GP 42 update

First there was the TP 52...now finally there is some movement on ORC's little brother. We look at Roma the first GP 42 launched

While the TP 52 class is going supernova at present with 20 boats presently racing and 30-33 according to who you believe set to be on the start line of the Breitling MedCup races next year, so hot on its heels comes the Grand Prix 42, designed to the largest of the ORC's three box rules (to read more about these - click here). This class has taken a while to crank into life, owners seemingly reluctant to be the first to commit to the class, but many examples are currently in build and the class is showing all the signs of similar exponential growth over the next few years as the TP 52s has undergone. One advocate of the class we spoke to indicated there could be as many 60 boats racing in two to three years time....

In Spain the TP 52 has now all but killed off the IMS 500 class (the biggest of the IMS classes) and the Real Federacion Espanola de Vela has recently announced the adoption of the ORC GP42 Class as replacement for the IMS 600 Level Class (the middle sized level-rated IMS class). This will certainly attract owners from Spain and Italy who don't want the outlay and commitment of a full on multi-million Euro TP 52 program and Paolo Massarini, ORC Grand Prix Level Classes Manager, confirms that already six owners from Spain have committed to new boats and are about to start building.

Meanwhile the first GP 42 has been launched and we recently had the opportunity to have a look at the new Roma, a Farr design built by Latini Marine.

Based at Guidonia, near Rome, Latini Marine have among their recent credits the TP 52 Orlanda, the Reichel Pugh 80 Idea as well as the 85 footer Roma, the Farr designed maxi Filippo Faruffini owner of the new GP 42 also owns. Construction of the 42 is in carbon fibre with an Airex/Corecell core (Nomex is banned under class rules) but Latini offer a choice of wet or pre-preg lay up.

Above deck the spars are all carbon fibre, the rig fractional with two sets of spreaders and a conventional spinnaker pole arrangement. On the sidedecks the headsail sheet lead tracks are athwartships. The two ends of the mainsheet run forward along the boom and then run sideways down to the sidedeck just inboard of the shrouds, where they disappear into a tunnel below deck emerging by the trimmer.

In the cockpit Roma has tiller steering (although twin wheel is also available) and all lines save for the head sail sheet run below decks. There are two utility winches on the cabintop either side of the companionway and to speed up manoeuvres the boat has fitted with a coffee grinder to drive the two primary winches. Although optional, it is felt that the grinder is a must-have feature.

As a cost cutting measure the GP 42 rule was written to minimise crew numbers by limiting total crew weight to 720kg or eight bodies. This amounts to less crew weight for its size than a TP 52 and so the boat is more tender. One crewman described the boat as being "athletic" to sail because of the crew limitation. We understand that there is a strong possibility the all-up crew weight limit will soon increase to 800kg as this will allow one more person on board and mean there is enough hands to man the pumps.

Lines-wise the boat is not unlike a TP 52 although she lacks the diagonal cut-offs at the back end of her cockpit coaming the bigger Farr boats normally have. The boat has been designed as an all-purpose boat with no one regatta in mind and according to Patrick Shaughnessy, Farr Yacht Design VP, the appendages are relatively generous in their sizing to make it an easy boat to handle. One gets the impression there is much potential left in more aggressive development of the foils and the hull form.

According to Shaughnessy, the GP 42 is slightly quicker than the TP 52 for its length: "It is in a similar design space - volume for length, wetted surface for length, but it is slightly more powerful. Whenever you have a slightly smaller boat it planes slightly earlier, so it will be an exciting boat."

Another difference is between the rules themselves in that the GP 42 doesn't rely on the IMS measurement system to determine its stability whereas the TP 52 does. Instead the GP 42 has its own inclining test, similar to the IMS, based on a fixed weighted distance being applied to the boat. Thus whenever the IMS rule changes the TP 52s are locked in to changing with it, which is one reason why plans are afoot for the TP 52s to get their own independent rule written.

The major difference between the GP 42 and the TP 52 is one of price. While a TP 52 costs around 1.5 million Euros to get on the start line, the Latini-built 42 is less than one third of that. The Latini 42's price is 420,000 Euros for the base boat (ie you don't get the pedestal or a Hall Spars mast or pre-preg lay up for this price), although on the start line it is likely to end up closer to 450,000 Euros.

At present Roma is Farr's only GP 42 order, although they are close to signing another with an American owner. But from all quarters we are hearing that the level of interest is high. Shaughnessy confirms that if 20% of the enquiries Farr Yacht Design have received converted to hard orders they'd have 10 boats building... "The potential is there, but we just have to convince the owners it is the right thing to do." Hopefully with the Spanish association's commitment to the class becoming the replacement to the IMS 600 will go some way towards this, while Roma was out on the race course demonstrating what the new beast is like.

This year due to numbers the GP 42s will be racing along the IMS boats in the Med, but what they really need is a circuit. It would seem sensible to run the GP 42 alongside the TP 52 in a type of enlarged MedCup, but we understand Breitling aren't keen on this.

Elsewhere

- Reichel-Pugh have two orders for new GP 42s and are at present finalising their design development. One will be built by Marine Composite, in Andora, Italy (the same place where Mascalzone Latino's new Cup boat has been built). The second will start in September at McConaghy's new facillity in China.
- McConaghy International in China currently have in construction another GP 42 called the Luctor 42 to a design by Lutra Design Group.
- Botin Carkeek have their first GP 42 launching on 1 September in Croatia for Marko Murtic's company AAG Nautica (the same people who run one of the old Assa Abloy Volvo 60s) with a second completed one month from then. According to Shaun Carkeek their second generatin design will be finalised by early October after CFD and tank testing. AAG Nautica are then planning to build a five boat series based on their second generation design.
- Botin Carkeek have also signed a five boat deal with King Marine in Valencia based on their v2 design.
- a third run of three to five Botin & Carkeek designs are also underway with a builder in Barcelona....