Hot off the press
A31 takes Audi IRC leaders jersey
First it was the Archambault A35, then the Archambault A40rc and now the Archambault A31 – that’s three different models from the same stable that have all led the Audi Australian IRC championship during the past four years.
The A35 and A40rc both went on to convincingly win the coveted title in 2007 and 2009, and the newly launched A31 is currently leading the way at the half-way stage of the 2010 series.
While the three models differ markedly in size and scope, they share common DNA from experienced French naval architects Joubert/Nivelt. No other design group or indeed boat manufacturer can lay claim to such consistent achievement.
“It will be like Groundhog Day for the trophy engravers as Archambaults are clearly the most competitive IRC yachts in Australia and probably the world stage,” Archambault Australia spokesman Glenn Coulton said.
“They perform in all wind strengths and all sea conditions. I think we have the edge in design and in construction quality because they simply don’t have a weakness.”
The new A31, called Aroona, was launched in November last year by Harvey Milne who assembled a team of Pittwater-based club sailors, including helmsman Andy MacPhail.
Their first major regatta was Audi Victoria Week in January and they showed great consistency, finishing second overall in IRC Division 3 with a string of second-placings behind the winning Borrensen 10 Surprise.
At the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta last weekend they posted the perfect score in a 13-boat IRC Division 3 fleet that included French rivals the Dufour 34 Performance (5th) and Beneteau First 35 (11th) … both sailed by their respective importers.
With Milne having just returned to the yachting scene after a 20-year absence, he couldn’t be happier with the results.
“I’m thrilled to bits,” Milne said when he was handed the leader’s flag for the Audi trophy. “Who wouldn’t be?
“The boat is sensational. We regularly exceed most of our target speeds, and on reaches in particular she’s an absolute flyer … on Sunday we came surfing through Sydney Heads at 17 knots!”
Aroona also won a lead-up ocean passage race held in late February by Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at Newport, powering to a 5½ -minute handicap win over the new King 40 Canute.
The A31 is far from being a stripped-out racer, having full headroom, six berths, an enclosed head compartment, dedicated galley, chart table and a dinette, all trimmed with an attractive moabi timber fitout and microfibre upholstery.
Archambault uses vacuum-bagged foam sandwich construction with full vinylester resin for the hull, while resin infusion technology is employed for the deck.
“The A31 has great potential as a family boat, and it proves you don’t have to be a millionaire to win Australia’s top IRC prize … not when you can buy this yacht for under $200,000,” Glenn Coulton said.
New keel suits A40rc to a tee
If you thought the Archambault A40rc was good when it won the 2009 Audi Australian IRC Championship, wait until you see the new “turbo-charged” version that the French builder is now offering.
Where the all-conquering Alegria sported a vinylester hull with conventional plan-form keel, there’s now the option of a full epoxy laminate and a contemporary tee-bulb keel.
The standard yacht is renowned as being exceptionally stable, thanks to a 48% ballast ratio and great form stability, but the changes will make it even more powerful both upwind and down.
Epoxy resin saves some 200 kilograms and makes the hull inherently stiffer, allowing more ballast to be placed in the bulb and lifting the ratio beyond 50%.
In-house testing of the tee keel began when Archambault first released the new A40rc in 2008, with the yacht Aria campaigning on the European circuit.
While the plan-form keel proved to be slightly favoured under IRC handicapping, Archambault naval architects Joubert/Nivelt now feel the balance has swayed as rulemakers are looking more favourably towards the tee keel.
Club racers are still able to choose the standard keel if they want something a little more forgiving and affordable. The tee-keel can also be specified with the vinylester version.
“We can’t wait to see an epoxy/tee-keeled A40rc take on the Beneteau First 40s and others,” said Archambault Australia’s Glenn Coulton.
“Alegria beat the First 40 Two True at HamiltonIsland in their only meeting, and in the Fastnet race two A40rc’s with plan-form keels finished second and seventh in their division while the First 40 was eighth.
“We’re confident that the new options will put the A40rc further ahead on IRC and make them even more fun and exciting to sail.”
Archambault uses more advanced construction techniques than most other production yacht builders, with hulls being hand-laid, vacuum-bagged and foam sandwich while the decks are resin-infused.
They use full vinylester or epoxy laminates, not polyester with a vinylester outer layer that the mass producers tend to favour.
At the same time the A40rc has all the style expected of a French manufacturer, courtesy of a classy moabi timber fitout. There is two metres of cabin headroom, twin aft cabins with optional pipeberths , spacious galley and an enclosed head compartment.
The performance-oriented options list includes carbon rudder (saving 50 kilograms), carbon spars with rod rigging, twin adjustments for the hydraulic backstay, upgraded Nanni diesel and more.
The end result is an affordable production yacht that’s on par with specialized custom racers.
The epoxy/tee-keel combination comes at an introductory cost of just $30,000 more than the $399,000 standard base boat.
A stock yacht is available for immediate sale or test sail at Newcastle Yachting in NSW.
Alegria crowned Australian champ
Winning one Audi Australian IRC Championship in an Archambault racing yacht may have been considered good luck, but two national titles in three years has left no doubt that it was good management and great performance.
The new Archambault A40rc Alegria, owned and skippered by Rod Jones, clinched the overall championship with a divisional win at Hamilton Island Race Week.
Following comprehensive victories at Geelong Race Week in January and the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta in March it gave the Mooloolaba-based yacht a perfect score, achieved with outstanding consistency in a wide range of conditions and race formats.
Only a single missed radio sked during July’s rugged Audi Sydney to Gold Coast Race prevented an absolute clean sweep, with Alegria dropping from provisional victory to 6th place in that event.
Perhaps mercifully for his competitors, the A40rc missed the 2008 national series as it only arrived in the country mid year. This year, however, the A40rc surpassed the giant-killing efforts of Jones’ Archambault A35 (also called Alegria) which claimed the 2007 Australian IRC Championship.
Jones drove home in Audi’s sporty Q7 SUV for that effort, and this time gets the keys to an Audi A6 allroad quattro valued at $115,000, plus the beautiful Audi IRC Australian Championship Perpetual Trophy.
It’s a stunning achievement for a production racer-cruiser that costs less than $390,000 (base boat), given that it was competing against the might of the TP52 Wot Now, which finished runner-up, and third placed Farr 55 Living Doll – both custom-built raceboats.
To dispatch his main divisional rivals at HamiltonIsland, Jones left the DK46 Dekadence and Andrew Saies’ Beneteau First 40 in his wake. He is quick to acknowledge that his choice of yacht, Archambault, was critical to his success, as was the performance of his club-based crew.
“It was the exceptional consistency of the boat and the crew … there was no weakness in either,” he said.
“The conditions at Hamo weren’t really favourable for our boat but we had no really bad races. DKs are very dangerous in light airs and the First 40 had Michael Spies aboard but we had its measure.
“I wouldn’t have swapped boats for anything. As soon as we had consistent breeze we were on fire and we possibly could’ve posted nine bullets.
“It’s just a delightful boat. Quality wise they’re fantastic, but just a really good, consistent IRC performer.”
