Raceboard Design 4

Raceboard Design 4

“The Exocet D2″

This is the fourth in a series of articles I’ve written about raceboard design for LBWS and focuses on the recently released Exocet D2. I’ve primarily written this article to respond to those individuals that have asked me whether Exocet has copied my design.

To this end, I’ve summarised below my journey to get the ‘skiffboard’ in production:

24 July 2009 – Raceboard Design article published on LBWS

As a sailor with a passion for high performance sailing and as an engineer specialising in fluid dynamics, I’d been thinking about raceboard design since I started racing them about 5 years ago. Having been accustomed to the effortless glide provided by a skiff-like bow (with a vertical stem) while sailing Moths and 18 foot skiffs, I was tired of watching the bow of my Mistral Panam smash into wave after wave. I wrote my first article on raceboard design: See here

This article was grounded in theory and highlighted the importance of the relationship between drag and speed, particularly the ‘hump’. It also highlighted the success of skiffs in eliminating the ‘hump’.

Late 2010 – Discussions with Julian Bethwaite

In late 2010, I met and corresponded extensively with Julian Bethwaite of Bethwaite Design (bethwaite.com). Julian is, in my mind, one of the best in the world at innovative sailboat design, having revolutionised the 18 foot skiff class in the 1980s. I had hoped to work together with him to bring this design to market, but the market was too small for him to consider as an investor and he has a high workload in other, more valuable projects. Julian provided some excellent advice on the design of the board, and he offered his comprehensive services on a nominal fee-for-advice basis.

21 March 2010 – Explored joint venture proposal with manufacturers

I was keen to bring this design to market and had hoped to arrange a joint venture whereby I would project manage an R&D effort on behalf of a leading manufacturer, using Julian Bethwaite for design advice. Below is the email that I sent to Patrice Belbeoch:

Dear Patrice,

I am currently developing a new raceboard design and I am seeking a partner to help manufacture and commercialise this board.  I am hoping that Exocet is interested in partnering with me.

The design that I am refining is best summarised as “a skiff-like hull for a sailboard, with a wedge-shaped bow and vertical stem, but with a wide planning area at the stern”.  I have attached a rough sketch for your reference.  Furthermore, last year I wrote an article about raceboard design for www.LBwindsurfing.com :

http://www.lbwindsurfing.com/raceboard/raceboard-design/

I believe that my design has potential for dramatic performance improvement over the currently available raceboards: it will provide massive improvement in displacement mode with limited compromise in planning conditions.  Note that the design in NOT like a Division 2 board or other displacement raceboards because it has a wide and flat planning surface at the stern with hard chines.  I have been working with one of the world’s leading sailboat designers based in Sydney to further develop the board’s ‘lines’.

I am seeking a partner to bring this new raceboard design to market (funding, manufacturing, commercialisation).  I propose that I project-manage the development of the board (collaborating with the designer and the world-class test pilots that I have available), with Exocet providing funding and securing commercialisation/production rights.  The funding would pay for the designer’s fees and to construct the prototypes (cost only – I would not draw any income, but I believe my contribution of idea origination, project management and r&d should be acknowledged commercially).

Are you interested in discussing this opportunity?  I look forward to your feedback.

Regards
Richard

Below is the sketch that accompanied the email:

I also sent a similar email to Anders Bringdal (Mistral), Craig Gertenbach (Fanatic) and Tiesda You (Starboard). Each of these industry leaders engaged in correspondence with me and we exchanged thoughts on design and the market. The overwhelming conclusion was that the raceboard segment is too small to warrant significant investment. Such is life.

Patrice states that he never received this email. I tried to contact Patrice with via phone a number of times after sending the email, but each time I reached a voicemail message in French and I didn’t leave a message.

16 June 2010 – Raceboard article 2 published on LBWS

Although I abandoned the idea of working with a manufacturer to bring the design to market and making this a commercial venture (the demands of my ‘day-job’ also factored into this decision), I still believed in the design and wanted to progress it further. I wrote a second article for LBWS on raceboard design, which included a hand drawn conceptual design, similar to the design I sent to the manufacturers:

lbwindsurfing.com/journal/raceboard/raceboard-design-2

7 August 2010 – Forum thread started

The Raceboard Design article 2 generated significant interest and discussion. To further progress the discussion in a format that would allow posting of images, I started the following thread in the forum of LBWS:

lbwindsurfing.com/board/general-discussion/raceboard-design-1015

This initial thread became too large for the forum and was extended into the following thread:

lbwindsurfing.com/board/raceboard/raceboard-design-2-1156

26 February 2011 – Raceboard article 3 published on LBWS

I wanted to get the board built. The Australian Championships permits non-registered production raceboards to compete, as long as they conform to the raceboard rules. A few years ago, such a non-conforming board won the Australian Championships. I could build my board and still compete locally.

Although there were no local manufacturers willing to take on this project, I could take a CAD file to a CNC shaping bay and have the board shaped. I could finish off the detailed build myself. Hence I commenced fleshing out the design in a basic CAD program. When complete, I published the design in my third article for LBWS, including a downloadable CAD file with the design:

lbwindsurfing.com/journal/raceboard/raceboard-design-3

July 2011 – Exocet announce the D2

In July I became aware of the Exocet D2. The released image shows the design:

exocet-original.com/rs-d2-elite.php

Video footage has also been released:

EXOCET RS D2 2012 from eric bellande on Vimeo.

The Exocet D2 has the 2 core design elements of my ‘skiff-board’, being a wedge-shaped bow with a vertical stem, plus a wide, flat planning area at the stern. These 2 design elements have never been combined in a raceboard previously. To my mind, the Exocet D2 and my ‘skiffboard’ conceptual design are identical except for 2 subtle differences:
1. The Exocet D2 has the widest point further forward, whereas I retained a finer taper to further back on the board (like a modern skiff).
2. The Exocet D2 has a wave-piercing nose, whereas I have a vertical stem.

I emailed Patrice after I became aware of the Exocet D2 and have corresponded with him since. He states that he has not referenced my design in the development of the D2 and states that he never received the email I sent him in early 2010. I have not asked him whether he read the published articles on LBWS.

Exocet’s marketing message for the D2 consistently states that the D2 has been in development for many years. Exocet had certainly explored a comparable concept (although very different to the ‘skiffboard’ or ‘Exocet D2’) when they submitted the following design for the Olympics in 2008:

Image from boardseekermag.com/special_features/olymic_board_2/olympic_board2.htm

Future

Since abandoning the idea of working with manufacturers to commercialise this design (in mid-2010), I have continued to push this design because I want to see it succeed for non-commercial reasons. Above all, I want to sail faster raceboards.

I’m delighted that Exocet has brought this board to the market. I believe it will mark a major step in the evolution of raceboard design. I hope their D2 goes on to win many races and sparks other manufacturers to follow this design path. I will be buying one.

Has my conceptual ‘skiffboard’ design been copied? I don’t know; parallel development can occur and Exocet were certainly exploring comparable ideas. But it doesn’t really matter; I feel I have achieved my objective of having such a board in the market.

I am now turning my mind to the design of raceboard sails, where I have a design idea. I hope to publish an article on this for LBWS soon.

The Author

Richard Reatti (AKA ‘yagon’) is an avid sailor of Raceboards at Dobroyd Aquatic Club in Sydney, Australia. His sailing background includes extensive racing of skiff Moths and 18 foot skiffs, achieving top 5 placings in their respective world championships and he was the world junior champion in the Moth class. He recently placed 3rd in the heavyweight division of the Australian Raceboard Championships. He is also an engineer specialising in fluid dynamics.

Richard can be contacted at: richard@reatti.com.au