Formula 40 singlehanded trimaran build log

You might study the anticavitation strategies used on outboard powered foilers designed by Kotaro Horiuchi and others



http://www.elektrofoil.se/bilder/bilaga2_1.jpg

 

What good light tech might I have missed?

Some time ago I saw a nice light fuel cell in an ocean racer. No generator. No motor. Few batteries... Did anything come of that?

 

The fuel cells are pretty well accepted now and offer a good weight saving and reliable charging Francis Joyon uses one on IDEC. In addition to more efficient solar panels and wind charging you can generally get by with only a very light generator for emergencies. The other big weight saver is lightweight desalination units. The requirement for tankage is reduced (you still need to carry a minimum amount of water though).

I should amend my comment to say that none of the technology is strictly new but it's certainly more refined now and lighter in weight.

 

I didn't expect anything completely new, just now reliable enough to displace old heavy equipment and getting cheap enough for privateers. Good news about fuel cells -I want to see them eliminate all IC engines from race boats. Now if only cracking seawater was efficient you could make hydrogen from solar and wind, then drink the condensed exhaust from the fuel cell. I will have to look at desalinization again -I hope small units have gotten more reliable.

I suspect LED lighting and better electronics dropping power budgets made solar capability look bigger. Have autopilots gotten substantially better? They must have, my cell phone has more sensors than my autopilot. Has AIS replaced radar for racing? Is satellite weather info cheap offshore?

 

LED lighting is a great help and reduced electronics draw certainly help decrease the power budget. On the rest of the questions not sure I'll have a chat to our club commodore in regards to autopilot power draw, it's something you never want to be without. Has AIS replaced radar? Radar is not required under Cat 1 multihull regulations as far as I can see, AIS certainly gives a lot of useful information and must greatly improve safety.

http://www.yachting.org.au/site/yac... Multihulls 2009 form updated v3 FJW JO.pdf

Once again not sure on weather info there is quite a bit available online but accessing can be problematic and/or expensive offshore. Weather fax is still in existence and you can download GRIB files eg http://www.globalmarinenet.com/grib_downloads.php.

I'd be interested to hear what people are using offshore for their weather requirements while on passage as well.

 

Ais is a colision avoidance tool. Work great at identifing other ais equiped vessels.

Radar is a navigation tool. You can see the coastline profile, breaking reefs , unlit bouys....

You need both if you wish to operate all weather.

Unless you are fitted with sat com, grib files are downloaded via ssb radio.

http://sailmail.com/


Handheld iridium phones are also possible.

Consult Weather Track for Ipad for grib access information . The program is cheap and well concieved

http://www.weathertrack.us/intro.html

The electronics package...autopilot, instruments, communication..is energy intensive. You will need plenty of stored energy.

 

Thanks Corley and Michael. I have not been offshore in years but I am an engineer and a tech junky.

Back then weather reports were lacking. We didn't have SSB. Is it cheaper or more common now? Do they broadcast more digital info?

These days close to shore it is amazing the weather and map info I can get on my smart phone. I know the only reasons this info is not cheap offshore are business plans and lobbyists -maintain the problem so we can sell a solution!

I asked about AIS because it gets better as it gets more common. The last I looked it seemed cheap enough to be required on even modest offshore vessels. On shore networked traffic programs are taking over. Waze made big bucks for it's investors with the simple plan that users get info for providing info. It is insane that some equivalent has not been created for boats. How stupid is it that we still search for channels and cuts visually? What percentage of sandbars that boats got stuck on were not known to some locals? My estimate is one percent or less and those could be anticipated by a recent weather event.

 

Ssb and its installation are still expensive. Secondhand units are cheap.

Sat com has come down in price.

Handheld sat phones are also cheap these days

Electronics changes so fast that its best to speak with a pro.

For instance i see that common vhf radios now have built in ais ...350 dollars. Thats a fraction of the cost of two standalone units
Your iphone ipad can now handle professional Transas Marine charts. And cheaply

http://isailor.us/

http://www.standardhorizon.com/inde...075389DC4199A79B6C1&DivisionID=3&isArchived=0



Speak to a pro

 

Is there any data transmission on the SAT phones? Or VHF for that mater? And the $350 AIS/VHF, that's send and receive w output to plotter?
Is SAT communication taking over from SSB?

I think there is a cell phone AIS -ais sites on shore that connect to the internet you can view on your smart phone.

 

I am on the boat communicating with you via the internet right now. Mobile phone connection. 15 euro per gigabyte. With an external antenea on the mast reception is about 30 miles from mobile phone tower.

Mobile iridium sat phones can also do data transmission. http://web.globalmarinenet.com/blog...llite-Email-and-GRIB-Files-on-iPad-or-Android

I guess the vhf outputs ais to a plotter. It makes sense.

 

I used an isasatphone pro. Its much cheaper than iridium to buy and much cheaper to buy "minutes". The connection is slow but you can get gribs

 

I'll have a similar setup on my F40 trimaran the video below is a tour of Richard Hewson's Mini Transat 650. The challenge is really to distill the gear down to the bare minimum.

http://youtu.be/BrzG71m8eJg

 

Thanks for the link re VODAFONE.

I can see why they are not a vessel for Ocean racing.

Which 40 footer did you go with.

The Formular 40 racer or the 40 footer with Flared Main Hull.

OC

 

The F40 trimaran in cylinder mold it's pretty low tech but should be adequate. I'd build the flared hull version in composite if I had the coin.

The ORMA's are quite seaworthy but they were a compromise borne of the rules of the class. Nigel Iren's considered them too stiff to be safe hence his later thinking on narrower beam trimarans like IDEC and Sodebo.

I don't know if you have seen this Steven Callahan interview with Nigel Iren's and talks a bit about the ORMA development it's a really good read even if it is from Feb 2000.

http://www.stevencallahan.net/images/proboat/irens-feb2000.pdf

 

Hi Corley,
a bit off topic & I'm sure you've done some study x $ per M2 on foam v cylinder molding, I'd be fairly certain there's only a slim margin in material cost using quality ply + epoxy/sheathing against foam cored construction, everything gets sold eventually & then any margin would be more than consumed on resale. Just my take.
Jeff.