SUPERSAIL WORLD 44 APRIL-JUNE 2018
continues to build. So if the first boat started at 1300 and the
last boat at 1430 the breeze might really be quite different. To
keep it fairer, we have two-minute intervals to compress the
starting procedure and keep people in as similar conditions
as possible. It also means you can predict how long it’s going
to take certain boats to get round the course and can run
computer-generated race tracks to calculate lengths of races
and angles and help the ratings as much as possible. If you
had purely upwind and downwind or reaching it wouldn’t be
averaging out the performance.”
The start sequence, the increasing accuracy of the ORCsy
rule to predict yachts’ performances and the fleet numbers
this year give Branagh and her fellow organisers the option of
setting different courses so that the faster yachts can have
longer courses and properly stretch their legs. It’s yet to be
decided if the three J Class yachts will race on their own for an
opener to the regatta and then join in with the fleet for three
days of ORCsy handicap racing. Svea and Velsheda raced
most recently at Barths Bucket in March, where Svea took 1st
place overall. Both crews are highly experienced J racers and
well-seasoned, so their rematch should produce very close
racing and slick manoeuvres as well as adding, as they always
do, unmatched glamour to the event.
The J Class Ranger, a regular at the Superyacht Cup, will,
it is hoped, be present again this year. The suggestion is that
she will be sailed by her crew in tribute to John Williams, her
owner who died in April. Ranger was the first of the modern
replica Js, built for Williams and launched in 2004. The
modern replica Js Hanuman, Lionheart , Rainbow, To p a z and
Svea have followed since, fleshing the class out to the historic
level and racing profile it enjoys today.
“John Williams was a hugely powerful force in bringing the
J Class fleet together. He’s done The Superyacht Cup many
times and will be greatly missed,” says Branagh.SPEED MACHINES
Another group that always provide close and spectacular
racing are the carbon composite performance cruisers. This
year, WinWin and Inouï compete again, and are joined by the
Malcolm McKeon-designed head-turner Missy. These three
represent very different designs and aesthetics, despite being
similar in size.
Among the larger of the yachts are Mari-Cha III and
Ganesha, two very different boats, and with diverse heritage.
The big water-ballasted racing ketch Mari-Cha, with her
retroussé stern and bow overhang, launched 21 years ago,FROM TOP: BOLERO
AND ATAL ANTE
CONVERGING ON
DIFFERENT GYBES ON
A DOWNWIND LEG
TOP RIGHT: THE
TRIPP-DESIGNED
WALLY SAUDADE
THE POPULAR
PENDENNIS
PADDLEBOARD
CHALLENGE IS BACK
SHORESIDE PARTIES
ARE A HIGHLIGHT OF
THE REGATTA‘There are two-minute intervals to compress the starting
procedure to try to keep people in similar conditions’