Preface: The recently launched International Space Station
Alpha
orbits the earth at an altitude of 249.5. For Captain Cook, a distance
of 1000 miles from land was common. So too for the sailors of The
Race.
Part 3 of the series explores the design i.e. the facts and
figures of the vessels of the Racers and Explorers. How fast they
can sail and methods used to sail them will come later in the series.
Cook's Endeavor was 106 feet long with a beam of 29 foot
3 inches. Built of wood, displacement: 370 tons. Draft was 14 feet.
At the time the Navy purchased her for the voyage she was 3 years old.
Endeavour had three spars. Mechanical advantage was limited.
Endeavour was made to be pushed by the wind. The sails were adjusted
by sailors, without winches.
Endeavour was referred to as a 'cat' built ship. A cat is
defined as a bluff bowed ship of shallow draft, with incomplete
rigging on the mizzen. Endeavour was sailed by a crew of 95 men.
One typical aspect of Endeavour this that her construction,
alterations and refits cost $ 11,798 English pounds. In 1775 she was
sold for 645 pounds a familiar pattern to many boat owners.
The 'cats' entered in The Race are radically different.
First, today when we hear a sailboat called a cat, we think two hulls.
Indeed all entries that will be on the start line in December are two
hulled catamarans.
Playstation the first of the very large multi hulls to be
launched was 32 meters. Length of the waterline is 29.7 M. The
4.5-meter draft is deeper than Club Med.
After several ocean crossings it was decided to lengthen
Playstation. The American 'cat' is now 125 feet long. Playstation
skipper Steve Fossett explained why his cat was lengthened:
"PlayStation has the largest sail area of the new breed of multi-hulls
(11,631 sq ft - 1,081 sq m downwind / 7,274 sq ft - 676 sq m upwind) -
and therefore the most power. The longer hulls will allow us to use
more of this power - especially upwind and in rough sea states - which
we certainly expect to see in the Southern Ocean."
Fossett is quite correct in noting the sail area difference.
Her upwind sail area is 676 square meters, downwind 1036.
Club Med carries less sail. The difference is largely in the
mainsail as Playstation's main is 676 square meters to Club Med's 610.
Accordingly Club Med flies a bigger genoa 260 square meters to
Playstation's 204 square meters.
Team Phillips designed by Adrian Thompson is a departure from
the norm. The 36-meter catamaran sports twin unstayed una rigs. In
many ways these rigs are 41-meter high windsurfer style rigs with
11-meter long wishbone booms. These twin rigs will carry an estimated
total of 455 square meters of sail. One of the benefits of less sail
area is less physical strain on the crew while sail handling. Another
area of departure is the hull shape of Team Phillips. The narrow and
angular wave piercing hulls are as narrow as 4 feet 6 inches. The
benefit to this shape is that rather than ride on top of the waves
and be buffeted by the waves, wave piercing hulls allow the boat to
cut through the waves with less stress. Additionally the hulls have
less area and can be made lighter.
Team Philips remains unproven. During trials Team Philips has
had a bow brake off, and problems with one the twin masts. So far,
Team Philips has been exciting, but not reliable.
The designs of Endeavour and the Race Class cats are hundreds
of years apart. Flying square sails, Endeavour could, at the very
most sail at 60° to the wind. Speed was not the purpose behind her
design.
'Cats' such as Endeavour were built to carry coal along
England's coast. It was depth of hold and reliability rather than
speed that was wanted.
Captain James Cook had apprenticed on these sturdy vessels.
He chose Endeavour as he was familiar with its reliability.
The sailing of the Race maximarans is different entirely.
According to Team Adventure skipper Cam Lewis, "What we really need
is 18 knots from 110 degrees true wind angle and we'll be happy as
can be." For a conventional mono hull such as Endeavour or a modern
day cruising boat, wind at an angle of 110° means its aft of the
beam. You are reaching, perhaps with a spinnaker up.
For the Race Class catamarans 110 degrees true wind angle
rapidly becomes more like 60°. The boats essentially create their
own wind.
Speed reports from onboard are outrageous. Acceleration
from 0 to 20 knots at automobile rates. Gaining 2 knots in 15
seconds. Sustaining speeds of 26-28 knots. Sailing at 26 knots
in 15 knots of wind. The maximarans don't carry symmetrical
spinnakers as they don't see apparent wind angles of 150°.
In Part 1 we saw how the reasons for undertaking the voyages
were similar. In Part 2 we saw the leaders of the voyage had similar
on water training despite being separated by hundreds of years of
time. As we study the vessels used for these voyages we have two
different points on the curve of how to ride the wind. Different
interpretations from different times. Certainly more change is
evident than in parts 1 & 2.
A Race class 'cat' might seem like impossible speculation to
Cook. Perhaps the X 38 space lifeboat which is steered to earth via
a para-foil which covers about 7,500 square feet or about 1.5 times
more surface than the wings on a Boeing 747 is just as much of a
radical disconnect to us.
Cook sailed Endeavour a traditional wooden built coal hauler
into then unknown parts of Earth. The carbon cats of the Race will
sail the earth at unprecedented speeds. Perhaps what's 'next', in
this case the X 38 which may seem a radical, impossible disconnect
at this point, will see astronauts sail back to earth after living
in space.