Multihull and monohull for the Volvo Ocean Race
The next generation of Volvo Ocean Race one-designs will launch in 2019 and are designed to last at least 6 years. It was at a special event at the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden held this Thursday, May 18, 2017 that Mark Turner, President of the Volvo Ocean Race unveiled the (as there will be not one, but two) boats used for the next editions. The 2017 edition will still be sailed on the VO 65 one-designs, launched 2014-2015.
Crews will sail offshore on 60-foot (18.29-meter) hydrofoil monohulls and will have ultra-fast flying catamarans from 32 to 50 feet for in-port racing.
"We debated a lot about the choice between multihull and monohull, with strong arguments in each direction. We finally decided to go for three hulls: a monohull plus a catamaran! This new formula for the Volvo Ocean Race will test for the first time very high level sailors from both disciplines on offshore legs, which remains our DNA, in hydrofoil monohulls, but also during stopovers on inshore legs aboard flying multihulls based on the latest technologies", revealed Mark Turner, President of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Mark Turner, President of the Volvo Ocean Race
The new monohull convertible into an IMOCA
It is the architect Guillaume Verdier who will be in charge of designing this new one-design hydrofoil boat, a sort of "turbocharged IMOCA." The boat will be convertible, relatively quickly and at lower cost, into a boat conforming to the IMOCA rules to participate in the major events of the circuit, single-handed or double-handed, such as the Vendée Globe or the Barcelona World Race.
"I am extremely pleased to have been given the task of designing the next generation of boats for the Volvo Ocean Race. Volvo Ocean Race sailors have a reputation for being very tough and pushing the limits. The design of the next boat reflects these characteristics." said Guillaume Verdier, who is currently completing the plans for the future monohulls with his design team.
"That's why it's important to retain a certain level of safety in the design. It's important for the places the fleet will be sailing through, like the deep south. We know that the Volvo Ocean Race racers probably won't raise the foils and unlike the solo racers who would tend to take their foot off the gas, they won't. From these elements, designing a machine that is both safe and extraordinary to sail was a huge challenge." continues the architect.
Guillaume Verdier, the new architect of the Volvo Ocean Race monohulls
Call for tenders to build the catamarans
A tender process is opening today for the design and construction of the 32 to 50 foot (10 to 15 m) catamarans, which will be designed according to one-design rules, like the monohulls, to incorporate the high technology of foils, but at a reduced cost.
"The America's Cup, one of the other premier events in our sport, will always be at the top of the game in terms of development, with the incredible technological advances we will see next week in Bermuda." explains Mark Turner. "We have seen the same developments in the IMOCA class with the introduction of foils in the last Vendée Globe. Our goal with the Volvo Ocean Race is to raise the bar as high as possible within current budgets, and within the framework of one-design, where we are forced to freeze the level of technology for each race cycle."
Mark Turner indicated that in the long term, the race could completely switch to multihulls.
"After our lengthy discussions, we could see that there is no conceptual barrier to seeing the Volvo Ocean Race move to ocean-going multihulls in six years. It's a decision that will be made in three or four years. We were already very close to choosing this path. In the next decade, it is quite possible that we will see the development of the new French Ultime class of multihulls that will cross the oceans by flying over the water more often than in the water, a much greater challenge than flying on a flat water surface in inshore races. We logically thought that it was still too early for this evolution, especially when it comes to building a One-Design fleet. Changing an entire fleet with each technological advancement is not realistic."
8 boats per type of support
For the moment, the number of boats built in monohulls and multihulls will be 8. Teams will be able to rent them at first, to allow teams who do not have the means to buy them to start. The sponsors involved in the next 2017-2018 edition will be the first to be offered options on these boats. The first units will leave the yard in January 2019 and the entire fleet will be available by mid-2019.
Persico Marine in Bergamo, Italy, will lead the construction of the new monohull, with assembly and final preparations to be carried out by the Volvo Ocean Race specialist team at the Race Boatyard. The location will be confirmed through a tender process by the Host Cities.
Despite the one-design rules, these new boats will have several possibilities for adaptation and improvement in the way they are configured for racing. And the possibility of evolution between editions will be built into the design of the boat from the start.
Budgets similar to current budgets
"The new boats will be delivered on a rental basis and the budgets will be similar to today's, while offering even more benefits," says race president Mark Turner.
These budgets average 10 to 12 million euros over two years, of which several million are usually spent at the start of the campaign.
"Providing key services and equipment to the sailors allows them to focus on the race, and avoids replicating costs from campaign to campaign. Teams and sponsors will need to move quickly because these new boats are exciting and they will be sold quickly. The Notice of Race, Commercial Partnership Agreement and Boat Rental Agreement for the next edition will be published before the start of Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 in October." says Mark Turner.
Experienced single and multihull sailors
To compete in the Volvo Ocean Race, presented by its president as "one of the most difficult trophies in sailing", it will be necessary to be an expert in both monohulls on the ocean legs and multihulls on the In-Port Series. Indeed, it will be the same crews that will be sailing on these two supports.
Today, the In-Port events are only used to decide between two teams with the same number of points at the finish, but in 2014-2015, they changed the overall ranking for two teams. In the future, these events will become even more important, without impacting the offshore races in terms of points.
The crew will be composed of 5 to 7 people, plus an onboard journalist (OnBoard Reporter). The race rules will continue to favor the mix of men and women and young people within the crews.
