Cruising like a Vendée Racer
by Andreas Kling on 13 Jan 2015
Finot-Conq FC3 53 Andreas Kling
The last thing anyone thinks when looking at single-handed sailors in the Vendée Globe non-stop round the world race is that this might be comfortable and relaxing. However, combining the fastest possible yacht design with the demands of cruising is in vogue. Knierim Yachtbau, from the Deutsche Yachten working group, is now building a FC3 53 designed by the successful IMOCA Open 60 designers Finot-Conq at Kiel.
The boat, 17.33 metres long, looks like a racer, but for extended two-handed sailing and racing is still luxurious enough for its crew to dispense with packet soups. The Kiel-based shipyard is presenting the plans on the boat in Düsseldorf from 17th to 25th January in Exhibition Hall 7a on stand F02.
'The client wanted a fast cruising yacht, comfortable and safe, but also easy to handle. And the boat had to be very stylish both inside and outside' was how designer Pascal Conq from France summarized the wishes of the German owner. Not by chance was speed in first place on the wish list. 'Consequently, the yacht is built using state-of-the art technology with carbon fibre pre-preg skin and Nomex sandwich for the deck and structures, as well as a Corecell foam core for the hull', explains Knierim's managing director, Steffen Müller. This is how the super-light 53-footer comes out at a weight of only 10.5 tonnes.
Even during the construction, the shipyard is not making any compromises. This is how the 5.26-metre wide carbon sandwich plug, which has been finished since Christmas, was milled directly with millimetric accuracy for the carbon fibre hull with one of Knierim Tooling's enormous five-axis machines. Once the hull is produced early on in the year, the designers and builder are both hoping that other followers also convinced of the concept will also place an order for a FC3 53. This is because demand for really fast cruising yachts remains consistently high, according to Müller and Conq.
Knierim Yachtbau has already proved its expertise in this segment with the first Knierim 60. The semi-custom concept from the pen of Beiderbeck Designs from Bremen (also a DY company) is a symbiosis between sail performance, classical elegance and lifestyle. With its glass fibre epoxy hull, the cruiser-focused yacht is already setting a benchmark in the market place with its high speed potential.
Speed is absolutely in the foreground for the FC3 53, with a sail area of 170 square metres upwind and twice as much downwind. The top of the mast is 23.30 metres above the waterline and is positioned well aft; the long main boom, as on the IMOCA Open 60, is sheeted via a traveller at the stern and the sheet fed to a central winch on the starboard side outside the cockpit. The large sail plan relies on a mainsail with a large roach and a fixed bowsprit for the genoa and code zero sails
In order to achieve thoroughbred racer performance, water ballast tanks can be filled with 1000 litres of water on each side. The lifting keel also extends from a harbour-friendly 1.60 metres to an enormous depth of 3.75 metres. A multitude of frames, including three bulkheads in front of the living area below deck, provides the necessary structural integrity.
Regarding the lifting keel: the keel box has been cleverly used by interior designer Pierre Forgia to break up the space in the wide lounge, although it functions also as the central bench for the dining table. This provides added strength below deck and crew safety, especially when the FC3 53 is sailing. In all, the layout below deck is inviting for extended long cruises. There is adequate storage space with a gigantic sail loft below.
Two refrigerators and a 750-litre fresh water tank with its own treatment system which theoretically can fill itself when under way in five hours, speak for themselves. A 700-litre diesel tank provides a reasonable range in windless conditions. Bow and stern thrusters support harbour manoeuvres with a crew of two. Numerous additional features round off the sophisticated order at the highest level. The launch is planned at the very latest for spring 2016.
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