Afloat has previously highlighted the revival of smaller cruiser-racers and Quarter Tonners in Cork Harbour, where affordability, smaller crews and close handicap racing have attracted owners. Now professional sailor Mark Mansfield makes the case for another option — lightweight planing boats. Mansfield draws on his experience as joint owner of the Fareast 28R Resolute, having previously raced an International H Boat, to ask whether more Irish owners should consider trading displacement for speed.
Mark Mansfield, a four-time Olympian and professional sailor, has raced many types of racing yacht over the past 30 to 40 years. Most have been heavier displacement boats, including J/109s, J/122s, Grand Soleils, Etchells, Quarter Tonners, Half Tonners and various one-off designs.
He has also raced Melges 24s, Stars, 1720s and other lightweight designs. Here, he makes the case for the newer style of lighter displacement, planing boats for handicap racing in Ireland.
From H Boat to Fareast 28R
Having raced other people’s boats for most of my life, I eventually bought a small boat for racing last year in partnership with a friend. It was a 1960s design, an International H Boat.
A lovely-looking heavier displacement boat with a very low IRC handicap, there are hundreds racing in northern Europe, mainly as one-designs.
This year, we upgraded it for a much higher-performance Fareast 28R. Here is what we have learned from the two quite different options.
Changing Gear: The International H Boat previously raced by Mark Mansfield and his co-owner offered a very different proposition to their lightweight Fareast 28R. Photo: Bob Bateman
We enjoyed the H Boat a lot, but when you have a low-rating boat and are sailing in all-in races, like we do a lot in RCYC, then you have to accept that you will often have a lot of mid-handicap boats around you — often faster, but also often not so well sailed.
You get a good start and one rolls you soon after. Then, by the time you get to the next mark, the same boat is still around you, rolling you again after they may have gone the wrong way or had some crewing issues.
Often it is not just one boat, but many such boats. It is nearly impossible to pick lanes, as there are big sails always in your wind.
Don’t get me wrong, we still won many races, but in certain conditions the problem with bad wind in your sails really made a difference. Even when you did win on handicap, you were nearly always coming in quite late compared to the faster boats.
When the Fareast Gets Going
Compare this now with the Fareast 28R, a relatively simple, non-tech, non-carbon planing boat. These can be bought second-hand now for somewhere in the region of €25,000.
Yes, because they can plane in over 15 knots, they consequently have a high handicap of around 1.040.
What we have found is that in light airs, say up to nine knots, because they are light boats, they will be quick upwind compared to heavier displacement boats of the same rating, and also quick downwind for the same reason.
They can win on handicap in these conditions, as we did at the Royal Cork two-day At Home Regatta.
Planing Option: Fareast 28R Resolute under spinnaker off Blackrock Castle in Cork Harbour, illustrating the higher-performance approach Mark Mansfield advocates for Irish handicap racing. Photo: Bob Bateman
Likewise, in over 14 or 15 knots they will plane and so, if sailed well, can also win due to the speed you do downwind — maybe 12 or 13 knots or more — compared to a similar-rating, heavier displacement boat that might be doing 10 knots downwind.
Upwind, however, the similar-rated, heavier displacement, longer boat will be a good bit faster.
So then it comes down to how much upwind there is compared to downwind. If the upwind/downwind distances are equal, then the planing boat, like the Fareast 28R, may win if it works hard upwind, the crew hikes hard and you don’t let the gap get too big.
The Planing Boat’s Achilles Heel
Then there is the nine-to-13-knot range.
This is where the longer displacement boats should make hay due to their waterline length. They will be quicker upwind than the similar-rated planing boat, and downwind there may not be much difference if the planing boat cannot plane.
This is always the Achilles heel for the lightweight boats.
However, as we have shown, often the planing boat, even if it is not planing, can keep in the hunt enough to at least finish in the top few. Then wait for conditions in the next race that may suit it.
What Other Boats Fit the Bill?
So what boats would I say are in contention to be in this lightweight planing category?
There are quite a few. Clearly, there are expensive, really fast boats like TP52s, Fast 40s and even Cape 31s. All these new would be very expensive, but second-hand could be options.
However, it is the lower end of the scale that I believe could be more interesting for racing in Ireland.
Designs such as the Fareast 28R, Farr 280, Melges 24, Melges 32 and J/88, and even older designs like the Mumm 30 — now called the Farr 30 — can all now be bought a lot less expensively than before, sometimes with acres of sails if they have been professionally raced in the past.
Yes, these types of designs may not win every race. However, they will be fast most of the time, you will have a smile on your face when planing downwind, and you will end up in the bar earlier — an extra advantage.
Not For Everyone
They are not for everyone, though.
Lighter boats can be more sensitive to crew weight, crew-weight positioning, rig trim and helming abilities. They may not be as forgiving.
In this first year with the boat, it has taken us a good few races to understand where to get the speed. Too much weight in light and medium winds really is slow, and the rigging needs to be tightened and loosened constantly before racing to get the most out of her.
Then there are the techniques when planing.
And this has shown in the results, where we are now a lot more competitive than before.
Fun Without Huge Expense
Whether you are racing IRC or ORC, or whatever handicap system, great and enjoyable racing at not a huge expense can be had with planing boats.
Mostly, when you are finished with them at the end of the season, they go on their trailer and can be hauled by a medium-sized vehicle to their winter shed or yard, thus reducing costs further.
Another advantage is that, often compared to a similar-rating boat, their sails are a lot smaller, the loads are less, and so sail costs are a lot lower.
There is a lot of talk about rating systems — ORC versus IRC, etc.
Really, though, a fast boat is nearly always more fun to sail than a slow boat, and more owners maybe should look at this option going forward rather than trying to see which displacement boat suits whatever rating system you are competing in.
