Open 42′ – “Stravaganza”

One-Off | 100° Rotating Keel
Pre-Preg Carbon – Nomex
Design: Guy Whitehouse – Jo Richards
Project Management by Trimarine

When the Italian Owner of Stravaganza went looking for a new lake racer he contacted, between some other, the freethinking English designer Jo Richards, a well known name thanks to the performances of the Stephen Fein’s racer Full Pelt.
At the time Richards had an eye out for a client for a new design he was working on, a very innovative project that would require considerable engineering input.
To meet a very experienced sailor with an important scientific background has been the starting point of the Stravaganza creation.

“Stravaganza” has been designed around the central cylindrical doughnut that allows for the keel rotation up to 100° on each side; the central hull hoop is obviously a slightly curved cone to match the shape of the boat at all angles of rotation.

The central area of the hull is faired back to squared stern sections – to produce a minimum of dynamic stability – and fore to the boat’s narrow waterlines.

The design target is to sail at around 10° of windward heel, allowing the rig to weather for additional righting moment with the bulb flying as much as possible in the air.

The hydraulic motor unit receives power from a 40kg weight lithium iodide battery pack that guarantees enough power for approximately 170-180 tacks.

As soon as the bulb is flying out of the water, the righting moment of the boat jumps up approximately by 10% due to the fact that the bulb volume is no longer trying to float; at the same time, the appendage drag is drastically reduced and there is a 2 knots, or more, boat speed increase.

The two manually controlled asymmetrical daggerboards installed just behind the hoop and the rudder are built out of high temperature prepreg carbon fiber and cured under pressure in autoclave.