BASIC IS BEST
In terms of sailboat racing Warwick Fleury’s done it all: eight America’s Cup campaigns, a dozen World Championships and countless inshore and offshore regattas.
Besides Fleury’s specialist mainsail trimming role, he’s long been interested in yacht design and has rubbed shoulders with many of the world’s top designers.
Trapped in New Zealand during the 2020 Covid lockdown, Fleury started reflecting on the boat that kick-started his career. It was in 1980 when he and older brother Graham built the Des Townson Pied Piper Rising Damp in which they raced and cruised the Hauraki Gulf and Northland coast.
“As great as the Pied Piper was and still is, it occurred to me there’s nothing around like it these days that you can build out of plywood.”
With this vision in his head, Fleury spent lockdown at his computer drafting hull shapes on the software program Rhino. The Pied Piper was the starting point, hence the 6.7m length and emphasis on simplicity. However, Fleury also bought into.
