High Performance MPX Foil/Self-righting Trimaran-The Test Model

Fire Arrow Foiling System Testing and Development

In one of the wildest things that has happened in a while a guy on another forum discovered that Maserati is the FIRST fullsize trimaran to use a lifting foil on the daggerboard in combination with an UptiP foil on the stb ama!!!!!
Very similar to the Fire Arrow configuration conceived of 6 years ago and tested successfully in light air two years ago!
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Heres what the Maserati guys say about the Fire Arrow system-it may sound familiar to anyone that has read this thread:

First* trimaran in the world to fly with effortless stability on the horizontal loading-bearing surface of her centerboard, Maserati Multi70 brilliantly puts into practice Guillaume Vernier and his Team’s idea of flying on three resting points using a load-bearing centerboard, L-foil and a rudder instead of the two rudders and single foil adopted on America’s Cup cats.
Giovanni Soldini and his Team are engaged in a new challenge as they endeavour to turn Maserati Multi70 into the first ocean-going flying trimaran. An ambitious project that spans not just Guillaume Vernier’s excellent work (he worked on the modifications to her appendages) but also over 4.000 nautical miles of sailing clocked up by the Team this summer.
The straight central daggerboard plays a revolutionary role in this new flying trim as the horizontal load bearing surface at its end generates lift, raising the boat out of the water. “When Maserati Multi70 rises up on her lateral foil and rudder, the daggerboard wing acts as a third resting point – the central and largest one”.
Tests in wind of 40 knots have demonstrated that Maserati Multi70 is now much more stabilized and able to fly in conditions unthinkable before. Safely tackling also big seas.

* Fire Arrow was the first trimaran to use this configuration!

 

Fire Arrow Foiling System Testing and Development

Updated Fire Arrow System Advantages:
Note-see Maserati video below for Fire Arrow System working on a 70' trimaran

One of the great advantages of using a properly designed UptiP foil on a foiling trimaran ama is SIMPLICITY: on the Fire Arrow the ama foil has NEVER needed to have the angle of incidence adjusted while sailing as is common on many UptiP foil applications. And if the foil is properly designed for it's application ,it's efficiency will be apparent. As shown in the pictures below the lee ama flies before the main hull, but as soon as the boat speeds up and the main hull flies the lee ama altitude remains the same. That illustrates that the lee UptiP foil is working PERFECTLY in two different load and speed cases.See pix "A" and "B" below.
The Fire Arrow uses a wand controlled main foil which controls the altitude of the main hull and the angle of heel of the whole boat. Further, and this is very important: the wand controlled main foil works with the single rudder T-foil in a bi-foiler arrangement and the two together control the ride angle of the lee ama UptiP foil. That prevents pitch excursions caused solely by the lee ama foil.
The way the mainfoil works is that as soon as the main hull flies the mainfoil begins to unload with the lee ama foil gradually taking the majority of load. That allows the mainfoil to work with the rudder T -foil to control the pitch of the boat with far more pitch authority than on a conventional tri. And, using a wand controlled(or similar) foil on the daggerboard allows the main hull to fly MUCH SOONER than it would if it had to wait for wind pressure to do it.
The mainfoil can also develop substantial downforce* increasing the righting moment in response to gusts. All this is done 100% automatically making for a simple, robust system that requires ZERO crew attention!
* with downforce, the main foil works similarly to a Moth foil with Veal Heel, generating a component of lift to windward.See illustration below.
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The vertical portion of the ama foil is at +3 degrees AOI. The vertical portion of the daggerboard is at zero degrees. So the UptiP ama foil is developing lift to windward to allow leeway coupling and develop lateral resistance for the boat particularly upwind.
In stronger conditions, when the main foil develops down force( upwind), the leeway components are greater than the vertical portion of the UptiP foil can effectively handle, there is a small extra component of lift to windward(due to downforce)-while the vertical portion of the ama foil is still working at 100%. The daggerboard is designed to be unloaded by the lee ama foil to reduce drag and facilitate leeway coupling.
However, it should be pointed out that the ama foil will still provide substantial vertical lift with little to no leeway coupling-like can occur off the wind. Lift substantially(and automatically) increases upwind because of leeway coupling.
----
Testing clearly shows the progression of the boat to full foiling from the problems encountered at the beginning-the last video is 100% proof that the foil system worked perfectly-regardless of any uninformed attempt to say otherwise. See the 9/16 video of Maserati to see the basic Fire Arrow system in use on a 70' tri. We reached a major milestone with the boat foiling in a 5 mph wind while using two different altitude control systems simultaneously. July 24th, 2014 was a major accomplishment for the boat after a great deal of development-and we will build on that as testing and evaluation continues. Next step is to test Welbourn ama foils in place of uptip foils and build a fullsize prototype. See posts on the Fire Arrow Variation.
Attributes of the Fire Arrow foil configuration:
1) allows an oversquare trimaran to foil in very light air,
--
2) allows full foiling upwind and downwind completely automatically without any adjustments by the crew,
--
3) allows for retractable foils controlled from the cockpit,
--
4) allows the lee UptiP ama foil, with an AOI of +3 degrees, to unload the daggerboard(AOI zero degrees) for reduced drag and enhanced leeway coupling.
--
5) the foil system has considerably greater pitch authority than any conventional trimaran,
--
6) allows automatic control of the angle of heel of the whole boat,
--
7) allows automatic control of the ride angle of the lee ama UptiP foil.
--
8) allows mainfoil to automatically unload as the mainhull flies ,dramatically reducing drag.
--
9) allows automatic gust response with instantaneous increases in righting moment (automatically) as required.
--
10) allows a "Two Stage" ama that provides back up buoyancy if needed but allows the part of the ama that would normally make incidental contact with the water, to be as small as practical.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i5H_Q1e2uI

 

Fire Arrow Variation

Did some more work on this today. If I was to scale down the 19.5 foot Fire Arrow to 14' it would have a beam of nearly 16' and would have to fold. That does not appeal to me.
If I use the Welbourn foils, the platform can be just 8' wide but the foils can be 3.5 to 4' long making the maximum beam nearly 16'. The problem with that is having to make trunks etc.
So tonight I came up with a potentially good idea: build the amas with flat outboard sides and have the foil(and /or foil trunk) pivot* at the gunnel(or wherever). The idea would be to eliminate internal trunks but still allow the foils to be adjustable in rake and cant. I think I may build some relatively quickie ama hulls and attach them to the current two stage ama after the current ama hull is removed. This would be a great test for the Welbourn foil concept and the folding/retracting foil system. The boat would be an exact scale model of the 14 simply by changing the amas and platform beam and this wouldn't take too long. It would allow pictures and video of the boat as well as accurate testing of the Fire Arrow foil system adapted to Welbourn foils.
Might just be the way to go......

*Similar to the way the Vampire foils pivot up. The vampire foils retract by pivoting thru about 100 degrees and the windward foil is always retracted. The Welbourn foil system on my boat would be designed so that after launching, the foils stay in the deployed position with the windward foil automatically clear of the water since the whole boat will sail at about a 10 degree angle of heel. The foils wouldn't have to be retracted for shallow water because when the boat is slow and level they are not immersed much. They would only be pivoted up for trailering.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To2yjKkozZM


picture by YC Carnac:

 

Fire Arrow Variation Using Welbourn-type Foils

On the two flying boats that Hugh Welbourn has designed using his lifting version of DSS foils they both fly in very light air which is what I want my boat to do. The Fire Arrow has done that-flying in a 5mph(not knots) wind-using an oversquare platform and uptip ama foils and wand controlled lifting main foil.
One could wonder why I want to use the center lifting foil with the Welbourn foils given how well the boats he designed work with such a foil.
The reason is the platform beam of 8' which means the center of lift of the foils will be 6'+ from the center of gravity of the boat. When you do the numbers it is clear that the boat would not fly until at least 17 mph of wind if solely relying on the Welbourn foils for flight. Since I want to fly reliably in very light air-around 5 mph- the only way to do that with this trimaran is to use a center lifting foil which is the basis of the Fire Arrow System. That wand controlled foil will permit automatic early takeoff.

 

Updated(10/8/16-#'s 11 and 12 added below-refer to previous version-post 2387- for additional pictures) Fire Arrow System Advantages:
Note-see Maserati video in post 2387 for the basic Fire Arrow System working on a 70' trimaran

One of the great advantages of using a properly designed UptiP foil on a foiling trimaran ama is SIMPLICITY: on the Fire Arrow the ama foil has NEVER needed to have the angle of incidence adjusted while sailing as is common on many UptiP foil applications. And if the foil is properly designed for it's application ,it's efficiency will be apparent. As shown in the pictures below the lee ama flies before the main hull, but as soon as the boat speeds up and the main hull flies the lee ama altitude remains the same. That illustrates that the lee UptiP foil is working PERFECTLY in two different load and speed cases.See pix "A" and "B" below.
The Fire Arrow uses a wand controlled main foil which controls the altitude of the main hull and the angle of heel of the whole boat. Further, and this is very important: the wand controlled main foil works with the single rudder T-foil in a bi-foiler arrangement and the two together control the ride angle of the lee ama UptiP foil. That prevents pitch excursions caused solely by the lee ama foil.
The way the mainfoil works is that as soon as the main hull flies the mainfoil begins to unload with the lee ama foil gradually taking the majority of load. That allows the mainfoil to work with the rudder T -foil to control the pitch of the boat with far more pitch authority than on a conventional tri. And, using a wand controlled(or similar) foil on the daggerboard allows the main hull to fly MUCH SOONER than it would if it had to wait for wind pressure to do it.
The mainfoil can also develop substantial downforce* increasing the righting moment in response to gusts. All this is done 100% automatically making for a simple, robust system that requires ZERO crew attention!
* with downforce, the main foil works similarly to a Moth foil with Veal Heel, generating a component of lift to windward.See illustration below.
-------
The vertical portion of the ama foil is at +3 degrees AOI. The vertical portion of the daggerboard is at zero degrees. So the UptiP ama foil is developing lift to windward to allow leeway coupling and develop lateral resistance for the boat particularly upwind.
In stronger conditions, when the main foil develops down force( upwind), the leeway components are greater than the vertical portion of the UptiP foil can effectively handle, there is a small extra component of lift to windward(due to downforce)-while the vertical portion of the ama foil is still working at 100%. The daggerboard is designed to be unloaded by the lee ama foil to reduce drag and facilitate leeway coupling.
However, it should be pointed out that the ama foil will still provide substantial vertical lift with little to no leeway coupling-like can occur off the wind. Lift substantially(and automatically) increases upwind because of leeway coupling.
----
Testing clearly shows the progression of the boat to full foiling from the problems encountered at the beginning-the last video is 100% proof that the foil system worked perfectly-regardless of any uninformed attempt to say otherwise. See the 9/16 video of Maserati to see the basic Fire Arrow system in use on a 70' tri. We reached a major milestone with the boat foiling in a 5 mph wind while using two different altitude control systems simultaneously. July 24th, 2014 was a major accomplishment for the boat after a great deal of development-and we will build on that as testing and evaluation continues. Next step is to test Welbourn ama foils in place of uptip foils and build a fullsize prototype. See posts on the Fire Arrow Variation.
Attributes of the Fire Arrow foil configuration:
1) allows an oversquare trimaran to foil in very light air,
--
2) allows full foiling upwind and downwind completely automatically without any adjustments by the crew,
--
3) allows for retractable foils controlled from the cockpit,
--
4) allows the lee UptiP ama foil, with an AOI of +3 degrees, to unload the daggerboard(AOI zero degrees) for reduced drag and enhanced leeway coupling.
--
5) the foil system has considerably greater pitch authority than any conventional trimaran,
--
6) allows automatic control of the angle of heel of the whole boat,
--
7) allows automatic control of the ride angle of the lee ama UptiP foil.
--
8) allows mainfoil to automatically unload as the mainhull flies ,dramatically reducing drag.
--
9) allows automatic gust response with instantaneous increases in righting moment (automatically) as required.
--
10) allows a "Two Stage" ama that provides back up buoyancy if needed but allows the part of the ama that would normally make incidental contact with the water, to be as small as practical.
11) ama foils can be uptip foils, wand controlled foils or Welbourn -type foils(with less platform beam).
--
12) UptiP ama foils have 3 degrees of twist in the "up-tip" portion of the foil-washin not washout- specifically to help with low windspeed takeoff.


=================

 

Matthew

I have gone through an interesting experience related to this damn storm:
I had no phone or computer until around 7pm tonight. Some friends asked me to stay with them on their farm in Geneva(near Sanford). My car is not running well enough to make the trip so I rented one and left Wednesday. I was convinced that the wind/storm surge forecast was correct and I felt I should go. It was nice seeing them- I got back here today and the power was on and little damage except for the total loss of the dock. I think many people decided to stay on the beach because there was little to no excess traffic either leaving or returning.
My friends still have no power(and no running water) but no other damage to speak of.
No computer or phone here when I got back this morning but it just came up an hour or so ago.

 

Matthew

The dock is, at least, insured. A couple of before and after shots:







The neighbors dock:

 

Doug, glad to hear you and your property escaped relatively unscathed.

 

Matthew

Thanks, Corley. We really lucked out compared to the forecast when I left-if it had hit us like that my place would have been an inlet......

 

I am sure you will get a massive number of votes. Fire Arrow is obviously superior to Maserati.

 

Fire Arrow Foiling System

Maserati is using the Fire Arrow Foiling System for the first time on a full size tri -it is a spectacular accomplishment! Both boats use the same basic foiling system which is a tremendous advance in trimaran foiler design and has the potential to be used on any size tri from 12' on up.
It's idiotic to say that Fire Arrow is superior to Maserati-they both illustrate the application of a truly revolutionary foiling configuration for trimarans that's never been used on any other trimaran in the history of the world. It represents a step forward in small and large trimaran design.

 

Before you draw breath to claim someone else has stolen you idea again. Check this out;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9I40mXHf6A

 

Fire Arrow Foil System / Maserati

First of all I don't think anyone has stolen my idea. The whole reason I published the design development on boatdesign was to share the ideas. I have several patents and I could have added a few more with the Fire Arrow System but I specifically chose not to.
However, Maserati claims their boat is the first trimaran to use my system-that needs to be corrected but what they've done is just fantastic.
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That video does show somebody being ripped off though-and its not me. I'm going to send it to Hugh Welbourn whose patent covers that whole concept-amazing that someone would try such a clear case of theft of intellectual property as that!! It's a basic ripoff alright but somewhat of a misapplication of the technology.
Thanks for posting it....

 

Doug, what happened to the self righting claim ? Or are the freeze frames of it upright proof that it self rights also ?
Did that go in the too hard basket with foiling 2 years ago as well ?

 

Fire Arrow Foiling System Testing and Development

------------------------
Actually, it might help if you had read the thread-I realize it is long but it is also detailed and covers every aspect of the design and development of the Fire Arrow Foil System.
I built the prototype too heavy missing the 16.8 lb target and winding up at 21.3 lbs. That was both good and bad, the extra weight was equivalent to three people plus 80 lbs. of gear. And she took off and flew perfectly on her last day of testing at that weight.
Unfortunately, that meant that the ballast required to test the self-righting capability would probably have added too much weight. So the self-righting tests probably won't be done with this model but may be done with a small full size prototype. Developing the foil system became the main priority as it was understood how unique it was and the advantages it offered to trimaran designs from 12' on up.
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The last day of testing proved that the foil system worked 100% perfectly taking off in a 5mph breeze. Based on that and the testing and development that led up to that and on Maserati's extensive testing using the same basic foil system it's time to build a small full size version to continue development. There might be a limited degree of model testing should I decide to use Welbourn-type foils on a narrower platform instead of uptip foils. But, thanks to Maserati, the probability is that model testing is done and the next step is a full size 14-16' prototype.
=================
There are no "freeze frames". We did an 8 minute video and three additional more or less 2 minute runs to get the still pictures. It was very light air with waves left over from the previous 15 hours of 20 mph wind over a 20 mile fetch coming thru a bridge close to where we were testing. The big waves and very light air were sometimes troublesome.