The new quarter-tonner?

Design duo put forward ORC GP26 intrepretation

A new GP26 proposal has come from collaborators G Yacht Design and FoX Technology meeting the brief for the ORC level class box rule for 26 footers.

G Yacht Design’s Nicolas Goldenberg (who is based in Argentina) and FoX’s Charles Betrand (based in the UK) both studied yacht design in Southampton and have since been working together on a Classe 9.50 design - with Argentina being identified as a favoured building spot.

The GP 26 design is billed by the duo as a ‘quarter tonner for the 21st century.’ The materials used for the sandwich construction are Glass, PVC and Epoxy. The hull and deck are built on a male plug and can also be vacuum cured for better material characteristics and weight savings.

The design has also been set up so the keel can be easily removed in the minimum of time – and that the boat itself meets the width limitations of road transport of 2.55m.

The underwater appendages have been optimised using CFD tools and Bertrand says that the basic design could easily be given a new keel fin/bulb and rudder to make the boat a little more tolerant for sail training and cruising purposes.

A target price of 25,000 Euros is mooted – but this ultimately depends on the final specification and delivery charges etc.

Technical Data (from designers)

LOA : 7.9 m
LWl : 7.5m
Beam : 2.55 m
Draught : 1.9m
Displ: (light) : 1000 kg
Ballast : 500 kg
IG : 9.25 m
J : 2.90 m
P : 9.90 m
E : 3.85 m
ISP : 11.15 m
SPL : 4.40 m