Scow bows rule the seas

Class organizations such as the Mini 6.50, Class40, and IMOCA support offshore competition, and when courses are long enough, routing seeks out the benefits of offwind angles. Over time, designing to these class rules have developed hulls that may not go upwind too well but more than make up for it as the wind angles comes back.

Such as the scow bow.

Sam Manuard is a renowned architect in the scow world, and what began as a radical concept with the Mini Class, has seen its success trickle up to the Class40 and IMOCA which will be on full display in the 2022 Route du Rhum when it starts November 6.

These big bowed boats will be spanning the transatlantic from France to Guadeloupe, with the
3543nm course providing the latest test. Here are some comments from Manuard in boatsnews.com:

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