A firm step forward

Team Shosholoza are the toast of the Cup community in Valencia, their acclaim increasing further following a strong performance in the latest Louis Vuitton Acts. Central to the progress made by this relatively lightly-funded syndicate is a clever design team, led by IRC maestro Jason Ker, who have managed to produce a first ACC design that is fast enough but also adaptable enough for a long campaign with a relatively inexperienced but hungry sailing team. And on the sideŠ time for a little IRC development

Designing for Team Shosholoza
- the first two years

The 32nd America's Cup started quite steadily for Ker Associates at Team Shosholoza. We set up office in Cape Town in April 2004, started to assemble tools and personnel for the design team, and we were all set for a simple bow and stern modification for our old ITA 48; then in September 2004 the bombshell was dropped that for the 2005 season we had to design an all-new AC yacht and build a new mast with a supplier in Italy who had no experience with modern AC spars. This news was frightening at the time but with the benefit of experience it should have been so much more frightening!

To cap it all, we had not at that time yet managed to hire a design co-ordinator, so most of the planning, administration and co-ordination of design activities needed to be handled by those designing the boat. Meanwhile, in the back of our minds was the strong possibility that this might not just be boat No.1 for the South African Challenge but also its only boat. Therefore the pressure was on to produce something that wouldn't be outclassed by teams launching their first boat a year later after 50-times more research hours and their second boat 18 months later stillŠ and starting from a basis of 10 years or more of AC design experience compared to just a few weeks in our own case.

To read the remainder of this and many other articles, please purchase your copy of the July 2006 edition of Seahorse International Sailing available at selected newsstands or by calling: + 44 (0) 1590 671899 or by email at: info@seahorse.co.uk

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