Foiling 18' skiff

“Psychologically, it grew from Australia II” notes Scott Jutson, a leading member of the design team. “The belief that technology conquers all, that overseas expertise is vital, and that whatever project came from it had to be secret.”

Colourbond’s genesis included a multinational design team and a two-week think tank session in the USA. Don Buckley (Ian Murray’s mainsheet hand) hatched a plan for a “superboat” with a wing mast, a no-holds barred start from scratch issue-by-issue design. All-up cost of the boat alone was rumoured to be about five times the average annual wage.

The shape that came out of Ted van Dusen’s Boston rowing shell works was radical by any standards. The team wanted a narrow hull but structural considerations dictated a shroud base of 8’, so Colourbond became one of the first boats with chainplates fitted to the wing tubes, rather than the hull.

That hull looked totally different. The stem was less than 300 mm high, with rounded gunwhales and a rounded foredeck. “Skiffs always nosedive at the top mark, so they went for flare to keep the bow up. That’s not addressing the problem” says Jutson.. “We looked at it more from a Nacra cat point of view; if there’s nothing to slow the boat down when it nosedives, it won’t decelerate which is what breaks masts and capsizes boats.”

Colourbond had no chines, very unusual in skiffs of that time. “It was never really clear whether we were on the right path or not” reflects Jutson. That was one of the problems with the boat; it broke so much new ground it was all but impossible to work out which areas were successful and which were not.

The wing mast had structural problems and only lasted a couple of sails. Jutson still likes wing masts, but not for classes with unrestricted sail area. The wing masts weigh so much that it’s more effective to just go for bigger sails on a conventional mast. The cantilever retractable bowsprit was very sophisticated, was low in windage and concentrated weight further aft, but Jutson believes that the cruder-looking fixed and stayed bowsprits were lighter and therefore faster.

Colourbond was moderately successful on the racecourse, but she is memorable mainly as something totally different, and a pathfinder in construction."