BRIAN THOMPSON NOMINATES MOD70 PHAEDO3

I’d choose the MOD70 [one-design] without too much doubt because the boat is so beautifully thought out. It is a great combination of speed, safety (even though four of them have capsized!) and reliability. Of the seven that were built, I have sailed four of them, for hundreds of thousands of miles.

They were born from the development class the ORMA 60s. The best people of the ORMAS decided to built a boat that could go round the world, but was stronger, with 10% higher scantlings on all the structure, and having that buffer meant it is bulletproof. You can absolutely hammer it across the Atlantic then hose if off and go sailing again. The MOD70 is so well designed and engineered and is so rugged.

It also has the least preparation hours per sailing hour. With the Ultimes, there are a huge amount of preparation hours for every sailing hour, but these you can sail all year round.