Few puzzles in offshore racing are proving as stubborn as this one: how do you design a yacht that can win the Admiral's Cup outright? The regatta demands a boat sharp enough to hold its own inshore against tightly matched fleets, yet rugged and well-mannered enough to handle the rigours of offshore legs. That dual brief is driving a fresh wave of high-performance IRC raceboats.
The November issue of Seahorse magazine digs into exactly that problem, with designers from Botin Partners and Sam Manuard laying out contrasting philosophies on how to meet it.
There's no single right answer, it seems.
IRC Director of Rating Jason Smithwick and yacht broker Sam Pearson add another layer to the discussion, examining how rating considerations shape design decisions and how the market for competitive Admiral's Cup yachts is evolving.
Whether a single design can genuinely master both inshore and offshore conditions remains the open question running through the piece.
The full article appears in the November 2026 edition of Seahorse magazine.
