First attempt

Following the launch of their first Croatian-built GP 42, we speak to Shaun Carkeek about the new class

While Farr Yacht Design may have been the first to launch one of the new breed of GP 42s with Roma(see our update on the class and our look at this boat here), hot on their heels are design house Botin & Carkeek.

Two builders currently have Botin & Carkeek GP 42s under construction. The first example was recently launched built by new Croatian company Murtic Yachts, based near Zagreb in Croatia. Anyone who has followed offshore racing in the Med may have come across a yellow Volvo Ocean 60 called AAG Big One. This the company's founder Marko Murtic campaigns (the AAG being Murtic's architectural and design company in Zagreb). This is the first of two to be launched in quick succession.

Despite being based in a former Eastern block country, Murtic Yachts has much in the way of imported expertise, the build team led by Kiwi Nick Beadle. The GP 42 production represents only a small proportion of what is planned for the company including a line of large carbon fibre performance cruisers ranging in soze from 52 to 80ft, also to Botin & Carkeek's design.

Obviously this is a Mk1 GP 42 from Botin & Carkeek and Shaun Carkeek says they are still finding their feet a little with the new rule. "Obviously it draws on a fair amount of experience we have gained through racing boats in the Med, what we optimise for in terms of race models and weather conditions and it obviously draws a lot on the experience we have gained in the TP 52 class." While Botin & Carkeek won the MedCup circuit with Vasco Vascotto's Pisco Sour in 2005, this year their top boat was Fred and Steve Howe's Dean Barker-steered Warpath, second overall at the end of the championship in Ibiza last week.

Carkeek continues: "It is difficult with a first generation design because you don’t have a lot of reference in terms of relative performance data, so there is always a certain amount of intuition involved as to where you position the boat, such as how big you make the appendages, how you balance the boat in terms of trade offs and crossovers, etc. We have the advantage this year in that we’ll soon have two boats sailing. Having got experience and data from the first we can move into 2007 with the second generation design."

The first Murtic Yachts GP 42, AA, skippered by Darko Prižmić will be competing in the massive Barcolana race off Trieste on 8 October and in the GP 42 circuit, when it is finalised, next year.

While Murtic Yachts have all but finished their two boats, so Grand Soleil are cranking into action with their Boton & Carkeek designed GP 42. While known for fast cruising yachts, the Italian builder has been doing a roaring trade over recent years in Botin & Carkeek-designed IMS boats. They hope to continue this success with the new Grand Soleil GP 42. Production is starting off with a run of five boats, which Shaun Carkeek says have now all been sold with the first launch due towards the end of the first quarter next year. With at least seven boats on the start line of whatever is the first GP 42 regatta next year, Botin & Carkeek seem to have got off to a good start in a class many are expecting to be every bit as successful as the TP52. Early predictions suggest there might be 10-15 brand new GP 42s racing in 2007.

Botin & Carkeek are currently working on their second generation design, including some tank test work, and will benefit from the two Murtic Yachts boats being able to trial against each other over the winter months in the Med.

"GP 42s are fairly finicky boats in the sense that to have a good boat it has got to be light," explains Carkeek of the parameters they have to work with. Their box rule is every bit as compact as the TP 52 rule. "Unlike the TP52 rule where you are unlimited on the internal ballast and you have a VCG limit, here you have control weighs on the keel and internal ballast, so you end up with a fixed composite weight but then it is about how you distribute that weight in the most efficient manner, so that the boat behaves well dynamically," says Carkeek, adding with a small noise of relief that despite the limitations of the design, the GP 42 will be a very much more exciting boat to sail than its IMS equivalent.

In terms of price the B&C GP 42s are selling for around 450,000 Euros. Carkeek reckons that this is the minimum amount one has to spend to get a boat that is fully tricked up. "If you want a winning boats, if you are going to do five boats, then the cheapest possible price would be around 450,000 excluding electronics and sails. We have gone through this whole process with other designers and yards putting a price out there that is not really realistic if you are looking for a competitive boat. When you start comparing apples with apples and fit a top rig and pedestals and machined keels and bulbs, etc and full pre-preg carbon [construction] and top deck gear - all the bells and whistles - then the most competitive price is around 450,000 Euros. And we’ve really worked hard on the pricing to give our clients an absolutely uncompromised product." The spec of the B&C GP 42s from the two builders is roughly the same. Carkee reckons that the price tag could go as high as 600,000 Euros for a purpose-built one off GP 42.

Meanwhile with the recent launch of John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti to their design, they now have three other commissions for 2007 for TP 52s including Vasco Vascotto's new Mutua Madrilena, the new Caixa Galicia and the new Cam - it is most likely all three boats will be built from the same moulds at Longitude 0 in Valencia.

Carkeek, never one to stand still, also adds that they are currently working on a design for a new second generation Volvo Open 70. "We are looking for some partners obviously, but we are committed to a long term research program to start building in the mid to third quarter next year," he concludes.