T
he 1990s began with a
recession that saw a massive
dip in the number of new
boats sold, in a marked
contrast to the boom years of
the 1970s and 80s. Without funds for
significant investment many British
manufacturers were particularly badly
affected, including formerly big names
such as Westerly which stumbled
through to the end of the decade before
finally closing for good in 2000.
A final death knell for a number of
smaller British builders came in the form
of 1998’s European Recreational Craft
Directive if they were not selling their older
models in sufficient numbers to justify the
costs of compliance. However, other UK
companies such as RS Sailing and Oyster
Yachts did continue to grow and
strengthen their market positions.
Recession is a classic time to invest in a
business and is often a cost effective time
to build capacity. When economiesrecovered French and German boatbuilders
were well placed to capitalise on the
growing market with a raft of fresh designs.
At the same time, investment in efficient
production engineering became essential
and changed the industry for ever.
The asymmetric spinnaker revolution,
both in dinghy sailing and in larger boats,
that had started with development classes
such as the International 14 in the 1980s
came to ordinary sailors during the 1990s,
through boats such as the RS400 and
Laser 2000 dinghies and the J/92 and
J/105. These trend-setting designs were
much copied and set their builders on a
trajectory towards rapid expansion.
Progressively wider beam, broader
transoms and longer waterlines continued
as a trend in both racing and cruising
yacht design. For the latter this meant
bigger cockpits and more space below,
especially in aft cabins.
For racers a broad transom meant more
form stability, which allowed more sail tobe carried and also improved control
when surfing downwind.
However, there’s a problem with wide
transoms, both for cruising and racing
designs. When the boat heels the
centreline – and therefore also the rudder- tends to lift out of the water. Some
designers mitigated this by moving the
rudder post forward, which has the added
advantage that the blade is operating
ahead of any disturbed water flow near
the transom. However, this still didn’t solve
the problem of hull balance being lost as
the boat heels, resulting in a tendency for
boats to round up into the wind when
over-pressed.
Nevertheless, an intrepid and growing
group of sailors had proven an alternative
solution in the most extreme conditions
imaginable. Solo racers in the Mini Transat
and Vendée Globe had already been
sailing twin rudder designs and it was only
a matter of time before this idea would
gain mainstream acceptance.
Brave new world
Rupert Holmes reviews the popular trends in yacht design and
boatbuilding in the 1990s, highlighting some of the stand-out models
BOATS
PART 5
Popular Classics
1990s