THE BOAT
Hugo Boss II is a Volvo 60. Built in 2001 by Green Marine in Lymington she came second in the Volvo Ocean Race of 2001/2. As Bruce Farr design she was built for one purpose, to be sailed by a crew of 12 through the toughest oceans as quickly as possible. Being built almost entirely of Kevlar, with a carbon mast and boom she is very lightweight and extremely competitive. Needing to accommodate 12 crew members and all their gear, she is designed very differently from Alex’s open 60. She has a very spacious and open cockpit and lots of space down below taken up mainly by 12 bunks and an awful lot of very large sails! The crew will be sailing Hugo Boss II over 15,000 miles this year, with the longest leg being from Hawaii to Shanghai. Whilst on board the crew will be eating together living together with nowhere to escape to, even the loo is just surrounded by a modest shower curtain!
Accolades
Hugo Boss II is a world class ocean racer in her own right, having accumulated some impressive results since her launch in 2001. She won 4 of the 10 legs in the Volvo Ocean Race under the leadership of successful British Sailor Neal Mcdonald. After that she continued to do well, taking part in several European Regattas. She was bought by Ericsson in 2004 and was a support vessel to their Volvo 70 campaign in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005. Now with her new guise as Hugo Boss II we very much hope that we can continue to add to her list of achievements.
Specification
Length Overall (LOA) - 19.4 m / 64 ft |
LWL - 17.3 m / 57 ft |
Max. Beam - 5.25 m / 17.2 ft |
Displacement - 13,500 kg / 29,750 lbs |
Max. Draft - 3.9 m / 13 ft |
Upwind Sail Area - 200 m² / 2,150 ft² |
Downwind Sail Area - 417 m² / 4,490 ft² |
Water Ballast - 5,000 litres / 1,320 gal |
Key Positions
With a crew of 12 sailing onboard a Volvo 60 it is very different from sailing a single-handed open 60. Generally the crew is split into 2 watches, an off watch and an on watch; these watches do not include the skipper and the navigator. One person would be steering, one person on the mainsheet and another trimming the headsail or spinnaker. The remaining 2 on deck would assist in trimming, run the pit or be on the bow for sail changes. During this time, the off watch will be sleeping, eating and carrying out general maintenance and domestic duties! The skipper and navigator will spend their time, planning the route and strategy and will be involved in all the manoeuvres on deck. This will be the set-up for the offshore races in 2007. Imagine how Alex copes on his own!