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
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5 Comments:
I read your letter to todays scuttlbutt with disbelief. You clearly have no
idea what you are talking about in context with the yacht racing
environment. The picture of the caravan that you sail the seas in reinforced
the point.
Too many Farr boats littering the race courses of the world???? I have never
heard such libelous, unsubstantiated crap. Give me some numbers and names.
I'll give you back a pile of JV, RP, JuanK, Ker, Elliott, Young, Rogers,
Mills, Corby, Holland, Dubois, Humphries etc etc boats that have had keels
fall off, bulkheads explode, deck gear tear out, rudders snap etc etc. Maybe
you statement is true that there are more damaged Farr boats, but that fact
is there are tons more Farr boats out there than anyone else. That does not
mean they fail more you clown.
USA 53? There never was a USA 53. An ITA 53 maybe, but she never broke. What
the hell are you talking about?
The AC boat that did break in half... Why don't you get to the base of the
facts before you make public statements. What about the independant report
on the incident and failure, and the fact that the race crew were cross
sheeting due to a broken winch and subjecting the boats to loads it was
never designed to - and the crew knew this? This is Americas Cup racing, you
cannot do that sort of thing without consequences. Anyone who tells you
differently is a liar.
I have maintined plenty of Farr 40's, thank you very much. A beautifully
designed boat. I have called Barry Carroll plenty of times to complain about
the build quality, and the lack of sticking to the engineers specifications
in bulkhead laminates etc. A Farr 60 too. Same deal, fell apart, but you
would get that if you tried to laminate in carbon bulkheads with wet-layup
glass.
Did you know that both the ABN boats nearly had to pull out of legs due to
serious structural damage? Ever stop to consider that the ABN shore team
were always (a confession of one of thier management team) the last people
to leave the yard every day due to repairs, stumbling up and down ladders
with arm loads of carbon and resin??????
You really don't have a clue. I hope Russ and Bruce get a full apology from
you due to your ignorant and ill informed comments.
Stick to what you know.
I stand by my comments and I think they needed to be said, but I thank you for your letter and your opinion. You might consider posting it as a comment on my "sailor's rant" where more people could read it.
I am away from my photo archives at the moment, but when I am back there in a couple of weeks I'll be able to post the photos of USA 53's failure and it's structure compared to other boats, you can judge for yourself.
Meanwhile, there is a good analysis of that failure, including Bowler's assessment, written by David Pedrick, at this web site http://old.cruisingworld.com/gps/2000/0210/#3.
And here is a comment from a recent Ed Baird interview: "Young America proved fast, but fragile, and a set of sharp waves in the Louis Vuitton Cup broke the boat in half. The team did not recover from the loss of USA-53, and did not reach the semi-finals."
Slow down a little there
Fred. There are a lot of Farr boats around the world and I've sailed on a
few of them and currently own one - White Cloud, a Cookson 12m built in NZ
in 1996 (Farr Design 336). Ten years of fairly constant racing in the
southern hemisphere and now around the Pacific NW. The boat has done Sydney
Hobart, Kenwood Cups, two Van Isle 360's, Swiftsures, and on and on. Nary a
creak or a grown. I have complete confidence in the boat when pounding up-
wind in 30 knots plus. Or surfing downhill in the same kind of breeze.
Great, solid boat. Oh, and its fun to cruise too!
From Russell Bowler, President, Farr Yacht Design: I have been overwhelmed
by the support of knowledgeable people in the industry following the
publication of an interview with Gilles Ollier (Isssue 2126). It is
gratifying to receive such support from people who know the facts and know
the game. An engineer gets very little thanks from society when things work
(when did you last give thanks to an engineer when you crossed a bridge). I
have no issue with Gilles’ comments, as I don't think he was intentionally
trying to be derogatory, just a little clumsy with the English language.
Next time we meet we will have a good discussion, as I am sure we can learn
a lot from each other about why boats break.
However, your publication of a blogger’s uninformed rant in today's 'butt
(Letters Section, Issue 2131) is a sad reflection on how easy it is to get
an opinion published while cruising the Southern Hemisphere, pontificating
on issues of which the blogger has no real knowledge or right to comment. It
is more disturbing that you would choose to publish a note from this source.
Quite frankly, I am happy that this blogger will not go to sea in one of our
designs and wish him contentment as he floats around the oceans in his
Serendipity IOR 43. If he cares to contact me directly for discussion on our
work I would be happy to oblige. In the mean time we will continue to push
the frontiers and work at providing sailors with exciting high performance
boats and reliable structures.
I've received other letters, written privately, from people who don't wish to come out publically on this issue. Comments like:
"thank you for saying exactly what I would have liked to..You owe no apologies, the results (Volvo 70s) speak for themselves" (from a designer)
and
"I know nothing about Farr boats, but I tend to respect your opinions...go get 'em" (from a sailor)
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