2000. Virtuelle: when the boat is a design object

Welcome to the special section “GdV 5th Years.” We are introducing you, day by day, An article from the archives of the Journal of Sailing, starting in 1975. A word of advice, get in the habit of starting your day with the most exciting sailing stories-it will be like being on a boat even if you are ashore.

Virtuelle Reality

Taken from the 2000 Journal of Sailing, Year 26, No. 05, June, pp. 90-95.

Take one of the greatest naval designers, Andrea Vallicelli, add the most famous designer of the time, Philippe Starck, and you have an amazing “object.” The Sailing Newspaper presents Virtuelle, the boat that anticipated future trends in sailing. Starting with that strange porthole on the sides. Brilliant!

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Aboard the new 80-foot fast cruiser signed by Andrea Vallicelli and Philippe Starck. A concentrate of high technology and innovative design, capable of exciting performance.

Sitting comfortably in the dinette, you can watch the water flow at 10 knots along the broadside from a large round porthole that smells like science fiction. It is one of the many wonders of Virtuelle, the new all-carbon twenty-four-footer from the collaboration between Studio Vallicelli and renowned French designer Philippe Starek, who styled the deck and interior. An apparently unconventional “object,” and one that undoubtedly introduces innovative elements in both the use of furnishing materials and architectural solutions. Such as the decision to use resin-coated cotton for the upholstery of the furniture instead of wood, or that of substituting solid teak with laminated wood for the deck, so that bending radii impossible for the usual 10 mm planking could be achieved. But in essence Virtuelle remains a very pure sailboat, with light displacement and design ratios more powerful than a racer: 350 square meters of canvas upwind, rising to 600 aft, for 33 tons of weight.

A boat that takes advantage of the rigidity of its advanced composite construction and the reduced pitching that comes from weight concentration, in pursuit of maximum comfort and enjoyment while sailing. Symmetries, perspectives, different geometries that alternate with rigorous precision above and below deck, the result of Philippe Starck‘s creative flair, thus serve to simply give new forms to functions while respecting their ergonomics and logic of use. That circular cockpit reserved for guests is one example: the variable depth of the seat, narrower at the stern and pious wide toward the bow, allows one to find the most comfortable position in relation to one’s stature, while the high, rounded backrest, connected to the deck with a negative flex, guarantees optimal torso tilt and protection from the wind. There is no free maneuvering on deck, everything runs below deck level, and the mainsail sheet, devoid of the staysail as is now customary on the latest generation of maxi cruisers, is positioned abreast of the areas designated for relaxation. With loads of this magnitude, this is an essential safety factor.

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The uniqueness of the design lies in the double rudder blade solution, taken from the oceanic Open and adopted for the first time on a large cruising boat. As the angle of inclination of the hull increases, the downwind blade increases its efficiency, while the upwind blade loses it. The downwind translation of the drift plane thus follows that of the sail center, aiding balance at the helm and course stability. So much so that in the test we allowed ourselves to let go of the wheel by sailing at 12 knots under gennaker to the beam. Yep, those are the speeds of Virtuelle, to which a breath of wind is enough to build her apparent. And so, with ten knots of air she makes as many knots of pitch. All this with a 110% genoa that passes alone on the other tack, with no steering wheels to adjust and a battery of electric winches concentrated in the stern that can be operated with a button. Of the interior the photos speak, let us only add that the light filtering through the round portholes contributes to the “virtual” atmosphere.

A matter of feeling

“A mutual transfer of experience, very useful for both of us.” This is how Andrea Vallicelli defines the collaboration between the studio he heads and that of Philippe Starck. For the French designer, this was not the first approach to sailing; in fact, in the past he signed two models of the Beneteau shipyard. But with Virtuelle he was able to unleash his creative spirit without the constraints imposed by the large series. “We understood each other immediately on everything, with the utmost respect for each other’s ideas,” Vallicelli continues. Those, however, who had to suffer Starck ‘s exasperated perfectionism were the carpenters. Who, in order to keep the lining joint aligned, from bow to stern, went crazy.

by Livio Fioroni

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