new zealand yacht designers

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE AND STYLING

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With 17 years of experience, Built Boats has established itself as a premier boat design consultancy in the world-renowned city of Auckland, New Zealand – home to the America’s Cup. Delivering services tailored specifically for our customer’s wants and needs – whether pertaining to performance or style innovation– we collaborate with prominent boat builders worldwide, ensuring quality results that provide an unrivaled on-the-water experience. Our diverse portfolio comprises Super Yacht Tenders, Production Boats, and sophisticated appendages, setting us apart from other designing firms while being sought after by those seeking unparalleled excellence in boating endeavours.

Matthias Gibson BDes(Hons) AMRINA Nav.Archit 

Matthias Gibson was born into a family with deep ties to the seafaring industry, including his great grandfather being a former deep sea fisherman and his father looking for any opportunity he could find to sail. It only seemed natural that Matt would grow up inspired by these experiences, eventually pursuing boat design as an academic program at Massey University. After seventeen years of design experience – from high-speed planing craft to super yachts and more – Matt took it upon himself on embarking on this mission professionally; founding Build Boats alongside many successes along the way.

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Built Boats is a member of the New Zealand marine industry association

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Built Boats is a member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects

call  021 423 851 or send us a message below

design portfolio

Please click on individual designs to review details

We invite you to look through our design portfolio. Please filter by Power, Sail or Commercial.

21m Alloy Planing Power Cat

20m Performance Sailing Catamaran

19.8m Displacement Power Cat

18.5m Performance Sailing Catamaran

19m Planing Power Cat

17m Passenger Vessel

15.9m Performance Cruising Sailing Cat

16m Composite Planing Power Cat

16m Composite Displacement Hull Power Cat

14.6m Steel Pilothouse Cruising Yacht

15.3m Pilothouse Cruising Yacht

15m Workboat Powercat

14.6m Composite planing power cat

15.2m Semi Displacement Pilothouse Cat

14.8m Planing Power Cat

14.15m Composite cruising sailing cat

13.5m Composite Cruising Sailing Cat

13.75m Workboat Cat

13.7m Semi displacement power cat

13.8m Semi displacement power cat

13.6m Composite Planing Power Cat

12.55m Composite cruising sailing cat

13.1m Composite planing power cat

12.6m Composite Planing Cat

12.2m Pilothouse Cruising Yacht

12m Alloy Displacement Hull Charter Fishing Cat

12m Displacement Power Cat

10.7m Cruising Sailing Cat

10.4m Composite planing launch

10m Alloy planing cat

11.14m Alloy Planing Catamaran

10.35m Cruising sailing cat

10m Plywood Cruising Sailing Cat

9.5m Composite planing power cat

10.2m Composite Displacement Power Cat

10.10m Composite Planing Cat

9.3m Commercial Charter Fishing Catamaran

8.6m Alloy Planing Cat

Arrowcat 30

7m Outboard planing monohull day cruiser

6.7m Alloy Planing Monohull 'Bay Boat'

Tauranga   New Zealand 

+ 64 7 281 0078 

[email protected]

New Zealand's leading advanced composite Boat Builders, specializing in both race and pleasure, working with you to build your  custom boat to the highest standards. 

SAIL  |  POWER  |  RACE  |  PLEASURE

Nic de Mey takes great pride in building New Zealand’s finest custom advanced composite boats.

Nic and his team of professional boatbuilders specialize in advanced composite construction to create everything from small racing boats to luxury superyachts. They work in close communication with their clients, merging yachties’ dreams with boat builders’ experience to construct beautiful and bespoke custom boats built to an incredibly high standard.

As a qualified boat builder and a competitive ski racer, it’s safe to say nobody knows boats quite like Nic de Mey. In his company’s 25 years, his team has built everything from carbon rowing skiffs to ski race boats, superyacht parts to foiling catamarans and even weapon systems for the Australian Navy.

Nic de Mey Yachts has built boats for clients all around the World. Whether you are after a boat built for speed or one for pleasure, whether you’re a first-time boat buyer or a lifelong yacht enthusiast, Nic de Mey Yachts will deliver.

Get in touch with Nic today at 64 07 281 0078 to work alongside our team of passionate boatbuilders.

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THE GARY UNDERWOOD STORY – Under the radar

• Reflections

Apart from those in know, architect/designer Gary Underwood flies under the radar. But over the last 40 years he’s designed many fascinating and innovative boats, often for those on limited budgets. Here’s the story of a man who loves his boats, by John Macfarlane.

Underwood was born in London during the dark days of 1942 when Germany and her Axis partners seemed unbeatable. After the war ended the family emigrated to New Zealand and settled in Wellington.

Inspired by the dinghies sailing out of Worser Bay, Underwood’s first boat was P Class #7, a gunter-rigger which he stripped back and re-painted. Showing an early interest in cruising, he sailed his P to Kapiti Island. Because he told no one he was going, his parents organising a search party.

By 1960 he had joined the RNZNVR and was seriously considering yacht design as a career. His father sought advice from Christchurch yacht designer Eric Cox, who said as there was no money in it, better that Underwood get a real job and keep boat design as a hobby.

So Underwood moved to Auckland for three years to gain a Diploma in Architecture. Besides getting married, during those years he owned the mullet boats Sun and Lady Ruia. A few years later the couple had three children and he was working for architect Nyall Coleman designing churches.

Seeking change, in 1970 he got a job designing houses for the Fijian Housing Authority. It was in Fiji that he bought his first real cruising yacht, the 10.6m Chilean-built Terral. The dream of sailing oceans remained paramount, so after gaining offshore navigation experience on George Kelsall’s 14.9m schooner Lady  Sterling, Underwood sailed Terral to New Zealand, back to Fiji, and on to Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Brisbane.

In Brisbane (1974) he swapped Terral for the damaged 17m gaff ketch Utiekah III, which had been built by the Wilson Bros in Hobart in 1927. Built in Huon pine and displacing 47 tons, Utiekah III had lost her keel and rudder during a grounding on the Great Barrier Reef.

While Underwood located her rudder, he couldn’t find her keel. So he fitted a temporary rudder, filled the saloon with 60-litre drums of diesel and motored Utiekah III from Brisbane to Whangarei via Lord Howe Island.

He spent the next 12 months restoring her at Jackson’s slipway in the Bay of Islands, including re-fitting her rudder and installing a new keel to his own design built in concrete, steel reinforcing rods and cast-iron weights.

He helped found the Tall Ships Regatta in 1975 and raced Utiekah III in the inaugural event. Following a suggestion from the visiting Tasmanian yacht Saona, he sailed Utiekah III to Hobart. By now Underwood had a new partner, Robyn Lewis, and they discovered the 47ha Huon Island was up for sale.

As part of a complicated deal, they sold Utiekah III and bought the island and the sailing cray boat Casilda. The couple lived on the island for two years while they rebuilt the original house and had a child together, all funded by cray fishing in the engineless Casilda.

But Underwood got the urge to go sailing again so they sold the island and Casilda and bought Gudgeon, a John Hannadesigned 9m Tahitian ketch, with a new rig designed by Alan Payne. After sailing her from Brisbane to Hobart, Underwood sailed to Fiji and then to the BOI for the 1980 Tall Ships race.

He then did another Pacific cruise in Gudgeon, eventually arriving in the Solomon Islands. There, at Taviulo village on Malaita Island, he met a group of local boatbuilders and, impressed by their workmanship, asked them to build him a new timber yacht.

Wanting a long, lean and shallow yacht for a trade winds circumnavigation, Underwood turned to L Francis Herreshoff’s last design, #107, an 11.6m leeboard ketch. While he used Herreshoff’s hull lines and single skin carvel construction, he added bulwarks, an additional 200mm to the keel and installed free-standing masts with sprit-rigged sails.

He also eliminated the lee-boards because a deep draft’s unnecessary for a trade winds circumnavigation. The slightly deeper keel gave a loaded draft of only 1.14m, which proved sufficient to beat to windward in flat water. As Underwood puts it, “Why would you dig a 1.8m hole across the Indian Ocean?” Built over 12 months in Vitex coffasus (a Pacific hardwood), the engineless Alice Alakwe cost NZ$27,000 and became Underwood and his new partner Beryl Sampson’s home for seven years. Their circumnavigation took the classic trade winds route – Australia, Indian Ocean, South Africa, Brazil, West Indies, Rhode Island,

USA, Azores, UK, Spain, Portugal, West Indies (again) Panama, Galapagos, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia, Tonga, Fiji and then home to New Zealand.

In all they sailed Alice Alakwe 56,000nm, with a best day’s run of 208nm. As an aside, Underwood completed a yacht design course while in Maine USA, which proved more than useful later.

In 1990, back in New Zealand, Underwood and Sampson chose something completely different for their next yacht – a 16m trimaran inspired by Chris White’s Juniper. Interestingly, the late Digby Taylor, who headed two New Zealand Whitbread campaigns, helped Underwood with the CAD design of what became S.W.I.S.H. Instead of White’s constant camber construction method, Underwood used strip-planked cedar and glass and he completed S.W.I.S.H. in only 18 months.

But they didn’t enjoy the powerful S.W.I.S.H, finding the large trimaran scary in blustery conditions when her 700mm-deep wing mast proved excessively powerful. “When she was good she was great, but when she was bad it was horrible.” So S.W.I.S.H. was sold to the South Island, but sadly her new owner wrecked her on rocks off Torrent Bay in the Abel Tasman Park.

Then in the early 1990s Underwood designed a 10m, junk-rigged cruiser for Keith Levy, who’d abandoned his yacht Sofia during the infamous 1994 Pacific storm while voyaging to Tonga. Built in double-chine plywood, Shoestring’s raised topsides gave an interior accommodation equal to many 12m yachts, while her expansive decks allowed plenty of room for a decent dinghy. Shoestring was launched for under $10,000 in 1996 and inspired several sister yachts, including one built in steel.

After a stint in Auckland as yacht broker during which time they restored the 1937 Fred Lidgard-built 8.5m Taioma, Underwood and Sampson moved back to Whangarei and started building their next yacht, a 12m version of Shoestring, called the Bootstrap.

Built in only 18 months from timber and plywood and launched for under $40,000, Ava Aakwe’s huge interior was big enough for the couple to use as a floating home. Rigged as a gaff cutter with lee boards, she was powered by a lowrevving Lister diesel.

The couple sold Ava Alakwe to fund the building of a house in Whangarei and bought a boatshed in the town basin. With a partner Nigel Clarke, in 2005 Underwood bought the Jim Young-designed-and-built 16m canting keeler Fiery Cross. Launched in 1958, Fiery Cross was the first canting keeler ever built, and while Underwood appreciated the innovative concept, he was less impressed with its shape. “That keel was a terrible shape, we had to re-fair it with cedar.”

He replaced the boat’s original Ford 10 petrol engine with an 18hp Kubota. He also fitted one of the original bronze Aries wind vane self-steering units, which are highly-prized these days.

Then, after losing a $20,000 inheritance through financial company shenanigans, Underwood decided he’d rather keep his money under his own control, and bought an ex-fishing boat, the 14m, 22-ton Mason Bay.

Originally built in 1956 by Nelson boatbuilders Curnow and Wilton and launched as San Guiseppe, Mason Bay went through a number of different owners during her commercial fishing career. She was located in Bluff and early in 2010 Underwood motored her to Whangarei for a 20-month restoration and pleasure craft conversion. He had considerable help throughout from shipwright Marcus Raimon.

These days, Underwood spends most of his time living aboard Mason Bay in the BOI, returning to the couple’s flat in Whangarei every few weeks to spend time with Sampson. He’s still designing boats, selling plans and has recently self-published a design book with over 70 designs. While a number of these are complete, many others are concept sketches and ideas.

There’s a massive variety; long lean schooners, fast trade wind cruisers, motor-sailers, launches, houseboats, catamarans, trimarans, day-sailers, an OSTAR racer, a three-part dinghy that’s a tender as well as lifeboat and much more.

Despite the variety there are some common traits. Underwood abhors the Swiss army knife approach to boat design – he likes to start from square one: how will the boat actually be used? “The closer you can pin down that purpose, the better it will be solved.”

Most of his boats are designed to be built from plywood – “laminated cellular fibre” he calls it – which is strong, light, easily worked and, provided it’s coated and/or sheathed in epoxy, long lasting.

He believes full headroom is over-rated. Naturally it’s needed in the working areas, but there’s no need for it over bunks or seats. “I quite like deck beams right across the hull, you can lift them up or drop them down. They’re great structurally and don’t leak.”

Raised beams in the accommodation areas add hugely to the feeling of space downstairs, while dropping them in the lower areas provide bulwarks for on-deck security. Alice Alakwe was built this way and it worked really well.

Underwood hates liferafts and inflatables – “deflatables” he calls them – better to invest in a proper dinghy that can be used every day. In the event of an emergency this can double as a lifeboat and be sailed to a shipping lane, rather than waiting around hoping to be found.

Skin fittings are another Underwood no-no, each one costs a 1% speed loss as well as being another maintenance item. Wind vane self-steering is essential for cruising, which he prefers to address with a stern-hung rudder with an external flap driven by a wind vane – simple, reliable and fixable at sea. He snorts in disgust at those who use electronic autopilots – they’re usually the first thing to fail on passage and require professional repair.

So, there you have it. If you’re a left-field sort of boatie, or even a bit of boating lunatic, and/or if your pockets aren’t too deep, a chat with Underwood could well kick-start a boating dream. And if you’re clever enough to dream it, you’re certainly clever enough to build it.

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Fitzroy Yachts

Fitzroy Yachts is a relatively new and modern superyacht building company that was established in 1997 in New Zealand . Fitzroy focuses primarily on the contruction of aluminum luxury sailing yachts.  Fitzroy is a division of Fitzroy Engineering and draws from over 40 years of experience in designing, building and managing large engineering projects for some of the world’s most demanding clients.

New Zealand has built an enviable international reputation for the production of quality ocean-going sailboats and Fitzroy has produced some beautiful yachts.  In line with this reputation, Fitzroy Yachts’ excellence in boat building is based on the company’s commitment to delivering a top quality luxury yacht on-time and to budget.

Fitzroy has good technology, tools and skilled staff under one roof.  The company has a modern four bay 5500m² building capacity to simultaneously fbuild four vessels up to 175 feet (53m) in length.  Each yacht can be very well equipped with modern machinery including EKOLD forming machine (Lloyds approved ISO 9001) and construction to MCA rules.  The In-house services include also fabrication in aluminium or steel, as well as joinery, electrical and painting, machinery and systems installation.

Fitzroy is a relatively young company being established for only eleven years.  Nevertheless, Fitzroy Yachts have done remarkably well to become so well known and have as many accolades as they have. They are holding up and helping to further the very strong New Zealand yacht building tradition that Alloy Yachts and others have begun.  The winning by yacht Salperton in the Best Sailing Yacht in the 30 - 44 meter class at the World Super Yacht Awards is another recent boost for their luxury yachts for sale market. It also creates plenty of anticipation for the new Salperton IV which Fitzroy Yachts are due to launch in 2009 as well as their X50 meter sailing yacht due in 2010.

"The judges were almost unanimous in their selection of Salperton. Key features that stood out were Salperton’s large sail area, its automated sail control, its novel operating system for the daggerboard; the clean lines of the contemporary interior which integrates the cockpit and deckhouse together; and the ability to open large skylights in the latter, to give its owner the widest range of use whatever the weather or sea state, which all contributed to its well deserved win over it five rival nominees."

Some of the yachts Fitzroy have already successfully built include:

SALPERTON IV , a 45m  Dubois  fast sailing superyacht INMOCEAN , a 41m classic sloop S/Y SALPERTON III , a 44m Dubois designed fast sailing sloop GANESHA (ex ZULU)  38.9m LUDYNOSA G yacht  ( ex Helios), 37m. ONARA, 25.6m. MOONBIRD (ex MIDNIGHT) , 37m. SPIRIT OF FITZROY, 24.7m  OHANA  49.7m ZEFIRA Superyacht 49.7m

Below is a list of Fitzroy built super yachts available for charter as well as the latest news from Fitzroy Shipyard. For the full list of yachts and more information, please contact us here.  

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Home » Book – “A lighter ton” – New Zealand racing yacht design in the 1970s

Book – “A lighter ton” – New Zealand racing yacht design in the 1970s

A new book out by Kiwi Richard Blakey is truly exciting for those interested in performance yacht design.  There is even a wooden boat angle.

Click on the cover photo to order the book!

A Lighter Ton – is the story of how a bunch of tremendously talented boat designers, mostly from New Zealand revolutionised yacht design through the ’70s.

Almost month by month, International regatta by International regatta new and radical boats from Sweden, Denmark, England and New Zealand challenged the status quo with boats that were exciting, cheap and for most of the first part of their developments were built of wood.

As Dinghy Design influenced yacht design the changes influenced many of us would be designers

As a teenager drawing boats on any available piece of paper I followed the developments like rooting for a sports team.  Radical new designs from Bruce Farr (towards the bottom of this list) , Paul Whiting , my favourite Laurie Davidson, Murray Ross and some of the early Greg Elliot designs.

Dynamic change … boats that could hang in upwind against the old heavier types from Sparkman and Stephens  and Dick Carter and the newer heavy but less heavy than before boats by Doug Peterson and Ron Holland.  The older boats focussed primarily on upwind sailing and left an unexploited area in terms of downwind performance.  Existing boats were “bogged down” and would only plane briefly when there were waves to surf on.  The new boats could plane freely.

Here are a bunch of other books that formed the way I think about design, construction and sailing.

Building Skill Levels were high in New Zealand.

A lot of the potential was also because of the New Zealander’s skills in building in timber.  This photo is from the bow section of Mr Jumpa by Farr

The structure presages composite yacht design with a rigid skin made up of three layers of timber veneers supported by close spaced stringers on the inside.  The rest of the structure is fairly minimal because of the skin rigidity – a few ring frames a couple of full bulkheads and basic bunkfronts and cockpit sides and tops to stiffen up the structure.

Mr Jumpa was sponsored by a NZ wool company … that wasn’t allowed to sponsor using quite its own name.  “Jumper” is an antipodean word for woollen sweater or pullover!  There was also Swuzzlebubble (sponsored by a soap company) and Red Lion (named for the logo of a brewery), Rope Runner (a sailing rope company).

This is a lines drawing for Newspaper Taxi by Whiting.  The chap that built my first custom built racing dinghy, Ian Bashford, was racing on it out of Middle Harbour yacht club in the late ’70s.  It was on a mooring visible from the main road.  Its wide stern, bow down trim (without crew and to cheat the rule) and super thin racing dinghy like mast were radical.  In this drawing you can see the distortions of the side panels of the boat to fit the rule which was forever being evolved to try and make this new style of boat less competitive.  The powers that be should have just accepted the new concepts as the rule collapsed under the weight of amendments and compromises.  And the boats that people want to sail went this way anyhow.

Yacht design has been rarely quite so interesting!  I recommend the book!

My boat pictures

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The evolution of yacht design – yachting style

Evolution of yacht design, Superyacht builders, Marine boat construction, Future hull marina architecture

The future of yacht design

9 September 2024

Author: Joanna Lewis

Yacht design is constantly evolving as yacht designers push the boundaries of traditional design and new technologies come to the fore.

The world’s most iconic yachts boast striking design features that set them apart from other vessels, from innovative naval architecture to design features that focus on enhancing a yacht’s green credentials.

Here we take a look at some of the most pioneering yacht design trends changing the yachting industry for the better.

Interior yacht design trends

Interior yacht design has changed significantly to factor in modern yachting lifestyles.

Yacht interiors now have a strong focus on flexible layouts that are more open-plan. Furthermore, there is a growing trend for onboard spaces that blur the boundaries between a yacht’s interior and exterior areas. Vast glass sliding doors that can be fully opened, retractable roofs, and fold-down balconies are designed to completely eliminate any boundary between a yacht’s interior and exterior.

Wellness is a big part of the yachting lifestyle, with private yachts now dedicating a significant portion of their real estate to spas, fitness suites, and yoga and meditation areas. Interior designers are also now bringing nature onboard, with hydroponic and vertical gardens that not only enhance wellbeing but also offer chefs access to an organic garden.

The latest interior yacht design trends are also harnessing exciting new materials such as sustainable textured wood, recycled glass, natural stone, and fine fabrics with a firm nod to organic forms that mimic nature.

Finally, advances in digital technology are transforming interiors, with vast tech windows or walls that offer virtual views and streaming services.

Exterior yacht design trends

Exterior yacht design has, arguably, seen the most significant shift in design trends from vessels with soft curved exteriors that mimic the organic shapes found in nature to avant-garde vessels that challenge conventional yacht design.

One key advancement in technology has been glass, which has led to a slew of eye-catching vessels with vast glass superstructures. Not only does the use of glass create head-turning vessels, but this material also floods the interior with light, while providing owners and their guests with breathtaking views of the ocean.

In addition, yacht exteriors are becoming more striking, with deck spaces being used in new ways. Yacht designers are now placing more emphasis on a yacht’s exterior with an increasing amount of real estate being designated to alfresco dining.

Vast beach clubs are now the norm on modern-day vessels, enhancing an owner’s connection to the water and direct access to the sea. It is common to see multiple exterior decks for relaxing and entertaining.

New advances in hull design are also helping to transform onboard comfort and the overall performance of luxury yachts. A hull typically amounts to around 70% of a yacht’s total structural design, making hull design a complex part of a yacht’s overall design.

Thanks to advances in hull designs, modern yachts now boast enhanced seakeeping and energy efficiencies.

There is no question that the world of yacht design is constantly evolving as designers seek to create ever more eye-catching vessels that meet the demands and lifestyle habits of today’s yachting enthusiasts

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• Digital Edition

Structural damage to Luna Rossa, 2 wins to the Americans, and INEOS through to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final

• Toby Heppell
• September 18, 2024

Two teams would be vying to stay in the competition for the third day of Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final racing and what a day it was with drama throughout

With only two races completed in very light winds on Monday 16 September , racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals continued today Wednesday after a break in the racing on Tuesday to allow the Youth America’s Cup to get underway.

The wind was running from the east and was predicted to drop throughout the day’s racing from around 12 knots for the opening race. In fact the wind only occasionally touched double digits and was very patchy throughout the day and was shifting around a lot too.

A significant swell of over 1m was present on the course too, making foiling in the low end of the wind range tricky.

Key takeaways from the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final Day 3

• A structural breakage for Luna Rossa will see them desperately trying to repair their damage before racing tomorrow
• American Magic are now only 3-4 down against Luna Rossa
• INEOS is the first boat through to the Louis Vuitton Cup final, but it was far from a polished performance

Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Race 11 INEOS Britannia Vs Alinghi Red Bull Racing

Skippers INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainlsie & Dylan Fletcher Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Arnaud Psarofaghis & Maxime Bachelin

Having won a very light wind race on Monday, ghosting across the line just a couple of minutes inside the time limit of the race, Alinghi Red Bull Racing had bought themselves a stay of execution. But the Swiss boat still went into today 4-1 down in the first-to-five race wins competition.

The wind was up and down in the start box and clearly shifting left and right pretty significantly. With the wind down to around 7 knots in places, neither team looked keen to engage and Alinghi led back to the startline early to take the pin end of the line. For their part Ainslie and Fletcher were happy to let Psarofaghis and Bachelin win the pin end of the line.

At the gun both boats hit the line at pace, but a decent shift had made the pin end clearly favoured. As such, it was the Swiss flagged boat that looked to be leading as the two teams headed out to the left hand boundary. But as they tacked the Swiss boat dropped off the foils briefly allowing the Brits to lead them back to the right of the course giving the Swiss dirty air.

To make matters worse for Alinghi, a port tack lift meant a tack away would mean a big loss of ground so they had to just sit and take it, before eventually tacking away in the middle of the course.

By the top of the beat, the Brits tacked onto port on what looked like a layline for the windward gate, but they were headed all the way across the course and eventually had to tack just in front of Alinghi to go round the lefthand gate mark (looking upwind) with the Swiss right on their tail.

Alinghi did an excellent job of gybing early as the Brits gybed on the boundary, and the Swiss eased into a bit more pressure, while the Brits had a poor gybe to allow Alinghi through to snatch the lead.

As had been the case on Monday, INEOS Britannia looked pretty tender in the light conditions and throughout the downwind the Swiss team marched away to take a 1 minute 1 second lead by the first gate. The gap did vary a little bit as the Brits looked stronger when the wind was nearer 8 knots, but anything below that they started to cede ground to their competition and ended up crossing the line 1 minute 33 seconds behind.

“For sure it is good to have another point and we will be able to sail another race. We were very quick in these light conditions with the big waves, but it’s also really quite shifty out here today,” said Bachelin

Alinghi overtake INEOS Britannia. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

What did we learn from Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final Race 11?

In Monday’s report, I said INEOS will not be too concerned with their pace deficit in the very light conditions, as the conditions on Monday were well below the 6.5 knot minimum required to start a race. However, today will be a bit more of a concern. In particular the boat looked very difficult to get through the gybes and was generally slow at the bottom end of the wind range downwind.

The relatively small size of the INEOS’ foils will mean that she has less drag and so is faster at higher speeds, but the price paid for that is they are difficult to stay on in the light winds. Whether that is a fatal weakness only time will tell. Interestingly, Giles Scott later referred to changing to their biggest mainsail ahead of the team’s second race of the day, which could have been a factor in this first race loss.

For Alinghi, this is the first race I have watched in which they have been demonstrably quicker than their opponents, with their other wins not coming from boat speed. That being said, this win was as much about the tactical work as it was about boatspeed.

American Magic win the start. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 12  American Magic Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers American Magic: Lucas Calabrese & Tom Slingsby Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni

The wind remained the same light and shifty conditions for this second race of the day and, like Alinghi Red Bull Racing, American Magic would be looking to keep their regatta alive after a big win on Monday stopped them being knocked out of the competition.

In the pre-start Luna Rossa gybed around at the right hand boundary, looking to lead back but American Magic gybed round in front of them and try to get Luna Rossa hooked up to windward.

But Luna Rossa slowed nicely and were able to bear away around their stern to get to leeward of the American boat. In response Slingsby and Calabrese did an excellent job of accelerating over the top of them to hit the startline right in front of Luna Rossa, forcing the Italians to tack away immediately.

American Magic immediately tacked to follow them, but Luna Rossa managed to hook into a bit more pressure and by the time the Italians tacked they’d grabbed about a 100m lead over the American boat. And that was a lead that the Italians extended to be fully 47 seconds ahead at the windward gate.

However, the top right of the course (looking upwind) suddenly looked very light and the Italians were sailing in only around 5 knots, at a very tight angle to stay on the foils. Slingsby and Calabrese picked the opposite side of the gate and after they gybed at the boundary they had sailed past the Italians.

In marginal foiling conditions it was a real battle to stay on the foils through the gybes and, with the wind fluctuating significantly, the angle differences were massive allowing for losses and gains aplenty.

Midway down the first run American Magic had a poor gybe and dropped off the foils. Luna Rossa were bearing down on them but they would also need to gybe at the same left hand boundary. In an attempt to try to keep on the foils, Luna Rossa actually elected to tack around to stop themselves sailing through their own dirty air.

Spithill and Bruni picked up a boundary penalty in the tack, but keeping the boat on the foils was the aim of the game. Luna Rossa switched to sailing upwind for a while until their penalty was cleared and then set off downwind again to overtake American Magic.

As they wind remained light we were treated to Luna Rossa tacking around on the downwind on a couple of occasions. But on one such tack on the left boundary, they lost a lot of ground relative to American Magic, who just managed to get foiling again.

As they both came into the leeward gate, both boats rounded opposite gate marks at exactly the same time, with American Magic rounding the right hand mark looking upwind and the Italians on the left.

At the first cross it was initially the starboard tacked American Magic with a decent advantage over the Italian team, but they were headed all the way into the middle of the course and by the time the boats met, the Americans crossed the Italians’ bow by a handful of metres.

A little way into the beat, the committee shortened the course to four legs (two laps) meaning the race would finish at the next downwind.

Making their way upwind they traded the lead with the starboard advantage and coming into the top gate Slingsby and Calabrese had the starboard advantage and were able to force Luna Rossa to duck them. In so doing Spithill and Bruni were unable to make the gate and trying to tack back the Italians dropped off the foils.

Low riding towards the finish. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

In echoes of Monday’s race between Alinghi and INEOS, American Magic also fell off the foils on their first gybe and Slingsby and Calarese elected to set off downwind in low-riding mode instead of chasing the wind to try and get foiling again, which looked like a great decision with the wind dying away.

But there was a little puff still left in the day and it was the Americans who got that puff, to set off on their foils. For their part, Luna Rossa just chose to sail off the course and automatically award the win the the Americans, who were just a handful of metres from the finish line and foiling at pace.

“We’re not going anywhere yet we want to keep this thing alive,” said Slingsby after racing. “It was really tense. We did our warm up and there was nice breeze. We had a nice start but then all of a sudden we were struggling to stay on the foil and they were just ripping. It’s at that moment I though ‘this was a completely different race.'”

What did we learn from Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final Race 12?

There was a not insignificant amount of luck involved in this race, in what amounted to a game of ‘stay on the foils’.  If you did not need to gybe or tack in a wind hole, you would sai laway from your oppostion. But then, as the saying goes, you make your own luck and Slingsby and Calabrese won the start, and then won the race at the final top mark, getting their course geometry right to come into the windward gate on starboard and force Luna Rossa to duck them, missing the gate.

These two boats have been surprisingly even in pure pace terms so far this Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final, but this race was all about sniffing out the best wind. It should be noted that Slingsby suggested the had smaller sails up than Luna Rossa, though I’ve not been able to confirm this. If that is the case that could indicate some impressive pace from what should have been an underpowered American boat.

Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 13 INEOS Britannia Vs Alinghi Red Bull Racing

Given how light the conditions had got in the second race of the day it was hardly surprising that there was a delay to this third race of the day in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final. In fact, given just how light the race between Luna Rossa and American Magic had got, it was more surprising that this race got underway at all, with just a short delay in the end.

But the wind only needs to be above 6.5 knots for a sustained period of time at top and bottom of the course for the race to be started, so start it did. And, in fact, for the most part the breeze remained reasonably close to double digits throughout. It was still very variable, but was mostly closer to 10 knots than 5.

I recently wrote a piece on how the Brits turned their performance woes around and noted in that, that some software issues which had seen multiple boundary and start penalties appears to have been sorted. However, coming into the pre-start the Brits were clearly early entering the start-box and picked up a penalty, much to the surprise of Fletcher, who could be heard saying ‘Oh What!?’ Perhaps those issues linger?

With a penalty against them out of the start, the Brits elected to try to start on port tack, cross behind the starboard tacked Alinghi and so quickly scrub their penalty off. This was a good call from Ainslie and Fletcher as they quickly got rid of the penalty and were heading out to the right of the course with more pressure.

At the first cross, Alinghi were forced to duck behind the starboard tacked INEOS, a lead they held at the next cross when they sailed across the bow of Alinghi on port.

By the top of the course, the Brits had worked themselves into a very nice position, reduced their number of manoeuvres and rounded the right hand gate mark (looking upwind) 25 seconds ahead of Alinghi, who rounded the left mark.

INEOS once again had some poor gybes on the downwind but managed to lead around the bottom gate. “It’s getting a little nervy here on [the chase boat] but the boys are doing a good job. As you can see it’s really easy to lose the rudder in these conditions,” said Giles Scott from the coach boat during the race.

Upwind both boats looked pretty evenly matched and it was the Brits who extended on the second upwind to round the windward gate 50 seconds ahead. As with both the previous races today, downwind was all about picking the breeze and the slight puff meant a massive difference in angles and pace, to make a gap between the boats that fluctuated significantly.

But it was the final windward gate where the race was finally closed off as the Brits rounded ahead of the Swiss and, as Alinghi went to tack and go through the gate, Alinghi dropped off the foils, to see their hopes of remaining in this competition disappear.

“Happy with that,” said Ainslie after racing. “It was a tough day out here. For people watching it probably looked like we were doing a bad job, but it’s so hard out here with the waves and the wind all over the place. But credit to Alinghi who did a really good job in that first race and pushed us hard in the second.”

“It’s over. I think we started to sail pretty well yesterday and today, that was slightly too late, but it was a privilege to be here,” said Psarofaghis.

Coming into this competition many, myself included, predicted this Louis Vuitton Semi-Final was likely to be a 5-0 whitewash as INEOS seemed to have left their pace issues behind. But the Brits once again showed a bit of weakness even in these slightly stronger conditions, losing grip on the rudder through a couple of gybes on the first downwind – the issue that caused the speed loss in the early gybe in the first race that lost them that race.

There was clearly some sort of software issue as well, which led to them being well inside the start box early but clearly being surprised by that, so plenty to work on. Ultimately, though the Brits will be happy to be the first team through to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.

Close racing between American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Race 14 American Magic Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

American Magic: Lucas Calabrese & Tom Slingsby Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni

This second start of the day for these two teams was very similar to the first one, as Luna Rossa turned first back to the line and American Magic gybed around in front of the Italian team.

Slinsby and Calabrese managed to keep Spithill and Bruni held up high of the line and by they time they bore away down the starline Luna Rossa had few options but to follow the Americans into the start and tack immediately at the gun.

By the first cross port tacked American Magic were able to sneak across the bows of the Italian team, which also allowed American Magic to tack on the layline to windward boundary on the favoured top right of the course – which had been slightly windier all day.

At the windward gate, with American Magic on starboard, the boats were close enough that Luna Rossa felt able to (a little cheekily) call for a penalty as the ‘inside’ boat closest to the gate mark – but not close enough to actually get a penalty.

However, with the Italians rounding the right hand mark (looking upwind) they got to the favoured side of the course and so at the first downwind cross the starboard tacked Luna Rossa had taken the lead.

A lead that had gone back to the American’s by the time they met again at the gate. There was very little in it and the Italians were heading out to the right, with the stronger breeze and were well ahead at the first cross and had built enough of a gap to be able to tack in front of the American’s to protect the favoured right.

Once again the patchy conditions made the difference and, against the pattern of the day, the left of the course came good for American Magic, who managed to cross Luna Rossa on port to tack.

By the time they both met at the windward gate, they were neck-and-neck as they both tacked through the gate to take opposite sides of the course.

With the teams still trading blows on the downwind, it looked as though Luna Rossa were just starting to get the lead, but as they crossed in front of the Americans it was a sudden disaster for the Italian team, whose traveller suddenly ripped itself apart, crippling the boat and handing the win to American Magic.

“It looks like we’ve broken the traveller track unfortunately,” said Spithill. “But we’ve got a lot of faith in our shore team, they are one of the best in the business so I’m sure they’ll pull out all the stops to get us back out on the water tomorrow.”

The moment Luna Rossa’s traveller gives up. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

What did we learn from Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final Race 14?

Once again there was nothing to pick between these two boats. But a significant structural failure on Luna Rossa is a huge concern. On super high-performance boats it’s not quite as simple as saying in lighter weather there is less load on the boat, but there’s clearly something wrong to be picking up this sort of damage in ‘normal’ racing conditions.  And the team will be hoping that the shock-loading that will have gone through the rig and rigging will not have caused further issues.

Of course this all means American Magic is now on a three-win streak with their opponent needing to fix damage overnight. What looked like a lost cause after Sunday’s racing when the Americans were 4-0 down, they are now 4-3 down and within two wins of Louis Vuitton Cup Finals. Could the America’s Cup have another American comeback story?

Racing is due to continues tomorrow afternoon, with two races planned for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and American Magic.

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