GBR 42 - 2021 Hollom
This unique boat was designed for Peter Morton of Cowes, UK by renowned naval architect, David Hollom of Yorkshire, UK. The structural engineer was Suzy Russell of Orca Consulting in Cowes.
The design process included CFD analysis of candidate designs. The CFD was performed by One2Three Naval Architects in Sydney, UK and were validated by VPP programs by both David Hollom and famed New Zealand America’s Cup pioneer Tom Schnackenberg. The CFD output did turn out to be remarkably accurate in the real world.
She was built in 2021 by Gavin and Glyn Tappenden of Composite Craft UK (Cowes), using start of the art epoxy pre-impregnated S-glass and foam core. The moulds came off a CNC milled plug. The final assembly of appendages and the painting was performed by David Heritage Racing Yachts of Cowes.
The spars were supplied by Heol Composites, who are based in Vannes, France.
Design and manufacture of the sails were by North Sails UK.
The project management, deck fit out and rig layout were performed by Andrew Palfrey of Sailing.Dog on behalf of Morty.
Jean Genie is at her best in medium to strong winds, but there are several unique features to the boat that help her performance across the full wind-range. She is on minimum class weight of 1750kg (max is 2050kg). She is long on the waterline. She has minimum upwind sail area (26.5mtr sq - max is 29mtr sq). She has a hard chine along most of her length. the front half of the boat is V-shaped, which transitions behind the keel to U-shaped sections.
She has a high-lift keel, which is a departure from the low-lift / low drag keels, fitted with trim-tab flaps, that have been commonplace in the class for many years. Jean Genie has no trim tab. Because of the keel volume, she has very little internal ballast and thus has more righting-moment.
The rig geometry employs a runner-less set up, with only a top-mast backstay. The stiffer mast allows this simplified set-up.
GBR 42 was launched in Cowes in November of 2021. In initial trials on the Solent against GBR 41 (another UK-built 2021 boat) she performed very well. We took her to the 2022 Alpen Cup in Torbole, Lake Garda (ITA) in April 2022 and she won the event on her first outing with a crew of James Howells, Andrew Palfrey and Ruairidh Scott.
Jean Genie then swept all before her in the 2022 Worlds and the 2022 Scandinavian Gold Cup, winning both events in Hanko, Norway. The crew in Hanko were Elliot Hansen, Andrew Palfrey and Sam Haines. Morty unfortunately had to pull out due to illness, but was insistent the boat attend, in order to complete the project.
In October 2022, Jean Genie was sold to Bent-Christian Wilhelmsen of Norway.
If you are interested in further information, including a quotation, please get in contact with me
