PLANE FAST

POGO'S RC PROMISES A PLANING DESIGN WITH A COMPETITIVE RATING. CAN THIS NEW 33-FOOTER LIVE UP TO THE HYPE FOR OFFSHORE RACING?

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Having raced tens of thousands of miles on 33-36ft yachts optimised for IRC racing, I’ve long been frustrated by the perception that only relatively heavy designs can be competitive offshore. As a result, we've been sailing boats that, though capable of surfing fast in certain conditions, are nowhere near as exciting as they could be.

Historically, the trade off has been that planing boats of this size are slow in light airs and rarely sail upwind at speeds that match their rating.

However, two years ago Didier Gaudoux’s 35ft one-off Sam Manuard/Bernard Nivelt-designed Lann Ael 3 convincingly won both races, totalling 500 miles, of the IRC double-handed European championships. In doing so he proved it’s possible to design a lighter planing boat that can sail to its rating across a wide range of conditions.

Two French yards, Pogo Structures and JPK, have since developed versions of this concept into a production offering. It’s a major change of course for Breton yard Pogo, which until now has focused on Mini 650s and Class 40s, or its very fast cruising yachts that pay zero regard to any design considerations to optimise them for a rating system.

These are the first production-built competitive planing boats of a size that’s very popular with double-handed and solo sailors, yet also suitable for racing fully crewed.

I was able to test the Pogo RC in perfect marginal planing conditions, a couple of weeks before its first race. So, how does it perform, and what are the chances of it being able to sail to the Pogo ‘works’ boat's relatively high rating of 1.064?

HEELED

We set off upwind in 13-16 knots of true wind. With full mainsail and J2 headsail the helm was finger-light and very responsive, with exactly the feel you'd expect of a light displacement boat. Yet it was easy to coax over the small but steep waves in the Anse de Benodet.