Andi Robertson A new 30ft one design is on the cards that could bring unity to the offshore scene, with backing from both sides of the Channel
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t is encouraging to hear plans for the new Class 30, an entry level, fast, fun and simple offshore one design which is quickly gaining traction. It’s thanks to a certain synchronicity between RORC and its French counterpart UNCL, both realising they needed an accessible, equally matched one design that would take the next generation of sailors offshore. My minor concern initially is that there will be a ‘not invented here’ mentality emanating from the production builders who have, they will contend, similar better boats and from nations where the boat is not going to be built. But I am sure that as soon as an international competition circuit can be drawn up, the blue touchpaper will be lit. More and more young sailors want to be representing their country or their club. The international design competition for a new 30fter was won by the French partnership of VPLP Design and Multiplast, led by RORC, UNCL, and the Storm Trysail Club. Yves Ginoux, UNCL’s vice-president explains: “When (organisers) ASO announced that there would be no Tour Voile in 2021 we contacted them to offer them a different solution closer to the original spirit. In the end they chose to work with Normandie Evénement (as the new organisers of Tour Voile), but we continued to think about the ideal boat for getting into offshore racing. Talking with our friends from RORC, we realised that at the very same time they were thinking about exactly the same subject, so we worked together to launch a call for projects in April.” The specifications for the Class 30 One Design are simple: a 30ft one design monohull to be actively sailed by up to 5 to 6 crew members. It is to be affordable at less than €100,000, with a regatta version also available with a carbon mast, a galley and a chart table, as well as ballast. Explaining what appealed most about the VPLP offering Ginoux reveals: “First of all there is was a real basic architectural strength. But there is a level of detail in that, for example, VPLP were the only one to take into account post-Covid elements, in particular by incorporating a moulding in the cockpit
for six water bottles of the crew, so as not to mix them up. Secondly there was very clearly a real reflection on the industrial production dimension with Multiplast.” My understanding from colleagues in France is that after a pre-production run of three to five boats, which should be launched at the beginning of 2023, the objective is to be able to produce one boat per week. UNCL’s Ginoux is looking to generate “hundreds of boats around the world, but there is interest also from sailors who are going to do the Mini Transat and believe that the Class 30 One Design can be a very good intermediate step before moving on to the Figaro or the Class 40. It is a target that I had not identified given the dynamism of the Mini class but it is very interesting.” The objective is to have attractive financing solutions and I understand there are already “advanced discussions” with potential partners to finance the class and/or a racing circuit to be set up. Multiplast will manage the build and by that I understand some of the work will be sub-contracted out. “It’s something different from what we usually do, we are generally more developing and building prototypes,” explains Yann Penfornis, Multiplast’s managing director. “But we still have experience in series production - we have manufactured 95 pairs of Figaro Beneteau 3 foils - and we know how to manage ambitious projects. All this in addition to the mutual respect which we share with our friends and neighbours at VPLP who encouraged us to embark on this adventure together. We still have to move forward in defining and specification of the boat with VPLP, then we will have to select the yards with which we will work with because though the construction will be supervised by Multiplast, the Class 30 One Design will not be manufactured only by us; we will outsource to meet the requirements for mass production and the economies of scale,” he concludes. It would be great to consider some aspect of the build might come to this side of the Channel, but in any case, I hope that this could be the catalyst to unify the offshore aspirations and objectives towards some common goals.
IMAGE GIORGIO VECCHIO/VPLP DESIGN
‘BOTH NEEDED A DESIGN THAT WOULD TAKE THE NEXT GENERATION OFFSHORE’
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DECEMBER 2021 Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting
ABOVE Early visuals of the Class 30, an affordable one design racer for 5 or 6 crew
ANDI ROBERTSON An offshore sailing expert, few people can match Andi’s insight into the big boat world, both in the UK and globally
