Foiling cats, now the GC32 gets it's due

Hey, been a bit busy the last little while!

Happy to answer any questions, but to give a short update: boat is amazing. everyone that has sailed it from an AC team is genuinely shocked at how good it is. You will see video of these comments soon.

for now, you can see me talking about it here:- http://www.thedailysail.com/inshore/14/66477/0/video-gc32-goes-foiling

macca: Correct me if I'm wrong but that video doesn't show very efficient foiling. It looks like they're flying the leward hull the whole time and hobby-horsing quite a bit...

We are doing 16-18kts boatspeed at 48deg true.... so its pretty good VMG!

The waves are quite big, and you can see the chase boat which is a 23ft RIB bouncing in the air on the waves while following us.

Leeward hull flying is really quick, the righting moment increase is substantial and the leeway is reduced as well. We have become more adept over the last few days at keeping it in the groove and now can sail those angles and maintain a speed upwind over 20kts pretty much all the time. When you see it first hand it really hits you that its moving crazy fast

I was at Mischa's lecture of all things foiling this week where he showed some non foiling vc foiling GC32, the foiling looked less stable but faster.
Interview with him from this event from a major yachting magazine:
http://www.zeilen.nl/nieuws/vliegende-boten-opmars

Very interesting stuff. For those that can't read Dutch (like me), direct Google translation link here.

Wow -congrates to all involved ,amazingly fast speeds .

Interesting aside --part of the added speed would have to be the stability of the sail once foiling . The more the crew perfects sailing techniques for a stable platform and sail plan the faster it goes .

Hard to imagine the loads and stress on the boards -board wells and hull in those areas --amazing tech advances !--way to go guys !!

Beautiful!

Wow! That looks really stable. Of course I'm sure it would be a different story in a tacking duel or having to deal with other boats. Looks like they are getting it down pat pretty quickly.

Pretty amazing how that foil tip flexes (I presume that's what I'm seeing)...but, yes, super stable. That must be one heck of a ride.

Kinda like the suspension on a car. Probably adds a bit of dynamic stability.

In the first half of the vid, the board was further down on the starboard tack - I presume more of a pointing mode.

Later, on the port tack, the board is further up with quite a bit more spray off the side. Looks like they're going a good bit faster as well. Perhaps reaching.

Impossible (at least for my amateur eyes) to judge true wind direction from the vid. Video mentions 12-14 TWS, but the water/waves don't look like it.

From the comments in that last video:

one thing I don't understand......

how come they have the latest and greatest carbon bits and pieces fitted up everwhere and yet cant seem to find enough loose change to buy a DECENT BLOODY CAMERA

<img src="<>/mad.gif" alt="mad" title="mad" height="15" width="15" />

What's wrong with the camera? It looks good to me.

Was that board really flexing or was it the refraction of the water?

Maybe a little bit of both. If you watch the tip relative to the dolphin striker, its definitely flexing a bit.

flexes a lot <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

The GC32 Austria Cup is happening and the talent is deep. You can watch the racing live. Many speak of how stable the platform is when foiling. Good stuff.

Austria Cup Homepage

GC32 Homepage

Livestream

Day 1 pics

Chris Draper interview

Tom Slingsby interview

Team Richard Mille will attempt to beat the coarse record at Round the Island on GC32

It's a fad....

I read that post title and wondered how it was going to get under some of the bridges- then I read the article and apparently this ain't the Florida RI regatta.

Why is this fast???

Because they are doing it right, full on foiling, with T foil rudders and angle of attack control.

They are not just riding a sea-saw.

If you want to go foiling, do it right.

One seriously cool boat, but you'd have to have some deep pockets to play that game. I think I read on SA it was $200k for the boat? Which would be the cheap part.

I really wasn't asking <img src="<>/laugh.gif" alt="laugh" title="laugh" height="15" width="15" />

I do not like the mainsheet system that much. Seems as though the helmsman has to spin it off the winch around the handle - pretty snarly... this is a temporary issue, and they will sail around it with technique refinement.

Hot boat for a half million or so. I doubt we see them in the southern states, but there is hope in the NACRA Carbon 20 and its new foiling kit.