CAPPELLINI TO ROLL OUT DAC 40

Tuesday, 14 June: Guido Cappellini has carried out extensive modifications to the Tencara that he has run since his full-time return to Class 1 in 2010, and will roll out the ‘DAC 40’ at next month’s BMW Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal (15-17 July).

After returning from Abu Dhabi the team headed straight to the DAC facilities near Milan, rather than returning to their base in Austria, where the work on hull modifications and a new engine set-up is being carried out.

The season-opener was frustrating for Cappellini and throttleman Giampaolo Montavoci who, despite picking up points with two top-six finishes, were unable to reproduce their form of 2010. “The first Grand Prix was really a main test for us to understand the changes in performance of our catamaran following the changes and improvements in the technical rules of Class 1,” said Cappellini. “We understood what to improve and what to change on the boat to reach the performance we are looking for to be competitive.

“Thanks to the sport opting to run torque sensors we discovered that our V8 engines were not so competitive and lacked almost 50hp each, due to the changes that were made to fall in line with the new rules.

“Now with a new engine set-up we are looking to have over 100hp more for the next race in Arendal and we should manage to close the gap between our V8 Mercury race engines and the V12 Lamborghini based engines.”

But the majority of the work has been to the hull which has transformed the overall characteristics of the raceboat. “We have worked a lot on the hull which was more than150kgs overweight. We have shortened the catamaran by 120cm and now it will certainly be lighter and quicker in the turns, which we are sure will pay back on the circuit in Norway.  It’s a completely new catamaran so we are calling it a DAC 40.”

Cappellini believes that with one race under their belts under the new rules and with all teams having had the opportunity to make adjustments, the overall competition in Norway will be more balanced.

The team has confirmed it will carry out a major series of tests at the end of June before they embark on their Norwegian campaign.

Article and pictures courtesy of Class 1