White Russian

Here is an update on what Viktor Yazykov has been up to since he brought his unfinished 50 foot hull from Italy and parked it in the warehouse.  Intent on returning to the sea, Viktor looked around and decided to do what he wants to and not try to comply with the ever-changing race rules and regulations.  His original intent, the reason why he was building the 50 footer that was supposed to be the predecessor to Kip Stone’s Artforms, was to do the Vendee, get around the world without the stops.  The Vendee dropped the 50’s and Viktor dropped the idea of overextending himself for the second time to be in full compliance with the rules that demand expensive boats and campaigns. 

He also saw this as a chance to test the design concepts that brewed in his head since the Around Alone race on an Open 40.  Seakindly and slippery hull with weight well aft, safe working space for the ocean, easy to handle rig and ease of balancing the hull without the need for an autopilot were his top priorities.  There are many people involved in this project and it is impossible to mention everyone but needless to say, this new boat is a product of many ideas from many different people and Viktor is thankful for all the input and help.  In the early stages Viktor decided to move from the paper and build a 1:5 scale model to ensure that the boat looks right.  He built the model with what he’d ultimately like, a canting keel, but for now, to just get the boat sailing and sort it out, the boat will be with a fixed keel which could lift to allow for trailer launching.  After the model was built the shape was converted into digital format and Kevin Dibley reviewed the project and helped finalize the numbers and the line drawings.  The design started its life as a 30 footer but grew up to 32 feet on the final drawings.

When considering the rig, Viktor wanted to capitalize on the recent experiences with unstayed rigs and, after considering various options including the aerorig configuration, he decided that the safest rig would be an unstayed tube of some sort, carbon, of course.  In the end the mast should be a rotating keel-stepped tube with wing fairing above the deck level.  The tube max diameter will be 160 mm and the max chord length of the wing fairing will be 300 mm.  Most of the mast will be sealed to resist a complete rollover.  The boom will be connected to the mast and after talking to Bruce Shwab Viktor decided to try the push vang system similar to the one on Bruce’s Ocean Planet.

The boat is designed as a semi-light displacement cruiser, since he is taking it alone on this very long distance, and it is a 32 footer, after all, that will need to carry a substantial amount of provisions.  There will be no movable water ballast.  The hull structure contains three main watertight bulkheads and there will be a total of 15 watertight compartments.

Viktor says that the decks are sloped very well for the operation at sea and there will be a well-defined passage forward that would keep comfortable and level at sea, more than a foot away from the lifelines but it will also be comfortable holding onto the lifelines when traversing the deck.  The max vanishing stability is 125 degrees.  The hull construction is similar to Viktor’s Open 40 Wind of Change – a sandwich of carbon skins covering chestnut veneer on each side with foam in the middle.  The bow shape was created to minimize frontal wave impact at various heel angles and thus reduce the effort of driving the boat through the seas.

There are still decisions to be made about the foresails, as well as the downwind sails.  Viktor believes that a kite may be ideal for the deep heavy air running in the south.   There also may be a surprise choice of the keel strut material.  Stay tuned.

03/29/06