Syz and Co foiler catamaran: wow!

[antoineb]

Just wanted to say I've had a chance to approach that new craft, which was just named but is yet to sail.

Basically it's a 32ft catamaran, with very modern hull shapes (wave-piercing bows, etc), in general principle not very different from the 28ft catamarans seen on Lake Geneva.

Where it DOES depart however, is with its two huge foils. These foils rest on outriggers earching about 20in (50cm) outside. The frame used to hold them can be controlled via hydraulics.

So at non-flying speeds, the foils are actually vertical and serve a daggerboards, the plan being that this boat should be at least as fast as comparable classical boats in non-flying conditions.

And when wind speeds get stronger (some say as low as 10-12 knots or a low force 3 bf) the frame allows to get the foils inclined and set deeper in the water.

that's for the theory.

the team say that achieving this, especially getting the weight right (limit of 650 kilos ready to sail including crew of 4, ie about HALF that of the D35 35ft catamarans racing on Lake Geneva), was a huge challenge which is why the boat is ready only now in early October, and not in June as initially hoped.


It's obviously way too early to tell whether this will work. Based on how long it took to get Hydroptere to fly fast one might be tempted to say that Syz & Co will also need time - but on the other hand here we've got a more modern concept from great naval architects (VPLP) and using modern simulation techniques, which I think leaves hope that the craft might fly fairly well and fairly soon. Now whether it flies at say a "mere" 30-35 knots, or whether it flies really fast, remains to be seen.

Good luck in any case

[Fanie]

You have a link or pictures ?

[Chris Ostlind]

Originally Posted by antoineb

Just wanted to say ...
It's obviously way too early to tell whether this will work.

Any suggestion as to lessons learned from the foiling cat, Off Yer Rocker, experiment at the recent C-Cat Worlds?

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe...20Andidote.htm

Chris Ostlind
www.lunadadesign.com

[antoineb]

Sorry not very good, grey day and boat in parking lot...

[Doug Halsey]

Originally Posted by Chris Ostlind>>
Any suggestion as to lessons learned from the foiling cat, Off Yer Rocker, experiment at the recent C-Cat Worlds?

Off Yer Rocker has fully-submerged foils, like a Hobie Trifoiler or a Rave, but it has no mechanism for creating a lift differential between the windward & leeward foils. Therefore, it is woefully lacking in righting moment!

The Syz catamaran has surface-piercing foils, like l'Hydroptere, so the lift differential will be created naturally when the boat heels.

[antoineb]

Which means that, potentially at least, one could try to play with the angle of the windward foil in order to reduce its lift thereby increasing the righting moment.

Another interesting thing to note, is that Syz & Co tries to be a "reasonable" racing multihull and thus uses outriggers to bring the foils' centre of lift further out a bit, whereas Hydroptere solves this by being 1.5x wider than it is long (but then Hydroptere is not meant as a racing yacht and thus once the foils are out of the water below the beams, it has no daggerboards unlike Syz & Co).

[Buster]

The hydrofoil catamaran took off for the first time this week.. Great pictures and news on their new website www.syzfoiler.com