With the preliminary design study phase drawing to a close, the ground is now being prepared for the construction of the first Class 30 a joint yacht design project between the RORC in London and UNCL in France, with the next phase of the project underway, which is the development of the detailed construction plans. These will be completed by the end of March 2022.

The new Class 30 design will offer two different specifications; a Club and One Design version, with the Club offering being seen as a tool for training, learning about and competing on the offshore racing circuit. This new boat is the fruits of an international architecture competition organised by France’s National Offshore Racing Union (UNCL) in partnership with the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), in the UK and the Storm Trysail Club in America. With the constant involvement of the competition winners, the VPLP naval architecture firm and the Multiplast yard.

One of the objectives of the project is for the Class 30 Club boat, to have a competitive ready to sail price tag of under €100,000.

"The new Class 30 design will offer two different specifications; a Club and One Design version"

pre-booking process

At this early stage of the programme, the project has been very well received with over thirty reservations of production boat numbers recorded on the UNCL – Yacht Club de France stand at the Nautic boat show in Paris, where the launch process began in earnest together with the presentation of the model.

The registration protocol is both simple and safe. You need to send an email to [email protected] where all requests are received; in return a booking contract will be sent along with a short presentation on the boat. To secure the reservation a €2,500 deposit needs to be paid to a locked escrow account (all details in the information you receive), managed by a sworn lawyer. Once funds are received, the lawyer sends a booking number in chronological order to applicants. This booking number is non-transferable and you can cancel your reservation at any time and receive a full refund.

Production set to commence from January 2023

With regards to the build schedule, the study phase has been extended to finalise the tooling and moulds so that construction of the production boats can commence at the beginning of 2023, with the aim of having a few of the boats competing that Easter, either at the Spi Ouest France or the SNIM, or at RORC races in UK.

Depending how the order book evolves, promoters of the production boat will consider in due course whether or not to put in place an additional mould to increase production capacity in France, whilst evaluating the development of a licence programme overseas.

A boat designed to be container-shipped

In addition to the very contemporary lines and a series of simple and inexpensive solutions, what has come off the drawing board of competition winner VPLP-Multiplast is a truly stellar logistical feat. Indeed, through the possibility of fitting the whole boat and its rig into a 40-foot container was not a prerequisite of the initial specifications, it was quickly viewed as a major benefit in ensuring the best possible distribution of the one-design via both road and sea transport. The design of a transport cradle is also envisaged with this in mind. In line with the wishes of the project’s stakeholders, particular attention has gone into the pre-manufacture studies of the first prototype to ensure the best possible control of the budget for the production boats, which is a key aspect of the project.

Class 30 One Design - A light, effective and accessible deck layout to prioritise dynamic trimming and favour learning within crewed sailing

A circuit for the Class 30 One Design™

The main aim of the class is to set up a sports programme enabling sailors – owners and clubs – to get out racing at the highest level as soon as possible on a variety of course types and stretches of water. To this end, the one-design is intended to provide an optimised response to the IRC measurement criteria. This option will pave the way for an extensive one-design race programme both in France, UK and overseas, around the cans and offshore. UNCL and RORC are also very keen to quickly schedule in a ‘Class 30 Tour’, an event which will serve as a reminder of the project’s suitability and ambition for training and replenishing a whole generation of offshore racing crew and skippers of renown. This Class 30 Tour could travel with crews going back and forth between the English and French coasts.

Class Management

It is the intention to set-up class associations for both the Club and One Design to develop and manage the Class 30 (rules and racing programme), as well as being a forum for sharing ideas, training initiatives and managing and dealing with any issues that are relevant to the class.

Quotes:

James Neville, Commodore of the RORC
“Beyond the political wrangling, we’re here to prove that in the sailing world, we know how to support joint projects and get the French and the English working together as one!”

Géry Trentesaux, new President of the UNCL
“We are extremely pleased with the progress of the Class 30 One Design™ project. One of our priorities is to ensure its success, and we are particularly happy with the involvement and motivation of the team formed by the naval architect firm/yard. As Yves Ginoux said, we’ve successfully rounded the first upwind mark and we’re now focused on running before the wind, ready to make the most of the favourable gusts.”

Simon Watin, VPLP design
“Managing to combine performance, simplicity and fun with this boat, which aims to connect dinghy sailing and offshore racing, is an extremely motivating challenge for our whole team. Following on from our fine experience on the Figaro 3, it’s another step forward into the world of production monohulls for us.”

Dominique Dubois, Multiplast Groupe Carboman
“We’re very proud to have been selected to build this new one-design. For Multiplast, the race is already on and we’re investing a great deal of energy into this project to ensure the boat is accessible and easy to maintain, whilst also being quick and fun. It’s an ambitious challenge and just the kind of project we love taking on.”

Reminder

Class 30 Club: a basic version that is simplified yet high-performance, for training offshore racing crew and one-design racing at a particularly competitive ready-to-sail introductory price enabling it to be purchased by as many people as possible.

Class 30 One Design™: Club version to which kit integrating various fit-out modules has been added (electronics, navigation and galley modules, ballast tanks...), designed to expand its scope of use and performance for offshore racing. The Class 30 One Design version enables a duo or crew to race in a one-design class as well as be competitive in IRC.

Key points of the Class 30 One Design™ project:

• A boat that is great to sail: seated comfortably at the helm or out on the rail, on a hull which is not too wet, with a large cockpit for carrying out manoeuvres in crewed format
• A design that keeps a tight rein on cost
• Simple forms with minimally developed surface area
• A structure and assembly geared around the production of a one-design series
• A pared-back deck layout and rig
• Significant focus on eco-design, with the overall consideration of the construction as well as the uses and manner of sailing
• A powerful and versatile hull for a boat that is evolutionary on every point of sail
• A light, effective and accessible deck layout to prioritise dynamic trimming and favour learning within crewed sailing.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and Union Nationale pour La Course au Large (UNCL), joint owners of the IRC rating rule, have been in discussion with the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) about the possibility of creating a unified organisation to govern yacht ratings worldwide. This initiative to bring the world offshore rating systems together was endorsed by ISAF following its AGM in 2009 in Korea.

The intention is for RORC/UNCL and ORC to create a joint venture company which would run the existing rules, IRC and ORC and then in time, using the combined knowledge and resources, evolve new rating systems that combine the benefits of IRC and ORC to create fast, fun and seaworthy boats for unified competition all over the world.

Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC, working alongside Vice-Chairman Wolfgang Schaefer, are enthusiastic and confident about working with the RORC. "We appreciate the work and friendship with RORC and we believe it is finally time to get back to the IOR era and to the ORC founding spirit, when only one single rule was recognised as 'the international' rule in offshore sailing."

Chris Little, Admiral of the RORC, working with Commodore Andrew McIrvine agree that it is time to bring the development of rating systems under one umbrella.
"We have received strong support from a number of countries and potential owners to develop a rule that will allow us to recreate the international yacht racing circuit and we shall continue to work towards this goal."