Doyle Sails NZ News – February 2013

Team Australia

Having made the decision to try for the Sydney-Hobart record with his impressive Orma 60 Trimaran, Sean Langman approached Mike Sanderson at Doyle Sails to discuss the possibility of working with them on a new STRATIS offshore main. The sail had to be light, incredibly stable to endure the high loads, but also very rugged due to the rigours of offshore sailing. This would be the first time that Doyle had supplied sails to the yacht, and was an exciting new relationship. Time was short and so Team Australia and the Doyle Sails design team, led by Richard Bouzaid, worked tirelessly on every small detail to make sure that the sail was perfect for the attempt.

It was a great prospect for Doyle to be involved with and they worked with Sean and supported him on the resource side of the challenge. The result achieved was a fantastic outcome. “It was a really good effort by Sean and his team,” said Chris McMaster, MD of Doyle Sails NZ. “Sean has a lot of experience along that coastline and this, combined with the right boat, sails and crew, really paid off.” McMaster flew to Sydney before the passage to help set up the mainsail on the boat, just two days before they departed.

Sails designer Richard Bouzaid had this to say about the project. “We put in a lot of engineering study on how heavy the main should be and what was required for the loads on the boat. We ran a full FEA of the structure and found that our loads in certain areas to be particularly high. We set the fibre orientation to ensure there was no distortion as these sails go through quite a big twist variation,” said Bouzaid. “The sail has our standard GPx carbon compression structure which adds substantial stability to the membrane. The end result was an incredibly smooth and stable sail that remained that way throughout all the reefing scenarios and tests that racing challenges like this present.” Bouzaid concluded by saying, “ The sail performed as the modelling showed that it would, which is what we would expect these days.”

Full of praise for the STRATIS main, Sean Langman said: “Without doubt the new Doyle STRATIS offshore mainsail provided to Team Australia was key to our success. The new main was bent on three days prior to our team’s assault on the Sydney Hobart world mark. The main fitted beautifully and performed straight out of the bag. I am looking forward to further adding STRATIS to our wardrobe.”

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Key West Race Week

The IRC 1, mini-maxi class at the 2013 Quantum Key West Race Week was 100 per cent Doyle Sails powered. Racing against each other in a fight for victory were Bella Mente, Doyle Sails NZ own Mike Sanderson and Richard Bouzaid on board, and the overall class winner Shockwave.

Bella Mente features an inventory of Doyle Stratis up-wind sails and Doyle Gennakers for downwind sails. In the end result, Shockwave prevailed over the J/V-72 Bella Mente, which also used a Doyle Stratis J2+ and A-2 Gennaker.

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RORC Caribbean 600

Several Doyle boats were competing in the RORC 600, held on 18-21 February. Mike Sanderson and Richard Bouzaid were back on board Bella Mente: the yacht had a great race and took first place in IRC 0 and second in IRC overall, crossing the line inn just over 48 hours

Here’s a great video from onboard Belle Mente by Dee Smith - http://youtu.be/G66LgNaWvaI

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JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship

Congratulations to team C-Tech, who came fourth overall at the recent JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship in Sydney. They also took home first place in the Invitation Race before the event. C-Tech used their Doyle jib for their entire contest, as well as their #2 Doyle Stratis ICE main. Congratulations to Alex Vallings, Josh McCormack and Peter Burling for a great competition.

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Foiled and Menace

We love welcoming new builds to the Doyle fleet and new entrants to the fleet in January included Foiled and Menace, both launched here in Auckland. Foiled is a speedy looking Melvin Morello 10m, featuring Stratis black ICE sails, similar to the SL33 that ETNZ is using for their AC72 testing. Menace is a McConaghy 38 which launched in January and made her race debut in Bay Week.

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Millennium Cup

Doyle Sails NZ was a proud sponsor of the NZ Millennium Cup 2013. Our team were racing on board the brand new 50m flybridge sloop Ohana, which carries a full inventory of Doyle and Stratis sails, and 30m Zefiro the overall winner of the regatta. It was a fantastic three days of racing out on the water. Her bright yellow gennaker made Ohana a stand out sight on the water, and it was a pleasure to be on board for her racing debut.

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Superyachts a-plenty

We are working on several superyacht projects at the moment, including sails for 43.9m Encore and 52m Dona Franscesca . Entering the final stages of build at Alloy Yachts, 43.9m sloop Encore is due to launch in Q1 of this year. Having been impressed by their Doyle and Stratis sails on their current yacht, Eclipse, Encore’s owners have again commissioned Doyle Sails NZ to produce a full suit of Doyle sails. We have been busy on the loft floor, and the sails are near completion: here’s a picture taken by Brendon O’Hagan of the Encore logo being coloured in on the gennaker on the loft floor. She’s going to make a fantastic sight on the water once she launches.

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