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ANARCHIST OPINION For those of you who don’t know Russ Lenarz, he has signed on with SA to be our expert for the Yacht Design 101 articles. Sort of the SA in-house designer. He puts a lot of effort forth to create these features, and is happy to know what you would like to read about. Drop us a note with your thoughts. For more info on Russ’ Open 30 work, visit his site.
For close to 25 years Russ Lenarz has been competing in sailing at all levels, from small dinghies to big boat ocean racing. As a member of the Balboa Yacht Club, one of the most respected yacht clubs in California, he has earned a reputation as one of the top racing crew in the Newport Beach area.
In the spring of 1999, Russell Lenarz teamed up with Geoff Van Gorkom of Van Gorkom Yacht Design, located in Newport Rhode Island to develop marketing strategies for the successful VG – Mount Gay 30. Through this working relationship, Russ has gained valuable insight into the promotional, marketing and research aspects of yacht design. As a student of the Westlawn School of Yacht Design in conjunction with the hands on experience provided through Van Gorkom Yacht Design, he has been given the fundamentals that are essential for pursuing a career in this highly technical field.
In the early spring of 2001, Russ drafted what is now known as the Open 30 Development Rule. With the ever-growing popularity of short handed offshore racing and continued development and evolution in designs of this nature. Russ saw a need for a development rule that could bring cost effective, practical solutions to a wider range of sailors. The Open 30 Rule has gained International attention and continues to evolve. Currently the Open 30 Rule is Russ’s main focus in design. He has branched out on his own with consulting work on a new 65-foot performance catamaran and is in the process of development of an A Class Catamaran and Open Classe Mini 6.50m design
We look forward at Sailing Anarchy to Russ’s contributions and hope that many of you will find his hands on practical approach to yacht design interesting as well. ORMA 60 Foot Trimarans, Do they have a future in the US? Open Development design and offshore racing is enjoying a great deal of attention these days. Not too long ago designs and races of this nature were seen as a bit obscure, not too mention those who raced them were thought of as a bit obscure as well. During the 1990s much of the focus on yacht design in the US was on one - design racing. To some extent, this had a negative effect on offshore distance racing as more and more events went to around the buoy formats and did away with medium distance and overnight races. However, in Europe, there exists a dedicated group whose aim and purpose is to promote short -handed offshore racing and development for both monohull and multihulls. Although it is true that open development classes such as the Open 50 and 60 monohulls and Classe Mini 6.50m are enjoying greater growth and exposure than ever before, without a doubt, the Formula 1 Class of the Open Development movement is the ORMA 60-foot Trimaran. It is the ORMA 60s that have taken a giant leap forward in design and construction and these boats are now clearly established as the forefront of Grand Prix racing. This begs the question; will ever see these awesome craft in our own waters? Open development multihull design and racing are nothing new to the sport of sailing. It was in 1997 that the ORMA (Open Multihull Racing Association) Open 60 Class was formed. The current regulations for an ORMA 60 design are as follows.
The first generation of 60-foot tris appeared around 1988. At that time it was thought the 60-foot trimaran was a reasonable size for short - handed offshore multihull racing, and a better option for this type of event than the larger catamarans and tris of that era. Construction of these early trimaran designs, although seen as state of the art back then, was pretty basic by current standards. Carbon in conjunction with foam core using hand lay-up and simple vacuum bagging technique were the chosen method. The first of these 60 footers were, not without their fair share of problems. Poor fiber to resin ratios during the build process accounted for structural problems, and extra reinforcements for strength created a heavy boat. However, even with these drawbacks, this first generation of 60 - foot multihull literally smashed many offshore records. These boats were fast. A new breed of racers was born. . Like many other development classes, the ORMA 60 progressed during the later 1990s through 2000 at a fairly rapid rate. By 2000 construction methods and materials improved significantly with Nomex / pre - peg carbon construction cured to 120 deg. C for hull, deck and crossbeam structures. Improvements to hull shapes and crossbeam geometry, which produced lighter, stiffer and yes, even faster designs. At this same time greater detail was given to foil and rig configuration through in depth studies related to hydro and aerodynamics. By the third, and most recently the fourth generation of ORMA 60s, designers have made even more dramatic progress. Innovations such as lateral / transverse canting masts connected to hydraulic shroud and composite forestays, as well as hydraulic sail controls on the boom, are all geared to push the performance level of these boats even higher, while at the same time control their awesome power. Appendage development has also been taken to new heights. Retractable main rudders replaced fixed configurations in order to reduce drag. The first generation of curved foils with high aspect ratio vertical wing-lets aide to streamline flow and reduce the tip vortices, minimizing drag and leeway. Centerboards with trim tabs that can be raked longitudinally in order to optimize helm balance. It was also during this time that we saw cockpit arrangements being developed for both crewed and short handed events, with the addition of coffee grinders for fast maneuvering. This dual purpose configuration lead to even greater exposure as inshore-crewed events as well as crewed distance events were added to the ORMA Grand Prix circuit. I could go in to greater detail about hull, rig and foil development, and will no doubt save that thought for a future article, but what led me to write this particular piece was a honest, intelligent question presented to me by my own wife. "Will we ever see designs like this race here in the US"? There are a few things that must be considered when answering this quire. To begin with, in Europe there has for some time and continues to this date, a solid foundation for professional sailing. A class like the ORMA 60 could not exist if it were not for fully sponsored teams. Here in America, we have seen a number of attempts to establish the foundation for a true professional racing circuit, but to date most have been short lived. Second, With the exception of beach cat design and racing in the US, Europe also has a much stronger appreciation for larger multihull design and racing. Although monohulls constitutes the bulk of the design market here in the USA. I think that most would agree that they do not provide the performance and excitement that is part of the recipe for success, or for a better choice of words, thrill factor that we have seen with the Open 60s. Finally, in Europe and other parts of the world, open development in design is more widely accepted, and like professional sailing, also has a strong foundation. Here in the US, our commitment to one design racing suggests that we have become content with generic designs and racing around the buoys. The bottom line though for success of any professional racing circuit, even a vital and thrilling class, like the ORMA 60, is money. From the initial design process to building the boat and then campaigning for an entire season it takes a large financial resource. The average costs for running just the campaign alone for a typical ORMA 60 these days runs in excess of 2 million US dollars per year. This does not include the design and building of new boats, which can easily equal the figure above. While here in the US there are many corporate sponsors and individuals who justify spending huge amounts of money, in many cases several million more than what it would cost for a Open 60 campaign, to have a car racing around an oval track 200 times. The sailing community has yet to find this type of corporate sponsors or individual sponsors for open design racing. Another option is to bring the European circuit to the US for one or two grand prix stops. There is no shortage of venues here that could provide both close and exciting inshore and offshore racing. However, here again the limitation is cash. To include US venues in the current circuit expense and logistics of transportation for moving and storing a fleet of these giants around seems unlikely at this time. The ORMA 60 Class and circuit has taken over 10 years to evolve into what it has become today, and this in a region that already had the groundwork in place. One option which could be successful here in the US, would be to start with either the most recent generation of designs or for teams to start with a clean slate in order to maintain an equal level of performance. A more logical approach is for a concentrated effort of designers, sailmakers and sailors to pull together resources to compete on the European circuit. The Tour de France bicycle race was dominated by Europeans for many years, but Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong proved that it is possible to succeed in what was seen as a totally European sport that success could be achieved. We can even look with in the sport of sailing today for example. Howard Hamlin and his crew from Newport Beach are now dominating the Aussie 18 class. This did not happen overnight as it took Howard and crew five years to become competitive with their Australian counterparts. As for the immediate future of a professional multihull racing circuit here in the US. One might wonder if the time is right to re think the concept of the Formula 40 circuit that existed back in the later 1980s and early 90s. Technology improved building methods and the trickle down evolution of design from the larger 60s could have a positive effect on the re - birth of this class. Although many of the limiting factors that have prevented the ORMA 60s to appear here in the US were part of the demise of the Formula 40. One can make an argument now that compared to the larger 60s, the 40 could be seen as a more realistic goal for the US market and still provide the performance and interest that has attracted so many of Europe's top sailors and designers to the Formula 1 of sailing. Although the thought of Open 60 tris racing around San Francisco Bay conjures up exciting images. I believe that it will be some time before we see a fleet of these impressive craft sailing in our own waters. I would hope that we might see a US sponsored and crewed team in the European circuit first. Road trip to the Marseilles Grand Prix in June anyone? Russ Lenarz 04/06/2003 |
