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The Class40 is a category of offshore racing monohulls freely designed within a box rule that imposes only the maximum limit of some main measurements such as the length of the hull (12.19 meters), its width (4.50 m), the draft (3.00 m), the height of the mast head from the water surface (19 meters) or the minimum of others such as the weight (4580 kg). During the regatta, no more than eight sails may be taken on board and the sail area of the mainsail and jib must not be greater than 115 square metres.
The measurement regulation prohibits materials and solutions that are too expensive, for example carbon fiber for the construction of the hull and deck or the use of canting keels. The number of appendages is limited to three (a fixed keel and two rudder blades), while ballasts for liquid ballast are permitted but must be fixed and with a capacity that must not exceed 750 liters per side.
In recent years, with the increasing diffusion of wide “scow” bows, the Class40s have reached an impressive level of performance, reaching up to 440 miles in 24 hours (18 knots on average daily).
Imagin’Act-Socomec is a boat entirely designed and built by its skipper Marco Guerra, who conceived it for his return to ocean racing, with the aim of participating in the Mediterranean Trophy, the great classics that cross the Atlantic and circumnavigating the globe solo.
The result of years of experience at sea, the boat represents a synthesis of his most innovative insights. The project, christened Imokino, has given rise to a Class40 that breaks the mould, with solutions never before seen on a Class40 and, in some cases, on any ocean racing boat: the cockpit, completely enclosed by a rigid cover extending towards the stern, makes Imagin’Act-Socomec look like a small Imoca. Large windows provide 360° visibility of the sea, the sail plan and the deck. The cockpit is also self-draining, as in the dinghies on which Marco Guerra gained his experience (the 470 in particular).
The ballast tanks, located on the deck, are a real innovation. Higher and more lateral than the standard (on other boats they are located inside the hull at waterline height), they are more efficient in improving trim when sailing downwind and counteracting heeling when sailing upwind.
Other distinctive features of Imagin’Act-Socomec are: the mast, engine and keel centred on the same vertical line to optimise weight distribution; the hull with reduced wet surface area, characterised by a scow bow and a gull-wing stern that begins to take shape halfway along the hull.
Another major innovation introduced by Imagin’Act-Socomec is the interchangeable bow, which allows the boat to be adapted to the waves of the Mediterranean or the ocean.
The innovations of Marco Guerra’s Class40 are not only performance-related: safety and comfort are essential for long solo or small crew voyages in extreme weather conditions. Imagin’Act-Socomec has 16 collision-proof watertight compartments and a reinforced, structural bowsprit, also designed to provide a comfortable and safe foothold for manoeuvres at the bow.
