The good news – cats for coaches too

Coach Rod Davis blogs on why the end of the monohull era ushers in a new age for chase boats …. 

While we following along in the wake of our SL33  development/testing cats,  I was struck by how different life on the chase boat is these days.

Whereas we used to be loaded to the gunnels with test sails now we now carry very few. We used to  motor along at 10 knots behind the Version 5 boat, to get sail shots; now race at 20 knots to get wing shots.  All day motoring a 20+ knots takes a toll. It’s going to get a lot worse.

You hear a lot about how the next America’s Cup winged 72ft cats will be fast, really, really fast.  How fast?  Forty knots is not out of the question in the right conditions.  With wave piercing  bows it will be somewhat smooth, and very wet for the crew.

For the support boats times have changed too, especially  in the type of boats we need.  Just a year ago, a typical support fleet consisted of a tender, or mother ship, and two 40ft chase boats.  The mother ship towed the AC boats, carried the spare sails and parts and served as the brain of the operations.  The tests were run and data collected from relative comfort.  It was a place on calm and quiet away from the ‘chaos” in the rest of the fleet.

It is all different now.  For starters the traditional mother ship topped out at 20 knots, that won’t keep up with our 33 foot cats, let alone the new 72.  Towing speed was 12 knots, 14 if you wanted to drag half the ocean behind you.  Now, we tow at 22 knots, minimum.  Like big battleships, the mother ship is relic of the past.

Even the 40ft chase boats are doomed for the scrap heap come the July launch date.  Their down fall is multi-fold.  Top speed is OK, well…. in smoothest of water at 40 knots, but in a seaway the boat breaking pounding is untenable.

Picture for a moment of trying to coach while going 30 knots, in 4ft waves, shooting video, fighting wind noise as you shout instructions in the radio. You might as well try to give an interview while riding a bucking bronco!!  Crazy I know.  Welcome to our world.

Then there is the simple fact the current chase boats can’t carry enough fuel to last a whole day chasing the 72.

Breaking News:  New boats are on the way.  Cats.  What’s good enough for the sailors is good enough for the coaches and support staff.  Fifty feet long, two Yamaha 250 V8s and 30% lighter than the current boats.  Range of 500+ miles and top speed of 55 knots in smooth water and 35 in waves.  Suspension seats and a small cabin.

That’s a whole new world of life in the fast lane.

It’s going to be wild ride…….on both cats.

COACH