New boat for the Volvo pt2

In part two of our interview with him Bruce Farr looks at Open 60s and one designs

The Open 60 for the Tour Voile winner is typical. "It is a classic Open 60. There's just a hugely wide horizon of options and not enough budget to explore them. It's a big wide open slate."

These days Open 60s are unrestricted only in their name and now have a rule book that limits on their stability and many other aspects of their design. Certainly they are less restricted than Volvo Ocean 60s, but all this means is there are more avenues for designers to spend and time and money researching.

Another option for Volvo is going down the one design route. "We have a restricted class now, so you would somehow have to control the cost of it more. But how? You could do a bigger boat that was faster, significantly faster, but not built to the same standards. You could simplify the boat with less equipment or less or the same number of crew."

With a one design there are big design and project management savings to be made and there is a financial kick back in terms of economies of scale such a bulk purchasing. Contrary to an idea mooted previously on madforsailing, of a one-design hull that keeps the rig and appendages open, an option that Farr fancies is the idea of having a one design rig and keel and keeping the rest open. "This would allow a freedom of building the boats, but controls some of the key performance issues."

However previous experience tells him that if Volvo were to go down the one design route they should go the whole way. "As soon as a big development team are employed to get the most out of the bit they're allowed to play with, it will nullify the benefits of any cost savings. It Einstein's last theorum! Time equals money. Take the man hours out and you take the cost out of it."

Ultimately while many are looking up to Bruce Farr for advice on this subject, he says it is certainly not his decision. "It is Volvo's race. They are the ultimate manager here. All the opinions aren't the same and they have the job of sorting out all the options and whatever they decide it won't align with everyone's opinion," he warns.

Tommorrow other eminent yacht designers such as Jim Pugh, Marc Lombard, Mani Frers and Merfyn Owen give their views on the new boat for the Volvo Ocean Race