tP65

--courtesy of www.sailinganarchy.com--

Conceptually Speaking
Your editor has suggested that the readers of SA might be interested in following the build of the first Storm Trysail - Transpac 65 (STP65) Rosebud. Judging from the comments in the SA forum, I believe there is more interest in how we arrived at the decision to build such a boat rather than how we are building it. Before a boat like this can be built, there has to be a vision of what the boat needs to be in order to attract the interest of prospective owners.

In the case of Rosebud Racing, we had visited the Mediterranean TP52 fleet and seen the impressive buoy racing. This fleet has become more than any of us expected when the TP52 Rosebud first started sailing in 2002. However, our vision for a new boat came into focus during the 2005 Transpac when we were ripping down the Molokai Channel at 25+ knots. This was the condition the TP52 excelled at and this was something the class had moved away from.

It seemed obvious, create a box rule for a fast 65 footer that encouraged offshore sailing while at the same time preserved the agility the TP52's have for inshore sailing. But nothing obvious should ever be easy to accomplish. To satisfy the Storm Trysail 65 board and the Transpac 65 board the parameters for the new boat would have to meet the following criteria:

1. Be the fastest fixed keel 65 footer to compete in races such as Transpac or heavy air buoy races such as San Francisco BBS or the lighter conditions found in Long Island Sound.
2. The boat would have to perform as a stand alone under IRC
3. The VPP's for the boat must exceed the original STC65 in all conditions.

At first the task to create a box rule that would both encourage a speed boat and a rating boat seemed daunting. But as many design groups such at Reichel / Pugh, Bill Tripp, Alan Andrews, Nelson Marek, Bill Lee and Farr Yacht Design contributed to the new rule, the more it became apparent that both goals were achievable. In the end, this talented group has dug through the VPP's and the current acronym of rules (IRC, IMS, ISAF Cat 1, STC65, TP52, ABS) and arrived at a boat that that will exceed 10 knots upwind and is capable of planing downwind at over 16 knots in just 18 TWS.

The STP65 box rule has found a niche between the current inshore based TP52 and the offshore based VO70's. Rosebud Racing is encouraged that other prospective owner's are taking time to look at the box rule. As more details about the type of boat this rule will produce are revealed, we are optimistic that more STP65's will be started this year.

Now that you know why we are building it, we can keep you posted on the progress of the build. For those of you who are interested in the details of the STP 65 box rule, please click on the following link .

Malcolm Park
Program Manager
STP 65 Rosebud

--courtesy of www.sailinganarchy.com--