An interesting look at the new VPLP Gunboat 80 full-race version

Launched in early June for Irvine Laidlaw, a Scottish baron, the first Gunboat 80 made her regatta debut in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (3–9 September, Porto Cervo). Xavier Guilbaud, Partner Naval Architect at VPLP Design, and Benoît Lebizay, Managing Partner at Gunboat, were aboard to present this exceptional catamaran.

She’s the eighth Gunboat to be launched since the brand was picked up in 2016 by Grand Large Yachting, and she’s also the biggest. While seven Gunboats ranging in size from the Gunboat 68 to the Gunboat 72 flybridge have already gone into the water since last spring, the new Gunboat 80 represents another step forward for the range of ocean cruising catamarans built by the yard based in La Grande Motte (France).

“We honoured the brand’s DNA, notably with the inclusion of a cockpit forward and a helm station inside,” says Xavier Guilbaud. “But we also managed to move the mast further aft, stepping it on the coachroof, which results in a more balanced sail plan and a better centre of gravity.” Unlike her predecessors whose carbon cored layup was infused in-house, the 80 was built entirely with pre-impregnated carbon fibre, a construction process also used on the big racing boats (Ultim, IMOCA).

Because of this, Gunboat decided to outsource the manufacture of the hulls, superstructure and bulkheads to Multiplast (Vannes) and Fibre Mechanics (Lymington). It took two years to build the first boat. “On this model we are assemblers, in the best sense of the word. More than ever our expertise lies in our capacity to manage the integration of complex systems in a body whose weight estimate is strictly controlled. Weight estimates are, by the way, a contractual obligation at Gunboat,” says CEO Benoit Lebizay.

This focus on weight began way back in the concept stage, because the boat’s lines and structure were designed for the most unfavourable loading scenario, in this instance 29 tonnes light displacement. The second Gunboat 80, which was commissioned by the American Jason Caroll (owner and skipper of the MOD70 Argo) for fast cruising with his family, should be close to this maximum displacement…

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An inferno engulfed Falmouth Harbour, Antigua as Tropical Storm Phillipe travelled across the islands in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday 2nd). Whilst some reports claim it was instigated by lightning, the cause of the fire is still under investigation. No deaths or injuries have been reported at this moment in time. Government authorities are also reporting widespread flooding on both islands.

“First and foremost, the most important thing is that everyone is safe. No one has been hurt or injured,” Devin Joseph, Yachting and Sailing Business Development Manager, Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority tells SuperyachtNews. “The commercial building, however, has been fully destroyed, which housed the Dock Master’s Office, Cloggy’s restaurant, Turtle Surf Shop, Skulduggery bar and café,  Ari fish shop, Dockside supermarket, Marina Gym, and Seabreeze bar and café.” More here.

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Don’t know the story, just know it is the fear of  “are we clear?” come to life…

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As we write these words and bang away on the keyboard, as the October issue of Latitude 38 is making its way to your local waterfront, mailbox and inbox, boats are making their way onto the water. Today marks the last day of the biennial International Folkboat Regatta, sailing out of Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon.

There’s actually a bit of wind in today’s weather reports — it may be summer making an encore and taking a bow with one final day of fog and snorting San Francisco sea breezes. Looking at today’s windy.com forecast, there is a sea of upper-atmosphere green enveloping the Bay around 2 p.m., suggesting a brisk 20 knots of breeze and the kind of conditions hearty sailors, wingers, kiters and windsurfers love and maybe even plan their lives around…

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At 12:09 UTC, Outlaw AU (08) / Captain Campbell Mackie, contacted McIntyre Ocean Globe race headquarters stating they’d come in contact with a sole male drifting in a 20ft canoe, 90nm off the coast of Dakar.

The distressed mariner, who doesn’t speak English or French, had no water, limited fuel in 2 small cans, no fishing gear and no sign of a radio. Campbell provided food and water and took the sailor under tow, but left him in the canoe making the best speed under motor to Dakar at 5knts in light winds.

OGR declared a Code Orange and contacted Senegal/Dakar MRCC, MRCC Dakar, JRCC /Maritime and Senegal Coast Guard asking for assistance in an immediate evacuation. More here.

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Splat was the sound that came next from this nicely timed shot of a National 18-foot dinghy racing in the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven Co. Cork this past weekend.  Helm is Alex Barry with Anthony Coole and William O’Brien crew. Photo thanks to Bob Bateman.

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On September 24, 90 singlehanded sailors will take off from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, racing 21-foot (6.5-meter) Classe Mini boats alone for 4,050 nautical miles to the Canary Islands and then Guadeloupe in the legendary Mini Transat. They sail without chartplotters, laptops, or satellite communications. They race like their lives depend upon it. Renowned for its extreme challenges and the high-performance pocket rockets on which it takes place, the Mini Transat is largely the domain of French singlehanders. This year, though, an American sailor has met the qualifying miles and races necessary to secure a start. Barring unforeseen circumstance, lifelong Annapolis sailor and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Peter Gibbons-Neff will be on the line with his Classe Mini 6.50, Terminal Leave, sailing to meet his own hopes and dreams and to spread the word about an organization that has played a key role in his life, U.S. Patriot Sailing. The following is his story of finding his way to this singular class and his path through thousands of ocean miles he’s had to sail to make it to the starting line.

By the evening of the 12th day at sea in August 2022, I was beyond exhausted. With almost no direct sunlight on my solar panels for the previous week, my boat’s batteries were run down. The final 300 miles into the Bay of Biscay were the most difficult of this 1,300-nautical-mile solo race from the Azores to France. Without power, I had no autopilot, and with my automatic identification system (AIS) transponder shut off, I was playing frogger with giant ships crossing between the mouth of the English Channel and Cape Finisterre, Spain.

Reaching speeds of up to 15 knots, I was surfing down waves with a large asymmetric spinnaker and flying it for days at a time. The two handheld VHF radios were dead, and all that remained was a little handheld GPS and a flashlight to shine on my mainsail. For the first time ever in a race, I hove to that final night at sea for a brief three-hour nap before I hurt myself or the boat…

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In this second day of racing at the 2023 ORC World Championship, the persistent low-pressure center in southern Scandinavia continued to drive strong westerly winds in the Kieler Bucht. Accordingly, race managers from Kieler Yacht Club set a coastal course for Classes B and C with early leaders emerging in these classes after two races.

An unfortunate secondary effect of these strong westerly winds was to drive water in the Kieler Bucht to the east, thus lowering water levels in the west, and causing the deep draft entries in Class A to remain at their slips at the venue in Schilksee Harbor due to a lack of depth to allow them to leave the marina.

Nonetheless, at wind speeds of 20-30 knots today’s conditions were brisk but quite raceable from start in the inner Kiel fiord out to the same mark as yesterday at the mouth of the Eckernfiord, and return to the finish in front of Schilksee.

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Big Pimpin’

A new semi-custom racer from Judel/Vrolijk and Oceantec takes the Class40 concept back to its roots… with an extensively optimized IRC rating and a super-lightweight interior.

Class40 has moved on from its initial concept. What started as a class offering shorthanded offshore racing for top-tier amateur sailors on moderate budgets has morphed into a very successful class of completely stripped-out racing machines, campaigned with serious money, whose primary function is to provide a stepping stone for professional solo sailors en route to rock star status in Imoca 60s.

So where do you go if you want a boat that truly reflects the original spirit of Class40, with the same level of performance as the top boats in that fleet, but also a competitive IRC rating plus the bare minimum of accommodation for weekend cruising with family and friends?

Two experienced Class40 racers couldn’t find anything quite like that so they asked Judel/Vrolijk to design it for them. Read on.

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I first met Sebastian and Samantha in St. Augustine, Florida, at a meet and greet for cruisers. We had to be the youngest people at the function and certainly the only ones sporting dreadlocks. We were riff-raff sailors on production boats. We were also semi-broke and looking for work. They were smarter than I in that category and had arrived with a plan to network with the owners of larger cruising yachts.

I went for the free beer, snacks, and to meet Seb and Sammi—as I now know them six years later. On three separate occasions, from North Carolina to Florida, mutual friends informed us we all had to meet. And I’m so glad we did.

Their unique southern accents were distinctive in the historic Floridian tavern. Sebastian is a mix of Louisianan and Columbian-American, and Sam’s Tennessee-meets-Carolinas.

A networking plan for the boring cruiser’s function wasn’t the only way the pair was ahead of me in the logistics department. They were quick to pick up seasonal work outside the marine industry, and they also lofted brand new sails for their Cal 29, Dancin’ Lions, which was already a pretty tricked out liveaboard.

Sebastian was becoming something of an expert when it came to canvas, masterminding Dancin’ Lion’s sails, dodger, bimini, and more, but Samantha was the right hand in much, if not all, of the process.

Not long after our meet-up (and a short-term gig where the couple dressed as elves for holiday tourists), Sebastian was working full-time at a local canvas shop while Samantha continued with odd jobs.

Later they headed north to the Chesapeake Bay and a 20-ton Tayana 37 with room for Sebastian’s industrial sewing machine. He also put me on to a job on a tall ship nearby, a 100-foot schooner docked on one side of the deep, exposed York River in Virginia. On the other side was a protected creek and yacht basin where Samantha worked restoring their new boat, which they renamed Rhythm, and where Sebastian got a job in the boatyard.

I sailed back and forth between the yacht basin where they worked and the ship where I worked. At the end of the season, we went our separate ways again.

In 2020, Sebastian started his own canvas-making business, Black Dog Sail Loft, from the salon table of their 37-foot boat, measuring, fabricating, and installing on yachts of all kinds with the utmost attention to detail.

From there, the pair returned to the North Carolina-South Carolina border, where they first met through their mutual love of dogs. Oh yeah, they each have their own pup aboard, a tiny poodle named Gypsy, and Shadow—the namesake of what is now Sebastian’s very own bricks-and-mortar, full-service sailmaking loft.

Black Dog Sail Loft officially opened in 2022 in Calabash, North Carolina, less than a mile from the Little River Inlet and Intracostal Waterway. Home to traditional seafaring and now charter fishing, the town is a natural fit for Sebastian the sailmaker…

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