The Yachting Year 2018

THE YACHTING YEAR 2018 | 71

IMOCA 60

Designers of the nine new Imoca60s to take part in the last

Vendée Globe (which fi nished at the start of 2017), VPLP have

announced plans to build an oˆ -the-shelf Imoca60 for the next

Vendée. VPLP were commissioned by teams on an individual or

small group basis as the solo round-the-world racers fought to

fi nd a design edge. Race skippers have traditionally been faced

with the choice of purchasing a new boat for eye-watering sums

or picking up a proven secondhand boat. Now VPLP will be

manufacturing copies of the winning Banque Populaire design

available at signifi cantly less than a bespoke boat.

vplp.fr

Marlin Heritage 23

Cape Cod Shipbuilding Co’s Marlin Heritage 23 is a boat steeped

in a century of American maritime history. It is a modernday

adaptation of the Herreshoˆ Fish class and its cruising sister

model, the Marlin. The tweaked design was the brainchild of

EL Goodwin, who purchased many of Nat Herreshoˆ ’s designs

smaller than 50ft, along with the building moulds, patterns and

jigs that went with them when the Herreshoˆ Manufacturing

Company closed its doors. Goodwin’s Cape Cod Shipbuilding

built many of them from the 1950s onwards. Now the company

has adapted the design further, for modern day cruising sailors.

capecodshipbuilding.com

S1R

Designed by Michele Petrucci and built in Italy, the new S1R singlehanded catamaran shares both its design pedigree

and build factory with the S9 foiling cat – currently selling like hotcakes throughout Europe – not to mention many of

the same features. You would be mistaken, however, to consider this merely a de-tuned or soft version of the S9 – as

we did ahead of testing on Rutland Water. In fact, it is better to think of this as a shorter A-Class cat, though with the

addition of a 14.5sq m spinnaker or screecher downwind. This is a top spec racer, with everything in carbon.

outlawsailing.com

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