ABU DHABI
   ›› Designed by Farr Yacht Design
   ›› Open cockpit makes for easier boathandling and lowers sail stack
   ›› Cabin house is integrated into cambered deck

   Photo: Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race

Abu Dhabi has the only boat in the fleet from Farr Yacht Design, which has a very long history with the race. The boat’s unique cockpit design is an evolution of the two Farr-designed Telefonica boats from 2008-’09. The open cockpit, with no sidedecks aft of the companionway, reduces the number of winches to nine. The voids created between the winch pods serve as space for stacking sails. The use of this space is especially important this time around, as the race rules no longer allow teams to stack sails below in the aft-most portion of the hull (which was an extremely challenging task for the crews). It also concentrates the weight of the sails further outboard when the boat is heeled, and provides a wave barrier for the crew.

“Water management” is how Farr Yacht Design president Pat Shaughnessy describes dealing with the green water constantly rushing across the deck, which inevitably takes a toll on the sailors. The camber of the foredeck blends almost seamlessly into the cabinhouse. Having fewer obstructions, which can send water cascading in every direction, provides some element of protection in the pit area on either side, where there are four utility winches, two per side (one of which was added since the launch).

The daggerboards are nearly vertical and positioned forward of the keel. This seems to indicate a desire to find the sweet spot between upwind performance (where outward cant helps) and reaching (where straight and inward cant helps), without going too far either direction.

   Groupama
   ›› One of three boats from Juan Kouyoumdjian
   ›› Crew is loaded with shorthanded ocean-racing talent Deck layout reflects this
   ›› The double crash rail in front of each wheel is standard across the fleet

   Photo: Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race

Groupama’s sailing team doesn’t have quite the depth of Volvo experience as its competitors, but it’s laden with the world’s best singlehanded offshore racing talent. They have no less than six top-shelf helmsmen, and the requisite alumni of the victorious Ericsson program.

Groupama 4 has a similar cockpit configuration to that of Telefonica and mar mostro, and plenty of volume forward. The deck layout shows quite a few differences in hardware locations, characteristics that reflect the shorthanded makeup of their crew. There are 10 winches total, including a set of small winches for the traveler control and the runner winches well forward, ahead of even the large primary winch, but on a direct line from the block to the winch, eliminating the friction of a turning sheave. Three utility winches are spread across the pit area behind three separate banks of clutches and organizers, a trade-off between adding weight but improving handling. The team also created robust pyramids in the aft corners, much like with Abu Dhabi and Telefonica. This is a hint their sail-design program may be focused on off-the-wind sailing, but as with everything in this race, only time and hard-earned miles will tell.