Velux 5 Oceans - Eco 60 Photo Tour with Derek Hatfield

by Guy Perrin on 12 Oct 2010 Velux 5 Oceans Canadian skipper Derek Hatfield takes us on a photo tour of Spirit of Canada-Active House.info

Derek Hatfield takes a short break from yacht preparation and race village activities to share images of his home away from home for next few months.

The Eco 60 is a revolutionary new class of yacht, one that is environmentally friendly and much more accessible and affordable to campaign than the Open 60; it is being premièred in the 2010 Velux 5 Oceans race. Simply put, it includes Open 60 yachts launched before January 2003 and is governed by a number of rules and regulations designed to limit costs and encourage positive environmental practices.

Aimed at attracting skippers with limited budgets, the Eco 60 class also makes use of the many Open 60 yachts from the turn of the century which have been overtaken in performance and technology by newer, faster models. Rules have set limitations on the number of sails, the size of shore crews and the extent of refit work permitted in order to further reduce budgets.

Don’t let this fool you though; it’s a bit like hosting a race with pre-2003 Formula One cars; these yacht are still potential offshore weapons. Some will argue they might be safer vessels than the latest version that haven’t proven themselves yet.

Sir robin Knox-Johnston, the race chairman states: 'When you look at their weight and design you would say they could not beat the new boats, but experience has shown that they can, because they finish, and the Velux 5 Oceans race gives the opportunity for new to race old. Single handed sailing is much more in the mind than in muscles, and the history of this race shows that an older boat can often be better and more aggressively sailed than a new one.'

While these yachts, at 60 feet of length, appear to be voluminous, there isn’t much space left below deck; the water ballast tanks and the canting keel mechanism take up a lot of space, whatever space is not occupied by boat systems is quickly taken up with sails and provisions storage which leaves the bare minimum in living quarters accommodation for the solo racer. Most designs feature a navigation table that serves multiple duties as work table, communication center, watch area and sleeping quarters.

The skippers will spend many months at sea either in the navigation area below deck, or in the cockpit and on deck trying to optimize their sail plan.