OneSails success in the Audi China Coast Cup 2014

by OneSails on 19 Oct 2014 It all started with a conversation between RHKYC Rear Commodore Antony Day and Onesails NZ’s Gray Gibson, and lead to the charter of the Mills 40 Mandrake 2 for the 2014 China Coast Cup in Hong Kong. The budget allowed for the addition of one sail for the regatta, and it soon became clear that a new jib was a priority. 'We had three weeks to get a new 4T Membrane made in Italy, then shipped to Auckland for finishing, and all went to plan' said Gibson.

Mandrake 2 had gone down an IRC optimisation process of reducing luff length in the headsails in order to reduce rating. In the process, the performance was compromised in light to medium air to the extent that the boat was not at all competitive in its last few regattas.

'We looked at the dimensions and it was obvious that the headsails needed to have more area added. The existing jibs had all the area removed from the top while leaving LPG relatively long.'

'OneSails took a different approach', said Gibson. 'We needed area up high where it is most effective, so we designed a sail that would be maximum size in front of both spreaders. Luff length was lengthened a little, and maximised high by setting the tack 25cm off the deck. Then we traded about 30cm of LP, which added a lot of roach on the top batten.'

'The result was a sail that was as big as it could be between the top and third battens, and we were not paying for rating where area was ineffective' added Gibson. Jib area increased by about 1 sq m, adding 4 points to the rating.

The one-piece continuous string 4T jib was designed to cover light to medium air, with the sail being used in every race ranging from 6 to 16 knots. 'Mandrake had the lowest rating in class, but most of the time we were the same speed as the larger boats upwind, and coupled with great starts we were often able to control large parts of the upwind legs', said Gibson.

After three days’ nip and tuck racing, Mandrake 2 took Overall honours in a highly competitive Class 1. At the same time Ray Roberts’ TP52 OneSails Racing won Class 0, capping a really good regatta for OneSails.

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