New fleet of Clipper RTW boats

[Minerva]

Further info for comparison, the VOR 70 is 14 tons designed displacement and the VOR 65 is 12.5 tons.

And designed to be raced with fewer, but professional crew and only to participate once or twice in a RTW race. The clipper boats are expected to cover considerably more mileage, doing far more laps with a heavier payload and amateur crew. Chalk and cheese.

 

[Laser310]

I'm reasonably sure that the primary driver of that layout was the desire to get the main traveler out of the cockpit. Which is an understandable reaction to some of the accidents they have had.

Looking at some of the vids coming out of the current clipper it appears that they have absolutely banned crew from crossing the traveler, at least when not hard on the wind. They have to crawl underneath. So this is definitely a better solution for them.

Otherwise, my opinion is much the same as the last gen. Looks ok, but in reality is far too heavy to be interesting from a spectator point of view. Looks like a decent tool for racing rtw with novices, but wouldn't excite me into signing up for a leg.

i agree with all of that.

i was just thinking that, given the layout, the winches for the traveler could be in a better spot.

but i guess i would have to see it in person - maybe there is a good spot for a dedicated traveler trimmer to be stationed.

I am still not sure that the coffee grinders for the main sheet are a good idea. It's not entirely clear, and i could be wrong, but it looks like that's how the main is trimmed.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

i agree with all of that.

i was just thinking that, given the layout, the winches for the traveler could be in a better spot.

but i guess i would have to see it in person - maybe there is a good spot for a dedicated traveler trimmer to be stationed.

I am still not sure that the coffee grinders for the main sheet are a good idea. It's not entirely clear, and i could be wrong, but it looks like that's how the main is trimmed.

I think novices is the deciding factor, while I can understand that a team that regularly race together can make trimming decisions by being in sync with the helmsman, I really don't see that level of implicit coordination on a boat crewed by novices.

It's certainly not evident on the Clipper YouTube channel. This is a pay-per-leg round-the-world sailing experience, not really a race in the real sense, so it's not really a race boat, and it's not a race crew. Maybe that's why they turn up on the ARC once retired?

 

[Zing]

And designed to be raced with fewer, but professional crew and only to participate once or twice in a RTW race. The clipper boats are expected to cover considerably more mileage, doing far more laps with a heavier payload and amateur crew. Chalk and cheese.

Sure there are more on board, but that shouldn't increase requirements for displacement much. An extra 6 crew are just 500kg.

The VOR65s are on their 4th plus circumnavigation and more to go That’s similar to Clippers. IMOCA 60 likewise.

Amateurs might find slower easier, but not so in all ways. Plenty do well in Pogos or JPKs and in some ways they are safer and more comfortable. Can outrun weather better and roll less and heel less for example.

Going fast demands a bigger safety factor, not less. Very hard to do in a lighter boat. It does cost a lot more though and that may be the big issue.

 

[flaming]

The VOR65s are on their 4th plus circumnavigation and more to go That’s similar to Clippers. IMOCA 60 likewise.

Whilst I generally agree with your point, just to correct one thing, the VO65s did 3 laps before being dropped and the IMOCA was used for the last lap. In contrast to the VO70s, the 65s have not gone on to have careers in Ocean racing more generally. There's a few doing "punter" type racing, such as the one in the RORC transat now, but they haven't been snapped up by private owners in the way that the 70s have. Since being retired by the Ocean Race the 70s have gone on to win most of the major Ocean races. In a way it's a shame that the Ocean race had to move away from them for cost reasons, as the platform is clearly way better than the 65s.

 

[capnsensible]

Sure there are more on board, but that shouldn't increase requirements for displacement much. An extra 6 crew are just 500kg.

The VOR65s are on their 4th plus circumnavigation and more to go That’s similar to Clippers. IMOCA 60 likewise.

Amateurs might find slower easier, but not so in all ways. Plenty do well in Pogos or JPKs and in some ways they are safer and more comfortable. Can outrun weather better and roll less and heel less for example.

Going fast demands a bigger safety factor, not less. Very hard to do in a lighter boat. It does cost a lot more though and that may be the big issue.

I'm confident that the Clipper Organisation that has been running bi annual races since 1996 know exactly what they require from their yachts.