[quote=benedict]The more I look at those AC72 boats, the more I like their implementation of foils. With so many boats, the foils are either designed in in such a way that the boat doesn't work without them (Moth / Hobie Trifoiler) or they're such a bolt-on monstrosity, you wouldn't actually want to use it on the water (remember that mystery boat that was posted a while back that looked like a cross between a Hobie 16 and a biplane?)
What I like about the AC72 design is it's just a different foil/rudder combination. The boats were originally designed with curved boards. Looking at the launch of the AC72s, some still had curved trunks when they hit the water. Others have straight trunks. It's just hardware. And with or without it, the boat is still one sleek piece of work.
So this really does lead me back to my wishful thinking from earlier: What WOULD it take to put foils on a cat that is already rigged for boards?
At a first guess I'm thinking new rudders with T-foils, each of which has adjustable pitch to set the height of the boat in the water. (I like how the Hobie Trifoiler did this, using mechanical feedback.) Next, blades with foils on the bottom. Anything else?
No, I'm not likely to do this to my P-Cat any time soon. And at #540 dry weight, it's really not the boat to do this to anyway. But a guy can dream. Once upon a time catamarans were all sloop or uni rigged, with a couple of crazy guys sticking bowsprits and asymmetric spinnakers on their boats. Now the spinnakers are common practice. Are foils next?
Tom[/quote]
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