First North American RC44 Launched

CONCEPT:
his is a light-displacement racing yacht designed to be fast downwind and powerful upwind. It has a high aspect ratio keel with a trim tab and rudder.

EASY TRANSPORT CONCEPT:
The specially designed canting trailer, easy detachable stern scoop and simple keel to hull attachment with a conical joint/coupling makes the boat very easy to transport and store. The mast is also built in two structural parts making the boat easy to transport on the road with no oversize restrictions.

STRUCTURAL DESIGN:
The hull, deck, structural liner, keel, rudder and rig were calculated and structurally optimised using Nastran software for the FEM analysis.

CONSTRUCTION:
Hull, deck and stern scoop are built in sandwich construction of epoxy resin and exclusively carbon unidirectional and biaxial fabrics, while the twill carbon woven rowing is used to give a smooth, clear, carbon look finish on all external surfaces. The core material is 5-20mm and 75 to 200 kg/m3.

The internal structure is a double cross frame designed to take all the keel, mast and shroud loads minimizing the hull and deck stress and deformation. It is built of epoxy resin and exclusively carbon unidirectional and biaxial fabrics, while the twill carbon woven rowing is again used to provide a smooth finish on all visible surfaces.

Female moulds for the hull, deck liner and spoiler are built to extremely high standards from CNC machined plugs, to guarantee minimal building tolerances. All composite parts are built according to SPSystem specification, vacuum bagged and postcured in an oven.

KEEL & BULB:
The keel is built of carbon pre-preg material in carbon moulds postcured at high temperature and pressure in an autoclave. A weed cutter is fitted in the keel leading edge. The trim tab is built in carbon with RTM technology. The lead-antimony bulb is cast in CNC machined steel mould for high precision and faired with epoxy compound.

RUDDER & STEERING SYSTEM:
The rudder and tapered rectangular section rudder shaft are one piece carbon built with RTM technology in a high precision female mould. The rudder shaft structure is FEM optimised and dimensioned according to ABS loads for speed of over 26 knots.

The steering quadrant, steering pedestals and wheels are exclusively designed and built in carbon.

The oversized Jefa self-aligning bearings, chain transmission steerers, steering sheaves and reliable vectran cable guarantee extremely precise performance with low maintenance.The result is a well balanced boat that handles with two fingers even when sailing at surfing speeds!

GENERAL:
Flushdeck, large racing cockpit with twin steering wheels, pedestal driven primary and mainsheet winches, recessed jib tracks and winches, ergonomic sidedecks and steering position, retractable and pivoting bowsprit, customized top quality deck hardware. Non skid treated walk upon areas.

TOE RAIL:
A custom carbon toe rail is fitted from bow to mast.

WINCHES (Harken):
Halyard: 2x B40.2 STA  – Primary: 2x B530 TCR UD pedestal driven  – Main: 1x B55.3STR pedestal driven

DECK HARDWARE (Harken):
Jib system: midrange (4:1 car purchase) – Main system: bigboat (2:1 mainsheet, 4:1 car purchase).

The deck hardware is oversized to provide low maintenance. All the control lines, main sheet, backstays and gennaker retriever system are fitted under the deck to keep the deck as clean as possible. The hardware layout was optimised in extensive sailing trials with Russell Coutts’ match race crew.

HATCHES:
The foredeck hatch is AC style shaped, the carbon cover has fast release fittings, the edges are rounded for easy gennaker-retriever operation. The cockpit engine drive inspection hatch is fitted with a carbon cover with fast release fittings.

MAST & RIGGING:
The mast shape has a variable section, designed specially for this boat, to improve the mast-sail aerodynamic interaction. The mast is produced in two segments for transport reasons, the joint is at the second spreader position and is secured with titanium bolts and titanium backing plates. Rig is fractional with three backswept spreaders. Standing rigging is continuous in PBO with turnbuckles below the deck, to save weight to reduce windage and provide a clean visual appearance. The boom and pivoting retractable bowsprit are also made of carbon. The running backstays are non structural. The PBO forestay has a hydraulic ram tensioner and is fitted with headfoil as standard. Running rigging is in Spectra.