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as the One Design boat is lighter the take-off is earlier than what we used to have in 2013 with the prototype and the boat is also foiling very well upwind.
Articles: Is a Fully Foiling Beachcat in Your Future?
After watching the Americas Cup last year and seeing the big 72 foot cats fly both hulls, many of us daydreamed about flying over the water on our own (smaller) catamarans.
Discuss this subject in the forum.
But the question was, is it possible? Will the technology "scale down" to the point that some manufacture would be willing to go into production with a fully foiling beach launched catamaran? We now have the first answer to that question with the Flying Phantom from Phantom International of Saint Lunaire, France.
This all-carbon 18x10 (see full specs at end of article) uses an simple yet ingenious set of foiling boards to reach claimed speeds of 30 knots (34 mph) already. These claims are made more believable since during the last Little Americas Cup the foiling C-Class catamaran Groupma C that dominated the competition used the same system and proved to be extremely fast and stable.
Here is the latest report from Phantom about their new flying boat.
FLYING PHANTOM: A ROCKET 2014 START
After a successful launch of the Flying Phantom One Design during the 2013 Paris Boat Show, Phantom International starts this new 2014 year with a high pace to ramp up the activity and prepare the future of the world’s first production foiling catamaran: sailing sessions to test, prepare and optimize the boat; a new website to present products, media and latest news; launch of the production of the first units and preparation of the Dusseldorf Boat Show.
Flashback on these last weeks with Gurvan Bontemps – Flying Phantom Test Pilot
“I’m very happy with the new boat, the one we presented during the Paris Boat Show and that is the first production unit. The last two weeks were dedicated to sailing sessions with the new One Design Flying Phantom. The 4 sailing sessions were very instructive in order to discover the boat: we have new mast, new foils, new sails and the boat is much lighter than the prototype boat.
We continuously optimized the settings and L-shaped foils and T-shaped rudders were validated. We experienced different conditions with a range of wind speeds from 6 to 20 kts including flat water and moderate sea.
The new boat exhibits more stability, as compared to our prototype without any impact on performance, furthermore
We had a session with my crew Benjamin Amiot between Saint Lunaire and Saint Malo in areas with high current and significant waves and by changing slightly the foils’ incidence, we moved the boat in mix flying-skimming mode that allowed us to sail at a level of performance that is not achievable with F18 Catamarans. The boat was exhibiting a lot of power and stability leading to a smooth ride in full control even in difficult sea conditions.
We sailed also with Louis Viat (Franck Cammas crew on Groupama C) and François Gabart (winner of the 2013 Vendée Globe). Louis was really surprised by the performances and the simplicity of the Flying Phantom as compared to his experience with the C-Class Catamaran. François is an experienced F18 sailor and is used to multihulls and he was able to safely fly within the first 10 minutes. After 30 minutes he was pushing the boat in full flying mode with a big smile on his face. For him the biggest surprise was the ability of the Flying Phantom to go between 5 and 10 knots faster than a conventional F18 catamaran, even in moderate conditions.
We think we really moved a big step forward in beach catamaran sailing and we will race the boat the coming season in dedicated Flying Phantom events but as well in fleet races and long distance race.
We would like also to thank early adopters and top multihull sailors that ordered the first units of the Flying Phantom OD and We are looking forward to the first customers’ deliveries in April.”
Watch the Latest Video of the Fully Foiling Flying Phantom.
SPECIFICATIONS
Design team: Martin Fischer
Development team: Alex Udin, Franck Cammas and Groupama sailing team
Class: One Design
Lenght: 5.52m / 18″
Width: 3.00m
Weight: 165kg
Mast: Tapered / Carbon autoclaved / 9.5m
Appendices: T-foil rudders shape foiling dagger boards carbon autoclaved
Hulls construction: Carbon fiber / honeycomb sandwich / epoxy
Main: SI VXM Carbon Technora membrane / 18sqm with mast
Jib: SI VXM Carbon Technora membrane/ 5.5sqm
Gennaker: SI Polyester / 24sqm
Max speed: + 30 knots
More articles in category Articles
- Florida 300 Coverage (by DamonLinkous on May 16, 2016)
- Is a Fully Foiling Beachcat in Your Future? (by DamonLinkous on Jan 13, 2014)
- Eaton/Clarke on Canaan Win 2010 Little America's Cup (by damonAdmin on Aug 29, 2010)
- Little America's Cup All Tied After Day 1 Match Racing (by damonAdmin on Aug 28, 2010)
- It's Canada VS Australia for 2010 Little America's Cup (by damonAdmin on Aug 26, 2010)
- Steve Clark's Aethon Wing Destroyed, America Out of Little America's Cup (by damonAdmin on Aug 26, 2010)
- Little America's Cup Racing Begins, Day 1 Results (by damonAdmin on Aug 25, 2010)
- Little America's Cup Update (by damonAdmin on Aug 24, 2010)
- 2010 Little America's Cup Preview (by damonAdmin on Aug 05, 2010)
- Gilligan's Run: Endurance Series Round Two (by cyberspeed on Jul 20, 2010)
Comments
Add a new commentI do not see these being economical to the average wet ass boat sailor. I do see them being on the race circuit most certainly but those entering a fleet or club environment is probably a uphill sell. An example of having to Portsmouth or other rating system to sail in a local club race such as our club. Most certainly used boats will trickle in over time. At this time I see these boats being owned by a small number of cat sailors that have silly money to burn. But damn I would love to own one and sail on one so don't listen to a words a of a crazy cat woman.
Just try to make them reachable in price because there are a lot of us folks on the edge of the known world tempting the Gods with one hull over the edge waiting.