Congratulations to Michael Hiatt and his team aboard the Living Doll, Farr Yacht Design’s design #642. Michael and his team have won Audi’s Hamilton Island Race Week IRC Grand Prix division 1, and they’ve done it with a comfortable margin to spare. Their run away win in Hamilton Island comes right on the heels of their previous IRC win at the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week. Both of the Doll’s victories were contested by Ray Roberts and his team on Evolution Racing, a Cookson 50, FYD’s design #541.
The Living Doll is one of Farr yacht Design’s latest IRC specific grand Prix designs and we are pleased to see it add to our extensive record of significant IRC results. Farr Yacht Design’s design #642, is a 55 foot IRC racing design with 2 boats constructed to the design. Our project goal with design 642 was to design a boat that could race in the same class as IRC optimized TP52’s while being faster with a relatively better handicap. The 55 foot length produces the desired performance leap and moderate increases in displacement, draft and sail area limit the increase in handicap. The hull was developed using the knowledge gained from our recent extensive CFD research on Volvo 70s and GP42s. A unique feature with a large impact on the hull design is the twin rudder steering arrangement. The twin rudders generate much less stern up force allowing the bow to be finer forward for less drag in waves and chop. Because the stern lifts less at high speeds the effective sailing length can be maximized over more of the speed range without incurring handling problems in extreme conditions. Ease of handling in reaching and running conditions was a prime driver in our design process as we worked to ensure that this boat can be just as dynamic as the smaller and marginally lighter TP52’s that it will compete against.
Congratulations again to Michael and his team aboard the Living Doll. We look forward to many more victories from the Doll, and also to the upcoming launch of the second 642 currently nearing completion in Turkey.
Contact Farr Yacht Design to see how we can help your team produce IRC victories. Our IRC optimization services have produced an unparalleled list of significant results. Our specific targeted IRC custom design work is a clear extension of that optimization work and will ensure that your next custom boat project achieves the success that you deserve.
Patrick Shaughnessy
