Goodbye fuel. Interview with Bubi Sansó

Bubi Sansó's Acciona is the first ever yacht to use entirely renewable energy sources and no fuel to obtain electricity for use on board. This is an historic project that sets a milestone in the development of offshore sailing yachts and puts the IMOCA Class at the forefront of top level racing yacht design, setting the standards where others will surely follow.

Santi Serrat interviewed the Spaniard, who is from the island of Mallorca at his base in the city of Palma shortly after notching up the qualifying miles with the environmentally friendly yacht.

Acciona 100% Ecopowered is the realisation of project that was many years in the pipeline, but which until now had been impossible to execute: a racing yacht deriving all of it's electricity from 'clean' generators, with no combustion engine involved, as had been the case up until now, to charge batteries on board. Acciona, a Spanish company specialising in the creation and use of sustainable and renewable energy and has put its support behind Bubi Sansó for this IMOCA and offshore sailing milestone: a combination of wind power, solar power and hydrodynamics to achieve total sustainability and a 100% energy self-sufficient modern offshore racing yacht. Acciona has remained true to the company's core philosophy throughout and has also offset 115 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions to compensate for the emissions unavoidably created though the boatbuilding process with Certified Reductions in Emissions (CREs) through the wind farms at Anabaru, Arasinagundi and Karnataka (India), which all belong to the company.

The brand new IMOCA Open 60 from the Owen Clarke Design studio and built in New Zealand by Southern Ocean Marine incorporates two 350w wind turbine generators, 12 square metres of solar panels and two 400w hydro generators. The energy is then stored in a bank of intelligent lithium fuel cells with the emergency systems working with hydrogen batteries, also obtained from renewable energy sources.

For Bubi this project is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream: a brand new IMOCA. His most immediate objective is the Vendée Globe 2012-2013 following the Europa Race in May. After that the Barcelona World Race is on the horizon.

So, how many miles have you covered so far with your new yacht Acciona?

We did the first few miles coming down from Brest (France). It was a passage of some 2,000 or so miles with a totally brand new boat. I had already qualified but the boat needed qualifying with 1,500 miles of solo sailing. I was going to do them in the Atlantic but I came across some high pressure and some awful lulls so in the end I went for the Mediterranean and practiced some manoeuvres at the same time. I took four days to get down to Gibraltar and since I was going to get lulls once I was out of there and I had a period of time to complete the miles in, I chose to do some intensive sail-change training, given that the breeze was so light.

Happy with the boat's performance?

The feedback's been great. It's a very fast boat and the entire design and build team have done a fantastic job. All of the people involved on the technical side of things are very happy. The designer and director of the team was Merf Owen, but there were a lot of people involved in this project. At the hydrodynamic testing tank in El Pardo in Madrid, Eloy Carillo's help was invaluable, along with Ian Campbell. We also had Michel Kermarec working in the appendages. Clay Oliver was on board as Co-Designer; he's one of the 'gurus' of racing yacht design and we also had Ricard Teixedó from Team Harrod, here in Barcelona, involved in the design and build of the boat.

How did the energy supply system perform?

If I'm honest, it's much easier than with a diesel engine as you just don't really have to think about it. I thought I'd need more engineering and technical knowledge to work it, but back at Tecontalasa Bari and Albert (Jordi Barinaga and Albert de Torres) did a great job and things have gone without a hitch. It's all automated. They have created a system whereby I only watch the volts and amps that come in, I give them a glance every now and then. Really I've been sailing to a certain extent with more power than I needed because we've still got thirty per cent more energy to use. I've haven't been anywhere near 100% of the energy system supply that I'll be using in the Vendée, but I haven't had any charge issues at all.

Not even with the lulls? Were they sunny lulls?

Not even in the lulls. They were sunny, but it was winter sun, so it's very low. That's not going to be the case for the Vendée as when I hit the lulls at the Equator the sun will be vertical to the yacht and the solar panels will work at full capacity. We did a test on shore by leaving the batteries flat for a week and the system worked perfectly afterwards.

Perhaps the 'red line' might crop up after a week of lulls with cloudy skies?

Maybe, that could happen, but for an emergency situation like that I've got a hydrogen fuel cell to use. Imagine an extreme situation where the hydro generators fail, for example, and seven of the fourteen panels I have go out of action... which is almost an impossible situation, well then I'd be getting into a problem. However, with a diesel engine if it's out of action, you've had it... you're left with nothing!

You've got to realise that the solar panels are always charging. To give you an idea: I have 48 volts and my daily consumption is 3-4 amps maximum (with satellite transmissions and pushing the boat to the full) and with the solar panels I can get up to 20 amps during the day and then at night I can use the hydro generators, so during the entire day I have 17,000 watts of battery power. Almost without charging them up I can get three days of power. Also it's worth saying that these are the latest generation of lithium cells with their software ramifications built-in.

In the end I have a bigger safety margin than with a diesel engine. Of course, I can run into faults and damage just like anyone else, but I've got a more highly diversified system with fewer holes in the hull, since I have no taps at the bottom of the engine, just two scoops for the ballast tanks.

Does your project set a milestone in the development of offshore yacht design?

We've put something into practice that has been on the minds of technical experts and designers for a long time: 'yes it can be done... no it can't...'. We've shown that yes, it can, and in doing so we've passed some of the toughest IMOCA regulation testing, all designed for diesel-powered engines! We could carry fewer systems, fewer solar panels and less of everything on board, but the rules say we have to push 285 kg for five hours at five knots. For me to go around the world, I could use half of the systems I've got. I wouldn't need a hydrogen cell, nor so many batteries. Our greatest achievement is competing against diesel engines and we've achieved the same performance levels as them.

Do you think that we are getting closer to regulation on renewable energies in the IMOCA class? Does your boat set standards where the rest will follow?

I think that we are nearer a regulation of this kind than we are to becoming one-designs. An idea might be to come up with an energy 'package' for the IMOCAs with minimum voltage somehow standardised. What I can't understand is how some boats can set off on a Vendée Globe with 250-300 litres of petrol with the type of technology available nowadays. It would only take a little effort to reach standards of this sort and it's to all of our benefits, because of the weight and would amount to saving a lot of kilos.

What's your take on the 'IMOCA class becoming a one-design class' debate?

I think it would be a step backwards. The class should remain as it is. We've already got the 40s in the one-design category. The IMOCAs are up there with the Volvos in terms of technology, performance and size. One designer, one shipyard... I just can't see it and I think it would be to the class's detriment and I also don't think that the costs would decrease by any considerable amount. The IMOCA class should continue to be what it is: an elite class of offshore racing yachts.

But what about the fact that the human factor plays a bigger part in one-design classes?

Yes, well, the arguments for the move are good, but what's happening now with the economic downturn is that there are great skippers out there who can't get sponsors, which is something that hadn't happened before and the cost of projects is high. I think that we need to make the move in the IMOCA class towards better promotion of the class, in the same way Volvo does – they have great marketing. The Volvos are 'Open 70s' and we're 'Open 60s', and almost everyone's heard of the Volvos but fewer have heard of the IMOCAs. There are a lot more of us out there and we need the sponsors to hear about this and to show them what great boats we've got, with a longer lifespan, a spectacular racing calendar with a top-flight level of competition. We need to sell ourselves better.

Your project has great media potential. How have you and Acciona chosen to communicate the values of sustainability and renewable energy through the project?

Acciona took this on as a zero emissions project from the outset. Of course that wasn't going to be possible for the build, and for now it would have been too risky to opt for organic epoxy, for example, so Acciona decided to offset the carbon emissions from the build through the wind farms in India. The idea is to show that it's possible in any sphere to live without CO2 emissions or at the very least to drive them down as low as possible.

Where would you place your boat in terms of performance? What differentiating factors do you think that it has to offer?

Well we haven't yet had the opportunity to measure her up against any of the other boats, but I think we'll do really well. The handling has been great. The question of performance won't be down to the boat... It'll be down to me! I'm the one who has to learn to get 100% out of the boat. The thing that concerns me the most is getting up to the level of sailors who've been in the IMOCA class at the top level for five or six years now. I'm going straight into top-flight racing with the Europa Race and the Vendée Globe.

What ideas of your own did you share with Merf Owen? Where can they be seen on the boat?

I gave Merf a wide berth when it came to maximising performance over comfort. I don't mind, for example, not being able to stand up inside or other similar discomforts. The influence of Ricard Teixedó, who's been with me since the very start in the IMOCA class, can be seen in the cockpit design, with very angular lines which are a trademark of his. In terms of handling I've always had the idea of the twin workstations, which are similar to the ones on some of Merf's other boats that I've sailed – the Ecovers. I'll also admit, why not, that we've copied some of the other ideas for the steering from other IMOCAs. I've also put a lot of electronic displays on deck, because with my 'inshore' background I like to have lots of data in view, although maybe for the Vendée I won't have as many screens.

Everyone's made a move towards the Verdiers, but Bernard Stamm and I are the ones who've gone for different lines and not for another Verdier, which was starting to become a 'copy and paste' model.

How far back is your mast from the others? It's going for a sleeker mainsail and more headsail. Does that set it out from the rest?

Yes, although many of the boats are following the trend, both the Verdiers and Bernard Stamm's Juan Kouyoumdjian design. I don't think it will be very far behind the others as it's a trend coming through with the new generation yachts. You get a bit less mainsail, which doesn't reach a metre (80 cm), which is more than enough, especially as the keel also moves back. The result is a boat that's incredibly fast in fair winds.

Do you think that the change in course due to the ice-gates also has an impact on the climate data and may that have a knock-on impact on that trend to go for performance in fair winds? In the last edition of the Barcelona World Race there was 30% more upwind sailing than in the first edition...

Well yes, it's certainly true that the safety gates have meant more upwind sailing, but I don't think that it's had an impact on the design trends yet. We've designed our yacht for a classic Vendée, as ever...

What training and preparation plans have you got?

The Europa Race in May then we'll be promoting in Palma and then on the 1st of September we'll be setting up base at Brest to finish off our Vendée Globe preparation.

And what about the Barcelona World Race?

Whilst right now I'm focussing on the Vendée, of course I'd love to do a Barcelona World Race again and I think that will be the way for the project to naturally progress.

Who'd you like to team up with?

As always, it would be Pachi. Although he's working on his own project right now so I'd prefer to be racing against him this time than with him.

So Bubi... a dream come true?

Well yes, I have been looking to do this for almost 12 years now. Sometimes I'd get close... at others nowhere near it and it wasn't until I'd reached the point of throwing in the towel that Acciona turned up and put their faith in our team and put their support behind us.

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30.04.2012