HP30s ready to impress at the Vice Admiral's Cup

Cool Runnings Open 7.50 © Cool Runnings

With the first HP30 scheduled for next weekend at the RORC hosted Vice Admiral's Cup it's time for a preview of what this class is going to present to the Costa Del Solent.

The new class for High Performance 30s has been brain stormed and formed in January and it's gathering pace among an ever growing group of owners which are keen to have fun with the minimal fuss of logistics, compact crew and boats with impressive downwind speeds.

The line up has already attracted the who's who of yachting. The Farr 280 FOMO of Lloyd Thornburg will bring a nucleus of his crew of the infamous MOD70 trimaran Phaedo 3, with a wealth of experience, to the HP30 race course. They will be rivalled by Jamie's Rankin's well practised crew in another Farr 280. Being the latest Farr office design these two will be in hot pursuit to claim victory.

The most extreme entry in this new group is pocket-rocket Cool Runnings. At only 23' in length she seems out of place in the primarily bigger fleet... but the devil is in the detail.

With a length to beam ratio of 2.5, a massive square top mainsail, defying all proportions, supported by a innovative wing rig she is the one to watch downwind when the breeze gets up as she has recorded impressive speeds. In the hands of Thorkild Juncker, with a seasoned crew who have gathered a lot of experience with her over the years, and with boat speed doctor Jochem Visser on tactics this could be the surprising underdog.

Shanghai Lil, the Fareast 28R, in the guiding hands of Peter Stump of Island Charters is another one to watch. This Simonis/Voogd design has gained momentum and has been popular in Asia and the Netherlands. With a aggressive reverse slope bow she has all the pedigree of a true sports boat.

With the class open to existing boats like the Farr 30 and the Melges 32 it's great to see that an example of either has joined the class as well. John Reivers will be in charge of the longest boat in the fleet, the Melges 32 "Drop Bear". With an advantage on waterline length she will be the one to beat to the windward mark. Malcolm Wooton will be on his modified Farr 30 "Pegasus". This boat has been adapted to asymmetric sails only and will show of her usual "Farr 30" strengths with great ability to point and excel in the 8-12 kts breeze range.

With all boats planing effortlessly in anything above 12kts and carrying asymmetrics we will see the usual battle upwind seamlessly continue downwind. The HP30's will vie for every shift but with speeds in the double digits time won't be on their hands.

The series will climb up to a climax at the HP30 & Sports Boat Nationals held in Plymouth from the 15-17th of July.