The new IBSA Mach 5 is being built these weeks at the JPS Production sites in La Trinité-sur-mer. The decision to rely on JPS was born out of the yard’s long experience in building hulls for the Class40.
Even if the entire design process is still top secret, and we cannot reveal the details of the new boat, we asked Alberto Bona to accompany us to the discovery of the construction phases of a boat designed for ocean racing. Going by stages, we will learn that getting to know the construction and manufacturing methods and processes is far from a trivial aspect.
“It’s important to know every single detail of your boat, and for this reason many skippers acquire over time a fair knowledge on the construction and the design of racing boats. Alone at sea, during solo regattas, you have to repair any mechanical failure without assistance, on your own. So you have to be familiar with resins and the other materials; my experience began from the very first steps of my career, when at age 20 I built a small keel boat by myself, in my garage, and with it I crossed the Tyrrhenian Sea. Today, the good knowledge of the construction processes I now possess allows me to closely follow this important preliminary phase of preparation for the open sea. The building of a boat is a process that relies both on well-established and traditional methodologies and on cutting-edge solutions, based on the use of next-generation materials. A mix that abides by old classic rules, while always following the innovation of materials and building techniques. A very important issue is the right sizing of the structural parts; however, there are many design and manufacturing secrets that, for obvious reasons, cannot be revealed!”
