Faster Still!

Laurent Delage and Bruno Dubois of North Sails France discuss comparative sail development in the ORMA 60 trimaran and the IMOCA Open 60 monohull fleets

SH: What are currently the most important areas for ORMA sail development?

NS: There is really now no one aspect that is more important than the others. As for any other racing boat, weight is key, but we try not to focus just on that. Shape-holding versus weight: that's really what we are all looking for.

Strength was one of the major developments we worked on in 2002. We knew that the latest boats with the new foil designs were totally different from the old Primagaz type of trimaran. These new beasts are flying quicker and are way stiffer. Something had to give. We did our best to make sure the sails did not become the fuses. So far so good! We did a lot of work on adjusting and developing the best 3DL layouts to solve all the weight, strength, shape-holding and durability problems. But price also remains a key factor. We are allowed a restricted number of sails for a two-year period and they all have to fit within the sponsor's budget. So to stay competitive we have to give the best value for the total money available.

SH: Are the same sails now being used for the Grand Prix and the longer races, or are the inshore sails much more specialised?

NS: Laurent Bourgnon on Primagaz never really made the distinction. For him a good GP sail had also to be a good offshore sail. Most important for him was to have a good sail membrane. Laurent was the first person to go straight to 3DL carbon/ Aramid. He couldn't have been totally wrong as he won the Route du Rhum in 1998 with this sail combination.

To read the remainder of this article please go to the March 2003 edition of Seahorse, available at selected newsstands or by calling: + 44 (0) 1590 671899 or by email at: info@seahorse.co.uk

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