Yacht design
The other side
of the coin...Falmouth-based Naval Architect
Jack Gifford reckons there’s
also something to be said for
the larger modern yacht:It’s well proven that the limits of
human endurance can go a long
way towards matching those of a
small vessel that carries them.
But who wants to climb Everest
for a week’s cruise across the
channel or endure chronic
discomfort on a trade wind passage
to the Caribbean? In our 24/7 ever
connected world where we find
ourselves short of time, an extra few
knots might make the difference
between achieving that holiday on
the Channel Islands or getting ahead
of that squall brewing on the horizon.Modern yachts are often viewed
with scepticism as unseaworthy,
flimsy and a bit plastic – but too
often unjustly. Modern regulations
ensure high levels of protection for
yacht owners with well-honed design
practice in use of modern materials
and build methods allowing
designers to optimise and not
over-engineer. Modern expectations
on space, speed and comfort are
with us to stay, and with ever more
information at our fingertips whilst at
sea we can sail smarter too.
As a naval architect the ability for
my designs to be able to perform in
any conditions is paramount; as a
sailor I want to know that my boat
will be able to make well mannered
progress whatever the weather. So
much is in the detail of how the boat
is set up.
We should keep an open mind and
broad horizons. Uffa Fox redefined
our notion of seaworthiness back
in the 1930’s by plucking a skerry
cruiser out of it’s element and onto a
long trip from Cowes to Stockholm;
you might be surprised what can be
achieved in the contemporary crop
of small cruisers and keelboats.Modern materials and techniques have
made it possible to build boats lighter, which
reduce the forces. To chase weight can lead
to boats that are strong as long as they sail
as intended, but if something goes wrong
it breaks like an eggshell, for instance if
they hit something or go aground.
Same thing with rigging. I think an
ocean-going yacht should have a rig which
allows any wire to break on any point of
sailing without losing the mast. Every wire
should have one other wire close by which
can take up the force from the broken one.
This is not difficult to achieve with an inner
forestay, double lower shrouds and so on.
But this means weight. If one wire comes
loose or breaks on many modern yachts
the mast goes overboard.
Bjorn Haraldsson’s
Folkboat-based
SnowflakeMingMing, Roger Taylor’s
junk-rigged Corribee, has
sailed far and wideNaval architect Jack Gifford has
created PBO’s free plans package
to build the Nigel Irens-designed
Western Skiff (see pbo.co.uk)Björn Haraldsson is
a trained boatbuilder,
engineer and teacher.
His subjects have been
math and physics, but
also coastal and celestial
navigation. In the 1970s he sailed an
old wooden yacht to Brazil and the
Caribbean. Back in Sweden, together
with his wife, he built their first
Snowflake, based on a Folkboat hull.
With their two children they made a
round-trip to the Mediterranean. Today
Björn and his wife are sailing a new
Snowflake, also based on a Folkboat.ABOUT THE AUTHOR