will be honest, for years like many other sailors I dismissed multihulls as the weapon of choice for the lunatic fringe, either nutters who just wanted to live fast and dangerous or weirdy-beardies that grew vegetables on board and home schooled their kids. The AC72 really put the multihull scene on the international sports map but a week with Gunboats has totally changed my perspective about the entire multihull creed.
Not only does a Gunboat deliver a fast, exhilarating ride, the ultra cool design provides a fantastic cruising environment. The speed and power of a Gunboat is not dissimilar to a Volvo 70, 11 knots upwind and well over 20 knots downwind (Gunboat 62, Elvis fired up to 27.7 knots during the Heineken Regatta). The similarity continues, a Gunboat stripped of all the toys and crewed by the right boys is about the same weight as a Volvo 70, but the Gunboat has a stainless steel galley and a full interior, including four cabins, instead of a lead weight.
Making any yacht fly is always down to the people and Gunboat 62, Elvis is a prime example of a top race crew, the team consists of the 2013 Melges 32 World Champion Team Argo, fortified by top class professionals. However, that is not the full story, Gunboat 66, Coco de Mer is a later design than Elvis and Coco de Mer was just a point behind Elvis for the regatta, fielding a crew of mainly amateur sailors.
Gunboats are still developing and there are plans for even larger Gunboats, a 90 is already flying around the Caribbean and a 72 is in the planning stages as well as a hot rocket 45. Nigel Irens is now the principle designer and Gunboats potency in the performance catamaran sector will, in my opinion, get more and more dominant and the main reason is that owners get a fantastic entertainment platform, which requires few crew, a wicked ride and at a cost which is millions of dollars less than a Maxi monohull.
Of the five owners racing Gunboats racing at Heineken St.Maarten Regatta, there was not a weirdy-beardy amongst them. Monohulls are moving towards faster, light displacement machines in both the cruising and racing arena and the arrow point of the sport is most definitely multihull.
Next up cruising back to Antigua from St.Maarten with Derek Saunders on the Corby 45, Incisor, at a leisurely pace.
www.heinekenregatta.com.