HP30 Class programme and rule change for 2017

by Joe Hall on 1 Dec 2016 With a successful first season under it's belt, the HP30 Class has tweaked the rule slightly to encourage faster boats and is looking ahead to lots of exciting racing in 2017 and beyond.

To get the Class going, a number of simple parameters were used, to form the fleet, primarily DLR, max length and weight plus the use of asymmetric kites only. The net result was a fleet of up to ten pocket rockets competing at various events in the UK.

There were plenty of highlights to the season, including podium places for virtually all competitors, but arguably the racing highlight, was at the HP30 Class Nationals in Plymouth, with three different boats vying for the trophy going into the final race.

The class has proved itself to be attractive and competitive but it is not the finished article and the consensus is that the racing needs to be closer still.

For 2017, the HP30 Class has been offered starts at a number of high profile regattas and at a club level, with some of the UK's most prominent yacht clubs, which adds further credibility to the concept. The draft program, published below is broadly speaking what we expect to deliver, albeit with some minor changes, which will be ironed out over the next two weeks.

Further afield, interest remains strong and it will only be a matter of time before the HP30 fleets start to grow in Europe and other yachting hubs around the world.

Enquiries from new owners seeking to join in, are healthy and the Class appears to have caught people's imagination. Why not, especially with a broad range of exciting new or used boats fitting neatly into this bandwidth. There is no reason why the fleet should not grow rapidly.

So what's the rule change?
We asked the IRC rating office for advice on how we could stimulate speed within the class and together we came up with the solution to introduce a maximum Length Overall (LH) v Rating (TCC) ratio next to our existing rules. They helped us to explore the different LH/TCC ratio’s in the fleet currently and what we would set as the preferred target.

Some typical examples below:

Open 7.50                 7.50                 1.128               6.65

FarEast 28R              8.57                 1.060               8.08

C&C 30                     9.15                 1.119               8.18

Melges 32                 9.68                 1.151               8.41

Farr 280                    8.69                 1.096               7.93

Cape 31                    9.55                 1.141               8.37

Farr 30*                     9.43                 1.072               8.80

Xtreme 26                  7.85                 1.063               7.38

Soto 30                      9.22                 1.116               8.26

FarEast 31R              9.50                 1.151               8.25

Farr25                        7.62                 1.050               7.25

* (class sails and 106 sq/m asym kite as advised by Farr Yacht Design)

Based on the listings above and several other potential designs it was determined to set a preferred maximum LH/TCC ratio of 8.40. We realised that some of the existing boats needed time to adjust or to look at different options in the future. So, for those boats that competed in the 2016 circuit with higher LH/TCC ratios, the max LH:TCC ratio will be set at 8.80 until January 2019.

In parallel with this we have also agreed to free up the crew allowance and remove the max crew number of six to the number printed on each of the HP30’s IRC certificate. This will grant the longer boats the ability to sail with a crew of up to seven people, as has been requested.

Other minor changes to help bring the fleet closer together:
Raised the minimum TCC to 1.050
Increased minimum length to 7 metres
Separated HP30 class rules from UK Sports Boat Association

So far, feedback from participants and potential owners has been very positive and our expectation is that we will start the season with a fleet of ten boats, building swiftly to at least fifteen or sixteen boats by the middle of the summer.