Two different approaches

We talk to Russell Coutts about the Lexus TP52 and Bernardo Matti, one of Leche Pascual's Chilean owners

Aside from the sheer rate at which the class is growing, another unusual aspect of the Mediterranean TP52 fleet is the mix of fully sponsored pro teams, owner funded teams and the handful of private owned Spanish boats that are also sponsored.

One of the most promising in the former division is Russell Coutts' Lexus. While racing in Spain, sponsored by the Spanish arm of the Japanese luxury car manufacturer, this TP52 project has been put together as part of the US-based Quantum Racing team. Quantum Sails Design Group are behind this to gain market share and to tout their product: 'fusion membrane' sails made from panels that are thus easier and faster to recut than moulded sails, as their sales pitch goes.

The TP52 project is the latest addition to the Quantum Racing stable which in the US includes a J/80 and a Melges 24, campaigned by American John Bertrand. Doug de Vos' name is frequently to be seen under the title 'owner' of their Reichel-Pugh design, as it was he who originally commissioned the boat (the de Vos family are share holders in Quantum Sails).

While no de Voses are to be seen on the TP52, the boat does include an all-star cast. Their first signing was a post-Alinghi Russell Coutts, for whom the TP52 now represents the America's Cup legend's principle sailing. With Coutts at the helm so came sponsorship from Lexus and an impressive afterguard including legendary Star sailor Mark Reynolds, America's Cup veteran navigator Peter Isler, match racer Jes Gram-Hansen as well as the Quantum Sail Design Group Managing Partner and Founder, Larry Leonard.

Even with such a star-studded crew Lexus are still finding their way. Many teams used to sailing windward-leewards still seem to be shaky particularly in terms of their sail inventory and calls when it comes to the unfamiliar art of reaching. This now features in every regatta due to the class' obligatory coastal races.

"Windward-leewards we seem to be okay and VMG downwind we seem to be alright but reaching downwind we seem to be not so fast," admits Mark Reynolds. "We are trying to figure out what it is. Our boat is a little bit narrower in the back and we don't know if it is that or spinnaker shapes. We can't do too much about the boat right now, so we are looking at spinnaker shapes to see if we can fine tune anything there."

In Valencia last week Thursday's race also saw the lock for Lexus' Code Zero rip out of the top of the mast, although Orlanda suffered other genniker problems when he furler broke at the deck.

Overall they have found the racing to be surprisingly close, despite the newness of the boats and them coming from a number of different design houses.



"The success story is the rule has fortunately produced boats that are really close in performance - because I was worried that they wouldn't be," says Russell Coutts. "There isn't much speed difference between them. The difference is more downwind in the sails and in the tuning of the boats. They are all really new and to be honest all the teams are really late."

While there are differences in the beam waterline of the boats - the latest Farr boats are skinny compared to their 2004 design Bambakou and the Botin & Carkeek designs - sails will make a bigger difference maintains Coutts, who is working with Quantum on developing new shapes for the TP52.

"The options you have with the gennikers downwind in these boats - you have a huge range of sails because you are sailing through quite a wide performance band. The boats never sail deep downwind, so you are never carrying a spinnaker, but you are carrying light reaching gennikers."

Despite the TP52 representing a substantial leap in performance from last year's IMS 500s, Coutts is still hungry for more performance in the TP 52. At present, for example, the boats are fitted with a single backstay arrangement and this self-limits the amount of roach in the mainsail.

"It is a bit of a hassle having one backstay and if they went to twin backstays they could go to a big top main. It would easily modernise the boats for almost no extra cost. That's one thing they should definitely do as they are under powered in light airs. When you are racing with a small headsail they are underpowered. I would actually allow the G0s, masthead genoas in less wind and maybe even allow them an extra sail - an overlapping one for the long races because they just make the racing much more interesting and much faster and maybe a non-overlapping one for the short races. That would be pretty cool."

Another crucial performance aspect is crew work. Coutts doesn't feel he had a good series in Punta Ala. "I was not happy with the way I personally raced that series. I was quite encouraged with the performance of our boat. For a boat we hadn't sailed once properly before the series, you probably can't expect too much."

To date the team have had precious little opportunity to train, but Coutts recently has had the opportunity to hone his own fleet racing skills following his debut in the Star at Kiel Week where he finished seventh.

"I really enjoyed that - I might do some more," he says. "I am impressed with the boats. For such an old design it is a really terrific boat. It was more physical than what I thought. Clearly if I was to do some more and do it reasonably seriously I'd have to get myself in shape. It was possibly not as complicated a boat as what I thought it might be. Our speed upwind was fine. We were a little slow downwind, but I think a fair bit of that is technique as well. I was impressed with the class."

However this does not mean we will see Coutts competing in the gentleman's keelboat in Qingdao come 2008. "I am not looking at a 60 hour week Olympic program. I might go and do the odd regatta and try and improve my own performance. And it is a fun class, it is easy there are only two guys. And I was pretty happy with my upwind speed, so I can go to an event and have a decent race. I was worried that I'd get out there and the guys would just blow me away upwind and downwind. But I was racing the boat against some good teams."


Another approach

It is not every day you get to see a Chilean high profile Grand Prix yacht let alone one that is winning, but this is the case with the Botin & Carkeek design Leche Pascual (ex-Pisco Sour), steered by Mascalzone Latino skipper Vasco Vascotto. The boat is crewed largely by members of Vascotto's Italian America's Cup team but among them are also four Chileans two of whom are part of the boat's consortium of three owners.

"We are two Chileans and one Italian, Antonio Orlandi," says one of the Chileans, Bernardo Matti. "We formed a syndicate to own this boat. We all knew each other two years ago when we raced in the IMS 600 class. That was when we met Vasco and Antonio."

Race boats with multiple owners is something of a speciality for Vascotto (see our interview with him here) who last year raced upon the IMS 600 Telefonica Movistar with his present Chilean owners.

"We had good fun and we decided to go for the Transpac this year," says Bernardo Matti, one of the two Chilean owners.

Back in Chile they normally race an IMS 600. "Chile is a small country," continues Matti. "There is an IMS fleet of 10-15 boats and not all competitive boats - not the same pace as here in Europe. Old boats over there can still do well. We have a season every year, the opposite to the season here, because we are in winter now. Our summer is January/February. There are two main areas of sailing. One is near Santiago - the capital - by the coast (the capital is 100km inland). The other is in the south of Chile in the fjords, Patagonia. There are a couple of races down there. It is a beautiful cruising area. Once a year there is a big race there in February. It is fun because apart from the race boats you see a lot of cruising boats racing there. You go from one place to the other with barbeques every night."

Commuting from South America to the Mediterranean for regattas is quite demanding but they are enjoying it, says Matti. "One good thing about this circuit is that we only have five races during the year, so it is not that much. It is a long way, but five times, is not that bad. We are having lots of fun.

"The TP52s are great boats. For me it is the first time I have raced boats of this size so close. The designs are different but they are very close. So it is all about having a good start and then tactics. In speed they are very very similar. And the level of the crews is much higher than what we expected. It is the first time we have raced against all these big names you read about in the magazines."

During last week's regatta in Valencia there was a hurried name change for their boat from Pisco Sour to that of their new title sponsor Leche Pascual, a milk producer. With three owners plus a sponsor who gained immediate benefit from a regatta win, this appears to be a good way into the TP52 class for owners unwilling to take the whole hit for the 1 million Euros TP 52 build cost and 300-700k a year running costs.