Tour de Core - AC50's under construction...Fiji records smashed

by . on 7 Jun 2016 Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for June 7, 2016

As mentioned in our last newsletter Sail-World Sail-World had the privilege of a tour of Core Builders Composites, Oracle Team USA's building facility based in Warkworth.

Now employing around 60 staff the sprawling complex has been the birthplace of several AC50's - in part or in whole, along with wingsails and full boats for Defender, Oracle Team USA and their Challenger-buddy, Softbank Team Japan.

Some teams in Europe are building their boats or parts of them at home. In this co-operative project, Core Builders have supplied at least some parts for all boats or tooling to enable others to build components.

Sail-World has been through the Core Builders Composites' facility on several occasions - the first time to see the AC45's being built prior to the 2013 America's Cup.

Always the visits are impressive from the perspective of what is being achieved, the extent of the facilities and the fact that it is happening in little old New Zealand. In fact, it is not just little old New Zealand, but historic Warkworth - which with its nearby Mahurangi Harbour had its first taste of a marine industry with the opening of a spar station in 1832.

While the Jury is still out on the 35th America's Cup, the concept of the one design AC50 (save for foils and their systems, wingsail controls and drag reduction) definitely opens up new ground.

In the 33 years, I've been covering the America's Cup, there has been only two occasions on which I've been allowed into an America's Cup building facility. The first was in the early days of the NZ Challenge for a look at one of the plugs for the plastic fantastics.

It was a carefully organised visit, with covers over anything recognisable and plenty of guessing games being played out by both sides.

Last Monday week was quite different. A guided roam through the factory. We're used to having to ask permission before taking every shot and have been around enough to know that you don't shoot boats. So it was a staggering experience after listening to CBC principal Tim Smyth explain what was happening in the main AC50 upper or deck construction area, to be told as we were leaving 'Oh you can take photos of those if you like.'

Lucky there wasn't a feather duster handy - Tim could have knocked me over with it!

The rest of the tour was in the same vein - a look at components of an America's Cup boat under construction that I have never seen being built before - and I don't think too many others have either. Certainly you never see any photos if they have.

As has been said before Core Builders Composites does not look like a boat building shed - but more like an aircraft construction facility.

There are no piles of ankle deep wood shavings, no wood working tools in sight, no aroma of woods of various species being worked.

Instead, this is the domain of spotlessly clean floors, sonic computer driven cutters and multi-headed CNC milling machines which produce what the builders at Core call tooling - or moulds and jigs to build the carbon components.

Core Builders is a long way removed from my first visit to a boat-building shed. Pushing aside the fennel at Des Townson's cold, draughty corrugated iron shed in Panmure, over 50 years ago to see my first boat being built on the hard earth floor.

With all the talk of moving businesses into the regions to ease the population pressures in the Cities, Auckland in particular, Core Builders is an excellent example of what can be done. They took over what used to be the premises used by a printing and publishing company, which had pretty well run its race and turned them into a world leading composite construction facility.

In this edition, we feature two stories, plus plenty of images from Core Builders Composites, along with some very interesting commentary on the AC50 building project, the state of the America's Cup Class and the composites industry generally.

While we hear plenty about how the America's Cup teams often don't get along. Tim Smyth is at pains to point out that this is not the case with the builders in New Zealand who have all worked well together without compromising the intensely competitive nature of the boats and design approach and property of the teams.

Of course, Core Builders Composites are not the only marine industry company that is playing right at the top of the game internationally - and there are many such examples in Auckland and New Zealand.

Too often we see the cheap-shot headlines and sound bites where some try to make political or personal capital about government investment in such high value-add industries. The pity is that they don't get to see behind the scenes at facilities like Core Builders Composites to see what is possible given half a chance and a ton of vision.

The ANZ Sail Fiji race is over - and in record time. In this edition, we have coverage of the start and during the race - which was all over in just a couple of nights.

The fact that the race record as such has fallen is a surprise to those who were at the start and watched the boats sailing at just above drifting speed - assisted by a strong outgoing tide.

That situation remained until Saturday night when TeamVodafoneSailing got a sniff of the SE breeze and took off at 19kts, while the others stayed at slow speeds until they were clear of the Hauraki Gulf.

The weather routing for the ORMA 60 and the top monohull, the Volvo 70 Giacomo looked most unusual, with an optimum course being a straight line all the way from Great Barrier to Port Denarau.

No dog-legs out into the Pacific to make an early meeting with SE trades - just a straight, fast sail, with 23-25kts average winds from south of east.

So fast was the sail that using the polars for an ORMA60 such as Team VodafoneSailing she was predicted to be averaging speeds of up to 34kts for the 1100nm haul, but obviously, that is not always possible on ocean sailing, where at times prudent seamanship is required to make the finish line.

Race records for the Fiji Race are a bit fuzzy, with different times being set for the different destination ports. However regardless of where the race finished in Fiji, none would have held a candle to the pace set by TeamVodafoneSailing, and it is a mark that will probably never be beaten

Follow all the racing and developments in major and local events on www.sail-world.com, scroll to the bottom of the site, select New Zealand, and get all the latest news and updates from the sailing world.

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor

sailworldnzl@gmail.com

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