Away with the mainsail! The DolceVela concept is what vacationing boaters demand (and already do)

We could provocatively call it as “Mainsail Trial” the DolceVela concept, that is, the mainsailless boat of which the first model, DolceVela 48, is already sailing (the two smaller versions, DolceVela 34 and 42, are also available). But in reality, the idea of making a mainsailless boat came from a careful observation of the habits of boaters. We were told about it by the three minds behind the birth of the DolceVela concept, namely the well-known “out of the box” designer Alessandro Vismara, Alessandro Degl’Innocenti and Otto Villani.

We used the word “concept” twice not by chance, DolceVela is in fact not only the 48-footer that was recently launched, produced by AV Yachting, but it is an idea that can be applied to a new boat as well as an old one.

DolceVela is what boaters are asking for.

“I have been making technology boats all my life, and Dr. Bruni, for whom the DolceVela 48 was designed, is an owner with whom we have a long history of innovation,” Alessandro Vismara began.

“In recent years I used to sail in Greece in the summer with a beautiful Baltic 60; Dr. Bruni had a Vismara 50. In Greece I would sail and never see anyone with the mainsail hoisted but often only the jib. Alessandro degl’Innocenti in Tuscan waters noticed the same thing. And Dr. Bruni often sailed only with the jib for reasons of convenience of family sailing.

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Those who go on a sailing vacation, most of the time want to be comfortable, sailing yes but without fatigue or the stress of the very lurching boat. One day then, all three of us went on vacation, to reasoning about this small revolution. The basic idea was that however the boat we were going to conceive could not disregard performance, because that is what Vismara has always been looking for. Ernesto Tross was a forerunner, but he did not have the tools we have today. Me, Degl’Innocenti and Otto Villani simulated the performance of a jib and mainsail boat, jib only and triple head.

DolceVela’s performances

It was difficult to be able to calculate the potential loss of performance at tight gaits, in the end we managed to create a sail plan that can be employed in fact in any boat, for example we are doing it on a Grand Soleil 343, and a Comet 50 race. Dolcevela is therefore no longer just one boat, but is also applicable to the rest that have been produced,” judges Vismara. Who adds, “From upwind Up to 120 degrees we are convinced that this concept performs better than a classic fast cruiser, plus it guarantees less heeling.

The code zero sail plan, Genoa and stay sail, or big Genoa and stay, is more efficient than one with a small jib and big mainsail as in modern production boats. Clearly, a high-performance, modern, carbon boat with a classic sail plan performs better, but the comparison is with the large series production and classic sail plan of modern cruisers that has a very small jib and generous mainsail.

The only place where DolceVela is about 10 percent lower than other cruisers is in the very deep stern. But here we return to the original point, to how boaters sail on vacation. If it is very windy they prefer to stay comfortable in the harbor or in a sheltered bay. In a full stern they almost never sail there, they prefer to windward and sideways in medium breeze conditions say from 7-8 knots and up but within 20 knots, conditions in which the DolceVela concept is highly effective, as well as much more comfortable than boats with a classic sail plan ” Vismara concludes.

The smooth sailing

He is echoed by Alessandro Degl’Innocenti, Vismara’s longtime owner and seller of the brand: “It is thought that a boat without a mainsail cannot sail and windward. Once several years ago there was a Naval Academy regatta in Livorno, I did it that time with some disabled guys, there was also a guy in a wheelchair. There were 14-15 knots of wind, boat heeled, it was a bit uncomfortable and dangerous situation for them. We then decided to go jib-only, and I realized that I was tightening upwind almost as much as the other boats. In short, I realized that this could work if a design specifically designed for a jib-only sail plan was thought out.

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And on top of that I throw in the fact that in cruising there are those who are not happy when sailing with a heeled boat, for example, my wife, and I also happen to sail only jibs on vacation, and many do the same thing, but without having well-designed boats to sail like that.

The mainsail then to hoist and lower is a bit tedious, let’s face it. With DolceVela you just unfurl jib and foresail (156 sq. m. of sail our 48 like a boat with a classic sail plan) and you walk like a normal boat. One must also think of the over-60 audience, who may find such a sail plan extremely comfortable. You lose 3-4 degrees upwind, but for a boat designed for cruising, I don’t see this as a drama. The mast much further aft allows for generously sized jibs, and over all makes the deckhouse free and fully usable.” summarizes Degl’Innocenti.

“Dolcevitize” a classic sail plan boat.

Otto Villani, on the other hand, oversaw the technical and executive part of the project, dealing with naval architecture and the interaction between hull and sail plan.

“I took care of the design part of the boat, the naval architecture in particular, and now we are working on other projects that came up after this first experience, we are “Dolcevelizzing” other boats. We are working on both new boats and modifications on already sailing boats that will be revised in the “Dolce Vela” sense Otto tells us.

“The headsails can be 2 or 3, and we have worked with the Valeria Millennium to try to have efficient sails for cruise use as well. We studied weight optimization during construction, to try to get a boat that sails even better than other standard cruising boats at least up to the 130-degree angle to the wind.

The channels and flows of the three headsails we studied by fluid dynamics methods. The apparent wind is expanded through the interaction of these three sails. At the level of appendages, center of thrust and hydro dynamics, the boat below is very similar to a classic cruising boat with mainsail and jib.”

And as we said, the DolceVela concept can also be applied to existing boats, such as the Comet 50 and the Grand Soleil 343 they are working on.

The changes to be made

“We are working on a Comet 50 and a Grand Soleil 343, we did a general study on the two boats and after the modifications they will heel even less. For the sail plan modification, the mast base is moved back and structural reinforcements are also being done transversely here to accommodate the new mainsails. The rudder in some cases, but it has not happened to us yet, needs to be tweaked to correct the submerged center of thrust, and thus have a boat that is balanced to the wheel and not leaning. This is a modification that in theory is not always necessary, depending on the type of boat. The new sail plan is about the same square meters as the old one, just distributed differently.”