On the right track

Allen Clarke of Owen Clarke Design takes a look at the frenetic gestation of yet another growing Box Rule fleet — the Class 40

Introduction

The new Class 40 box rule has within a single year created the conditions for probably the fastest growing offshore racing fleet in the world. In the August 2005 Fastnet Race the first two Class 40 prototype versions of the French production Jumbo and Pogo designs raced to the rock and back. In 2007 the fleet will be much, much larger, more competitive and more diverse if the entry in the 2006 Route de Rhum is anything to go by.

In Le Havre in November at the start of its first transoceanic race and in its first full year in existence there were no fewer than 26 Class 40s at the startline. This constituted the single largest class in this iconic French ocean-racing classic, outnumbering both the 60ft IMOCA monohulls and the ORMA multihulls. All but two of these boats completed the race, which was eventually won by British former Mini Transat sailor Phil Sharp, sailing a production Pogo design. In a highly competitive fleet Figaro sailor Giles Morvan came second in another Pogo and Ian Munslow put in his best ever performance coming third in his Owen Clarke (OCD) designed Jaz 40, Bolands Mill.

As of March 2007 the largest of the Class 40 production lines, the Pogo, was booked out well into 2008. Owen Clarke Design, with two custom 40s launched and sailing, four in build, as well as another six production Express 40s on order and in build, are the most prolific and experienced designers to the rule outside France. In this two-part article we look at the formation of the class, the rule, the kind of boat it produces and its potential to cross the divide between the shorthanded and the more traditional offshore racing scene.

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Ian Munslow finished third in the Class 40 fleet on the OCD-designed Bolands Mill (below) in the 2006 Route du Rhum where the whole division put on an impressive performance to establish their blue water credentials