In with the new, but why out with the old?

(This article, written by Dobbs Davis, appeared in the most recent edition of Seahorse Magazine, photo courtesy of Sharon Green, Ultimate Sailing)

In these pages quite a bit of emphasis is placed on new technologies and designs, and the influence they have. All of us get excited when brilliant minds go to work on creating new ideas and even new spaces for the sport to grow into. However, there are equally brilliant minds at work enhancing what has already been created to improve performance, safety and (usually) comfort too.

This is particularly common in the USA offshore scene where there are dozens and dozens of boats designed and built over 30 years ago that are still cherished and raced in a variety of classic races: the Bayview and Chicago-Mac Races held annually, the Newport-Bermuda Race held on even-number years, and the Transpac from LA to Honolulu held on odd-number years.

On the Great Lakes in particular the short summer seasons, the non-corroding fresh water and care taken over the long, harsh winters to store yachts indoors have extended the lives of boats in these fleets decades beyond their comparable life expectation in more southerly and salty waters. The ULDB Sleds, for example, that migrated to the region in the 1990s from their birthplaces on the Pacific coast remained the first-to-finish class in the Mac races for another two decades until TP52s started showing up.

The Sleds are ‘classics’ in their elder age, but not in configuration. Unlike the arms race of a box rule, most rely on their ORR ratings to stay competitive racing under handicap because of slight differences in design and trim. In fact, most were kept close to their original trim – except for a few new keels, rudders and spars, with the occasional stern scoop added for a bit more waterline length.

Some too have migrated back to the Pacific and are enjoying continued competitive life there: so far, 11 ULDB Sleds have entered to race to Honolulu, the largest collection in 30 years when the class was squarely in its heydays.

Some are modified, to be sure, and one – the Andrews 68 Rock N Roll – is currently undergoing some heavy work. But most have just had some tweaking here and there from their original IOR-era trim.

So what accounts for all this effort – is it some kind of nostalgia for these long, narrow light designs? Maybe, but it’s actually more practical than that: great bang-for-the-buck in terms of cost as well as comfort and performance.

For example, Roy Disney’s Pyewacket team has been a cohesive offshore racing unit for decades, and very successful through the years with mostly the same core team members who are now well along in age, maturity… and perhaps wisdom. The team have been keeping up with technology by racing Sleds, turbo-Sleds, a maxZ86 and in the last two years a turbo-Volvo 70. With this new platform they have been chasing down course records in the 2021 Transpac, races to Mexico, and are now taking on the classic Miami-Montego Bay Race, aka the Pineapple Cup, to Jamaica.

Yet they keep coming back to Roy’s Andrews 68 Sled to race to Hawaii, as they will do again this July. One of the core members of the team, Scott Easom, explains why: ‘This class of boats are “age appropriate” for their design and this kind of mostly offwind offshore racing. They are easy to sail, we know them well and they are not as difficult to optimise or as physically demanding as TP52s!

‘We can race with fewer crew on a more forgiving boat in what ends up being really fun sailing.’ And with so many entries of similar size and type in their class, the level of competitiveness will be keen: most of these Sleds will probably be within sight of each other when they converge on the finish line at Honolulu’s Diamond Head after seven days and 2,300 miles of racing.

But this attention to old designs heading for Transpac in July is not confined to the Sleds: other true classics like the 1960s-era Cal 40s have continued to be upgraded, plus there is a group called the ‘Fabulous 50s’ of Santa Cruz 50s from the 1980s along with Bob Smith-designed Santa Cruz 52s from the 1990s – both built in Bill Lee’s famous “chicken coop” shed in Santa Cruz - racing together in their own class.

This year’s ‘50s’ roster is not looking as strong as in some years, but this has not stopped Chris Messano undergoing an extensive upgrade on his SC 50 Deception at Cabrillo Boat Shop, just a few miles from the race start in San Pedro. SC 50s are from the same designer as the SC 70s – Bill Lee – and are similarly light, narrow and with a simple masthead rig sailplan.

‘But the SC 50s were all built slightly different,’ explains Messano. ‘This was the last one built in 1987 with a carbon deck. We gutted the interior, kept the bulkheads, then rebuilt and refinished everything. Modern port lights were installed along with flush deck hatches. Floating clew rings were installed to inhaul and outhaul the headsail clews, eliminating yards of track, and the cockpit has been reorganised with upgraded pedestals and winches.’

An extension of the stern was made in a stern scoop and a new rudder installed. The 1980s-era keel was upgraded years ago to the fashionable 1990s-era elliptical blade with the short root chord and curved trailing edge… this will shortly be switched to a Nelson/Marek-designed modern blade with a T-bulb to decrease drag, increase stability and increase offwind speed.

Messano reckons his project is similar to renovations of old 1/4 and 1/2 Tonners in the UK and the revival in old IOR boats in Italy: the philosophy is to renovate rather than dispose, especially for well-built, proven designs. Moreover, he reckons even with the new changes to his own boat it will not take long to get back to optimised trim, unlike when big changes are made to more modern designs.

‘SC 50s are basically great boats that are easy to sail,’ he said, ‘with a very wide groove – unlike racing a modern TP52. I love to refurbish classic cars, and this has been a similar passion for me. We wanted to do this right: take our time, use the right materials, and have not just a better-looking boat but one that performs closer to modern standards of performance.’

Amen to that.