Radical 18' Skiff Lumix-Advanced Dinghy Rig Design ?

From Yachts and Yachting: ( the rest of the article is here: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/167884/The-story-of-the-Wing-Mast-on-Lumix )


For more than 120 years (since Mark Foy's original day in 1892) the 18 Footers have been a class which has evolved from heavy timber boats with crews of 20 men to the modern day, high tech three-man boats built from a sandwich construction of carbon fibre skins over a Nomex honeycomb paper core.

Along the way, some of the world's best known sailing innovators (such as Ben Lexcen, Iain Murray, Julian Bethwaite and Bruce Farr) have introduced many ground breaking concepts to make the 18ft Skiff the exciting flying machine it is today.

The latest innovator within the 18ft Skiff Racing ranks is a young skipper with the same free spirit style of vision and determination as a youthful Julian Bethwaite displayed from the 1970s to the 1990s.

His name – Jonathan (Jono) Whitty.

Jono first moved into the 18s (as crew) in 2007, before skippering his own boat in 2008, then in 2011 introduced the "turbulator " mast top to his Panasonic-sponsored LUMIX skiff.

He is the son of an Airbus pilot, holds a sea plane pilot's licence and is a hang glider enthusiast. Obviously with this knowledge of aerodynamics and his passion for wind and water, it's no surprise that he is continually striving for greater performance in his 18ft Skiff Racing campaign.

His latest concept is a 'wing mast', which he is presently using on LUMIX during the 2012-2013 Australian Season.

Asked about his reason for this development, Jono says:

"I was looking for more control with rig power to drag ratio".

"The main challenge then was making it stable with such a narrow base. Especially when carrying a mast head chute".

"Because the mast rotates above the gooseneck independent of the vang load, I had to fit a gas strut from the boom to the mast, pushing 35 kilos to induce rotation".