C/O ELAN; ARNAUD DE BUYZER; C/O AZUREEThe new
Dehler 34,
designed for the
active club racer,
is a bestseller
2018 SOLENT GATHERING
June 2018 will see what is predicted
to be a huge IRC fleet gather in the
Solent for a new combined event.
The team-based Commodores’
Cup, has been running every
other year since 1992 and
has long provided top-notch
amateur IRC racing with teams
representing various countries
and regions. With demand for
entries increasing each year but
entries running at maximum for a
team event, the event organiser,
the Royal Ocean Racing Club,
will oer the same sort of event
to a wider audience. The result is
the IRC European Championship,
which will be an open event and
will be raced at the same time
as the Commodores’ Cup.
Amateurs and professionals
will race each other. However, to
compete for the Commodores’
Cup within the championship,
each three-boat team will be
restricted to just one pro. The
Notice of Race is now available
online at ircrating.orgWhen it comes to top class racing,
there are few boats to match the J
Boats range of yachts which, thanks in
large part to Key Yachting’s passion as
agents and distributors, continue to be
popular. Among the new arrivals over
the last 12 months is the 40ft water-
ballasted J/121 designed specifically
with short-handed racing in mind.
Another J Boat to make an impact in
2017 is the J/112E GP, a development of
the successful J/112e cruiser-racer. Fresh
‘out of the bag’, this new IRC racer won
a series of events including a class win
in the 2017 Round the Island Race with
her IRC optimised keel, high modulus
carbonfibre mast and rig, and 3DI sail.CRUISER-RACERS
The line-up of new cruiser-racers
includes the Elan GT5 based on the
award winning Elan E5. Essentially it
is a performance Grand Touring yacht
but with all the control lines led aft
this sporty new yacht could be a good
option for short-handed sailing.
Another popular class that is making
its mark as an IRC-type racer is the
new Dehler 34 from Inspiration Marine.
Launched for the 2017 season, this
sporty little boat, which is based on
its larger successful sister – the Dehler
38 – was designed with the active
club racer in mind. It has a choice of
three rigs (standard, performance and
carbon-fibre) and, according to Phil
Dollin at Inspiration, the Dehler 34
is one of the company’s best sellers
with 70 boats built in just over 12
months: “It has been quite remarkable.
Those who are keen on racing have
discovered this performance cruiser
has a really favourable rating.
“They are being raced on the east
coast, Northern Ireland, Scotland
and, of course, the Solent – although
having said that there is only one racing
there at the moment but I daresay
that is likely to change in the future.”
Following on from the successful
RM970, which won a Family Cruiser
category in the European Yacht of
the Year award 2017, is the RM1370
the latest design from RM Fast OceanSailing. While it is not an out and out
racing boat, it is proving popular among
the racing fraternity with the likes of
François Gabart, winner of the Vendée
Globe five years ago (and the new solo
round the world record holder - see
more on page 10), among the proud
owners. Justine Abella from RM said:
“The majority of our customers come
from the racing world. They want to
sail with friends and family but are not
keen on going slow. Basically they want
a bit of speed and don’t want to feel as
though they are sailing a caravan boat.Also, if they decide they want to race,
this boat oers plenty of performance.
We even had one boat do the Fastnet.”
The Azuree 41 is the latest
performance cruiser from the Rob
Humphreys design oªce. This smart
and well thought out yacht has been
designed to appeal to those who want
to cruise yet take part in a few regattas.
With twin rudders and a 160sq m
asymmetric kite, this boat oers plenty
of downwind performance. Humphreys
Yacht Design in collaboration with sailing
enthusiast Bjørn Erik Bjørnsen has also
come up with the Aquatich 40 – a new
ORC cruiser-racer. This racy-looking boat
represents the Humphreys oªces’ first
real foray into the ORC rating system
so it will be interesting to see how it
performs on the circuit this season.LOOKING AHEAD
Following positive activity over the 2017
season, the stage looks set for another
good year ahead as we head into 2018.
With designers and manufacturers not
only embracing the growing interest in
short-handed sailing but also adapting
to rapid developments in foiling,
keelboat racing is about to make a
transition to an exciting new era.KEELBOATS SEASON REVIEW
Above, from top
Elan’s GT5 could
make a good short
handed option;
RM970 has won
awards for it’s
cruiser credentials;
Azuree 41 is
the latest big
boat from Rob
Humphreys’ pen66 Yachts & Yachting February 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.ukKeelboat classes_AC-GC-hg_th_TH.indd 66 19/12/2017 09:26