Volvo Ocean Race, annunciate nuove regole per il 2011
OceanoVelaVolvo Ocean Race 31 Maggio 2009 Zerogradinord 1
[singlepic=2612,300,204,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Oceano Atlantico – Galway, come Rio de Janeiro e Boston, è stata teatro della terza conferenza stampa di presentazione dell’edizione 2011 della Volvo Ocean Race. A presiederla Knut Frostad, CEO dell’evento, che dopo aver ringraziato il pubblico di Galway per il grande supporto dato alla manifestazione, ha spiegato alcune novità regolamentari che verranno introdotte nei mesi a venire.
L’ex navigatore oceanico ha sottolineato l’importanza del taglio dei costi – in tale ottica sono da intendersi la scelts di puntare su Alicante, di limitare il numero di membri di equipaggio da 11 a 10 e di ridurre del quaranta per cento circa il corredo velico, dotando le barche di avvolgitori – e ha confermato le nomine di Ken McAlpine e Bill Edgerton, rispettivamente responsabile della classe VOR 70 e esperto di regolamenti.
Le nuove regole presentate oggi, invece, serviranno a favorire l’iscrizione di almeno un team femminile, visto che le esponenti del gentil sesso potranno regatare con un equipaggio di 12 elementi – media crew member incluso – due dei quali uomini.
Altre novità riguarderanno le chiglie che potranno pesare massimo 7400 chili; nei prossimi mesi sarà fissato anche un peso minimo. Anche le barche dovranno pesare di più: dal range attuale (13.860-14.000) si passerà a 14.000-14.500 chili. Questa scelta serve a soddisfare la richiesta di porre un freno ai costi della ricerca e permetterà di utilizzare nuovamente le barche di questa edizione senza che le stesse risultino molto più lente rispetto a quelle che verranno.
Già detto dell’obbligo di utilizzare avvolgitori – messi al bando gli attuali Tuffluff – a bordo, lo spazio di stivaggio di vele e attrezzatura sarà ristretto al solo centro nave.
Importanti novità riguarderanno la riserva di energia elettrica. Il peso degli accumulatori, infatti, dovrà essere ridotto di circa 100 chili e la speranza è che questo peso venga ridistribuito nelle strutture delle barche. Per compensare i volt mancanti, ogni VOR 70 dovrà montare pannelli solari in grado di generare almeno 80 Watt di energia.
Sposando un’idea nata in ambiente America’s Cup, non sarà possibile effettuare speed teast con due barche dopo una certa data, o finché non sarà designata la barca con la quale il team prenderà effettivamente parte al giro del mondo. Su questo punto, però, Frostad ha detto che seguiranno comunicazioni quanto prima.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE, FURTHER RULE CHANGES FOR 2011
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] With 62,000 people in the race village and nearly 60,000 more taking in the racing from the sea wall between Salthill and Barna along the northern shores of Galway Bay, Saturday’s In-Port Race in Galway was a great success.
On Sunday morning the Volvo Ocean Race looked again to the future and particularly the next race, which is due to start in 2011. The occasion was the third in a series of ‘round table’ meetings where future plans for the race are presented and explained.
The Galway session follows similar presentations held in Rio de Janeiro and in Boston. In Ireland, special guests invited to attend included, amongst others, French multihull ace Franck Cammas, solo sailors Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nélias and noted French America’s Cup sailor Luc Gelusseau.
Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad opened his presentation by explaining again why and how the race must embrace changes so as to become more successful in the future.
“Just like any sailing project the more time we have to prepare ourselves, the better the chances we have of doing a good job,” he said. “Our number one objective is to increase the number of competitors in the next race. We know that we need a larger fleet in the future for the race to be able to reach its full potential.”
According to Frostad there are three pillars to work on to get more teams on the water in the future. The first element is a technical cost containment and reduction programme, the second, an increase on the value to teams, sponsors and ports involved in the race, and the third is to keep the race seriously attractive to the best sailors in the world.
“An important element in achieving more boats on the start line in Alicante in 2011 is a reduction of costs and an increase in value for the teams. In the short term, whilst the race is going on and whilst everyone has it fresh in their minds and is focused we have to work on the cost reduction side of the equation. To that end, changes already announced include a reduction in crew members, from 11 to 10, and nearly a 40% reduction in race sails,” Frostad outlined.
Today, Frostad and his team, which includes renowned racing class technical expert Ken McAlpine and rules expert Bill Edgerton, explained further elements of change.
They included the crew make-up for the next race. In an effort to encourage female participation, the new rule will allow ‘female’ teams to carry 12 sailors, including the media crew, two of whom may be men. This represents two extra crew members over an all-male crew.
In terms of the Volvo Open 70 Class Rule, the maximum weight for the keel fin and bulb will be set at 7,400 kgs in the future. There will also be a minimum keel fin weight to be defined at a later date. The fin will be required to be solid, with no fairings permitted.
The weight of the yacht is to be increased so that it may fit into the range between 14,000 kilograms and 14,500 kilograms, compared to a range of 13,860 to 14,000 in the current edition of the race.
The combination of these two adjustments is an attempt to create a common righting moment for the whole fleet which will yield closer racing between the existing and future fleets of Volvo Open 70s and stop the expensive research and long, slow builds that result in maximized bulb weights. Teams with less time and funding have been compromised with the stability of their boats and hence competitiveness.
Headfoils will be banned; headsails will either be set on furlers or with hanks. Stacking of the boats, the movement of sails and loose stores, spares and equipment inside the boat, will be limited to the centre section of the hull.
On the energy side, the overall weight of each yacht’s batteries will be reduced by 100 kgs. This reduction will allow design and build teams to put the same 100 kgs into the primary and secondary structure of the hull without increasing the weight of the boat. Currently very few of the fleet carry any solar panels, so each Volvo Open 70 will also be required to carry a renewable energy source capable of generating 80 Watts of electrical power.
Further discussion centred around two-boat testing. The organisers are seeking to ensure that a team needn’t build two boats to be competitive in the next edition of the race. With that in mind, no two-boat testing will be permitted until after the ‘race’ boat has been launched, or after a yet-to-be-defined date, which may be as late as the race start. There will be more information on this at a later date.
The next ‘round table’ session is scheduled for 22 June in Stockholm.
