For the first day of our Boat of the Year test sailing, small-craft warning flags were whipping, and so too was the rain when we sailed off the beach at the Annapolis Sailing School with the BirdyFish S—S as in solo or single—without any clue of how to handle the scow-shaped 14-footer and its long, arcing and pointed “mustache” foils.

When it’s time to put our judge Monica Morgan into the driver’s seat, she hops in with her trademark giddy giggle. We don’t know what she knows: She’s never foiled.

She orients herself with the whereabouts of the boat’s key control lines: a 16-to-1 vang, downhaul and the 2-to-1 mainsheet. She promptly trims the reefed square-top mainsail, turns onto a reach, sails 100 feet or so away, then rises up onto both foils, streaking away as if she’s done it a million times.

“Insanely easy,” is how Morgan would later describe the experience, which is the whole point of the BirdyFish S.

Unlike the BirdyFish Double (Race), which has symmetric J-shaped foils, the BirdyFish S has curved asymmetric foils that can’t be inverted or swapped if damaged, so launching should always be a calculated effort. Still, says Hardy Peters of East Coast Sailboats, the U.S.’ BirdyFish distributor, getting underway is a simple affair. With the foils up in their stowed position, step one is to roll the boat to the water’s edge on its custom wheels, which fit into slots in the hull. These are removed once the boat is afloat, and then stored in a bag on the boat. Wade to waist-high water (two feet or more), push down and lock the foils into their sacrificial Delrin bearing cases. Do the same with the rudder and off you go.

Like the foils themselves, the BirdyFish S’s polyester and honeycomb hull is built (in France) in halves and then glued together. A robust structural bulkhead runs the full length of the boat, giving it some serious rigidity. The scow hull shape also provides strength and, more importantly, stability. Unlike other singlehanded foilers (such as the Moth or Waszp), the BirdyFish is stable at rest and far more forgiving in crash-downs.

Most other high-tech foilers also have dynamic rudder-angle adjustment, but with the BirdyFish S, rudder angle is preset and can be adjusted on the water with a wrench. The single-piece aluminum mast and a black Dacron mainsail with two reef points also opens up the boat to sailing in a wide range of conditions. It can be sailed upwind and downwind in displacement mode, with one crew or two, with all reefs or none at all.

“You’re probably looking somewhere between 185 to 210, max is 310 (pounds),” says Peters. “I’m 250 pounds and I can get this boat up and out in 8 knots of breeze.”

The sailing technique, Peters explains to the judges before splashing, is to shift weight aft when building speed, and once it takes off, shift forward enough to give the boat a slight bow-down attitude. Minimal rudder movement is essential, he adds, “Don’t sail it like an ILCA. Subtle tiller movements prevent spinouts.”

As for tacking, he says, “This boat will easily foil tack and jibe. Just remember that the best [exit] angle on this boat is 55 degrees. So, you have to take that 55 and go another 55 or more, so you’re looking at a 110-degree turn basically. But on a jibe, it’s a lot less.”

Both Morgan and fellow judge Mike Ingham eventually figured out the technique enough to pull off a few, albeit sketchy, foiling turns in 15 to 20 winds and flat water. And their straight-line speeds were more than impressive.

“I was a little surprised at how fast it would go,” Morgan says. “I almost wiped out once, but I never felt like I was just gonna get launched off the boat. I felt pretty locked in tacking. I was trying to figure out the right rate of turn for the tack, because you couldn’t go too slow, but if you went fast, it felt as if you were spinning out. I had that feeling a couple times, mostly tacking, but as a first-timer, it was really rewarding to go foiling so easily.”

To validate the boat’s versatility, before wrapping up our test sail, we put both Morgan and Ingham on the boat and shook out the reef. With both of them working in sync to balance the boat onto its foils, they hit their top speed of the day in one dark and streaking puff. We could hear the whooping from a good mile away, until the sleigh ride ended in a spectacular explosion of spray. Ingham slipped from his hiking strap, and Morgan casually tacked the boat back upwind and retrieved her teammate. It was easy for Ingham to get back into the boat and they soared away again.

“It was a surprisingly easy boat to foil,” Ingham says. “It was like stress-free foiling that was always just in the groove.” Morgan seconded the sentiment and says, “For never having foiled before, I was able to do it within 30 seconds, and that’s kind of crazy. But I also felt really stable on the boat, not intimidating or overwhelming at all.”

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Seventy-five-year-old foiling fanatic Malcolm Gefter, dressed in tattered neoprene sailing gear, with an impact-padded PFD and sailing helmet loosely clipped and askew, is beaming ear to ear as he watches his 35-foot trimaran stream across the horizon, hovering 3 or 4 feet above the water with plumes of spray spitting from its rudders. We’re chasing them in our RIB, the big diesel outboard humming at full speed. On board the trimaran is one experienced pro and three of our Boat of the Year personnel. The three of them have zero foiling experience and less than 30 minutes on this boat.

Yet, there is BOTY judge Tom Rich, more familiar helming his 41-foot IMS-era lead dragger, perched on the TF10’s bench seat, carbon tiller in his left hand, just absolutely sending the boat down Narragansett Bay at 25 knots. Rich is wide-eyed, white-knuckled and trying like hell not to wipe out. But otherwise, he’s ­comfortable. And confident.

“See? No problem. He’s doing it,” Gefter mumbles nonchalantly. “I told you they’d foil on their first try.”

No sooner do the words leave Gefter’s zinc-covered lips does the trimaran’s weather hull plunge, punch a hole in the bay, lift right back up and get going again as if nothing happened.

“In a big catamaran, like the M32, that would have been a pitch-pole or capsize, for sure,” Gefter says. “With this boat, you get the buoyancy from the center hull, so that’s not going to happen.”

Gefter would know. His previous boat was a carbon Marstrom 32 catamaran that required experienced dudes and a chase boat every time he wanted to go yachting. He’s done with that. This TF10 trimaran is his next boat, a product of his hyper­analytical mind. He’s been hands-on with the design and build since inception, and has invested a small fortune of his own time and money.

“The concept was to build a boat that takes advantage of foiling capability and to bring it to the realm of the ordinary, but competitive, high-performance sailor,” Gefter explains to the Boat of the Year judges. “Guys from TP52s, Melges 32s, etc., that ought to be able to take a step up to this boat and go foiling.”

When it comes to fast and stable flight, what makes the TF10 different from smaller foiling craft such as Moths and other singlehanders, which use human weight as righting moment, is the trimaran’s “mechanics,” Gefter says. “This boat is about the mechanics and how you use them.” That, and the undeniable fact that a trimaran is a more stable and comfortable platform for first‑time foilers like our judges.

“You might get a little wet,” Gefter says. “But it will be possible for each of you to foil from the helm on your first go.”

Before setting off from the dock, Gefter explains the three-sail-inventory (gennaker, reefable jib and main). The mechanics he’d referred to earlier are the four appendages — two large L-shaped daggerboards and two high-aspect T-rudders. All four stay down, he says, for what’s called four-point foiling, but the windward board can be raised upwind for a fraction of a speed gain. Off-the-wind sailing is another story; all four must remain down all the time. Four-button control modules to control “lift and no-lift” for each of the appendages are mounted at each of the trimming stations.

Gefter’s TF10 foiling 101 is as such: “The windward rudder is pulling down to create righting moment, and the leeward rudder is lifting up to create lift and adjust pitch. The windward ­daggerboard is providing most of the lift, and the windward board is providing slightly less lift.”

Like any other boat, the TF10 sails upwind with leeward heel, and with the big center hull, the sensation is similar to any other sportboat. Gefter sometimes drives from the center cockpit, but mostly from the bench alongside the main trimmer. Once the gennaker is deployed, driver and trimmers work in sync to level the boat, and get the foils in balance and the boat’s ­attitude just right.

“It’s not easy to do,” Gefter says, “but it’s doable and straightforward once you do.”

Built by DNA Performance Sailing in Holland, the TF10 is a carbon-fiber collector’s item, but fairly simple in the grand scheme, a boat that will demand constant attention and tweaking. A boat captain — or at least an experienced high-performance nipper — will be essential to make good use of every outing.

“Time on the water with this thing is critical to learning how to sail it, and that’s going to be the biggest challenge for any owner,” Allen says. “If you want to go sailing, you’ll need to have the right conditions, and the guys ready to go. With these types of boats, there will always be projects once you’re back at the dock, but it is what it is.”

While the first seven boats are built by DNA, the original group of owners — New York YC members — own the aluminum tooling, Gefter says, so they can build boats whenever and wherever they want. “It has to be said how well it’s built,” says judge Greg Stewart. “It’s all nice and fair. The boat looks awesome at the dock, with a very cool profile.”

The trampoline is a carbon fabric, creating a strong, impermeable shield to sprint across. It blocks spray too, so the boat is dry until you get aggressive with its fast weather-heel mode. It’s loaded with standard high-performance multihull controls: a diamond tensioned carbon rig with rotation assembly, and a wishbone boom that assists with the end-plate effect of a deck sweeper main.

The boat is sailed with four to five crew, positioned in different places to help trim and balance. Downwind, one crew moves inboard to the cockpit winch, grinding for the trimmer, who’s outboard on the bench with the main trimmer and driver. For righting moment and safety, Gefter says, they never allow more than four people on the bench at once.

While on the topic of safety, Gefter admits they have yet to capsize or pitch-pole the TF10, but could it? “Sure, it can happen, but it will be rare,” he says matter-of-factly. “But the trimaran configuration is so forgiving. The center hull’s flotation is significant, and at 2,600 pounds, it’s much heavier than the Marstrom, and that’s a stabilizing damping force on the skittishness. If it capsizes, it will turtle, which of course would not be pleasant.”

The judges never come close enough to finding out, and Rich is happy to report that he is well at ease cruising at altitude at 25 knots. Stewart, too, has the ride of his life. “It was a breakthrough day of sailing,” he says. “Just windy enough it wasn’t scary at all. Another 5 knots and we probably would have been putting in a reef and been just as fine.”

Boat of the Year worthy? Most definitely, but too narrow of a niche, Allen says. “You’ll definitely be having guys on the payroll to sail it, and the fleet will always be relatively small — maybe 10 or 15 at most — but they’ll have a lot of fun together doing point-to-point racing and trying different formats, especially when they’ve all got it wired.”

Rich agrees, adding that the TF10 checked all its boxes: It’s very well-built, sails great and meets its design criteria. “They guaranteed foiling, and we did,” he says. “The speed numbers Malcolm quoted about when the boat would do certain things was right on. It went upwind amazingly well too. We were flying upwind at 15 knots at pretty high angles.”

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● Twenty-five years ago, during my annual lecture tour, I made a few outrageous predictions about innovations in sailing. When I reflect on that list today, I’m surprised by how many of these outlandish ideas have become reality. For example, I thought someday we’d be able to use GPS technology to determine whether a boat was over the starting line, that a boat would exceed 50 knots, and that someone would sail around the world in less than 60 days. Of course, we now know that technology developed for the America’s Cup can determine when a boat is over the line (and doing so while the boat is reaching across at 20 knots, no less). In 2012, Paul Larsen’s Vestas Sailrocket 2, flew across a 500-meter stretch of Walvis Bay in Namibia at 65.45 knots. In late 2016, Francis Joyon’s IDEC 2 completed an amazing circumnavigation in 40 days, 23 hours.

Sixty days? Pshaw. I was way off. Without a doubt, the sport has evolved dramatically. But where does this leave us today, looking ever further into the future? As I did many years ago, I have a few ideas today.

Sailing administrators and naval architects have been forever searching for a fair handicap-rating system. There are several in use around the world, leaving potential and current boat owners easily confused as they try to decide what kind of boat to build or buy. With the use of supercomputers, we will achieve the unthinkable and launch a handicap rule that is reliable and fair for boats of all sizes. The system will be based on actual performance in all racing conditions. Here’s how: Every moment while racing, a boat’s performance will be recorded and analyzed against every other offshore boat in the world, in real time, and in every sea state and wind condition. Handicaps will be adjusted continually. Time on the racecourse will therefore be the key determination of success — not size, shape, displacement or modifications to the boat.

Today’s speed records will continue to fall as lightweight materials become ­stronger and control systems more refined. As a result, with the use of foils and high-efficiency ­aerodynamic rigs, boats will sail at extraordinary speeds — let’s now put the target at 100 knots on the 500-meter course and 30 days for a ­circumnavigation.

Outrageous? I think not.

One-design classes will be built using three-dimensional printing for hulls, rigs and parts. Everything will be made to exact standards, and boats will all have equal potential. The reduced manpower will dramatically cut the cost of production, and pre-regatta measurements will be greatly reduced. Thirty years from now, there will be so many different one-design classes on the water that very few boats will race in each class. Regatta organizers will recognize this trend and establish a conference to discuss the problem. The decision will be made to declare that only four classes will be sanctioned as one-designs. Each will have a different size rig depending on the age and size of the sailors. The boats will be fast, strong and easy to right after capsize.

On the technology front, batteries will be able to hold an extended charge. Solar power integrated into the sails and deck, along with a new concept of using a yacht’s motion, will generate energy to keep batteries charged, eliminating entirely the need for fossil fuels.

Miniature drones will be launched while ­racing to project aerial images around a 1-mile perimeter of the boat’s position, which will assist with reading the wind.

Lidar readouts will display wind speed and direction ahead of a boat. Lidar uses tiny laser beams to measure the flow of dust particles in the air. Small-scale instruments at the top of the mast will account for the movement of the mast as a boat sails through the waves, and sensors on the luff of the sail will record apparent wind speed and indicate how sails should be trimmed according to wind shear, in real time and in the next few boatlengths.

Here’s one we can all get behind: Protest hearings will be a thing of the past. Images from small cameras with position data from each yacht involved in a dispute will be fed into a computer. The resulting calculations will determine who wins the protest. It will save a lot of tension usually found in the protest room, eliminate the cost and need for international judges on-site, and keep sailors from pushing the rules.

Rigs will favor single sail plans with wing structures. Masts will bend in concert with wind strength, and the boat will sail at peak efficiency at all times. Helmsmen will constantly be tested on their performance versus a computer’s predicted numbers. This technology is in use today, of course, but the difference will be the ability to monitor a sailor’s vital signs, and fatigue. When a helmsman starts to stray off-course, the instrument package will set off an alarm, or speak to the skipper through a small in-ear device. While self-driving cars will become commonplace on land, sailors like to steer, so rules will be in place to prohibit self-steering boats while racing (autopilots for shorthanded sailing excluded, of course). Seasickness will be a thing of the past too. One small pill will work for several days, with no side effects. Lighter, more-breathable foul-weather gear will keep you drier and warmer, and their fabrics will sense dehydration, alerting us when it becomes detrimental to performance. A personal beacon will keep track of our exact location if we fall into the water. An EPIRB is used today to send a location ­signal, but the new version will be a small, wearable and waterproof strip customized for each sailor.

Telephone service will be less expensive, thanks to laser-satellite technology that works anywhere in the world. It will be small and light. If there is a health issue offshore, a sailor’s health information will be relayed back to a small wearable device. An integrated screen will be on the chest of each piece of clothing.

Computational fluid dynamics will be used to design the precise sail, hull and keel shapes for a given weather condition. An expandable membrane on the exterior of the hull or skin will change shape to maximize performance. Anti-fouling agents will keep all organic growth off hulls, and the film will be environmentally clean. Sustainability will be a regular feature of every sailing regatta. The environmental success in the sport of sailing will inspire other sports to follow suit.

Social media will help owners recruit crew for racing. Skill level, physical size, capability and even compatibility will be part of the equation. Naval architects and engineers will come up with ever-faster designs using IBM’s powerful computer, Watson. We will learn that early naval architects such as Nathanael Herreshoff (who had no computer assistance) were well ahead of their time with their creations. I suspect we will be going back to older designs to understand what might provide something new. Imagine if Herreshoff, Clinton Crane or Olin Stephens had the use of supercomputers.

In a 1972 edition of this magazine, a Princeton sailing-team member Tad LaFountain wrote an article about the advent of professional sailing, saying that it was made for television. At the time, his vision seemed comical. Today, however, professional sailing is prevalent, but in the future, there will be a return to amateur sailing. Television broadcasts will fade away entirely in favor of online delivery. Every team will have the ability to showcase its own boat on the preferred social platform of the day.

As technology makes decision-making easier, the intuitive skills of a sailor will fade. To retain the human element in the sport, some sailing events will forbid any outside or technological assistance. The America’s Cup will be one of the first major sailing events to emphasize a sailor’s skill over computing power. The boats will be sailed without any instruments at all. The event will become so interesting that millions of viewers (on personal mobile devices) will watch with great interest. This raises one final consideration: How far should technology take us before we lose the fundamental attributes of sailing? That too is up for future discussion.

Find out more about the SuperFoiler project here.

The post The Future of Foiling appeared first on Sailing World.

In a general membership meeting held by the Nacra 17 class, members voted 43 to 31 in favor of presenting a full-foiling design plan to World Sailing for recommendation for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

The Nacra 17, which made its Olympic debut in Rio in August, had its share of growing pains over the last four years. According to Marcus Spillane, Nacra 17 Class President, there was a laundry list of challenges in manufacturing and quality control that lead to frustrations within the class.

The platform was developed specifically for the Olympics when World Sailing asked for proposals for a mixed-gender catamaran. The initial class association was run by Nacra Sailing International, a Dutch company based in The Hague. “That was the major challenge of the last four years,” says Spillane. “The class wasn’t a class before the Olympics, it was thrown right in there.”

“The way people were pushing the boats was above and beyond what was initially envisioned by the manufacturer,” says Bora Gulari, an avid foiler who sailed the Nacra 17 for Team USA in Rio with crew Louisa Chafee. “The combination of that with poor quality control and manufacturing was an issue.”

With four years to go until the next Games, the class now has an opportunity to organize, strategize and try to improve. These steps forward include this most recent decision on foiling.

“There is a new class executive, and we are working closely with World Sailing and with Nacra [Sailing International] to make sure that there is quality control in place,” says Spillane. “We’ve also had conferences with the designers, Morrelli & Melvin.”

“I think Nacra now will make a concerted effort in manufacturing improvements,” say Gulari. “With some oversight from the class and World Sailing, I think they will build a much better boat, and get to the point where the 49er class is now, as far as the high quality of the product.”

Following the vote, the class laid out three options for equipment going forward:

a) Retrofit a Mark1 boat to go full foiling for 7,900 euros. b) Buying a new platform for 14,500 euros, retaining the ability to sell the Mark 1 platform. c) Buying a new boat for 24,250 euros, an increase of about 2,000 euros from the Mark 1 price.

“I think the decision bodes well for the class,” says Gulari. “There will be secondhand boats for sale now that will open up the foiling market to a broader base. It’s trickle down technology that can make a big difference.” Gulari points out that the four-point foiling technology on the Nacra is easier and nicer to sail than three-point foilers, making the platform more accessible to newbies.

Before the foiling configuration is confirmed, the vote has to be approved by both World Sailing in November, and then the class must be confirmed as a chosen platform for the next Games by World Sailing in February of 2017.

“We do need a foiler [in the Olympics], and the way catamaran sailing has gone so far on foils, the Nacra is a logical step,” says Spillane. “It’s only appropriate to have at least one Olympic class that is representative of the forefront of what’s happening in the sailing world.”

For more, visit Nacra17Class.com (http://www.nacra17class.com/nacra-17-class-members-vote-recommend-full-foiling/)

The post Nacra 17 Class Votes in Favor of Foils for Tokyo 2020 appeared first on Sailing World.

Participants – Action

“It’s what the kids want to be doing,” says the America’s Cup skipper, wearing the Red Bull cap of his sponsor, a brand that promotes extreme sports. “These boats are awesome to sail,” says the skipper’s mate, pleased about the platform now used in the America’s Cup.

It’s foiling, and it’s all the rage.

Sailing has incurred progressive steps in equipment, from sails to cordage to spar and hull construction. The advancement of canting keels was significant, but foiling is the most transformative step I’ve seen in my lifetime. When a boat is fully foiling, it enters a different dimension. It is flying.

While hydrofoil technology is nothing new, it was Rohan Veal’s persistence to apply the practice to the International Moth, as well as volumes of video he shared online, that elevated foiling to the current conversation. When Veal became the first to win a Moth world championship with foils in 2005, the development class was never the same. It’s no surprise the foiling Moth was born from Australian thinking, as skiff sailing and lightweight keelboats are in their DNA, but the high-performance wave was already extending beyond their shores. Once stodgy keelboat fleets in the United States had new designs planing downwind, with upwind performance aided by “damn-the-torpedos” gut hiking.

This trend toward high-performance boats prompted another shift—toward expertise. These speedy designs require more skill to sail. Their tune and trim are twitchier, crew work needs to be sharper, and helming demands more technique. The game is becoming far more technical, resulting in the blooming industry of professional coaches and crew. More investment is being made to participate in what is meant to be a recreational pursuit. These boats may be more fun to sail, but they are catering toward a smaller market. It’s not a template to grow the sport, and now foiling is raising the bar.

The 34th America’s Cup demonstrated how a 72-foot boat could be lifted, balancing on a few feet of carbon foils, while retaining buoy-racing maneuverability. The application of foiling appendages seemed limitless. The smart people quickly got to work, designing foiling boats to bring to market for those people eager to ride this most transformative wave. As exciting as the future looks, with the advancement of high-altitude sailing in the sport, a few truths may hamper its growth.

Foiling boats are meant to fly, but when they’re not, their low-riding mode can be agonizing. Foiling appendages present more drag than traditional daggerboards and rudders, and hull drag is, well, drag. In the Moth class, they seek to race only when there is enough wind to foil, which is at least seven knots.

Paul Bieker, whose design reputation includes International 14 hulls and who was the foil guru for Oracle Team USA, sees this wind limit as a universal obstacle. “The lift a foil can produce is proportional to speed through the water squared, so using them to support the weight of the boat really only works efficiently at higher speeds,” he says. “My take on it at this point is that an efficient foiling boat will need to achieve a speed of at least 10 knots for take-off.”

Another obstacle to foiling boats is sea-state. Multihull designer Gino Morrelli, whose company worked with Team New Zealand during the 2013 America’s Cup, sees this as the undeveloped aspect of foiling appendages. “So far, for all the proven applications, from America’s Cup boats to Moths, these boats are geared for reasonably sheltered venues,” says Morrelli. “How fast and how far foiling develops beyond the thrill-seeking, race-type boats will depend on what we can learn and develop when sailing in open-ocean conditions. Short chop, steep chop, long swell, upwind and downwind. Right now, this is where we are finding the Achilles heel of the current foiling geometries and systems.” The notable exception to this is Hydroptère, the foiling trimaran that holds the D Class (over 300 sq. ft.) world speed record of 51.36 knots. “They have demonstrated how the configuration can handle certain ocean-type sea-states, but their design also has a lot of drag when not in foil-mode, and in general not very practical for general use,” observes Morrelli. “There will need to be superior solutions for us to fully overcome this roadblock. But I am hopeful. Right now, we are all just like the Wright Brothers; we are just learning how to fly.”

To what degree it can be overcome will be the question, as modern dinghies are already challenged when waves exceed their tolerance. During the 2008 Olympics, strong but sailable conditions for the final 49er skiff race saw the fleet of elite athletes scrambling to stay upright, with most failing. For the 2016 Olympics, the sailing venue includes an offshore course, but with the large swell that can develop, only the older classes like the Finn and 470 may have the seaworthiness to survive it. The newer classes like the skiffs and Nacra 17 require sheltered waters. Performance progress comes with a price.

Bieker is hopeful the sea-state conundrum can be overcome, but so far, foils that are more stable also have more drag. “It is a difficult thing to model, and for sure the ability to handle a sea state will have performance cost. The AC72s hated even the slightest groundswell at some angles.”

Much like air travel, there is also a financial cost to flying. Expensive materials are needed to build light hulls, the long, thin foils are complicated to build with the strength and structural integrity required, and foil-control systems are complex. The current foiling options include the Moth at $25,000, the Flying Phantom at $40,000, the Nacra 20C FCS at $55,000, the $450,000 GC32, or the 40-foot Gunboat G4 at $950,000. An entry-level foiling conversion for a Laser with Glide Free Foils costs roughly $4,000. For kiteboarders, foilboard packages start at $2,000.

While most of the marketable foiling boats are one-design, the day will come when boats with foiling appendages will seek to compete in handicap events. Not every foiling solution lifts the hull clear of the water; some are designed to reduce hull drag only. The transition for them to participate will not be smooth. Fair ratings are already a challenge as boats of various performance types gather. Increasing speed, particularly when that speed greatly varies amid windspeed and sea state, will heighten the task.

I think back to the growth of windsurfing, when smart people pushed the boundaries, developing boards and sails and masts that created more speed and excitement. But it also raised the skill and wind-strength required, limiting who and when one could sail. With boardsailing fully focused on the high-performance range, classes that were suitable for light winds and less skilled people were forgotten and soon faded away.

The growth of foiling will continue, but what is special now should not be forgotten by the excitement of this new development. “What matters most is not what kind of boat you are sailing…just that you are sailing,” counsels Ben Hall, who sails everything from A Class Cats to his Evelyn 32. “Being on the water, and enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded people, is what fuels our sport.”

We should consider the history of windsurfing as a guide: when we cater to the minority we risk losing the majority. It’s an important standard to remember.

The post The Cool Kids are Foiling appeared first on Sailing World.

Conceived in 2010 by Andrew McDougall, the designer of the Mach 2 Moth, the WASP has been a several year project aimed at making foiling sailboats more accessible to the sailing community.

An affordable, modern, durable, easy to learn and race class, the WASZP offers accessibility to the world of foiling that the Moth cannot. A choice of three rigs provides options for 40 to 100 kilo sailors.

Because of durability of the hull and foils, and the ease of use, the WASZP delivers a platform for both beginner foilers to advanced racers.

The concept was for a foiler similar to a Moth, but answered all the sticking points that stop people buying a Moth; most importantly the cost. At just half the price of a Moth, the WASZP will provide a platform to enter the world of foiling for an entirely new audience.

For more information, specifications and photos of the project, visit their website:www.waszp.com

Check out the first sail, we have liftoff!

The post The New Foiler in Town appeared first on Sailing World.

There was an intense focus on Argo as we headed out to the racecourse for the final day of Key West Race Week. The event was very much on the line as the top three in our class were tied on points. To add some spice to the sauce we were also facing a short, steep sea state that we had not seen since we test sailed the boat in France.

We found out quickly that stable foiling downwind was not going to happen. In smoother water achieving this is a challenge but we quickly learned (after a couple of violent nose-dives) that a compromise mode was best downwind. Foiling when we could but generally sailing a more soaked low-riding mode to keep things safe and stable.

Our game plan for the first race was to start on port, duck everyone and head out to the right side. Our competitive juices got the better of us though and we decided to try for the cross. Not quite and we managed to foul the French in the process incurring a ³slow down² penalty until they were firmly past us. Things perked up from there as we found a great mode upwind and rounded the top mark right behind Armin Strom with Zou Lou in turn right behind us. After slowing down to investigate a crunching sound (more on this later) we saw our lead on the French evaporate and rounded overlapped and split gates. More good mojo upwind to pass the French again.

The final run was difficult with the boat sometimes on the foils but everyone waiting for the inevitable violent nose dive as the foil would pop out of the back of a wave and the boat would collapse back into the water. After finishing second we discovered the crunching noise was the top pin of the rudder assembly had ripped out of it’s carbon housing.

After trying to lash it back in place we realized the risk was too great and with heavy hearts retired from the final, winner take all, race.

Rudder damage

How to sum up our first event in the GC 32? First and foremost the feeling of foiling and racing at high speeds was unique and addictive. Having so much fun that you stay out long after racing tells a lot about the boat and how fun it is to sail. As highlighted in my prior post the boat is a beast to sail and punishes mistakes ruthlessly. This makes for a very stressful and physically demanding day on the water. When you get it all right there is no better feeling. When it goes wrong, it goes very wrong.

We have high hopes for the development of the class in the United States and hopefully Key West 2016 will see a lot more of these monsters on the start line.

Wednesday, Jan. 21

Two more light-air races today, nothing super exciting to report on that front. One win and a third for Argo and still leading. The only real drama on our course came from Bella Mente, but I’ll let Terry elaborate on that over in his space.

We’ve been primarily focused on the Melges 32 class for the past five years so apparent-wind sailing was not new to us. Some Caribbean racing on Jason’s Gunboat 62 Elvis also gave us a glimpse into the multihull world. Elvis is primarily a cruising boat but we’ve managed to race it with success and have pushed it fairly hard. Sometimes too hard as our near capsize at the Voile St Barth illustrated last spring.

Enter the GC 32. All carbon, foiling, intensely physical – it’s a big step up. The learning curve has been steep. One of our first major lessons was how much the boat needed to be pressed upwind. It was hard to know if we were doing it right until we started racing here. We’ve been solid upwind and it’s a combination of hiking hard and making sure the boat is pressed enough to be quick. When all is right, all of a sudden the foils start working and the elevator is in full effect. It’s hard to commit to this initially, but the rewards are tremendous.

Today’s second race was a real eye opener as both the French and Swiss teams schooled us on technique. Armin Strom started on port with their gennaker deployed, something we never thought would work, and beat us to the top mark by 200 meters. The French team left the gennaker down but showed how important weight forward and twist was to making these boats go upwind. These were important lessons to put in our fairly small playbook.

We are all keeping our heads down tonight anticipating an intense final two days to the event. We are cognizant that we need to be perfect over the next two days to stay on top of some very talented teams and sailors.

Tuesday, Jan. 20

Patience rewarded today.

For us, the first attempt at yachting was ugly. It was very light with a substantial left shift on the first run. The race committee wisely pulled the plug until conditions improved, which didn’t happen until around 1400. The upside surprise relative to the forecast 8 to 10 was an occasional look at 12.

The first race of the day was fairly pin favored, enough so that everyone but us elected to start on port. We had a nice start at the pin, forcing everyone to duck. The rich got richer from there as a nice vein of pressure on the left delivered us to the top mark with a handy lead. It was all sunshine from there as we managed clean crew work and took a nice win. Even in the light winds, the downwind leg was full on with speeds in the low 20s—it doesn’t take much to light up these yachts.

In Race 2 we liked the right and elected to start on port. Maybe it’s the sweetest move as the two boats to the left of us had a good gap at he top mark. A good run fully in the foils saw us close the gap and have a good shot at second. One of our strong points at this event has been a very steady high mode and we put this to work on the second beat and passed through to second, which we maintained to the finish.

We’re very happy to maintain the lead today. We have a lot of respect for all the talented sailors spread throughout our fleet. Everyone is very intense and focused on the water but very collaborative and chill once we get back to dock. This is a new universe for us and we are loving it.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Today was one of those days of sailing you don’t want to end—so much so that we spent an hour after finishing the last race taking friends for rides on the GC32. It’s great seeing new people on the boat and their reaction when we put the bow down and it pops on the foil. It’s just a special boat.

OK, but back to the racing. Conditions were on the lighter side with lots of light patches and shifts. Normally the left is strong in today’s wind direction, but our team and our French rivals on Zou Lou made the right side of the course work and had a substantial gap at the top mark. Consistent foiling and a clean jibe saw us take the lead at the bottom mark. From there we played a rather conservative covering game and came away with the win.

Race two was lighter still and a poor start had us on the back foot early. We seemed to find all the light patches on the first beat and rounded the top mark last, with some serious work to do. Having a gennaker sheet get sucked into the foil case did not help as the top three steamed away at 20 knots while we got it sorted. Once that was behind us it was a beautiful effort and a great comeback to nearly win, losing a shoot with the Armin Strom team.

A 1-2 sees us with the clubhouse lead. Pretty good forecast for tomorrow and we’re looking forward to getting back to it!

Sunday, January 18

It was a great day of sailing on the Argo GC 32.

This was our ninth day of sailing the boat but the first time we had the chance to line up against other boats. It was very valuable to check in on our moding, especially upwind. It’s a bit of a dark art figuring out when to foil, when to skim, and when to sail displacement mode. After some minor adjustments we felt great going upwind. Downwind was fully foiling today with speeds in the mid 20s.

One of the hardest maneuvers on the GC is jibing. It’s an intense 10 seconds to transfer the boards, furl, and unfurl the gennaker and get ripping on the new jibe.

We’re looking forward to see how we go tomorrow. For sure the boats are a thrill to sail and with sky-high closing speeds some interesting situations will definitely develop.

Click here to go back to Sailing World‘s coverage of Key West.

The post Key West Foilers appeared first on Sailing World.

While this writer has not yet tested the boat, I have seen it blasting along at more than 20 knots past the rocky coastline of Saint Lunaire, France, and the published specs are indeed impressive. You can supposedly start foiling with the gennaker in seven knots of wind and reach the 30-knot mark in a downwind breeze of 15-20 knots. Foiling upwind is not a problem, either, in a true windspeed of 10 or more knots. The fast-yet-stable design will allow a weekend sailor a steady foiling experience at a maximum speed of 35 knots, the designers says. The price tag: 29,000 euros ($40,000).

“We want to democratize foiling,” Alexandre Udin, CEO of Phantom International, says.

The Flying Phantom’s launch came just a few weeks after the end of the very dramatic America’s Cup last year, which was a fantastic advertisement for foiling, Udin says.

“The last America’s Cup was the greatest thing that could have happened to the world of sailing, thanks to the revolutionary vision of Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts,” Udin says. “I strongly believe that foiling cats are the future of our sport and will attract the younger generation to sailing.”

The genesis of what Udin calls the “Phantom Project” began about three years ago. Martin Fischer, one of the industry’s most respected foiling specialists, was responsible for the boat’s overall design, while leaving the sail design to Udin. The idea was to create a one-design boat geared for speed and foiling that would be forgiving enough so a small error by an amateur sailor would not cause the boat to do somersaults over the water.

An F18 racing catamaran developed in parallel served as a test boat for the Phantom Project. The speed tweaks proved worthy enough for Olivier Backes and Matthieu Vandame to win the F18 World Championship title in 2012.

Fisher and the design team also worked with Franck Cammas and Groupama to develop the foil technology on Groupama C. Under a technology-sharing agreement, Fischer was able to use technologies gained from Groupama C‘s development on the Phantom project. Cammas, in turn, applied technology from the Phantom F18 to Groupama’s design.

A main issue was figuring out how to apply Groupama C‘s design tweaks on the Phantom in a way that would not make the boat too fast and radical for amateur sailors to handle, a key challenge for such a small boat. A critical variable was finding the sweet spot angle for the foils and rudders, built around a carbon mast, boom, and hull. Ultimately, the Phantom’s final design was a compromise between lowering drag and adding stability.

The design team tried out eight foils and four generations of rudders before they were satisfied. “In the end, we achieved high performance and stability, in a way that weekend sailors can appreciate,” Udin says.

Udin says Phantom International has sold over 30 boats, with eight boats scheduled for delivery in the U.S. So far, the company has invested 500,000 euros and expects to see sales of 4.5 million euros in the near future.

The very deep and dark reds and blacks of the display model accent the “L’” shape of the foils and the “T” design of the rudders on the catamaran, giving it that stealthy “phantom” look. But for owners who want something else, over a thousand different color schemes are available.

Maybe understated colors and graphics might better serve those who want to discretely enter and then win an amateur cat race–before anyone has time to wonder how an amateur sailor was suddenly able to foil along at speeds of more than 30 knots.

Phantom Foiling Catamaran

Phantom Foiling Catamaran 2

Foiling Phantom Catamaran 3

The post The Flying Phantom appeared first on Sailing World.