For the love of small, fast boats - the Cape 26
by John Curnow, Sail-World.com AUS Editor 6 Apr 22:00 UTC
Cape 26 Bow © Mills Design
The proverbial chicken, an egg, and boats. Not entirely sure I had ever pondered that until after my recent conversation with Davey James and Mark Mills. The genesis for the discussion was the reveal of the new Cape 26 OD, but you see the questions go back to the venerated Cape 31. Was the designer the nexus, did the original short run of builds start it off, or was it the 'accidental boat builder' who is really a cabinet maker ignite it? So many questions...
How about we just say the Cape 31 is a barnstorming success that races well under any measure, is a bucket load of fun, and is now a proper OD class in and of itself. Yes. There we go. 65 boats in, and counting, as more leave the factory each day, and it has all happened in just under four short years. Yep. The first boat delivered in the UK was in early 2021, and then including the original 15 it makes for 80 boats all up!
An investigation into the Cape 26 has to include the bigger sister Cape 31, as it not only owes its existence to it, the Cape 26 has also harnessed the learnings. Talking about the newer one has to involve the larger one, much like talking to the designer involves chatting with the builder. They are intertwined. Perhaps not double helix level, but more than three strand nylon rope, and something akin to braided Spectra® cordage. What follows is thus.
Davey James from Cape Performance Sailing would be that 'accidental boat builder'. Along with co-owner Stephen du Toit, James describes how they and celebrated designer, Mark Mills, along with Dave Swete who markets the Cape 31, have come to form a 'really nice team' over the course of the journey.
"The 15 original vessels were built by Uwe Jaspersen, who regrettably passed away during Covid. I was skippering one of these for Ellian Perch, who passed away in November of 2023. Apart from being a former partner in Cape Performance Sailing, he had also been very involved with Robertson and Caine (Leopard cats) for many years and sort of got them to where they are. Brilliant businessman."
"It was Ellian who knew the Cape 31 was a fantastic boat, and that passion drove him to believe it would take off in Hong Kong. So, we sent the boat there and did a weekend's racing. Uwe passed away after that, and I said to Ellian somewhat on the side, 'Why don't you take this on? You've got the experience in the industry.' Ellian replied, 'Fine, but who would you get to build the boats?"
"Stephen was the immediate choice, as he is very meticulous, and built many 420s and 29ers. We never thought we were going to be doing anything on this scale. We thought we were going to build four or five boats for Hong Kong, and that's it."
James added, "I was a kitchen cabinet maker at the time when Ellian said, 'OK. Let's do this, but all three of us are equal partners, and I had to run it.' So here we are..."
"Next thing you know the orders came in from the UK, and we were at full capacity. We had to turn the Cape 31 into a proper production line. 18 months ago we were building two and a half boats a month, as the Cape 31 is an intricate build, given it is a bit like a mini TP52. There are dozens of little mouldings and little details that you just don't see on any other 31-footer. For example, the chain plates are carbon fibre, made completely separately, and then bonded in. The tow rails are all individual components, and I think it is eight mouldings in total to complete them. We had a lot of things to overcome as we scaled up production, and in that process, we got very close to Mark (Mills)."
"It is true we also butted heads, as he said we should do things one way, and we wanted to do it another, but somehow we always found a method that meant both parties were happy. At any rate, it was at this stage, nearly two years ago, that we all started talking about a 26 or 27-footer."
"This was how the Cape 26 came to be, as you see it now. At the time I was on my way to METS, and I met Mark in London, who showed me a line drawing. We fell in love with it straight away. It was exactly what we were after, as it was much simpler than the Cape 31."
The specifics
In short, what they wanted was a true production line boat. One set of tooling delivering a boat a week. If demand goes up from where it is now, then they can do another hull mould and ramp it up from there. Cape Town needs a bay sailer that can take the chop. Many another locale or lake needs that too. Hence it is a bit bigger than a Melges 24 or J/70, and has more power.
Have to say, with 400kg in the bulb alone (subject to fine tuning during development), two metres down no less, and a 1500kg sailing weight (1050kg displacement), me thinks it will be well stiff, as well. It is E-Glass, and will be a bit more comfortable to sail in all conditions. I said to Mark Mills, 'It's going to be 80% of the performance of the Cape 31 for probably 50% of the price.' To which he replied, 'There's our marketing tagline right there. I'll get that onto the brochure.' So, I mention that now as to remind everyone that it is simpler, not that much slower, and created with 'fun' as the sole expectation of the reward to be had.
This sportsboat is a trailersailer on a mission with a 2.55m beam (the maximum road towable allowed in key markets), lifting keel and rudder (all carbon fins), family friendly, and yet able to light it up under the 80.2m2 bag running away. The venerable wolf in sheep's clothing. Think Mark I Golf GTI 16v, I reckon. Sailed four-up on the 7.8m LOA (7.65m LWL) vessel, your crew can be all adult, or combination of age groups and skill sets. There is no foredeck work per se, and the 2m bowsprit folds up to the forestay to make docking easy.
Historically, a lot of small sportboats crawled uphill, then lit the wick for the trip off the breeze. The 26-foot mark was used to offer an ability to ride better in a seaway, and the 26.1m2 mainsail and 16.6m2 jib deliver 6.5 knots uphill, which not all that long ago was something a good 40-footer would be proud to display on the screen.
A big of being simpler was having the Cape 26 operate without the need for a foredeckie. James commented, "This is the most important person of the seven crew on the Cape 31. If they get job right, you have an absolutely cracking day's sailing. If they get it wrong, it's an absolute disaster. This is why we went with the spinnaker retrieval system and chute, 505 style. It runs below deck and is sealed from the interior completely, and nobody needs to go on the foredeck."
Inward hiking with foot chocks means it is not an 18-footer without the traps, nor is it as aggressive as say an 89er, but being able to punch in the 20-knot bracket gives a genuine level of swagger. Small boat with a big heart. You'll be wet, but you won't care. Nice.
Cutting one off from the herd?
As interest in the Cape 31 built from the UK to encompass Europe, the USA and Australia, you have to wonder if the Cape 26 might pilfer a bit of traffic. "We might have considered that originally, but in fact, the launch of the Cape 26 has bolstered interest in the Cape 31. We had aimed for enough separation, but not a departure from the mould, as such, and deliver an entry point that could then allow people to upgrade, if they so wish. We've got a lot of people that want a 31, but it's just out of their budget, and the annual costs are noticeable."
James added, "The Cape 26 is all about capping that from the get-go. There'll be no trips to the 'speed shops', either. There will be no second builder, as we will scale to suit. We are all about ensuring delivery within a narrow band, which with the Cape 31 is just 15.5kg from the first boat to the last one out the door (1775 to 1810kg target mass overall BTW, and at an average of 1780 it is a mere 0.87% variance)."
The Cape 26 hull will be a female mould in two halves in epoxy from a hand lay-up of outer skin, core, and then inner skin. The deck is structural, in that the keel casing supports the deck-stepped carbon stick. The simplicity of the vessel to sail is matched by the build, in that the two halves are joined, then the keel box lattice goes in, as too the longitudinals, and the lot is bonded together. Overall, the chines, 45s on the deck joins, and long prodder are all about keeping the family resemblance.
The Cape 26 might have a little less horsepower than the 31, but you will be able to extract more easily, and again, a runnerless rig (tube design by Steve Wilson and overall rig management by Pete Shaw) is a huge part of that, and the low crew requirement. No boring and bland is on the menu at Cape Performance Sailing.
James did build a few of his own boats between the ages of 13 and 25, but was always clear about keeping his pastime away from his work, until the Cape 31 happened. Now he is delighted that they have taken it to the world, and others, like the Swan 28 see them as a threat, or some think they could be the next Melges brand. "When we started the business three years ago, four years ago, we would have never dreamt of that."
So what does Mills think of that? "It's a great aspiration, isn't it? They are a very well-organised operation that know how to build boats and run races. The Melges 32 was a real kick in the pants, and certainly needed a crew of a certain level. Nobody'd be unhappy to be compared to them, that's for sure."
"For now, I've just got my head down, drawing boats. Davey and Stephen are building them, and Dave Swete is selling them, so we're in our lane working on making it all happen. Should it come to pass, then we would certainly love that."
James stated, "The Cape 31 is amazing in that races really well, is amazing and fun to sail, and also rates under ORC and IRC, as well as looks good both stationary, and under way. The intention is to have the very same formula deliver with the Cape 26, and we have really zoomed in on that during the design process. Next, we'll be taking the prototype for a sail to sort out the deck gear placings, see if a back strap to lean against will help to get everyone locked in uphill, and streamlining of the final assembly pieces." Mills said of this, "No amount of 3D modelling that is going to get that just right."
The Designer's POV
Of the launch of the Cape 26, Mark Mills simply says, "It's an exciting time." Of the separation between the two craft in the family, Mills adds, "I think that was a very important point to us. The target for the 26 was definitely to keep it down to four crew, make sure that it was easy to trailer, and keep the costs down. I think the Cape 26 has a very different cost profile than the 31 does. These elements are what really help with the separation."
"The Cape 31 is more complex, and the teams certainly treat the circuit more aggressively. The Cape 26 is slanted much more to the family, fun, and friends side of the equation. Even the dimensions were tweaked all the way along to provide clear demarcation. Ultimately, there is nothing right there with us. We're 26 feet, others are 24, and we are definitely all about pace!"
As for the no-foredeckie style of craft, Mills says, "I hear it from owners at every level, all the way up to 100 footers. It's just hard to get crew. Too many people is the bane of many a campaign. We have gone powerful, yet simple, and crucially just four POB. The Cape 26 is really meant to be more of a mainstream, high quality fleet racing sort of boat that can do a little bit of coastal activity, as well. More of an all-rounder for a wider group of people."
"Above and beyond it all we had to match the 31's excitement factor." As for whether we'll see a Cape 36 or Cape 23, Mills said, "The driving factor here is what the market wants. I'm sure they would be interested in looking at building anything that was going to continue the Cape brand with the blend of excitement and cost effectiveness."
"Going too big does not work so well anymore. I grew up in an era when the Farr 40 was the main big boat, one design racer. Nobody's doing one design 40 footers anymore. The macro economy is making boats proportionally much more expensive than they used to be. I think that's part of it, but also the crew requirement. 40-footers are always going to need eight to 10, maybe 12 crew depending on how many it's sized for. All those factors are really pushing people down in size range. In a funny way, the Cape 31 is almost the 40-footer of a previous generation."
"We'd love to be talking to people about a larger Cape someday, but I would say for now that there is less attention at things larger than the 31."
In a way, just as the Cape 26 is the baby sister to the 31, which in turn has sort of become the TP's baby sister... For what it is worth, Mills designed the IC37 for the NCYC, so is well placed to comment on it all. When you think about it, a four-person crew is tighter, and you might only need a rotation of say no more than six to always be out for a yacht, as opposed to a crew requirement of 10, where you'll need at least sixteen bodies on the books to make it all happen. Percentage wise that's huge, to say nothing of the time required to make it so.
"That's a factor on the rise as well. People have just got less time available. Those big all week, three-day weekend long events are not as easy to arrange," added Mills.
The yardstick of success
As for pace, Mills highlights, "VPP has its limitations, with flat water one of them. For instance, a 29er is a quicker boat at the top end than a 49er (as per commentary from Julian Bethwaite). Off the breeze the deal changes dramatically. That's a really good illustration of how the factors that are making boats quick off wind are not to do with length or any of the conventional things we associate with displacement speeds. So, I think there's every reason to think that the Cape 26 is going to be a similarly high performer off wind in a breeze to the 31, and that's why we need to make sure that it stays light." Mills added, "The Cape 26 will be 6.5 knots uphill for sure."
"In my opinion, the Cape 31 has been successful partly because its balance of upwind speed and off wind speed is so good. Other boats are incredibly quick off wind, but that's it. All of the ULDBs I grew up sailing in California when I was young were all about just going fast downhill. That's a bit one-sided and a lot of people find that gets a bit boring. The Cape 31 was able to be a very strong boat upwind and then turn it on downwind. This is one of the big factors the Cape 26 also has to attain."
"This gets really hard, because the additional weight that helps you go upwind well, a bit more on the bulb, for example, is not helping you go downwind. And you end up in a very finely judged sort of balance of not too little sail area, not too much sail area, not too heavy, not too light, not too much in the bulb. You know, it's quite a narrow little gap you're trying to thread the boat through."
By way of example, take a radio-controlled yacht with a bulb about half the size of the yacht. Uphill it works a treat, but down? Well, welcome to the mine...
As part of the simplicity, the Steve Wilson engineered rig has no backstay, with the sweptback spreaders providing the grip, a less complicated gybe process (save that mainsail from tearing...), nobody with their down over runners on a small boat, and a faster rig and de-rig set up time. Interestingly, a Mills penned custom craft, the Cayman 28, shows us a lot of the thinking here.
"You can have a heap of sail area, but if it falls over in 16 knots TWS, then you failed because all those people who want to go sailing in 16 to 26 now don't want them out. It's too much. Again, back to what the 31 does so well, is that it's incredibly happy across the wind range. It's as happy sailing in six to eight as it is in 26 to 28. And we're trying to match that with the 26."
A craft in this space has to be a wonderful balance between ballast, hull weight, rig height, sail area and so forth. You need a slide rule to work out the permutations and combinations. Mills is the first to say that the Cape 31 might not have been exactly right in the first incarnation, "... but with a little bit of fine tuning, however, it got there. Those learnings got applied swiftly to the 26 as it was being developed."
"I really do think the success of the most recent type of designs is not about doing one thing amazingly. It's the fact that it does everything really quite well. Ultimately, and more than ever, racing is short and fast, with bragging rights at the bar a key element. Being able to rate well is fundamental to this. Hopefully the rules view the Cape 26 as favourably as they do the 31."
Making the boat easy enough to build will make it attractive commercially. In a lot of ways, this is harder to engineer than a straight race boat. Even the intricacies have to be made simple, so as to make it time/cost/weight effective, and strong. The finesse is in having things align straight out of the mould, not go for a full remeasure every time. It's almost harder to do a good production boat than it is to do a straight race boat, especially when it is small."
"The use of carbon in certain bits was key to making the Cape 31 work, and I'm sure it's going to be just as key in making the 26 work. There are just times where carbon does things for you that glass can't do, and it's worth whatever cost increase there is to get the benefit of that."
Yes, they are drilling down on the final build specification for the Cape 26 presently, but if you take a holistic view of the Cape 31, the use of carbon in the fin meant that 75 kilos could remain in the bulb. That's definitely not wasted, and there is nowhere else on the boat you could get that 75kg back to meet your overall target mass.
The reason I was into this the moment I saw it was that it is possibly one of the most exciting things to come around in a very long time. It could have some double-handed use, little coastal jaunts, and then wonderful times at club level too, apart from OD regattas. More squirt arrives, and you get more fun. Mills is clear that he does not believe there is much appeal for yet another high-end circuit.
If it goes to plan the test mule will be out sailing in Cape Town at the end of the year. Another six months or so.
Please enjoy your yachting, stay safe, and thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com
John Curnow
Sail-World.com AUS Editor