Broken Sailboats
There's been some dission in the forums lately about who's fault it is that there have been problems with Farr's Volvo 70's, with some fingers pointed at Russell Bowler, Farr's chief designer. Lots of folks have come to Russell's defence, pointing out that he is an excellent designer and engineer, and he has plenty of familiarity with the workings of a high tech boat building shops.
OK fine, Russell Bowler is a great engineer and designer and he is down in the shop floor so much he has permanent patches of carbon fiber on the knees of his pants. But there are still too many broken Farr boats littering the races courses of the world and I’m not just talking about the Volvo 70’s. Can anyone else remember the disposable IOR 50’s with their bows knocked off in minor collisions? Or have you talked to somebody who has to maintain a Farr 40? How about USA 53 back in Nov 1999? That was one I was close to. I was shooting photos of it when it hit the wave that broke it. It wasn’t a particularly big wave and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Later I got a close-up of the hull where it broke (at the front of the cockpit) and it didn’t look very strong to me, certainly less structurally sound than the other boats sailing in Huaraki Gulf that year. Apparently it wasn’t either, because it was the only one that broke. And afterwards the NYYC crew was skittish about the second boat as well. But hey, what do I know?
One thing I do know is that Farr’s response to that problem was lame. First they blamed the team, then they blamed the builder, and in the end they said that it is common for laminates to wind up being less strong than they are supposed to be, so it was an inherent problem with laminations in general. That made me wonder: if that’s the case, and they know it, why didn’t they just spec it a little beefier? I don’t think they ever took responsibility for that one, not any more than they seem to be doing now. Is there a trend in all this?
Another thing I know: if I’m going offshore it isn’t going to be in a Farr boat;
Fred Roswold, SV Wings, Singapore
OK fine, Russell Bowler is a great engineer and designer and he is down in the shop floor so much he has permanent patches of carbon fiber on the knees of his pants. But there are still too many broken Farr boats littering the races courses of the world and I’m not just talking about the Volvo 70’s. Can anyone else remember the disposable IOR 50’s with their bows knocked off in minor collisions? Or have you talked to somebody who has to maintain a Farr 40? How about USA 53 back in Nov 1999? That was one I was close to. I was shooting photos of it when it hit the wave that broke it. It wasn’t a particularly big wave and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Later I got a close-up of the hull where it broke (at the front of the cockpit) and it didn’t look very strong to me, certainly less structurally sound than the other boats sailing in Huaraki Gulf that year. Apparently it wasn’t either, because it was the only one that broke. And afterwards the NYYC crew was skittish about the second boat as well. But hey, what do I know?
One thing I do know is that Farr’s response to that problem was lame. First they blamed the team, then they blamed the builder, and in the end they said that it is common for laminates to wind up being less strong than they are supposed to be, so it was an inherent problem with laminations in general. That made me wonder: if that’s the case, and they know it, why didn’t they just spec it a little beefier? I don’t think they ever took responsibility for that one, not any more than they seem to be doing now. Is there a trend in all this?
Another thing I know: if I’m going offshore it isn’t going to be in a Farr boat;
Fred Roswold, SV Wings, Singapore
posted by wingssail at 2:46 AM
5 comments
.jpg)
