New Elliott 35 SuperSport is launched and places well in maiden race

by Elliott Marine on 26 Sep 2012
Crusader, the new Elliott 35 SuperSport was launched at Salthouse Boatbuilders last week and sailed her maiden race in the first of the Gold Cup Series held in Auckland on the weekend. The Elliott speedster completed the 44 mile race finishing second on the line well ahead of all but one of the 50 footers.

The owner is very happy with the impressive performance of his new boat which showed huge potential for some record breaking races in the future. He intends to trial the yacht over the next few weeks and is looking forward to attempting to break the Coastal Classic record for monohulls under 35 feet.

The Elliott 35 Super Sport is a power packed, fast, and fun to sail racing yacht suitable for all types of yacht racing. The E35ss will be highly competitive in both fully crewed and short-handed racing, offshore or inshore.

She sports a full inventory of http://www.nz.northsails.com/!North_Sails, from the Auckland loft, including working sails in 3Di. Deck gear is by Harken.

North Sails designer Gautier Sergent from team Groupama has undertaken the sail design phase.

Recently completing his time with the winning 2012 Volvo70 Groupama, Gautier has incorporated a lot of lessons learnt from the Volvo sails. The same style of Volvo70 sails, will be brought down to a smaller scale, which a few added features which will make for exciting and efficient sails.

The high stability generated by the Elliott 35's canting keel allows for a generous sail plan to be carried, and North sails are currently building a full set of race sails to complement the design. 3di material has been used for the off-shore mainsail and the medium jib.

With every new Elliott design there is continuous data transfer from previous design projects, enabling improvements that result in increasing performance with each successive design. Utilizing data and information transferred directly from recent successful projects, the E35ss design is the latest winning development of this proven formula. From the base design parameters the E35ss has evolved into a light displacement, stability enhanced 35ft speedster. Additional key factors of the design are a good all round racing performance with minimum crew and a functional interior accommodation to provide comfort at sea.

35 feet is at the lower end of the size scale for offshore sailing, however, analysis supported by experience and results has proven ultra light displacement combined with high stability will enable the E35ss to match or out perform much larger keel yachts.

The E35ss has a moderate beam hull form resulting in low hydro drag. This coupled with a stability enhancing canting keel enables the E35ss to be sailed at high speed with less crew than similar size yachts. The type of sailing also determined the hull shape. With the predominant sailing time being club racing, a moderate beam hull is most effective; rather than chasing more stability offered by a larger beam 'barge' type form, that suffers in light air sailing and is slow to manoeuvre. When fully powered up the E35ss will achieve 8 knots upwind and will plane at equal to or greater than true wind speed downwind.

High speed sailing generates spray and water over the deck especially in coastal and offshore racing. To counter this the deck is designed with moderate camber to shed the water and spray. A cabin is incorporated to offer shelter and water tightness. In addition the cabin adds to the interior volume, providing a little more crew comfort. Full cover over the companionway allows for easy access to the cabin without the water ingress problems of a sliding hatch. The voluminous, spartan interior is equipped with essential amenities that meet Category 1 regulations such as: galley, berths and head. This allows for basic comfort while racing offshore and 'camping style' accommodation for delivery and cruising if required.

High stability enables a generous sail plan to be carried. The carbon fibre, two spreader rig has a pair of tuning running backstays which are not essential when tacking or gybing, and allow for easy control while racing short-handed. This refined rig configuration will produce all round racing performance including exceptional light air sailing performance. The deck gear is strategically placed to provide efficient access to all controls both when fully crewed and short handed.

The moderate beam hull form requires only one forward retractable canard and one rudder for optimum lift and control. The three-foil combination (canard, keel, rudder) also contributes in keeping weight, cost and sailing complexity to a minimum. All foils are optimized in both profile and section shape for their individual purposes.

The structural design has ISAF plan approval and exceeds ISO Category A & ISAF Category 1 regulations. In construction of the hull, deck, and structural components, carbon fibre laminates are vacuum consolidated over foam cores of various densities. This results in a rigid structure that is lightweight, strong and durable.

By design, all systems, including the hydraulically canted keel, retractable bow pole, canard and running rigging are technically simplified ensuring that the E35ss is not challenging to sail fast.

The E35ss is designed for performance, and not restricted by any rating rule constraints. However, due to high sailing speed it will prove competitive under IRC especially in coastal and offshore racing. The recommended crew size is determined by the type of racing. The yacht is designed to be highly competitive in short-handed racing with a crew of 1-2, 5-6 for coastal or offshore racing, and 7-8 for regatta and track racing.

Significant progression by design has been achieved in the E35ss and as with previous Elliott racing yachts it will be fast, fun, easy to handle, economical to campaign, and will achieve outstanding race results.

Features
Power packed Performance
Fast - Fun - Exciting to sail
Stable and Sea worthy
Category 1 Offshore capable
Fully crewed or short-handed sailing
Easy to sail fast