Class 30 One Design™: Here we are! You can now order the affordable and fun 'missing link'
by RORC Press 18 May 19:25 BST
Class 30 One Design™ © RORC
Great news for the boat imagined and designed by VPLP, thanks to the joint initiative of Union Nationale pour la Course au Large (France), the Royal Ocean Racing Club (UK) and the Storm Trysail Club (USA).
Their objective is for this boat to become the preferred choice as an introduction and for the training needs of offshore racing, as well as one design sailing. It is scheduled to make its debut afloat at the end of the year with the aim for the first Class 30 One Design™ to participate in Easter 2023 races in France and UK.
After nine months of study, research and development by VPLP and Multiplast, the final project designs have been finalised and signed off. It is now possible to order this new exciting class boat as the detailed study phase is complete and final purchase orders are now being sent to all pre-bookers.
It was of course the tip of the iceberg, but its importance is paramount for the future of the whole class: "Our choice was to take a little more time for the study part so that we could start building directly with the series," explains Yves Ginoux, General Secretary of UNCL and Project Leader. The boat is now fully technically and commercially defined (base price of the Club version without sails 94,500 euros excluding tax, One Design version without sails 132,500 euros excluding tax + options).
The construction schedule has been validated. Some good news has also appeared. Thanks to its power and stability the Club and One Design versions are CE approved in the A4 category; a very valuable configuration in ocean or offshore events such as the Rolex Fastnet Race, for example. For speed and fun, the reduced displacement of 2,700 kg associated with a large spinnaker area of??105 m2 makes it possible to anticipate beautiful surfs.
The 25 confirmed pre-bookers who have secured their place in the production sequence will receive a sales contract proposal at the beginning of May. The first boats will be delivered at the end of the year and the production flow rate will then be of one boat per week from January 2023 onwards.
To receive more information about the boat and the proposed sale prices:
Preliminary racing programme for the new one-design
For the 2023 start-up year, Class 30 boats are planned to participate in 13 events as part of the Channel and Atlantic programme. Plus, at 10 events in the Mediterranean between April 7th and the end of October, with races for the Class 30 Club, as well as One Design, including races such as RORC's Rolex Fastnet Race. The programme includes double-handed and/or fully crewed events, which may include a class reserved for Class 30.
Noticeably, from July 14th to 20th, the 'Demo Class 30 Tour' project, a 5-day race open to crews will start from Lorient. Also, a 'Grand Finale Class 30' over 4 days is scheduled for Two-Handed, as well as for crewed yachts, at Lorient or La Trinité.
The preliminary racing programme for England and USA will be completed later. The 'Class 30 Tour' is already on the program for 2024.
Quotes:
Géry Trentesaux, President of UNCL. Extract of an interview published by Ouest-France, N degrees1 newspaper in France (J Guyader): "My generation has learnt and been trained on the Tour de France à la Voile or the Solitaire du Figaro. There was no better school in the world than these two events. The fact is that it is lacking today. The Figaro has become a bit elitist and the Tour no longer exists. Young people no longer go offshore like we used to. I did the Tour de France but also the RORC races with my family. We think there is a missing link between the day boat (day trip), like the J80, and offshore racing boats. In the past, half-tonners, 9-meter boat with five crew on board, did the job on which we sailed miles and miles. What we want with the Class 30 is a boat, affordable for young people, but also for people in their forties."
Yann Penfornis, Multiplast Groupe Carboman: "After 9 months of exchanges between theUNCL and RORC, our teams and those of VPLP have just submitted the Final Draft (APD) for this 30' monohull. In addition to the weight estimate, the stability studies, the sail plans, structures, deck and appendages, as well as the IRC rating estimates, this document includes the selling prices of the two versions (Club and One Design) with a production in southern Brittany.
"This last point is a reason for additional satisfaction, because following order confirmations from Clubs and owners, building this series of boats a few miles away from the historic site of Multiplast and from VPLP will facilitate production and development. of this new One Design."
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 which keeps a tight rein on cost: Simple forms with minimal 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 which is evolutionary on every point of sail
- A light, effective and accessible deck layout to prioritise dynamic trimming and favour learning within crewed sailing.