It’s not often that an extreme high tech offshore sailing project originates in the United States. We seem to be stuck navel gazing and discussing the nuances of PHRF and IMS while in Europe they are streaks ahead when it comes to pushing the boundaries of our sport. I, for one, think that it’s important to push boundaries otherwise things stagnate and people lose interest. That having been said, every now and then an American project comes along that excites the spirit and stirs the blood. Such is PGN Ocean Racing, a project by former marine Peter Gibbons-Neff and his quest to win the 2027 Mini Transat race.
I will come back to Gibbons-Neff because his story is a good one, but it’s his boat that has me blown away. Let’s just start by saying that Class Mini’s have always been on the cutting edge of offshore sailing and for each new race there is a new crop of balls-to-the-wall boats that continue to amaze. They were the first to push the development of the scow bow, the class has refined foils and sail area to displacement ratios to all-time high’s. One look at an over canvassed mini flying well above the water heading 4,000 miles from La Rochelle, France to Bahia, Brazil with just a skipper on board, and you know that there is hope for the future. And to be honest, some pretty exciting and pretty miserable, sleepless sailing ahead for the skipper.
Gibbons-Neff chose the French yacht designer Sam Manuard to draw his mini. Manuard has been at the cutting edge of mini design for a long time and he was the one who pioneered and pushed the scow bow. For this boat it looks like the design team have not held back and if the initial Instagram videos of the boat sailing (flying?) it looks like this boat is going to be a winner.
The boat, named Resolve, has the distinctive scow bow (for those not familiar, a piece on the advantages of a scow bow will be coming shortly). I am used to seeing boats like this so I was concentrating more on the foils. They look almost big enough to get a Boeing 747 airborne. The foils protrude from just under a chine in the hull, take a little dip before making a right angle turn to become a long airfoil plane with a winglet at the tip. The neat thing about these foils is that, other than lifting the boat, they stow very nicely when retracted back into the hull leaving the foil flush against the topsides with the rest curving above the sheerline.
The whole thrust of this design is clear and that is to get the boat flying as soon as possible. Too this end the scow bow helps by reducing wetted surface and therefore reduces drag, but Manuard has also added two sharp chines in the lower topsides. Chines, as we know, are added to allow the water that is stuck to the hull through surface tension to break off as it can’t make the sharp turn a chine presents. Less water stuck to the hull means less drag.
There is more to this boat but let’s take a look at the skipper who, by the way, already completed the Mini Transat in 2023. When I talked to Peter he told me that he was just a kid in school when those planes hit the World Trade Center, but that single act of terrorism stirred something in him and as soon as he could he joined the military. Peter served 10 years in the Marines as an intelligence officer with his experiences including being deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan as a military advisor. He was also deployed on U.S. Navy amphibious ships in the Middle East, Africa, and European theaters which included sea time in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean. In other words he is the real deal.
As a way to give back and to continue to inspire, Peter’s project is part of U.S. Patriot Sailing. Here is a cut and paste that describes things. “U.S. Patriot Sailing is dedicated to supporting the Veteran community in providing a competitive racing team that helps Veterans navigate the hardships of transition, rehabilitation, and the complex life challenges associated with combat deployments.”
There are exciting times ahead for that campaign and hopefully it will inspire others to push the edge a little. For more take a look here, and for that Instagram video look here.
