Vo70

[D'ARTOIS]

Braking News!!!!!! Already two of the seven boats of the VO70, (only started just) suffer already from problems with the, undoubtly, canting keels. However, it seems that it is not so bad, I heard that they migh still be capable to compete.
The boats involved are MOVIE STAR and another one which name I failed to understand.

[usa2]

Movistar has broken a hydraulic ram on her canting keel(i thought they had redundant systems?) Movistar is heading to Cadiz.
The Black Pearl is leaking around her keel. She is heading to Southern Portugal to effect repairs.
Brunel Sunergy(ex-Premier Challenge) broke something up the rig and the conditions are too rough to send a man up the mast as of now.

I read on the VOR site that the problem on Black Pearl was non structural . I was hoping Cayard would win-I guess if they can fix it he still has a chance..

[usa2]

apparently the Black Pearl lost a seal around the keel that has allowed water into the hull.

[usa2]

Brunel Sunergy and Friends is en route to Madeira to effect repairs upon the gooseneck.

[RHough]

Says something about the state of boat design when 40% of the fleet breaks in the first 500 miles of a 25,000 mile race.

Where do I sign up for a canting keel?

[D'ARTOIS]

So three of the boats already looking for repairs?

[cyclops]

Lorisail. Defend what is happening.

[cyclops]

On second thought, why do we not watch a old competitive Sunfish class in beautiful weather, where we are so close we can hear their sails flapping in the turns. That stirs the sailing juices.

According to Scuttlebutt four of the seven boats have suffered serious damage so far but they only name Movistar, Cayards boat and Wharingtons "Brunel Sunergy and Friends".
Movistar has suffered probably race ending damage with the carbon fiber structure holding the keel rams failing and the damage spreading to the main bulkhead which has buckled.This boat is Farr designed , has the most mileage of any of the 70's and was thought to be the best prepared.
Seems like maybe the 70's aren't ready for prime time; hope nobody gets killed....
UPDATE: according to a poster on the Scuttlebutt forum the fourth boat is ABN 1 which has supposedly smashed a wheel and lost use of it's rudder.

[RHough]

Originally Posted by Lorsail

Seems like maybe the 70's aren't ready for prime time; hope nobody gets killed....

Maybe designers forgot that racing crews will push a boat until something breaks unless they can't physically drive the boat that hard.

Having an IACC boat fold in two with safety boats close by is one thing, sending people around the world in fragile toys is quite another.

I hope that no one gets killed too.

[Van Nostrum]

I would like to suggest a method of making these vessels much more reliable, controllable and increasing the boatspeeds achievable.

I believe that by introducing a forward foil which is used to steer the vessel in tandem with the rudders at the stern of the vessel that significant improvements to control will be added, thus preventing accidents such as those which have destroyed the races of Movistar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Sunergy and Friends and ABN Amro 1.

You may well ask how is a forward rotating foil going to prevent issues with the canting keel, by reducing the loads throughout the boat there will be less twisting of the structure and thus these failures will not occur. It is because of an excess of load which can be contributed to a lack of control that these failures are occuring.

Thoughts?

All the problems that have occurred are DIFFERENT! And while I believe in CBTF as a system for canting keel boats there is NO possible advantage conferred by the use of the forward foil that would IN ANY WAY address the various failures that have occured as best as I can determine by what has been described.

[Van Nostrum]

Originally Posted by Lorsail

All the problems that have occurred are DIFFERENT! And while I believe in CBTF as a system for canting keel boats there is NO possible advantage conferred by the use of the forward foil that would IN ANY WAY address the various failures that have occured as best as I can determine by what has been described.

So somebody else has already designed a system with a rotating forward foil which is used to steer the boat in tandem with the traditional rudders towards the stern of the vessel?

The benefit of having a foil forward is that the vessel will be a lot more controllable, the result of being more controllable is that the boats will not be placed under as much stress (the skippers will be able to relieve the stress before it builds up). All of these breakdowns can be attributed to an excess of stress in the hulls of these vessels. If remove the stress the breakdowns will not occur, simple right?

[usa2]

A forward foil such as used in CBTF boats would probably compound problems. The reason the VO70's dont use CBTF is so the foil doesnt get damaged, break off, or slow them down when off the wind. CBTF would also maybe make the boats harder to control because when they lift off waves they might land with the canard in a position that causes a course change. CBTF could not solve any of these problems, and would add to the stresses off the wind.
MoviStar's problem could probably be solved by bulkheads that are designed heavier to cope with single ram operation stressed.
The Black Pearl's problems could be solved by having them properly install the seal around the keel/hull joint and the wetbox for the hydraulic rams.
ABN AMRO's problem with losing a helm station could have been prevented, but some genius apparently thought the first boat had too much support for the steering pedestals, so they lightened the structure with the result that a heavy man(or 2) could completely rip it out of the deck when washed into it. Great R & D there.
Brunel Sunergy & Friends problems are just with the jib gooseneck fitting and halyard being messed up and they didnt want to risk sending a man up the rig in the rough conditions they were encountering.
This is the class's first race, so obviously somethings got to go wrong. I wouldnt immediately say that the VO 70's are badly designed. They were looking good before they ran into trouble. Perhaps the sailors have more to do with the damage rate than the boats themselves. I would put ABN AMRO's problem down as a design fault. BS&F and Black Pearls problems are indicators that someone didnt do their job completely as well as they were expected. Movistar was probably pushed too far.