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MAIB report published into Clipper race deaths

18 Apr 2017

Sarah Young who died during the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its final report into two fatal accidents in the 2015-16 edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

The first fatality – that of Andrew Ashman – occurred during an uncontrolled gybe when the preventer failed. The second was that of Sarah Young who was washed overboard from the yacht.

Mr Ashman stepped over the main sheet traveller and was hit by the mainsheet on the boom sustaining a high impact neck injury that is believed to have killed him instantly.

Ms Young was on deck at night during a storm with wind speeds over 40 knots, gusting over 60 knots, following the reduction of sail area to respond to the adverse conditions, when a wave broke over the deck causing her to lose her footing ending up next to the guardrail. A second wave washed her overboard as she was not connected to the boat by her safety tether.

She was located via her AIS beacon and recovered but could not be resuscitated by the crew.

The report finds that effective supervision would have provided opportunities to prevent both accidents and makes several recommendations including that Clipper Ventures plc should review and modify its onboard manning policy and shore-based management prodedures.

Other recommendations highlighted include Clipper Ventures should complete its review of the risks associated with MOB and recovery and its development of appropriate control measures to reduce risks to as low as reasonably practicable.

A recommendation has been made to the RYA, World Sailing and British Marine, which is intended to encourage recreational and professional yachtsmen to consider carefully the type of rope used for specific tasks on board their vessels.

And a recommendation has been made to Marlow Ropes which supplied the ropes, aimed at improving the information provided to users on the loss of strength caused by splices, hitches or knots when using high modulus polyethylene rope.

In addition, the MAIB found danger zones need to be clearly marked on deck, given the uncertainty of successful man overboard search and recovery, particularly in atrocious weather, the need to clip on is paramount and skippers need to be challenged to ensure safe working practices are maintained.

“These two fatalities, resulting from two very different incidents, were the first in our long history and are tragic, especially as they were caused primarily through momentary lapses in applying basic safety training,” said Clipper Race founder and chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. “Manning arrangements and shore-based management have been developed to ensure skippers are adequately supported and these will continue to be regularly reviewed.

“We have developed our current manning levels and qualifications in conjunction with the MCA, operating to MCA standards as a minimum and often well in excess. We frequently implement and develop safety procedures where there is no actual requirement; they are under constant review as a matter of course and we will continue to do so in light of the report’s recommendations.”

The eleventh edition of the Clipper Race will start from the UK in August this year and return in July 2018.

LINKS TO RELATED COMPANIES AND RECENT ARTICLES …

via Boating Business | MAIB report published into Clipper race deaths.

Musto teams up with the British Sailing Team

18 Apr 2017

Musto will again supply the British Sailing Team

Musto will again be the official supplier of apparel, luggage, accessories and footwear to the British Sailing Team.

In addition, the company is to partner with the British Youth Sailing Team, launching the Musto junior riders initiative to support youth athlets.

“It’s extremely exciting to partner with the most successful sailing team in Olympic history and provide them with the most innovative kit solutions from Musto,” said Petra Carran, head of marketing for Musto. “Combining Musto’s industry leading technology with the British Sailing Team’s experience on the water will, we hope, lead to a successful challenge for gold.”

RYA performance director, John Derbyshire OBE, added: “We’re delighted to be teaming up once again with Musto for this four-year cycle towards Tokyo.”

He added: “It’s vital that the British Sailing Team partners with a quality brand which shares its values of collaboration and innovation in order to keep our athletes at the cutting edge of the sport and looking great to boot.”

via Boating Business | Musto teams up with the British Sailing Team.

Meet the man behind the next generation One Design

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Guillaume Verdier is working on plans for the next generation Volvo Ocean Race One Design – and the final decision on monohull vs. multihull is now just weeks away…

Verdier and his team of designers will be working alongside a Volvo Ocean Race Advisory Board, featuring race veterans and team directors.

Hi Guillaume! Tell us a little bit about the team you’re putting together to lead the design of the next generation Volvo Ocean Race boat…

The group will be made up of my usual French team, plus some Kiwis. There’s around 16 of us in total, and we’re very used to working together. The thing that’s pretty unique about the way we work is that we’re rarely on site together. We’re also quite interchangeable in the way we work – we’re a group of specialists, but all of us are more or less capable of doing the full thing.

How important is it to get the input of Volvo Ocean Race sailors in the design process?

It’s super important, and we’re introducing some Volvo Ocean Race veterans into the design team really early on for that reason. You get a unique perspective from the sailors, as they explain to you all of their tricks, how they survive on board, and how they look to exploit the boat to the max. That’s important – after all, if you design a single-handed boat, for example, the way that it’s sailed is completely different to a fully-crewed boat. You have to make a judgement of the machine you design based on the capacity of the sailor to exploit it.

How do you balance the battle between speed and safety? And how much do you take a sailor’s daily life on board into the design process?

It’s important, for sure, and it will probably affect the width of the boat a little bit. We’ll make changes for ergonomic reasons to ensure that the sailors are – well, not comfortable – but at least surviving on board. For instance, the cockpit might be a little bit more protected than in previous generations. That little bit more shelter allows the sailors to maximise the potential of the boat.

We will make extra effort to keep the crews safe, as Volvo Ocean Race sailors have a reputation for pushing really, really hard. They’re relentless. In single-handed sailing, there’s a tendency for the sailors to be a bit more careful about their boats, but in a Volvo Ocean Race team, I think they push it harder than ever, which makes it more prone to breakages. We may have to consider downgrading the performance factor slightly in order to retain a certain level of security, which is a key aspect to bear in mind especially when you’re racing in the Southern Ocean.

I’ve got to check safety a bit more due to that. I’ll try to turn that into benefit, probably by making the boat stiffer, and I’ll try to transform the safety aspects into some interesting features. It’s about trying to see a ‘problem’ from another point of view.

via Meet the man behind the next generation One Design| Volvo Ocean Race.

The next generation of boat is part of a series of major announcements on 18 May which will take the Volvo Ocean Race into the next, exciting phase of its history. Do you feel a pressure or responsibility on your shoulders? I feel pressure in that there is always huge risk in designing new boats. It’s a big challenge to design a machine that is extraordinary to sail but safe at the same time. It’s always a fine line, and at the end of the day, we always have pressure when we send someone to sea, racing around the world. But it’s a feeling that I’m used to. In the last Vendée Globe, I had 12 boats and you want to see everyone come back, so yes, in that way, there is pressure, and you feel it. The sailing world is desperate to know whether we’re going to see a monohull or multihull design in the next race. What are you considering right now?For sure, there are benefits to both designs. In Europe we have a lot of experience with offshore multihulls, and they’ve been proven to be durable. But there’s always a risk of capsizing, and the boats are always on the edge of safety, structure and performance, and that’s a big decision to make. But I must say, from a technical and design point of view, a multihull would be extremely interesting. We have the technology, but it’s never really been done yet in the way that we might do it.Do you think that the Volvo Ocean Race has a monohull identity? In a recent fan poll, the popular vote was overwhelmingly for a monohull… I don’t think so. I think actually that it doesn’t make that much difference – one hull, two hulls or three hulls, it doesn’t change the identity of the race. The object of the race is that a group of people race around the planet, fighting hard all the way. There are ups and downs – there are extreme periods and slow periods with no wind, and that’s the same in either a monohull or multihull. Whether the boat is a monohull or multi doesn’t change the identity of the Volvo Ocean Race for me, I think it’s all about the people that race it.How about foils? Are you considering adding these to the next generation boat?It’s a challenge because you’d have to explore the possibility of a foil that is capable of lifting you off the water, and to be able to sail with it over a long distance and many days and nights. It would also require a boat which is much stronger and stiffer. We know it’s doable, we know we have the technology, but it’s never really been done yet. The key with foil assistance in the Volvo Ocean Race is that we know that the sailors in this race would never retract them, whatever happens. Where the single-handed guys might slow down, they won’t – the Volvo Ocean Racers will never retract the foils. They’re much more relentless.But it’s an illusion to think that an offshore boat can foil all the time. If we do make foil assistance, it would need to be able to be safe, and it’s important that the sailors can disengage the foil. You have to make a boat that’s good enough that even if you break the foil, or in case of an impact, lose the foil, you can always get back home safe. When you have the foil on, you have to show that the foil doesn’t harm you when going through bad weather. That’s no different on either monohull or multihull.Persico Marine has been announced as the lead boatbuilder on the next generation of boats – have you worked with them before?Yes, I’ve worked with Persico twice before. Once was with Team New Zealand, and Persico Marine built the sister boat of the AC72, so that’s when I first met them. The second time was a boat that did the Vendée Globe called ‘No Way Back’, which is the sister boat of the eventual winner, ‘Banque Populaire’. That boat is one of the most beautiful constructions I’ve seen. I really appreciate the work that Persico do, and they’ve built some beautiful machines, so I have no doubt about their capabilities.

via Meet the man behind the next generation One Design| Volvo Ocean Race.

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MBO for Discovery Yachts

Sean Langdon has led a MBO of Discovery Yachts

Discovery Yachts MD Sean Langdon has headed a management buyout of the company, following the retirement of founder and chairman John Charnley.

Mr Langdon has been MD since August 2016 and since then has worked closely with Mr Charnley on the succession of the brand.

“I am very proud to be heading up the management team here at Discovery, we have some exciting plans that we will share with all our customers very shortly,” said Mr Langdon. “Now John has passed on the batten, my team and I plan to build on the superb reputation of the Discovery brand in the future.”

And he said plans include expanding the current range with the launch of a new 48ft luxury cruising yacht in early 2018 as well as adding another brand into the mix for the Discovery Group.

The new management team is currently taking ‘prudent and proactive’ restructuring steps to mitigate the results of the past challenging trading conditions faced by many marine businesses including financial restructuring involving new investors and shareholders.

So far this year Discovery Yachts has secured £2.3m in new orders

The company was founded by Mr Charnley and his wife Caroline 18 years ago with the ambition to build a range of luxury cruising yachts for bluewater sailing enthusiasts.

In close collaboration with super yacht designer Ron Holland, the couple developed a range of monohull ocean passage cruising yachts including the Discovery 55, the flagship Discovery 67 and the most recent launch – the Discovery 58.

The most recent launch is the Bluewater 50 catamaran, design by Bill Dixon with two of these new models currently being built.

via Boating Business | MBO for Discovery Yachts.

Walker named as RYA Director of Racing

April 03, 2017

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New RYA challenge for Olympic medallist and Volvo Ocean Race winner

RYA Racing will have an experienced new hand at the helm with the announcement that Ian Walker MBE is to take up the Director of Racing position this autumn.

The double Olympic medallist, America’s Cup sailor and Volvo Ocean Race-winning skipper will take up the baton from John Derbyshire OBE, who is set to retire later this year after 32 years’ involvement with the organisation, including 16 years in the Director of Racing role.

Walker has enjoyed an impressive and multi-faceted career in the sport, winning two Olympic silver medals (470 in 1996; Star in 2000) and coaching Shirley Robertson, Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb to Yngling gold at Athens 2004.

Among a host of inshore and offshore racing successes, Walker has been involved with two America’s Cup campaigns (GBR Challenge in 2003; +39 in 2007) and won the 2014/15 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

A trustee of the John Merricks Sailing Trust, set up in memory of his 470 crew, he has also helped provide a supporting hand to numerous young people through the sport of sailing.

As Director of Racing, a position he will take over full time from October, Walker will oversee the RYA’s World Class Programme and talent pathways, as well as the broader remit of racing participation in all its forms in the UK.

“Having achieved more than I could have ever dreamed of in a sailing career spanning over 30 years, I have decided that the time is right to take on a new challenge,” the 47-year-old explained.

“Being the RYA Director of Racing will give me the opportunity to take a leading role in British sailing and to be able to give something back to the sport that has given me so many fantastic life experiences.

“I am very excited at the prospect of helping the British Sailing Team again in their Olympic quest but, just as importantly, at helping young sailors, the clubs and the volunteers that are the lifeblood of our sport.

“I am sure I will miss the thrill of competition but on a personal level I am looking forward to spending more time with my family and to sailing for fun at my club again.”

RYA CEO Sarah Treseder commented: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Ian to the RYA family. A world-renowned sailor and outstanding leader, his breadth and depth of experience of the sport will be of huge benefit to the UK racing community.

“His remit is a wide but exciting one – supporting medal-winning performances on the world stage, including Tokyo 2020, and at the same time inspiring future participants, volunteers, coaches and champions to ensure a thriving UK club racing scene.

“I’ve no doubt Ian will make an exceptional contribution and build on the fantastic work which John has presided over during his many years of valued service to the RYA.”

UK Sport Director of Performance Chelsea Warr added: “Ian was the outstanding candidate for the role and the unanimous choice of the panel. He understands what it takes to win at the highest level and has the mindset, experience, leadership and management skills to build on the incredible success of the sailing programme to date.

“I am very much looking forward to working with Ian in his new role. He will not only inject a wealth of new skills and talents into the sailing World Class Programme but also to the wider high performance system”

“I would also like to pay tribute to John Derbyshire who will retire later this year as the Director of Racing following 32 years’ involvement with high performance sailing at the RYA, and Stephen Park who will step down as Olympic Manager after over 20 years of involvement with the British Sailing Team. Their incredible dedication and expertise has guided the GB Sailing Programme to unprecedented heights, culminating in reaching top of the medal table in Rio and being the leading sailing nation across this and previous cycles.”

Walker concluded: “I’d like to thank the RYA and UK Sport for their confidence in me. John Derbyshire has provided a tough act to follow and I look forward to the benefit of his experience and that of the wider RYA Racing team in the coming months before I take up the reins full time in the autumn.”

via Walker named as RYA Director of Racing | News | News & Events | RYA.

Designing the Future – Guillaume Verdier to create new One Design racing yacht for Volvo Ocean Race

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Amalia Infante/Volvo Ocean Race

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Vanessa Zanni

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Amalia Infante/Volvo Ocean Race

France’s Guillaume Verdier to lead new design project for 14th edition, with Persico Marine selected as lead boatbuilder

– France’s Guillaume Verdier to lead new design project for 14th edition, with Persico Marine selected as lead boatbuilder

– Monohull-multihull question to be resolved in coming weeks

– New boat is part of radical shake-up of race to be announced 18 May, in Volvo’s home town of Gothenburg, Sweden

While final preparations and team announcements continue for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, the event’s leadership team are working in parallel to map out the race’s future. The edition after this one, the 14th, will be contested in brand new One Design racing yachts designed by France’s Guillaume Verdier and built under the direction of the Persico boatyard in Italy, race organisers announced today.

Verdier has joined the Volvo Ocean Race Design Team and is currently working with the race on the crucial issue of whether the new boat will be a monohull or multihull. The final decision on the proposed designs will be announced on 18 May at an event in Gothenburg, the home of the race’s owners and title sponsors Volvo.

Verdier is the ‘quiet’ achiever who has been involved in most of the leading designs right across the sport in recent years – from giant multihulls like Gitana’s Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, to be launched in July, through Team New Zealand’s current America’s Cup flying multihulls to maxi-monohulls like Comanche, and the leading Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 foiling projects such as Hugo Boss and Banque Populaire VIII.

The monohull-multihull question is just one of a series of key decisions that will be finalised in the coming weeks and announced at the 18 May event in Gothenburg, Sweden. Together, the announcements will form the most radical shake-up of the Volvo Ocean Race since it began life in 1973 as the Whitbread Round the World Race.

“Conceived in 2011, the current fleet of boats was built to be competitive for two editions,” said Volvo Ocean Race CEO Mark Turner. “We need to move now on the future boats to keep all our options open on boat type and design.

“We’re excited to work with someone as talented as Guillaume Verdier – who will be a perfect complement to the wider Volvo Ocean Race Design Team, and the input we plan to have from a wider group of professional sailors and industry partners.”

On the decision to award Persico the lead role in the building of the boats, rather than the Consortium approach used for the Volvo Ocean 65s, Nick Bice, the race’s Chief Technical Development Officer, said: “The Consortium did some good work last time around to produce such matched boats, but we prefer to contract this time with a single builder, who in turn will undoubtedly sub-contract a number of other builders around the world to achieve the build in time and to budget. Persico have been a strong partner over these past few years, and we are delighted to be working with them again.”

via Designing the Future – Guillaume Verdier to create new One Design racing yacht for Volvo Ocean Race | Volvo Ocean Race.

The decision to continue with a One Design concept follows the introduction of the Volvo Ocean 65 monohull for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, which produced the closest racing in the history of the event.

The upcoming edition, starting on 22 October 2017 in Alicante, will use the same Volvo Ocean 65 boats that have since undergone a one million euro per boat refit process in the race’s Boatyard facility in Lisbon. These boats were designed to be fast enough and reliable enough to complete at least two laps of the planet at the highest level of professional racing, in a fully competitive and equal state.

The fleet of seven existing boats from 2014-15 will be supplemented by a brand new but still identical Volvo Ocean 65, commissioned by team AkzoNobel, for the 2017-18 race.

With more than six months still to go before the start, four teams have so far been announced. The remaining teams will be revealed over the coming months.

The race opted to go with Verdier after inviting input from half a dozen industry-leading yacht designers, including Farr Yacht Design, the team that kick-started the One Design era in the race by delivering the successful Volvo Ocean 65 project.

Verdier’s goal will be to lead the Volvo Ocean Race Design Team to build a new fleet to the same exacting levels of matched One Design achieved with the current boats, but very much connected to the big evolutions in foiling technology the world of sailing is currently seeing.

“We’re bringing together a wide-ranging depth of experience from events such as the America’s Cup, offshore multihulls and IMOCA Open 60 projects,” Verdier explained.

“We are starting from a blank page, and whatever kind of boat we design, whether it’s monohull or multihull, we will learn a lot from this process of working together.”

He continued: “I think sailors just want to have fun, and are attracted to a new way of sailing. In the Open 60, for example, we made something which was quite radical, but also very safe, and that’s key for the Volvo Ocean Race.”

Marcello Persico said the company was delighted to be building the next generation of Volvo Ocean Race boats.

“We’ve been working closely with the Volvo Ocean Race for the last eight years and we feel part of the family,” he said. “I believe that Persico Marine will deliver excellent support and service to the Volvo Ocean Race as it embarks on the next phase in its history.”

via Designing the Future – Guillaume Verdier to create new One Design racing yacht for Volvo Ocean Race | Volvo Ocean Race.

Paul Dyer, Technical manager at Marlow Ropes, takes us through three developments in marine ropes that impact on performance.

Rope technology has seen significant developments over the past three decades years. From revolutionary new fibers of cores and covers that impact on strength to dramatic advances in the levels of rope durability, diameter, stretch and creep.

DIAMETER

In some situations we have developed rope lines that can replace a line almost twice its diameter. The effect of reducing the diameter of rope, while maintaining all the properties of the larger variety, has had untold benefits in the sailing world – providing considerable weight saving. This saving is multiplied when you consider that for any mass removed from the rigging more mass can be removed from the keel.

STRETCH

Technology development has also facilitated low stretch ropes – the ultimate achievement in rope development. This allows sail settings to be maintained under a variety of conditions – but will also place much higher peak loads on deck fittings, so when upgrading the lines of an older boat particular, the deck gear will usually also need to be modernised.

CORE & COVER

New modern fibers have come along way…and still we continue to invest a lot in research, development and ongoing testing. Traditional braid-on-braid ropes have 50 percent core and 50 percent cover, and share the load equally. Higher performance ropes generally have a core that takes the bulk of the load, accounting for up to 95 per cent of the rope’s strength, and a protective outer cover that provides abrasion resistance, protection from sunlight and so on.

Some are used without a cover, particularly high-strength control lines, but these will normally have a coating that improves handling characteristics and provides some UV protection.

MATERIALS

Now the latest high tech material is Dyneema. Dyneema is an Ultra High Molecular weight Polyethylene (UHMwPE) or High Modulus Polyethylene (HMPE) fibre. Known as the world’s strongest, lightest fiber – 15 times stronger than steel, yet floats on water – Dyneema comes in a number of grades and performance specifications. It is used to stop bullets, repair human joints and improve the longevity of apparel.

As the demands on high performance running rigging are becoming higher, Marlow’s Grand Prix Series offers core options using Dyneema, Vectran, and Zylon (PBO). Each has it’s own strengths and weaknesses, but Dyneema has become the “Gold Standard” for performance running rigging.

For Marlow, Dyneema is an ingredient material in many of its highest performance ropes as it offers by far the best strength to weight ratio of any material used in rope manufacturing and is the material of choice for high performance cores.

Its enviable properties include:

High Strength: On a weight for weight basis, Dyneema is 15 times stronger than steel wire

Light Weight: Size for size, a rope made with Dyneema is 6 times lighter than steel wire rope

Water resistant: Dyneema is hydrophobic and does not absorb water, meaning it remains light when working in wet conditions

It Floats: Dyneema has a Specific Gravity of 0.97 which means it floats in water (specific gravity is a mesure of density. Water has an SG of 1, so anything with SG<1 will float and an SG>1 means it will sink)

Chemical resistance: Dyneema is chemically inert, and performs well in dry, wet, salty and humid conditions, as well as other situations where chemicals are present.

UV Resistant: Dyneema has very good resistance to photo degradation, maintaining its performance when exposed to UV light

Next up Paul will talk standing rigging and breaking strength figures… what this space Paul Dyer has over 20 years experience in the design, production, testing and use of fiber ropes. He has also worked on customised ropes for any number of fantastic applications, including boats for the America’s Cup. For more information and advice contact www.marlowropes.com

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via Latest developments in rope: Stronger than steel and floats.

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Marlow teams up with the US

29 Mar 2017

Marlow Ropes has signed a partnership to be the official rope supplier of the US Sailing Team and US Sailing’s Olympic Development Program (ODP) through to 2020.

Marlow first began to manufacture synthetic fibre ropes specifically designed for the yachting industry in 1957.

Today Marlow supplies many grand prix programs through its technical rigger partner program and also many national teams and organisations including Team GBR and College Sailing’s ICSA.

“Marlow is one of the most trusted names in our sport and as any sailor knows, having strong, dependable and customised line solutions onboard your boat is a key factor in any successful racing program,” said two-time Olympic Champion and chief of US Olympic Sailing Malcolm Page.

“We look forward to working with Marlow to provide US national team and development athletes with the best line products in the world.”

Sam Vineyard, Marlow’s Yachting sales manager added: “It gives us great pride to help ensure that the equipment American athletes are using is on equal footing with the best in the world.”

Marlow’s Excel range of high performance dinghy products is a continuous evolution based upon feedback from the company’s athlete partners.

via Boating Business | Marlow teams up with the US.