In today’s world of foiling mania Hugh Welbourn’s latest DSS Infiniti 52 is expected to be out and winning big IRC and ORC races long before some of its more fanciful rivals have (somehow) obtained a first rating.
Land the plane, sink the putt or simply shoot to score – eventually the design process ends, or it is supposed to. Months of work and years of experience begin to take form as a physical entity. There is an interesting transition when committing to something, however small, in the design of a yacht. It is almost impossible for a single element of the design not to have a consequence within the remainder of the process.
Of course, at an elemental level, everything weighs something; we have not managed to deal with that particular problem yet. However, in conjunction with the excitement and emotional energy that comes with taking plans and ideas to reality, is the knowledge that you have had to earn the trust and confidence of the end user.
This sounds simple, but it goes far beyond basic economics of buyer and seller – this is a journey which ultimately places one half of the deal on a modestly sized, high performance sailing yacht, travelling at speeds hitherto within the reach of very few people, far, far from land. Read on.
