eye candy

DArcy

.
Feb 11, 2017
1,690
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
The next step in sailboat technology will be a means of redirecting air from the sails through ducting in the hull to make a hovercraft and eliminate the drag caused by the foils.
That brings up an interesting point. When Paul Larsen was trying to break the world speed sailing record in Sailrocket 2 he ran in to a wall where his foils just could not go faster, there was non-linear effect where drag increased exponentially. He went to an expert who designed a super-cavitating foil and he broke through the barrier and got up over 65 knots. I believe the barrier was around 54 knots which is just where the AC75s got to. I wonder how the foil designers are dealing with this effect. I believe there was a trade off with low speed performance in making the super-cavitating foils.

Since this is the eye candy thread I'll throw in a beauty shot of Sailrocket 2

 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
The only thing a Sailor needs the water for is lateral resistance. It is half the wedge that drives the boat. If one can "fly" the boat and just take LR from the water, it might look more like skis than foils with the barest skeg in the water to keep the boat on track. It could be something more like a kiteboard.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
  • Like
Likes: jon hansen