New Hobie F18?

The Shark was my first boat and they all had them. I was Class Sec. for year and lobbied heavily against them.
Spray Rail was the name of them, and they lived up to their name. They sprayed water everywhere and really got you wet.
One Class Pres. who was for keeping them said they helped keep the boat from pitchpoling. But if, you look at the angle of the Spray Rail, it actually would help a pitchpole once the boat drove under that far.

Also, that spray that was constantly flying off them was a lot of drag.
Today's Sharks are all Spray Rail free.
Rick

Since anything on the hull that is not smooth is going to increase drag, why would to do something to stiffen the hull externally when you could do it w/o the penalty internally?

I think that he meant the winning answer was just styling (he highlighted that part in bold)

Aren't they all wet there? Man, I was foredeck on myown boat at Sakonnet 100, for 10 miles downwind with Spi, and skip wanted to sail deep, so I was on the leward hull. It's wet down there. Needed scuba equipment!

When conditions are extreme yes, otherwise some are much worse than others. This is where some of the older boats were much more crew friendly. Where the forward section of the hulls flared out towards a flat(ish) deck level the spray from the bow would (mostly) be deflected to leeward and many main beams were set flush with forward deck level. This way the water didn't 'explode' when hitting the front beam on deck.
I know some will argue that these older flat deck designs were sometimes not as pitchpole resistant, but if the crew can see what they are doing it is less likely to happen in the first place!
Do I think think the lip/rail will do much on the Hobie (If it actually appears on the boat)? - No. What it has done is get people talking about a 'new Hobie F18'

Cheshirecatman

Not a long time to wait now, this new F18 will be presented at the 'nautic' expo in Paris, on december 5th.

In french those little rails on the side of the hulls are called

Moustaches

, and the current thinking on the french forums I visit is that they are there mostly for marketing reason. It's all cute and curvy, but mostly useless...

http://www.catclubzeeland.nl/e107_images/newspost_images/2414.480.jpg
could this be it?

I think that's an FXone with the jib track. Doesn't look long enough to be a Fox

i heard orrigionally thats what it was going to look like. a shorter fox. Could the other pic be a ruse?

I saw that picture too but that is probably just a regular Fox, according to the entry list there are two of them competing there.
Its also a little to big to be an F18, its the same same length as the N20 sitting next to it.

It's a Fox. You can see the trampoline track on the inside of the hull.

The boat was relesed this weekend anyone got photos?

I spoke to Mischa today he said the mast section is not completed but is on stand by to start testing very soon.

I will post soms pics as soon as i get soms proper WIFI.

That's kind of like the guy that leaves me voicemails at my desk stating

I'll try you on your cell phone, so disregard this message

.

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EXACTLY!

I thought I had the cliffhanger thing going on here <img src="<>/wink.gif" alt="wink" title="wink" height="15" width="15" />

Just got back from Paris, had a good time at the boatshow, turned out I wasnt the only one crazy enough to drive to Paris and back in a day. <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

Anyway, here are the pics I took at the boatshow today (except the one from the foils, I got those from a fellow sailor).
http://picasaweb.google.nl/TonyMels/ParisBoatshow08
Hobiecat used a color paint which was particularly hard to photograph.
I put all things multihull or interesting in the gallery.
Also checkout the new FX-One Carbon which looks really good.

great photos, although its a shame people kept blocking your profile shot.

What's the iCat?

iCat it the new FX1-Full Carbon.
The new F18 is actually called the W.Cat (or very similar).

Sweet pics. Was that Beto's crossing cat? The one with the wing tents?

I enjoy watching evolution. That daggerboard is so thin and skinny - it's a complete deviation from the beginnings of F18 development. Early F18s (Nacras) used the high profile (skinny) I20 board profile but rumor had it that it made the boat really hard to handle on the start line when the water speed was low. F18 evolved fatter and fatter boards. Now this with the really high aspect ratio foil (it appears to be even more so than the early Nacra). Is it a step forward, or a step back? Perhaps it's something that you have to be REALLY good at boat handling to use on the start line - but I can see how it might have an upwind advantage.

The bow seems to be pretty thin. The reverse bow does sing a little like the Capricorn. It's hard to tell due to the color - but it doesn't seem to have as much down-low hull volume that the Capricorn has. The sterns look fat and wide and has the chine - Infusion-esque. It perhaps has more rocker than both the Capricorn and the Infusion - sort of like the older Nacra F18. It's a good looking boat.

Not that I'm in the market for an F18 at the moment - but I am disappointed that it appears that the Tiger trampoline attachment method will be carrying over to this boat. The Tiger tramps always felt so mushy because they aren't laced to any hard points on the sides. That, or the Tigers I've sailed on weren't tightened properly.

Jake: the tiger you sailed was probably not set up properly, if you tighten it with the mainsheet it is usually quite stiff.

As you can see it is far from a finished product, from what i heard there will indeed be a different tramp setup (dont know the exact details yet).

Surley those dagger boards will break.

Will be interesting to see finished product.

Someone out there will get a photo of the Test boats. They are not that easy to hide.

no reason for the foils to break if properly built. They do however look like a mistake to be. They would be fast on the computer and in two boat testing with the world's best on board. But in the hands of Joe Weekend, I see a lot of bad starts and poor tacks.

Tony,

was there any published data on how huch the FX1 carbon tips the scales at?

I think it looks fantastic. Those foils look dangerous. Can't wait to see it on the water. I wonder if all boats leaving the factory will have that high gloss finish on them.

Can someone please explain why the the very high aspect foils make it harder to control at lower speeds?

A short wide foil will resist side force at lower speed. Imagine an airplane with a big fat stubby wing...like this:

It flies really well at low speeds - the fat wide wing generates a lot of lift without much air flowing over it. However, it has a lot of drag if you try to make it fly faster.

Now picture a very long narrow wing....like this:

Slope soarers / gliders are developed to be highly efficient but have to be at pretty good speeds to develop lift (compared to the lazy bee pictured above).

This translates into this: a short fat foil will provide the side force needed to control the boat off the start line - when it's moving very slowly in the water. A long narrow foil will stall and not generate much lift until it achieves a certain amount of flow over it's surface. This will make a long narrow foil very sensitive at low speeds and susceptible to stall.

Nice looking hulls, not sure about that spray chine though...wonder if they'll get filled in after market?

Excellent Pictures. I'm very envious that you were able to go.