New GP26 Rapid Transit turns heads in Oz

by Dobbs Davis on 4 Dec 2010 Australia's Brett Van Munster Boats in Morisset, NSW and Fred Barrett Yacht Design (FBYD) in Tasmania have teamed up to produce an exciting new GP26, Rapid Transit, for Sydney-based Bob Dempsey to compete among Sportboats in and around Sydney Harbour.

Van Munster, a renowned builder of 18-foot skiffs, has put his expertise into crafting this lightweight yet offshore-capable yacht that can be sailed comfortably with two or three people and raced easily with four to five crew.

After their recent launch, the boat has been turning heads in Sydney with its combination of high speed, stability, and easy of handling in the wide variety of conditions encountered in this world-class sailing venue.

The boat has attracted the attention of some well-known Australian sailing talent, such as Nathan and Jeremy Wilmot.

Some designer comments from Fred Barrett:

'Robert wanted a small racing yacht that would be exciting, competitive and challenging and after some to and fro with other small design classes the GP26 box rule was chosen as the path to pursue. Within Sydney and indeed much of Australia the ‘Sports-boat’ concept is king, enjoying success as an Australian class of racing. Robert wanted something a bit different and not a trailerable ‘sports-boat’. The typical geometry of the GP26 class and that of a sport-boat of similar length is very similar, the key difference being the sport-boat would carry another 20% of upwind sail area and as much as 50% more downwind.

'Given the design would be targeted towards Sydney conditions (light, moderate and windy) we developed a reasonably large field of candidate canoe bodies for comparison, with the usual suspects of BWL, Righting moment, canoe body draft, wetted area, prismatic etc. all being looked at and tweaked to what we anticipated would be a good stab at a first generation design. We felt we needed a boat suited for moderate air, basically splitting the difference with the yearly conditions to allow the design to be all-round and well-behaved.

'FBYD was extremely keen to have this design go together as well as it could as we had invested a great deal of time into the design approach. We were able to run with an excellent build team in Keith and Brett Van Munster of Van Munster Boats, who could provide the level of quality we required and that attention to detail they are so good at providing through their enormous experience with the various skiff classes and 505 dinghies they produce.

'Clearly our vision was to produce a fast straight out of the box design within a realistic budget. These boats are not cheap compared to the vast second hand market, but you get what you pay for…that said, the concept for some owners who are intrigued by the challenge of having a design drawn up and the project handled in a professional way is how we all got to where we are today. Once upon a time the quarter ton fleets made passage for designers, boat builders and owners alike to gain experience and progress through the ranks within the sport and marine industry.

'It's the same thing today, but the problem we face is that the modern day ‘quarter-ton’ owner can either afford a larger boat and hence buys a larger boat or is stuck well within the second hand market. This is the challenge faced by many committed to building custom small offshore style racing yachts – it’s a tough gig to get the boats sold, even though they’re a blast.

'I cast my mind back more than a decade with the emergence of the Australian (Sydney) JOG scene with a number of new boats costing in excess of A$200K, and by today’s standards we have come a long way and what you get for your hard earned bucks is a solid performer.

'The reality is that the GP26 is a step up from other classes that may appear more economical, but these are custom designs, fast and affiliated with the ORC as a Grand Prix class, something many other classes of similar size cannot claim.

'Initial impressions from a designer’s point of view are all good. The boat is quick uphill and especially downwind, reaching and surpassing targets and clearly showing some giant killer qualities, things you expect from a modern shaped and well package design. The design, known as 'Rapid Transit,' has been performing well within the Super 30 class within Sydney Harbour and is currently sitting a podium position for the series she is competing in.