Interview with Chris Field during the RYA show

When and where did you learn to sail?

I was 7 years old and my father had a Unicorn A Class. He took me sailing 
on it at Lake Bala Catamaran Club and we did some races together on it. 
About 6 months later he bought a Dart 18 and then a Prindle 18-2 where 
he taught me how to sail, although his teaching was always more about racing rather than just learning to sail!

And when did you first become aware of the A Cat and what attracted you to it?

As I said I got the basics of sailing from the Unicorn so my early memories 
of sailing are always brought back to the A Class. This being said I have 
only sailed the A since 2005 as for a long time I raced with my brother on 
an F18 and Tornado. When my brother and I decided to stop racing together I decided to give the A Cat a chance as I liked how cool they looked!

Now, we can't help noticing that you are not the smallest of sailors. 
How can do you configure the boat to accommodate if you are not 
built like a jockey?

The beauty of the A-Cat is that the rules are so open they allow you to adjust the boat for your weight and sailing style. It is very easy to get a rig to 
suit your weight and all manufacturers of masts and sails offer products aimed at different weight categories.

The A Class has suffered from a reputation for being fragile and expensive. Do you think it is deserved?

The A-Cats are not fragile boats. All A-Cats are now built from carbon 
which is an extremely strong material and I am happy to race my boat in 
any wind strength without fear of breakage. Of course if you have a collision with an F18 the A-Cat will come off much worse. This is not because it 
is fragile, but it is a function of being built to withstand the loads applied to 
it when racing.
Regarding cost they are expensive boats however, carbon fibre is an expensive material. This being said the second hand market is very healthy 
and you can find an A-Cat to suit whatever budget you have. It is the same 
with all things in life, the more you pay the better product you get!


Over the last few years, the British A class scene has witnessed a bit 
of resurgence, what do you think is responsible for this?

When I race overseas I find the A Class a very well attended class with an 
extremely high level of competition. I think use of social media has played a 
key role in making sailors in the UK aware of this and I am sure that Americas Cup teams using the A-Cat for training make people in the UK want to 
be part of the action. The other main reason I hear frequently is that sailors 
do not need to find a crew whenever they want to get out on the water 
especially as the number of good value second hand boats has increased 
making the class much more accessible.

You have been sailing the Saarberg Vision prototype for the last year or so, moving from the DNA. What are the key differences between the two?

The key difference between the two is that the Vision gives you the feeling 
of having lower drag when compared to the DNA. This is down to the hull 
shape, which is more rounded, and the daggerboards. The DNA, has a very 
flat underwater section behind the daggerboard which although makes the 
boat feel like it has more drag, allows to boat to be very stable when sailing. 
To look at, the bow would appear to be a major difference however, in reality both boats pierce the waves equally as well. The benefit of the Visions 
bow is that in lighter winds the bow can be used to gain height upwind if 
pushed further down into the water.

Within the last 12 months we have seen at least half a dozen new A 
cat designs appear. How do you think the Vision fits into this?

When choosing a design to race I would suggest deciding which one best 
suits your sailing style rather than which is fastest. At the top level there is 
very little difference in speed between designs. The Vision is a very good all 
-rounder, very stiff and very strong. I have never broken anything on the 
Vision which for those who know me is an achievement, as I tend to push 
hard!

I know you have yet to sail this boat, it has been wet as a result of 
the rain on the way to the show, but looking at this first production 
version of the Vision, what are the key differences between this and 
the prototype?

If you compare this boat to the one I raced at the Europeans there are a 
few differences. CatamaranParts and I have been working on winged rudders for some time now and I will be using them this season. In addition the 
finish is very smooth and it has a new paint scheme with non-slip incorporated into the paint where needed. The trampoline layout has also been refined to make the boat as easy to 
operate as possible whilst still looking clean and simple.
The other obvious difference between my 2013 boat and last years is the 
sail. Hammer Sails have produced a new sail for me which takes into account 
all we have learnt from past seasons and is made from a new all carbon 
cloth.

And, how much is it?

22500 euro inc VAT

It is recognized that the A class has a two way relationship with the 
Americas Cup boats, AC 45 etc., both in terms of design and the 
sailors, many of them in fact sailing these for fun and training. Do 
you think that there are any current developments that we might be 
seeing on the A class as a result of the latest design thinking? I'm 
thinking mainly of foils.

The sailing world at present seems to be focusing towards foils in general, 
which extends further than the Americas Cup. There are the C Class titles coming up, the foiling 'Phantom' project and of course the A class itself, all of 
which will give more data in this area. Also the Moth and other monohull foiling projects already provide valuable information on foiling performance and 
methods. The issue is the A Class have rules in place to limit ways of implementing foiling however, with all the research being undertaken I am sure 
we will see new technologies in the class, one way or another. Do bear in 
mind Landy had wings on his rudders before the A/Cs and the Moths before 
that!

How would you suggest anyone interested in this class could take it 
further?

Get in touch with the association who can recommend the best boat for you 
and your budget. This is also the best place to find out where and when the 
racing events are. The best way to get going in the class is to start racing.

Thanks to the BACA people for doing this interview. The original interview 
can be found at http://www.aclasscatamaran.co.uk/articles.htm