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How One Yacht Designer Broke the Rules of Boat Making

Yacht designer juan kouyoumdjian is the man behind the boats that won three volvo ocean races, two olympic gold medals and seven world championship titles..

Juan Kouyoumdjian , more conveniently known as Juan K, is one of the very top sailing yacht designers working today. His naval architecture firm just celebrated its twentieth year in business. Juan K’s racing yachts have broken so many records it is hard to remember them all. As his website states, his firm has three Volvo Ocean Races wins, two Olympic gold medals, nine offshore speed records, seven World Championship titles and six America’s Cup involvements.

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He is responsible for numerous iconic offshore race boats. Among the three most famous are Rambler 88, Speedboat 100 and ABN Amro. His spectrum is amazing. He has designed Olympic class Finn boats and a production boat, a Beneteau First 30. Juan K also created the new Swan Club 50 , now in production and selling fast in Europe. It was just voted boat of the year for its class by Sail Magazine. All together there are 25 Juan K designs.

Here is what sailing star Tony Rey of Cloud 10 Racing had to say when he spoke to Observer recently:

“Juan is at the vanguard of performance yachting because he combines analytical precision, cutting edge design tools, and a creative passion for boat speed that shines above all. The guy is brilliant and possibly very slightly crazy. His work in the Olympic classes shows how his creative approach to an established design can bear fruit. and, is latest collaboration with Swan is a stunner!”

Juan K was recently at the Paris boat show and Observer, where he spoke with Observer about his work.

Juan congratulations on your twentieth year in business. That is a terrific milestone. I hope you have twenty more amazing years.

Thank you, I hope so too, not much hair left but hopefully the brain will still work.

What do you think has been the biggest challenge in racing yacht design in the last 20 years?

Good question, I would say dealing with the rule makers and regulators. That is a sad answer and I wish it were not so but it is. There are structural and handicap rules. My job is fundamentally to break those rules and bypass them…but I need to leave the rule maker with options so as not to create conflict.

Can you give me a specific example?

Yes, on Crazy Coyote in 1999 we did a rig that had no shrouds, a free-standing rig. It was completely banned. Now of course we see yachts with this rig all around us. Another is the canting keel. We designed a number of these with mechanical innovations in the pin axis that went beyond the rules. The rule makers thought we were crazy. Again, now all the Volvo boats, as well as boats like Rambler 88, do it the way I originally designed it.

Beyond the rule issue what are the other major areas of innovation in the design/build process.

As a naval architect, of course my primary responsibility is to come up with hull shapes, keels and rigs that will be the fastest possible. You try be the very best at these. But, beyond that the major issues are in the innovation of all the systems. If the whole project is not put together in a proper coordinated way it would not matter how great all the components are. After I lock myself in a room to design the components I need to see how the whole package comes together. I cannot just call my buddy and say, “Bring me the rig or the electronic package.” There is the human factor to know all the very best smartest component suppliers. These relationships are sometimes as important as the designs.

What are you not comfortable with? What trends do you see in yacht racing that concern you?

I think my greatest levels of discomfort are related to execution. So far, we have spoken about design and how it is all put together, but your design needs to be built properly. Design and build are intrinsically related. In other words, you can only design to your level of execution and you can only execute to your level of design. I must keep this in mind all the time in my design process. I need to know beforehand exactly what can be built.

I am always pushing for more performance, and when that cannot be executed properly is where the frustrations for me and the boat owner are the most pronounced. If the design is not properly executed at the level required it can be worthless. I try to learn from those mistakes and modify the design for the next time. On the bright side, when a design is built properly and the boat goes on to win race after race and breaks speed records, the reward is considerable.

Juan, what is the one boat you designed that you think is a breakthrough? The boat with a big wow factor?

It is difficult to pick but I would have to say ABN AMRO . That boat was a big leap. Even though it was within a restricted rule, I think it opened the eyes of the sailing world. To understand that you could go offshore in a very high performance boat with canting keels, and use composites and not have any structural problems, marked a change. ABN AMRO was pushed to the limits and she still won the Volvo race in 2005-2006. The sustained boat speed was just incredible. The change to the 70’ from the 60’ for the Volvo was a real opportunity. I got a great amount of input from the crew and the rest of the team. I also used new computer technology that I continue to modify and use today.

Which of the great races Volvo, America’s Cup, Sydney to Hobart , Vendee Globe or any other you can think of is the proving ground for the latest in racing yacht design?

Well it used to be the America’s Cup, but clearly it is not anymore. Foiling or flying catamarans or monohulls do not influence the larger world of boat design. They will not trickle down. For sure there is something there that will evolve into the future. There is however another side to this.

One should not think this is the only way of yachting. There are plenty of sailors who want to be in contact with the water , who want to relate to the water and the ocean. If you look at the most watched, most in demand videos or even still photographs, they are always about boats off-shore sailing through waves and in touch with a wet environment. The pinnacle of our sport should never be about avoiding the water . So, to the extent that the America’s Cup with its “fly time” clock celebrates the opposite, it limits the overall appeal.

The Volvo, when it went to one design, basically killed off any possibility to innovate or improve the engineering.

So, basically you’re left with the Vendee Globe. As of now it is the primary place for monohull development. There is no other race that pushes the limits of design like the Vendee.

What will the next 20 years look like for Juan K naval architects?

The next 20 years will be all about performance. I don’t see myself involved in anything but performance. I don’t know what form and what shape that will ultimately take…everything is in such transition, but the demand for performance in design, materials and engineering will be relentless. Look at MACIF the 30meter trimaran with Francois Gabart solo sailing around the world and smashing records. It was an unmatched feat of performance at all the levels I just mentioned. Envelopes will be pushed on every aspect in the boats of the future.

This question is on many sailors’ minds. Now that the New Zealand Americas Cup has returned to monohulls, will you be designing a boat for a challenger?

I am in conversations with a few potential challengers, nothing to announce at this time, but stay tuned.

Jonathan Russo has been a sailing enthusiast for 30 years. Read his full bio here .

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Published on March 1st, 2018 | by Editor

Juan K: In Pursuit of Performance

Published on March 1st, 2018 by Editor -->

Juan Kouyoumdjian, more conveniently known as Juan K, is one of the very top sailing yacht designers working today, with his naval architecture firm having just celebrated its twentieth year in business.

Juan Kouyoumdjian

His spectrum is amazing, from the Olympic class Finn boats to the Beneteau First 30, the Swan Club 50, up to speedsters ABN Amro, Speedboat, and Rambler 88. These designs have gone on to three Volvo Ocean Races wins, two Olympic gold medals, nine offshore speed records, seven World Championship titles and six America’s Cup involvements.

“Juan is at the vanguard of performance yachting because he combines analytical precision, cutting edge design tools, and a creative passion for boat speed that shines above all,” observes professional sailor Tony Rey. “The guy is brilliant and possibly very slightly crazy.”

Jonathan Russo with the Observer recently caught up with Juan for this update :

What do you think has been the biggest challenge in racing yacht design in the last 20 years?

Good question, I would say dealing with the rule makers and regulators. That is a sad answer and I wish it were not so but it is. There are structural and handicap rules. My job is fundamentally to break those rules and bypass them…but I need to leave the rule maker with options so as not to create conflict.

Can you give me a specific example?

Yes, on Crazy Coyote in 1999 we did a rig that had no shrouds, a free-standing rig. It was completely banned. Now of course we see yachts with this rig all around us. Another is the canting keel. We designed a number of these with mechanical innovations in the pin axis that went beyond the rules. The rule makers thought we were crazy. Again, now all the Volvo boats, as well as boats like Rambler 88, do it the way I originally designed it.

Beyond the rule issue what are the other major areas of innovation in the design/build process.

As a naval architect, of course my primary responsibility is to come up with hull shapes, keels and rigs that will be the fastest possible. You try be the very best at these. But, beyond that the major issues are in the innovation of all the systems. If the whole project is not put together in a proper coordinated way it would not matter how great all the components are.

After I lock myself in a room to design the components I need to see how the whole package comes together. I cannot just call my buddy and say, “Bring me the rig or the electronic package.” There is the human factor to know all the very best smartest component suppliers. These relationships are sometimes as important as the designs.

What are you not comfortable with? What trends do you see in yacht racing that concern you?

I think my greatest levels of discomfort are related to execution. So far, we have spoken about design and how it is all put together, but your design needs to be built properly. Design and build are intrinsically related.

In other words, you can only design to your level of execution and you can only execute to your level of design. I must keep this in mind all the time in my design process. I need to know beforehand exactly what can be built.

I am always pushing for more performance, and when that cannot be executed properly is where the frustrations for me and the boat owner are the most pronounced. If the design is not properly executed at the level required it can be worthless.

I try to learn from those mistakes and modify the design for the next time. On the bright side, when a design is built properly and the boat goes on to win race after race and breaks speed records, the reward is considerable.

What is the one boat you designed that you think was a breakthrough?

It is difficult to pick but I would have to say ABN AMRO. That boat was a big leap. Even though it was within a restricted rule, I think it opened the eyes of the sailing world. To understand that you could go offshore in a very high performance boat with canting keels, and use composites and not have any structural problems, marked a change.

ABN AMRO was pushed to the limits and she still won the 2005-6 Volvo Ocean Race. The sustained boat speed was just incredible. The change from 60-feet to 70-feet for that edition was a real opportunity. I got a great amount of input from the crew and the rest of the team. I also used new computer technology that I continue to modify and use today.

Which of the great races such as the Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup, Vendee Globe is the proving ground for the latest in racing yacht design?

Well it used to be the America’s Cup, but clearly it is not anymore. Foiling or flying catamarans or monohulls do not influence the larger world of boat design. They will not trickle down. For sure there is something there that will evolve into the future, however, there is another side to this.

One should not think this is the only way of yachting. There are plenty of sailors who want to be in contact with the water, who want to relate to the water and the ocean. If you look at the most watched, most in-demand videos or still photographs, they are always about boats offshore sailing through waves and in touch with a wet environment.

The pinnacle of our sport should never be about avoiding the water. So, to the extent that the America’s Cup with its “fly time” clock celebrates the opposite, it limits the overall appeal.

The Volvo Ocean Race, when it went to one design, basically killed off any possibility to innovate or improve the engineering. So, basically you’re left with the Vendee Globe. As of now it is the primary place for monohull development. There is no other race that pushes the limits of design like the Vendee Globe.

What will the next 20 years look like for Juan K naval architects?

The next 20 years will be all about performance. I don’t see myself involved in anything but performance. I don’t know what form and what shape that will ultimately take…everything is in such transition, but the demand for performance in design, materials and engineering will be relentless.

Look at MACIF, the 30meter trimaran tha Francois Gabart sailed solo around the world and smashed records. It was an unmatched feat of performance at all the levels I just mentioned. Envelopes will be pushed on every aspect in the boats of the future.

With the America’s Cup returning to monohulls, will you be designing a boat for a challenger?

I am in conversations with a few potential challengers, nothing to announce at this time, but stay tuned.

Tags: Jonathan Russo , Juan Kouyoumdjian , Observer

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Design Talks With Juan Kouyoumdjian

One of the most successful naval architects of our times, Juan Kouyoumdjian sat down with our reporter and told us about his design philosophy, new design trends, Star Class and his desire to sail in Croatian waters

Juan Kouyoumdjian, better known for his superstar-like moniker Juan K, is one of the most successful naval architects of today, whose projects have won the Volvo Ocean Race, Olympic races, shattered speed records and raced for the America’s Cup. His latest designs, for Nautor Swan , have been setting new records in various classes. A big fan of sailing in addition to being such a skilled designer, Juan Kouyoumdjian has recently visited Split for a Star European Championship, where we were lucky enough to get a hold of the Argentinian genius for an interview.

American sailor Tony Rey said about you, ‘The guy is brilliant and possibly very slightly crazy.’ How would you describe yourself? I think Tony got me just right. I consider myself to be a very curious person, I question everything I do. It’s simply in my DNA. I always try to go a step further, to create a new world, to come with a different solution… The designing process is a creative and philosophic game in which I’m trying to come up with new steps. If that makes me crazy, so be it.

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You were mentored by the great German Frers. What has he taught you? Oh, he’s still teaching me. German is a legend, a genius. To use Star Wars language, German is a Jedi master and I’m an apprentice dreaming to one day grow up to be just like him. The Frers family brought yachting to Argentina. In the world of yachting, it’s not easy to succeed as an Argentinian. It’s much easier if you’re an American, a Frenchman or an Englishman, and yet German has had an impressive career. Without him, dare I say, I wouldn’t have a career. Frers is a yachting pioneer who has conquered the waves for the rest of us to sail on. In these past few years we have built a lovely professional relationship co-operating on projects for Nautor Swan.

So, there is such a thing as the Argentinian dream? When I look back toward the beginnings of my career, I can see now I have made some daring and risky moves – moves I would not dare to repeat today. But those moves paid off later down the line. One thing I don’t like is being compared to German Frers. One day, after I’ve retired, I’ll look back on my career and consider it a success if I’ve managed one third of his success.

What are your thoughts on hydrofoils? Foiling is an interesting new thing, very exciting. I too am currently working on a project revolving around hydrofoils. We are developing an 80-foot class boat very similar to America’s Cup class. Our industry is very open and welcoming. The beauty of sailing is the freedom it gives, both to sailors and to designers. I was disappointed ten years ago when people tried promoting hydrofoils as something that will kill traditional sailing, saying that those who don’t embrace it and who don’t want to fly are living in the past.

There is enough room for every type of project, from the Star Class we have sailed here in Split , to radical new designs like the AC75. Today, it’s clear to us all that there is room enough for traditional sails and hydrofoils. I found the Auckland leg of the America’s Cup fantastic, but I can’t see hydrofoils as the next commercial norm, as the norm on large sailing yachts . The reason is quite simple: people want to be very comfortable on large yachts, they want luxury and comfort, and that means weight. Weight, on the other hand, is the greatest enemy of the hydrofoils.

As a designer, where did you have to compromise the most? With the rules. I believe that the people who make the rules are just not creative enough to consider design, making it almost my job to break their rules and try to go around them. I respect the rule-makers, but we are natural enemies. Creativity and freedom of thought hates the structure.

You are best known for your numerous sailing designs. Have you ever worked on a superyacht? Several years ago I was involved with a 160-meter superyacht project. I was brought onto the team as someone who thinks outside every box. I suggested the yacht be powered by nuclear energy. We contacted a company in Russia specializing in building reactors, made a study of the drive, but the owner ultimately gave up on the idea because current regulations prevent nuclear vessels from coming under 12 miles from the coast.

That yacht is about to be built by Lürssen with a different drive, but the design still allows installation of a nuclear reactor core down the line. The owner believes nuclear drive will soon turn the yachting industry upside down. What needs to be said is the reactor we were planning to install doesn’t use military-grade nuclear fuel, but a weaker one. The benefits of using nuclear energy for yachts are insane: the drive needs one charging every seven years. I am often part of such projects that change the industry status quo and further progress.

What is your design philosophy? I am obsessed with efficiency and low weight, even in standard boats. Right now, with Nautor Swan, I’m working on a 65-foot sailing boat that will rethink the cruiser concept.

How many projects is your studio working on at the same time? I have set the limit at three. Several years ago I tried working on four projects simultaneously and almost went insane. It took that to realize three is my limit.

The ClubSwan series resets parameters of design and performance. Is there any pressure when working on a brand like Nautor Swan? The first time I visited Pietarsaari in northern Finland, where Nautor’s yard is, I got emotional. The unique Swan philosophy, the walk through their museum full of big names who’ve written the history of sailing, seeing all those iconic models – that’s every sailing fan’s dream, and every designer’s dream. I was very proud to have become a part of their family. Of course there’s pressure, but it’s good pressure when you’re working for a yacht builder open to innovation.

It’s easy to be creative in such a progressive atmosphere. You can see that in models like ClubSwan 36, ClubSwan 80 or ClubSwan 125, that all reflect Nautor’s passion for new, for something that hasn’t been done before. Sometimes they need to push me a bit, sometimes I need to be stopped – and the person who does both is Enrico Chieffi, who always directs me back to the path when I stray too much. I count on his composure and realistic outlook to rein me in when my creative energy goes wild. Enrico is my tactician (laughing).

What is your favorite design? The ABN AMRO 1 that won the ninth Volvo Ocean Race holds a special place in my heart. My other favorite is the ClubSwan 125 , an insanely fast boat. If I ever end up in jail because of a design, that’ll be the 125.

You are a passionate Star Class racer. You have designed your own boat. What makes that class special? Just look at those boats. The design is more than a hundred years old, and the boats look like sailing sculptures. As a naval designer, I find Star Class to be like a fine instrument, delicate and tender, but when you learn to sail on it, you can sail on anything else. Star Class is the pinnacle of sailing. The class is well organized, I can compete with the big names of the sport, and we can all race like gentlemen, keeping the spirit of sailing alive.

This is your first time in Croatia. What do you think of Split? I have been trying to come to the Adriatic for sailing purposes for two years, and have had to cancel due to obligations. I’m enjoying myself on your coast, and this is one of the best sailing spots in the world. I love Split; it has that Mediterranean tradition of living by the sea, and it allows you to sail into the heart of the city and admire it from the port. I will surely come back with my motor yacht, a wooden commuter built in 1938. There were only two of those made. My sailing philosophy is sailing boats are for races only, and if you want to cruise around, go for a motor yacht.

Text Hrvoje Bulešić Photos Nautor’s Swan & Juan K Design

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CLUBSWAN 43

With a well-established Swan One Design Circuit and a high participation of ClubSwan Yachts in the established regattas, Nautor Swan gives a new boost to the range by introducing the ClubSwan 43. Designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, the brand-new ClubSwan 43 is at the cutting edge of contemporary yacht design, she is a perfect crossover: a full racer able of competing in the most captivating races worldwide and with the possibility to offer a ‘sport-cruising’ experience.

For this innovative project, Nautor Swan’s in-house experts and Juan K are combining forces with a leading team of professionals in the field. Pure Design & Engineering has been entrusted for the engineering, while the interior design comes from the drawing tables of Lucio Micheletti, Micheletti+Partners.

The yacht has been conceived as a One Design package, as per Nautor’s expertise in this segment, which includes a professionally managed Class and she will be able to take part in the dedicated Swan One Design Circuits, such as The Nations League and the Swan One Design Worlds. Importantly, she is also being conceived to be competitive under ORC Cat. B. so will relish participating in the most important rating regattas around the world, providing an exciting range of racing possibilities for Owners

with options

The architect

Juan kouyoumdijan.

Designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, the ClubSwan 43 project is the cutting edge of contemporary yacht design, she has been conceived as the perfect crossover: a full racer able of competing in the most captivating races worldwide and with the possibility to offer a ‘sport-cruising’ experience. “The ClubSwan 43 is the best of the two worlds, a pure racer with a stylish and elegant interior design.” Says Juan K, Naval Architect. “It will be thrilling to watch her compete in real time and rating races.”

The ClubSwan 43 is constructed, as every yacht with Nautor Swan’s signature, without compromise and to the highest standards possible. Both hull and deck will be built using vinyl ester in epoxy resin with carbon reinforcements, complemented with carbon mast and boom.

Interior Designer

Lucio micheletti.

The interior design has been envisioned by studying the needs of Owners considering this model and combines practicality and comfort for both racing and cruising modes.

Lucio Micheletti speaking about the project said: “With the new ClubSwan 43 we introduced new green materials, playing not only on style, but working on the project’s environmental impact with a constant desire to discover new elements from research and innovation. “

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