So you say you are tired of all these Fast 40’s looking the same? This one doesn’t! This is the Botin40+, a new build from our most recent (and reunited) advertisers, McConaghy. Designers Botin Partners explain the new boat:
The design of the hull and deck shapes of the new Botin Fast 40+ were based on our recent experiences from the new Gladiator (TP52) and Cannonball (Maxi72), and of course our previous Swing (Botin 40 2013). We can usually apply lessons learnt from previous projects, even if the size or type of boat is slightly different. For the Gladiator TP52 we arrived to a new family of hull shape that works very well for a fixed keel, single rudder and light displacement IRC racer.
So we started early in the year to design hulls and run them through our latest RANS CFD code (we develop this code in-house). Since 2015 we own a bigger supercomputer which runs 24/7 and is able to feed the VPP with sufficient data to cover the whole sailing range. This is a very intensive period for us, as we are always looking to extract maximum performance from our hull shapes. At 40′ the wave drag is quite dominant upwind (versus viscous drag) so having an accurate CFD code allows us to push for very refined hydro shapes. The end result is a step ahead, in our opinion, and the boat will behave very well in flat water and in waves as well.
For the deck design we had a clear inspiration from Cannonball, and we redesigned the shape to fit the Fast40+. Before committing for such a radical shape we did several CFD aerodynamic runs to check the trends, and we confirmed the windage advantages, that were worth the extra expense.
Next step for us is to work on the appendages design and finalize the rig and sailplan to make sure the boat is well balanced and optimized for a wide range of conditions.
Adolfo Carrau
Botin Partners Naval Architecture
