CS Interview: Andrew MacPherson

Photo: Team BoskalisAndrew Macpherson, aka ‘Macca’, is one of the most visible characters on the beachcat racing scene.
I once defined him here as someone who can “Walk his Talk” in reference to his publics opinions and tips on tuning and other subjects to anyone asking or willing to listen at SA or Catsailor forums, and meanwhile racing at top level (he was 9th and 10th at 08 and 09 F18 Worlds)
Beyond some controversy for his vocal positions, I think Macca is a key character for promoting catsailing, one of the privileged sailors that have raced on the VX40 , the M20, almost every F18 and now the latest Nacra racing machine, the F20 Carbon, beyond having a Tornado background among other beachcats.
So for sure it’s interesting to hear what Andrew has to say, wether you agree with him or not. So grab your coffee and read on…

——CatSsailingNews – Why and When did you start sailing beachcats?
Andrew – I started sailing beach cats when I was about 12, I grew up on a farm about 6 hours drive from the coast so we sailed on lakes and dams. I had a Hobie 14 as my first cat and then a Hobie 16 for a few years. I went with the cats because I was always getting passed on my little 11ft mono!

CS – Being a Pro sailor was a decision you’ve made or something that came along?
Andrew: I used to work in IT as a consultant to the bigger banks in Australia and Asia, it was a good business and very challenging but I was always trying to fit in my sailing as well and eventually I had to make a choice, initially I was doing a lot of yacht racing and that’s where I was focussed for a while but I always jumped at any chance to get back on the beach cats.

CS – When did you start racing with the Nacra Team? 

Andrew: In early 2007 I had some discussions with Gunnar Larsen from Nacra Europe ( we used to sail against each other in the Tornado class) I wanted to do the Archipelago Raid that year and we formulated a deal where I would spend some time at the office in Europe and sail the Raid as well as some other events. Prior to my time at Nacra I did a lot of Tornado sailing as a training partner for John Forbes and Darren Bundock in the lead up to the 2000 games and as mentioned before I did a lot of yacht stuff with Farr 40’s and Sydney 38’s as well as TP and other IRC stuff. Photo Thierry MartinezFormula 18

CS – Since its launch and with Coen ruling 08 and 09 Worlds, The Infusion was up to now the ‘defacto’ F18 of choice as an overall performer in any condition, overtaking Hobie Tiger’s reign, it also forced Hobie, AHPC and others to update their designs, and right now it is the most proved and trusted F18 on the market.
CS – This situation could end as is, with a change of guard at the top level? (If Nacra can´t retain the WC at Erquy)
Andrew: To be honest its not really correct to judge a boat by the performances of the top teams, I would say that the guys in the top 10 at the worlds could achieve the same result on any of the current boats.
For example: Bundy was 3rd at Eurocat in 2009 on a Wildcat and this year he was 2nd on a C2, does that mean the C2 is quicker? Nope… it means he had a better regatta (by one point) this year.
A better measure for a boats performance is to look at what the club sailors are doing, The Nacra is a very easy boat to get on a go fast with, its forgiving in the upper wind ranges and still fast in the light. It carries a wide range of weight very well and really has no bad habits, these things are the key drivers to a boats allround performance.
I have sailed the Wildcat and won on it, I have also sailed the Capricorn.

I like them both and for sure they are fast, but the Nacra to me is the easiest to keep in the groove.
Market share in F18 is a bit like cars, some people will always buy a ford and some are GM customers for life, then you have those that buy a Saab, all are valid choices but the justification is sometimes hard to argue and if you look at the current offerings from the three larger builders you could say that the performance delta is very small so then it comes down to other factors in your decision as to which boat to buy, such as service, support spare parts costs and which colour sticker you like! Photo: Sailshoot.com

CS – In Argentina sometimes I’ve been asked if Nacra will launch a new F18 design, and I always tell them that ‘No way’, there´s no need to update that Pete Melvin’s hull design, it will last for years, as the Tiger did, but I´ve read/heard that the Infusion is going through some fine tuning on foils and rig, can you confirm that?
Andrew: We are always looking at how to make the boat faster, but we also know that to make changes all the time alienates our customers, nobody wants to buy a boat that’s outdated in a few months.
So we are very careful about changes to the boat. One thing we are really proud of is that the hulls, foils, mast beams etc have not changed one bit since the launch of the infusion in 2006.
You can swap any of those parts with a new boat and there is no difference.
Sails were exactly the same until 2009 and they are the same this year again so the changes are very small.
Foil updates are being looked at and we will test thoroughly before making any decisions about production changes.
The Team are always trying new things and little tweaks to make a better package and that’s the best part about having such a resource, we can make better boats for our customers.VX40s

CS – Along with JC, You are like the travelling man of the flleet, as you live in Australia, compete F18 in Europe and you also race the VX40
– How its riding the VX40 coming from fast beach cats?
Andrew: The X40 is a lot of fun, and a lot of work! The logistics of running a 40ft beach cat are well beyond what most people outside the circuit can grasp. Rigging the boat takes 1 day… you need a crane you need a support RIB etc.
So when you take all that into account it’s a big operation just to go sailing (that said, we do sometimes have a boat parked in a marina for afternoon sailing and its super easy to jump on and go for a blast).
The X40 is pretty docile to sail in most conditions, the width means its slow to react compared to a beach cat and you have plenty of time to sort out problems before they get too bad (most of the time!) there is only one area where we have issues on the X40: Bear aways… the hull design and platform layout are not the best for windy bear aways and you very quickly lose the rudder grip and that’s when the trouble starts. The funny thing is that these design short fallings are what makes the boat so spectacular!

F20 Carbon
CS- Nacra F20 Carbon: I’ve published your report on flying her. Being a production boat , is possible to have a stablished fleet?
Andrew: For sure we will have a one design fleet, if containers arrive in time there will be 10 boats sailing at the North Sea regatta in Holland at the end of May, and by Texel there could be 15-20 depending again on shipping schedules. The level of interest and pre orders in this boat has been amazing. I was really sceptical about the commercial viability of such a boat until the costs came in and it really looks like great value compared to an F18.

CS – In Carnac the F20 won the raid on time, who raced it?
Andrew: Peter Vink and Sven De Laaf sailed the boat, it was a last minute thing and neither of the guys have spent much time on the boat before the race so it was great to see them getting it going. They won over the line by about 14 mins so it was quite a big gap back to the first F18’s and both the guys said after the race that they were still working out the tricks all the way round the track.M20s

M20 at Texel round with Herbert Dercksen

CS – You also race on M20s, are (with the F20) boats to compare in performance?
Are you crewing the F20 at the Texel Round?Andrew: The M20 is really a different boat to the Nacra, the costs to build a M20 like the Nacra (jib, curved foils) are more than 40k EURO!!
And now the top M20’s are sporting 3.55m wide beams with no dolphin striker!
In performace the M20 should be faster but in reality its not a huge amount and certainly not 15k Euro quicker! I love sailing the M20, it’s a fantastic boat and a technical wonder, but its jus not a realistic option for 95% of people. I will be in Sweden next week sorting out a Red M20.. and it will be a special machine once we finish but I’d hate to think what the total bill would be if you ordered one! This year I will sailing a F18 for Boskalis at Texel, I would really love to sail a F20 but we have such a long waitlist for boats that its not possible to steal one yet…F16

CS – Lots of discussions going on (Catsailor at least ) about the min weight of F16 class, where you and Darren are pushing for more min weight, but the Viper is winning everything they´ve entered, of course having Robbie Daniels in USA and now Carolijn at Europe is key component for these wins.
CS-But what may happen if say, Nacra builds an F16 on the weight of the Viper? and have you or Coen riding it at F16 Worlds ?
Andrew: The Viper is simply a better developed product than the rest of the offerings, so it enjoys that advantage right now. If Nacra built a boat to the same weight as a Viper you could expect it to be equally developed and perform as well.
The concerning part of the F16 rule as it currently stands is that someone could build and develop a boat that utilises all the freedom in the rules and then they will make all the current boats obsolete and at the same time the costs will double….
Not a good recipe for a successful class.

CS- All Pros are almost 100% behind big or about to be companies like Hobie, Nacra or AHPC, so these 3 must get together and build a 120kg F16 and end of the story, amateurs have their weight and Pros win every major regatta with their 120kg boat …
Andrew: It’s a possibility that the big guys will agree on a formula for a 16ft boat, it would be a great shame for the smaller builders if they missed out on being involved but the current attitude being displayed by those builders is not feasible for the future.F18 Future

Photo: Pierrick Contin- 2009 Worlds Macca and Herbert Dercksen
Where´s the class going in 10 years from now? do you see some rules changed like , again, min weight? Boats are getting too expensive right now already, I remember when you could get a Tiger for 14usd retail. Beyond Euro exchannge Nacras are 19,000usd at home. Wildcats 19-20.000Euros at Fr


Andrew: I remember when you could buy a bottle of coke for 80cents… things just seem to get more expensive… The boats prices have been pretty stable from Nacra for a few years now and I think they will remain so for a while. But things increase in cost and we need to keep the lights on and the tax man away!
There are many factors in cost, a boat is a sizeable investment and customers want to know that they have support for their product. We have dealers all over the world and can supply parts very quickly, these are all part of someone’s decision process in buying a boat.

The class seems pretty stable right now, steady growth and a rule that ensures the value of older boats, that’s why I don’t think we will see any big changes over the next 10 years, to drop the minimum weight would destroy the class and any other major changes would have the same effect. The racing is fantastic so why change it?

Olympics 2016
CS: Tornado or an F18 design?
Andrews: I love the Tornado, Bastiaan and I sailed the 2009 worlds in Italy and after 4 years away from the Tornado I was reminded again how good that boat really is.ISAF should be punching themselves in the head every morning over that colossal screwup!!
The Tornado would be great to have back in the Games, but after sailing the F20 I think it’s the next step for multihull sailing at the Olympics, I would say this even if I had no affiliation to Nacra.
There is another dimension added to the sailing with the curved foils, the teams that work the hardest will win on that boat and its something the games needs: a high tech boat that is accessible to everyone.
You can order a F20 and it comes in boxes, you bolt it together and go sailing the same day, we even have pre tapered sheets and halyards cut to the right length so its really a viable option compared to the Tornado which took at least a week of work by two experienced guys to get it ready to race.

CS: Personal goals For 2010?
Andrew: I am again with the Boskalis team after sailing for Zwisterleven with Herbie Derckson in 2009, one of the great aspects of the Boskalis program is that youngsters get a chance to sail at the top level with an experienced skipper.

This year I have Olivier Witteveen as my crew, Olivier was a top Optimist sailor in his youth and to see the progression in the early part of the season is very rewarding and I think we will be right on top of things as the season develops.
More programs like the Boskalis program are needed in our sport if we want it to grow. Sometimes the measure of success is not just in results in the short term but in building something for the future.
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Ends.

“Macca Sailing” aus300.blogspot.com
Macca’s Twitter twitter.com/Boskalis_3
www.NacraSailing.com
www.teamboskalis.com