YACHT RACING; Secret of Black Magic's Success Is in the Design
Monday, November 5, 2007
By BARBARA LLOYD
In a sport plagued by copycats looking for the best ideas in yacht design, New Zealand's America's Cup team deliberately spread rumors that its Black Magic boats were slow. But the truth is, the boats were fast right out of the box.
Team New Zealand first built Black Magic last summer. "When we put it in the water for the first time and started sailing it," Doug Peterson, one of Team New Zealand's two designers, said today, "we found it was ridiculously fast."
And the yacht has stayed that way through four months of cup racing here. With a 3-0 record against Dennis Conner's borrowed boat, Young America, and the Stars & Stripes crew, Black Magic 1 appears to have a decisive edge in the five-of-nine cup series. The next scheduled match is Thursday.
"We went out that first day and just destroyed the other boat," Peterson said about the launching of Black Magic 1 last September. "Everybody was just shaking their heads saying, 'My God, what have we got here?' So we decided we just didn't want any attention drawn to us."
So strong was the dissembling rumor about Black Magic being ordinary that it has taken a 37-1 record on the water, an America's Cup trials record, to turn the fib around. And only now, with Black Magic leaving Young America in its wake at the start line, are the Kiwis owning up to their boat speed.
"When we've got a nice lead, we start twisting the sails a bit and not making as many tacks," Brad Butterworth, tactician on Black Magic 1, said today. "Especially when the wind is up, the way it was in the race Tuesday when it was 16 knots, we ease up when we're well ahead because there are just too many things that could break or go wrong."
In its maiden voyage, Black Magic 1 sailed against New Zealand's 1992 cup challenger. Although not as competitive now as the 1995 boats, the yacht New Zealand was considered quick in its day.
"In six knots of wind and smooth seas, NZL 32 was 10 minutes faster around the course," Peterson said, "and in nine knots with a normal chop on the water, it was five minutes faster." NZL 32 refers to Black Magic 1; the team's second boat, Black Magic 2, or NZL 38, was similar in design, a fraternal twin to the first boat.
The 49-year-old Peterson grew up in Los Angeles and moved to San Diego as a teen-ager. "My father is an aerospace engineer, and he taught me a lot from the beginning about design," Peterson said. "I was the kind of kid who used to crawl around boat yards looking at things. I was the one always looking over the side of a boat at the wake."
He moved to Auckland two years ago to work on the Black Magic project with Laurie Davidson, a New Zealand designer. Both are self-taught naval architects with past successes designing midsize boats on the grand prix circuit.
"We basically did it together," Peterson said. "The crew was worried at first because we were agreeing all the time. But we said, 'No, we like this,' and we agreed on a basic narrow shape for the boats."
Unlike other teams, where the designers worked in isolation from the crew, the New Zealanders made a family out of it. With 55 people on the team, most had input. "We taught them about yacht design so they could participate in the design," Peterson said.
Key players included Russell Coutts, the boat's skipper who has a civil engineering background, and Tom Schnackenberg, the design coordinator about whom Conner recently said anyone would "have a hard time saying that there's been a better, more creative sailmaker." The boat's crew developed the deck plan.
And so what is it about the Black Magic boats, first Black Magic 2, which sailed in the early trials, and finally Black Magic 1, the boat optimized for the later trials, that is so fast? It is the sum of its parts, not the parts individually, that makes New Zealand's entry so formidable.
"It is not a breakthrough boat," Peterson said. "It is a highly refined version of earlier designs. It has no gimmicks. Our crew said it didn't particularly want anything radical. They felt they could win on their own as long as they had a boat that was as fast as everyone else's."
Team New Zealand first built Black Magic last summer. "When we put it in the water for the first time and started sailing it," Doug Peterson, one of Team New Zealand's two designers, said today, "we found it was ridiculously fast."
And the yacht has stayed that way through four months of cup racing here. With a 3-0 record against Dennis Conner's borrowed boat, Young America, and the Stars & Stripes crew, Black Magic 1 appears to have a decisive edge in the five-of-nine cup series. The next scheduled match is Thursday.
"We went out that first day and just destroyed the other boat," Peterson said about the launching of Black Magic 1 last September. "Everybody was just shaking their heads saying, 'My God, what have we got here?' So we decided we just didn't want any attention drawn to us."
So strong was the dissembling rumor about Black Magic being ordinary that it has taken a 37-1 record on the water, an America's Cup trials record, to turn the fib around. And only now, with Black Magic leaving Young America in its wake at the start line, are the Kiwis owning up to their boat speed.
"When we've got a nice lead, we start twisting the sails a bit and not making as many tacks," Brad Butterworth, tactician on Black Magic 1, said today. "Especially when the wind is up, the way it was in the race Tuesday when it was 16 knots, we ease up when we're well ahead because there are just too many things that could break or go wrong."
In its maiden voyage, Black Magic 1 sailed against New Zealand's 1992 cup challenger. Although not as competitive now as the 1995 boats, the yacht New Zealand was considered quick in its day.
"In six knots of wind and smooth seas, NZL 32 was 10 minutes faster around the course," Peterson said, "and in nine knots with a normal chop on the water, it was five minutes faster." NZL 32 refers to Black Magic 1; the team's second boat, Black Magic 2, or NZL 38, was similar in design, a fraternal twin to the first boat.
The 49-year-old Peterson grew up in Los Angeles and moved to San Diego as a teen-ager. "My father is an aerospace engineer, and he taught me a lot from the beginning about design," Peterson said. "I was the kind of kid who used to crawl around boat yards looking at things. I was the one always looking over the side of a boat at the wake."
He moved to Auckland two years ago to work on the Black Magic project with Laurie Davidson, a New Zealand designer. Both are self-taught naval architects with past successes designing midsize boats on the grand prix circuit.
"We basically did it together," Peterson said. "The crew was worried at first because we were agreeing all the time. But we said, 'No, we like this,' and we agreed on a basic narrow shape for the boats."
Unlike other teams, where the designers worked in isolation from the crew, the New Zealanders made a family out of it. With 55 people on the team, most had input. "We taught them about yacht design so they could participate in the design," Peterson said.
Key players included Russell Coutts, the boat's skipper who has a civil engineering background, and Tom Schnackenberg, the design coordinator about whom Conner recently said anyone would "have a hard time saying that there's been a better, more creative sailmaker." The boat's crew developed the deck plan.
And so what is it about the Black Magic boats, first Black Magic 2, which sailed in the early trials, and finally Black Magic 1, the boat optimized for the later trials, that is so fast? It is the sum of its parts, not the parts individually, that makes New Zealand's entry so formidable.
"It is not a breakthrough boat," Peterson said. "It is a highly refined version of earlier designs. It has no gimmicks. Our crew said it didn't particularly want anything radical. They felt they could win on their own as long as they had a boat that was as fast as everyone else's."
In a sport plagued by copycats looking for the best ideas in yacht design, New Zealand's America's Cup team deliberately spread rumors that its Black Magic boats were slow. But the truth is, the boats were fast right out of the box.
Team New Zealand first built Black Magic last summer. "When we put it in the water for the first time and started sailing it," Doug Peterson, one of Team New Zealand's two designers, said today, "we found it was ridiculously fast."
And the yacht has stayed that way through four months of cup racing here. With a 3-0 record against Dennis Conner's borrowed boat, Young America, and the Stars & Stripes crew, Black Magic 1 appears to have a decisive edge in the five-of-nine cup series. The next scheduled match is Thursday.
"We went out that first day and just destroyed the other boat," Peterson said about the launching of Black Magic 1 last September. "Everybody was just shaking their heads saying, 'My God, what have we got here?' So we decided we just didn't want any attention drawn to us."
So strong was the dissembling rumor about Black Magic being ordinary that it has taken a 37-1 record on the water, an America's Cup trials record, to turn the fib around. And only now, with Black Magic leaving Young America in its wake at the start line, are the Kiwis owning up to their boat speed.
"When we've got a nice lead, we start twisting the sails a bit and not making as many tacks," Brad Butterworth, tactician on Black Magic 1, said today. "Especially when the wind is up, the way it was in the race Tuesday when it was 16 knots, we ease up when we're well ahead because there are just too many things that could break or go wrong."
In its maiden voyage, Black Magic 1 sailed against New Zealand's 1992 cup challenger. Although not as competitive now as the 1995 boats, the yacht New Zealand was considered quick in its day.
"In six knots of wind and smooth seas, NZL 32 was 10 minutes faster around the course," Peterson said, "and in nine knots with a normal chop on the water, it was five minutes faster." NZL 32 refers to Black Magic 1; the team's second boat, Black Magic 2, or NZL 38, was similar in design, a fraternal twin to the first boat.
The 49-year-old Peterson grew up in Los Angeles and moved to San Diego as a teen-ager. "My father is an aerospace engineer, and he taught me a lot from the beginning about design," Peterson said. "I was the kind of kid who used to crawl around boat yards looking at things. I was the one always looking over the side of a boat at the wake."
He moved to Auckland two years ago to work on the Black Magic project with Laurie Davidson, a New Zealand designer. Both are self-taught naval architects with past successes designing midsize boats on the grand prix circuit.
"We basically did it together," Peterson said. "The crew was worried at first because we were agreeing all the time. But we said, 'No, we like this,' and we agreed on a basic narrow shape for the boats."
Unlike other teams, where the designers worked in isolation from the crew, the New Zealanders made a family out of it. With 55 people on the team, most had input. "We taught them about yacht design so they could participate in the design," Peterson said.
Key players included Russell Coutts, the boat's skipper who has a civil engineering background, and Tom Schnackenberg, the design coordinator about whom Conner recently said anyone would "have a hard time saying that there's been a better, more creative sailmaker." The boat's crew developed the deck plan.
And so what is it about the Black Magic boats, first Black Magic 2, which sailed in the early trials, and finally Black Magic 1, the boat optimized for the later trials, that is so fast? It is the sum of its parts, not the parts individually, that makes New Zealand's entry so formidable.
"It is not a breakthrough boat," Peterson said. "It is a highly refined version of earlier designs. It has no gimmicks. Our crew said it didn't particularly want anything radical. They felt they could win on their own as long as they had a boat that was as fast as everyone else's."
Team New Zealand first built Black Magic last summer. "When we put it in the water for the first time and started sailing it," Doug Peterson, one of Team New Zealand's two designers, said today, "we found it was ridiculously fast."
And the yacht has stayed that way through four months of cup racing here. With a 3-0 record against Dennis Conner's borrowed boat, Young America, and the Stars & Stripes crew, Black Magic 1 appears to have a decisive edge in the five-of-nine cup series. The next scheduled match is Thursday.
"We went out that first day and just destroyed the other boat," Peterson said about the launching of Black Magic 1 last September. "Everybody was just shaking their heads saying, 'My God, what have we got here?' So we decided we just didn't want any attention drawn to us."
So strong was the dissembling rumor about Black Magic being ordinary that it has taken a 37-1 record on the water, an America's Cup trials record, to turn the fib around. And only now, with Black Magic leaving Young America in its wake at the start line, are the Kiwis owning up to their boat speed.
"When we've got a nice lead, we start twisting the sails a bit and not making as many tacks," Brad Butterworth, tactician on Black Magic 1, said today. "Especially when the wind is up, the way it was in the race Tuesday when it was 16 knots, we ease up when we're well ahead because there are just too many things that could break or go wrong."
In its maiden voyage, Black Magic 1 sailed against New Zealand's 1992 cup challenger. Although not as competitive now as the 1995 boats, the yacht New Zealand was considered quick in its day.
"In six knots of wind and smooth seas, NZL 32 was 10 minutes faster around the course," Peterson said, "and in nine knots with a normal chop on the water, it was five minutes faster." NZL 32 refers to Black Magic 1; the team's second boat, Black Magic 2, or NZL 38, was similar in design, a fraternal twin to the first boat.
The 49-year-old Peterson grew up in Los Angeles and moved to San Diego as a teen-ager. "My father is an aerospace engineer, and he taught me a lot from the beginning about design," Peterson said. "I was the kind of kid who used to crawl around boat yards looking at things. I was the one always looking over the side of a boat at the wake."
He moved to Auckland two years ago to work on the Black Magic project with Laurie Davidson, a New Zealand designer. Both are self-taught naval architects with past successes designing midsize boats on the grand prix circuit.
"We basically did it together," Peterson said. "The crew was worried at first because we were agreeing all the time. But we said, 'No, we like this,' and we agreed on a basic narrow shape for the boats."
Unlike other teams, where the designers worked in isolation from the crew, the New Zealanders made a family out of it. With 55 people on the team, most had input. "We taught them about yacht design so they could participate in the design," Peterson said.
Key players included Russell Coutts, the boat's skipper who has a civil engineering background, and Tom Schnackenberg, the design coordinator about whom Conner recently said anyone would "have a hard time saying that there's been a better, more creative sailmaker." The boat's crew developed the deck plan.
And so what is it about the Black Magic boats, first Black Magic 2, which sailed in the early trials, and finally Black Magic 1, the boat optimized for the later trials, that is so fast? It is the sum of its parts, not the parts individually, that makes New Zealand's entry so formidable.
"It is not a breakthrough boat," Peterson said. "It is a highly refined version of earlier designs. It has no gimmicks. Our crew said it didn't particularly want anything radical. They felt they could win on their own as long as they had a boat that was as fast as everyone else's."
posted by VICKY @ 11:12 AM,
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