If
you can ask a room full of sailors the question "What is a Sportboat",
I guarantee you will get a different answer from each one...believe me,
I've done it!!! It can become a pretty emotional issue for some people,
depending on whether you own a sportboat or are racing against one.
I understand their frustrations with the present rating systems and
know exactly where they're from, although my perspective is a little
different. Let me explain. I am the designer of the VG30, which is
designed to the Mount Gay 30 Rule. The Rule produces modern looking, go
fast boats which, unfortunately, are quite often mistaken for a
sportboat. I am constantly having to do battle with PHRF and race
committees
to make sure that our boat is rated fairly and grouped with boats of a
similar rating band. The first VG-Mount Gay 30, named Surprise, rates
anywhere from 78 in Narragansett Bay to 66 in Western Long Island, no
more than a hundred miles away from each other. That's 12 seconds worth
of perception...or some might say ignorant protectionism and bias.
So by defining what is not a sportboat, hopefully I can help you define
what is. Surprise is 5300 lbs in displacement with proportionately more
wetted surface than boats that are 800 to 1400 lbs lighter with almost
as much waterline (e.g. Mumm 30, Henderson 30, Melges 30, J90). The
boats sailing displacement to length ratio is 119 and light ship
displacement to length ratio is 98. It has an upwind sail area to
displacement ratio of 28 with a 100% jib, and a downwind upwind sail
area to displacement ratio of 68 with a masthead spinnaker. It has an
interior complete with a galley, head, nav station, 4 permanent berths,
and an inboard diesel engine (not exactly what you would find in a true
go-fast sportboat).
I
crewed on board Surprise when she competed in a sport boat fleet at the
1997 NYYC Race Week. We found that our competition was not necessarily
against the other boats in our class (three 1D35s, two Melges 30s, one
Henderson 30, two J90s, and one Mum36), but against the clock and
ourselves. Racing from the back of the fleet and being totally
controlled on the course, although quite challenging, is not much fun
for the owner and crew.
Okay, so what is a "Sportboat"? In my humble opinion it is a powerful
ultra-light boat with oodles of sail area that has been designed with
the sole purpose of competing in round-the-cans events. They have
little or no accommodation with sail and gear stowage as the sole
purpose of an interior volume. They have a high ballast to weight ratio
(typically 50% and above). The sailing displacement to length ratios
are 105 or less, and the sail area to displacement ratios are over 30
(upwind) and 65 (downwind). Sail area to wetted surface ratios are
difficult to define as designers tend to keep wetted surface
measurements to themselves. Anything over 3.2 is considered pretty
slippery. Whether these boats fly asymmetric chutes from sprits, or
symmetrics from a convention pole is irrelevant. Each has their
advantages in different conditions.
This
is not a hard and fast criteria and a sail boat that exhibits just
one or two of these qualities does not necessarily make it a sportboat.
There in lies the ambiguity in defining what a sportboat really
is and why there is so much discussion and "knee-jerk" reactions to
this type of high performance sailboat. Other
sources: The RORC have a defined rule for sportboat owners
that wish to race in a fleet of like boats (www.rorcrating.com). Bob
Perry
takes a shot at the definition of a sportboat in his description of the
Columbia
30. Ullman
Sails says
the modern sportboat is light, fast, and fun to sail. They are great
for sailing and provided a new spark to the sport......(www.ullmansails.com).
