Juan Yacht Design is currently deeply involved in the design of the Imoca Arkea Paprec as well as being part of the creative process for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Arkea Paprec: work in progress
Juan K and his team are currently working shoulder to shoulder with Sébastien Simon, Vincent Riou and their team on the foiler Arkea Paprec. The hull and deck, manufactured in the workshops of the CDK boat yard in Port-la-Forêt, are being finalised, whilst the internal structures are in the build phase. The delicate assembly of these elements is set to begin in February: “You have to be really very precise with this part,” states Juan Kouyoumdjian.
Within this same project, Vincent Riou’s participation in the recent edition of the Route du Rhum has been useful.
“Despite his misfortune”, Juan K continues, “Vincent had the clear-mindedness to test the elements, which are sure to very valuable in the design of Arkea Paprec. His efforts have not been in vain and, prior to his autopilot issues, the boat sailed just as he’d hoped. The whole of the JYD team is very grateful to him.”
New foils, new challenges
The PRB Imoca will soon take on the colours of Arkea Paprec in a bid to further contribute to the development of research for Sébastien Simon’s project, together notably with the design of the foils, an element which particularly appeals to the members of the design office in Valencia.
Indeed, since the IMOCA rule authorised the adjustment of the angle of incidence on lifting surfaces, the naval architects and engineers have gleaned multiple opportunities to really express their talent.
Juan K: “Today, we have additional scope to play with so it is important to be good in every condition… In this way, the foil design matrix unquestionably becomes more complicated! These types of designs are not easy to pull off, but our work is undoubtedly more exciting.
“Since the Imoca rule change, we’ve been able to distinguish three types of boat: At one extreme we have the Archimedean boats, at the other flying boats. The new Imocas are midway between the two. As such they are semi-Archimedean boats, which means that they’re a kind of hybrid of two different hydrodynamic phenomena.
“Their design is a very complicated issue to resolve, much more so that when you study the design of either an Archimedean or a flying boat on its own. On an Imoca, you need to find the right combination of both phenomena… and that’s exactly what appeals to us!”
Volvo 2021
Juan and his team are also actively participating in the creation of the rules for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2021, by bringing their vision to the rule and the course. At the same time, JYD has also launched a R&D brainstorming process with the competing teams.
