Pantanal 25 Dark Ice first trial

See Dark Ice first sail film. The wind speed is approximatelly five knots.

Last Easter Friday was a happy day for the Pantanal 25 class. Dark Ice, the Pantanal 25 we showed pictures of her being transported by trailer in an earlier report, went for her first trial last Easter in Santos, the important Brazilian port and the most developed nautical centre in this country.

There are many boats of this class under construction in a dozen different countries, and at least another one is already sailing. However it was Dark Ice the first one to send us a thorough report and a complete set of photos of her first tacks on the water. We received by e-mail a beautiful photo of another Pantanal 25 built in Turkey by an amateur, and many others are not far from completion, but this was the first actual chance to know how does the Pantanal 25 behave.

Dark Ice was built in Campinas, a city two hundred km away from the sea, by Jorge Intaschi, an amateur who saw in the Pantanal 25 design the perfect boat for his requirements. Jorge, a computer analyst, is a dealer in the car sales business. As it is so often the case nowadays, he has a very limited spare time for his preferred hobby, the sport of competitive sailing. Living so far from the sea and with such a demanding business, he needed a boat that could be stored at his home garage during the long stretches when he couldn’t afford having a holyday, and, on the other hand, when going to the sea, he wished a boat comfortable enough for his family to spend the weekend aboard, preferably with the amenities required for a pleasant stay, like enclosed heads, private cabin and a handy galley. When he discovered the Pantanal 25, he knew straightaway that this was exactly the boat for him.

He was one of the firsts to acquire the plans, which had been published just a few weeks before. He was so enthusiastic about the Pantanal 25 potential that he decided to begin a boat-building business to produce this model in series. He opened a company in partnership with his brother Wagner, and a few weeks later he was already starting the construction of the plugs required for the fabrication of the production moulds.

Even though the two brothers were experienced entrepreneurs, this field of activity was a total novelty for them. Despite their lack of technical knowledge, they decided to produce first class tooling and top quality infusion lamination. In January 2007, they installed their workshop, and the first decision they made was to acquire a boot at the Sao Paulo Boat Show, scheduled for October 2007.

You can imagine they had to work like bats out of hell not to loose the show, and for very bad luck, or perhaps because of the hurry, Jorge fell from the plug’s deck, rupturing all ligaments of one of his knees. He went to the boat show in a wheel-chair since he didn’t accept to be operated on before the event was finished. He had no reasons to blame that detached decision, since his boat was one of stars of the event and he managed to accomplish fifteen firm orders along the duration of the show, with a permanent queue of hundreds of persons waiting to climb aboard. Now he is recovering from the surgery, and the great day has come for the sea trials of Dark Ice, the very boat produced for the boat show.

Assuming they hadn’t enough experience to run the whole enterprise without a skilled assistance, they hired Eduardo Arena, a highly prized technician in the yacht building industry and a renowned model stylist in the confection of plugs. His participation was a real blessing, since he is also a keen racing sailor, and above all, he is a great supporter of the model.

That Friday wasn’t very inviting. The sky was cast with heavy clouds and the wind was light and variable. A cold front was expected the next day, so an improvement in the weather pattern was out of the question.

With his knee still requiring attention, Jorge Intaschi decided to watch and take the first pictures of his new toy crossing her first waves from the comfort of a speed boat’s fly-bridge. Eduardo Arena was going to be the test driver, assisted by a rigger and a professional sailor.

The crew couldn’t be more qualified for the occasion, and undoubtedly all those involved with the enterprise were visibly excited with what was going to happen in the next few hours. In the rush of preparation all halyard and sheet tails were yet to be trimmed to their proper lengths, while the brand new sails were for the first time out of their bags.

The launching down the slipway was uneventful, and in an instant Dark Ice was under tow. At that moment many of the myriad of doubts that populate the hearts of all boat builders were dissipated. The boat floated correctly on Pantanal 25 waterline with a perfect trim, in spite of the three stocky crewmembers staying on the cockpit.

When the motor yacht surpassed Dark Ice’s hull speed, Eduardo felt the rudder too heavy to steer, giving him the impression that it required balancing. This, as soon as the boat started to sail, was proved to be unnecessary, and in the circumstances of being under tow, all that would be required was to lift the blade a bit, which in the case of the Pantanal 25, has infinite adjustment.

Jorge, despite a slight increase in heartbeats, was seeing for the first time his creation sailing close-hauled. And how nicely she performed; in five knots of wind the boat was sailing at practically the same speed. The initial stability was excellent and the boat seemed to be crossing the small seas effortlessly, leaving behind a very clean wake.

Demonstrating very good pointing ability, the boat came about showing impressive acceleration in the new tack. Jorge exulted from the fly-bridge, blaming his damned knee for not being able to be at the tiller at that moment.

The wind increased in strength to about twelve knots, and then the boat, which up to then was quite stiff, quickly lost some stability, heeling to a bit more than 15°. Being a narrow boat with her beam on the water line almost the same as her maximum beam, this was foreknowable, but the good news was that she was perfectly balanced, accelerating without the rudder loosing its grip.

The return trip was useful in testing the boat in a broad reach. The wind was light and the asymmetrical spinnaker wasn’t capable of showing all its potential, but that was just the first trial, and many others will follow soon. The photos Jorge took from the motor boat are not spectacular, since the sky was overcast and the atmosphere misty. But that was only Dark Ice baptisms and we still are expecting a lot of good news about this design.

To know more about our stock plans for amateur construction visit our site: www.yachtdesign.com.br
Roberto Barros
Rio de Janeiro, April 2008