What do you think about this?!!!

Well , if the Hobie is faster you just made the case for the monofoiler(2 foil) concept: a Moth is faster than a Hobie 16 by a pretty good margin as I hear it. The guy's altitude control system sounds very interesting.

[eris]

Someone who has sailed the OUT95 has posted their feedback on the YandY forum.

Obviously the OUT95 is designed to sail upright. Just like a multi is designed to be sailed on a single float for maximum performance. The design conforms to the ISAF definition of a monhull. Think of the wings as high volume stabalizers. The trick must have been to design them with as little drag as possible. They just provide the opportunity to sail a very tippy boat.

I'm told that the photos were only taken on the third trip out and neither the trapezes or lifelines had been fitted so they were a bit low on righting moment and learning how it all works.

Monohull sports boats have gotten boring. Maybe this will help liven it up.

Take a longer look at the galleries www.out95.com

eris, thanks for the link. I find the configuration interesting as I do the Langman and Bethwaite "maxi skiffs" that are a bit similar. I'm wondering about the mono /multi question. The two maxi skiffs use buoyancy pods that resemble small ama's but they are not sailed on in normal conditions. This boat seems designed to use the outboard portion of the leeward wing for dynamic lift and there are even pictures on the Y&Y site showing that particular function being tested in a tank. If they use the "wing" that way(which seems slow) why wouldn't it be a defacto multihull? This is going to be an important discussion over time as more hybrids emerge and the "normal" mono guys claim that the boat(s) are multi's.

[water addict]

hopefully everybody remembers the cat versus "K" boat America's Cup? This blue thing is a scaled down version of the giant K boat with the hiking racks- which got smeared around the race course by a tiny (by comparison) catamaran.

[usa2]

i bet a well designed radio controlled cat that could be controlled easily would beat that thing.

[eris]

Originally Posted by Lorsail

eris, thanks for the link. I find the configuration interesting as I do the Langman and Bethwaite "maxi skiffs" that are a bit similar. I'm wondering about the mono /multi question. The two maxi skiffs use buoyancy pods that resemble small ama's but they are not sailed on in normal conditions. This boat seems designed to use the outboard portion of the leeward wing for dynamic lift and there are even pictures on the Y&Y site showing that particular function being tested in a tank. If they use the "wing" that way(which seems slow) why wouldn't it be a defacto multihull? This is going to be an important discussion over time as more hybrids emerge and the "normal" mono guys claim that the boat(s) are multi's.

Doug

Those photos were all taken a few days after the boat was launched. The aim is to sail the boat upright and as I've pointed out to a few people a multi goes fastest with only one hull immersed. The natural progression from multihull is monomaran. Only one hull immersed all of the time. It is obviously difficult to achieve this as the ultimately narrow hull has little or no initial stability. Once sailing the boat stabilizes anyway.

It is planned that the next development stage will be to add foils and remove the lead. This is likely to happen in the winter 06/07. In this mode the boat will be approx 30% lighter (of total sailing weight) and have a large increase in power.

Tank testing with the wings immersed was fundamental to the programme, as this is where most of the racked boats fall down. We sought to minimise drag from the wings which obviously produces different effect depending on boat speed.

Solid wings also meant we could stay from them, reduce mast weight and provide a better working platform for the crew.

[eris]

When I'm an old man I'll get a 1m radio controlled tri or cat. They can do about 12knots max. Fantastic toys.

But that's when my body is shot and the brain has become dysfunctional!

[eris]

Naval Architects are pretty good with a ruler and a calculator aren't they? Suggest you compare some ratios.

eris, don't get me wrong: my comments are made as a friend of the concept not as a critic.It is important to forsee some of the arguments that will be used against this type of innovation.
I have looked at the numbers on this boat and they are fantastic: a better power to weight ratio off the wind than an International Moth-that's really saying something for a 31' boat!
I said in an earlier post that this boat (and the Bethwaite and Langman "maxi skiffs") was a perfect candidate for the use of a two foil hydrofoil system. If the weight was reduced and the RM was greater there is NO QUESTION that this boat would foil off the wind in relatively light air and maybe upwind in winds over 15.
The type of foil system will will either fuel the mono/multi arguement or put it to rest: a two foil system would probably be recognized as a monohull system. A foil system with foils mounted outboard on the wings could be another story-in addition to being less efficient.
eris, can you tell us what type of foil system is being considered? Will the foils be retractable?

[sharpii2]

This reminds me of something I sketched over thirty years ago.

The idea was to have a trimaran without floats. (several tri's had broken up at sea that year due to cross beam failure. And most of that was due to wood rot because this was during the pre epoxy days.)

If designed carefully, I see no reason why this set up could not be made self rescuing. The wing decks would have to be quickly floadable and there would have to be substantial ballast on the bottom.

If so, I would find this approach much more preferable to the mortal vulnerabilities of the canting ballast approach.

Bob

Bob, I sure think the concept has potential and coupled with retractable hydrofoils could be extaordinarily fast. One of the guys involved with the project said that they are going to experiment with the bi-foil system similar to the International Moth....
I've said it before but what we're headed for is boats with the speed of current non foiled multihulls and the self-righting characteristics of a monohull.

[eris]

Originally Posted by sharpii2

This reminds me of something I sketched over thirty years ago.

The idea was to have a trimaran without floats. (several tri's had broken up at sea that year due to cross beam failure. And most of that was due to wood rot because this was during the pre epoxy days.)

If designed carefully, I see no reason why this set up could not be made self rescuing. The wing decks would have to be quickly floadable and there would have to be substantial ballast on the bottom.

If so, I would find this approach much more preferable to the mortal vulnerabilities of the canting ballast approach.

Bob

Bob

The wing ends outboard of the kickstrips on each side are detachable so that the boat can be legally trailered in Europe allbeit tilted at 50 degrees. Inside each wing pod is a 360 litre ballast tank. The idea being that these could be used to aid righting as well as provide a little extra power when sailing short handed.