Project F10

You might remember that a few months ago I started a thread here on BDN titled
"RC 1/5 Scale AC50 Foiling Catamaran"
I now have the time to properly give this a shot, and I've chosen to build a 1/5 scale SailGP F50, which will be 10ft long, hence the name F10. I will be sailing this beast on the waters of Oyster Bay, and I have found suitable launching facilities, and I will have the use of a chase boat while sailing this. I wish to cast this model from carbon fiber, and I want to mold the foils also out of CF. I want to use UpTiP foils or wand-controlled foils. Any suggestions, advice, or criticism is welcome. Thanks.

 

I know you said in the other thread that you wanted something bigger than a Mini40, but you might consider joining the Mini40 Facebook groups & discussing your ideas with the experienced guys there.
Log into Facebook | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/1647999775518228/
Log into Facebook | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/2061841380787633/

 

What system should I use to control the ride height of the foils, and how should I raise and lower them?

 

I'm sure you'll find a lot of difference of opinions about that. Can you plan your construction to be compatible with different alternatives?

 

Electronic would be ideal but not yet as effective as surface wands it seems.
I agree with Doug Halsey, make it interchangable for trial and error.
Every craft responds differently, once you have a system in place you can experiment with different set-ups.

 

I will plan the F10 to be able to use different ride height systems. Speaking of construction, should I build the hulls out of fiberglass or CF, and how should I build the wingsail?

 

Also, these are the goals of the F10 project as a whole
-To be faster around a racecourse than a Club 420
-To be able to foil upwind and downwind
-To be able to foil tack and gybe.

 

epoxy-fiber unless you're wealthy and can afford to experiment and fail using cf.

 

"Aim high, there's lots of room!"
You go man!

 

I'd build your model in carbon fibre if you can afford it, it's stiffer for a given weight and you want that in a foiler as platform twist will cause problems with your foil alignments. You can always take weight off but any you build into your structure can't be easily removed. Crossbeams could be simple carbon fibre tubes with a decorative fairing. The manufactured ones are cheap and light. I find the roll wrapped ones to be preferable to pultruded types and have adequate material properties for this application.

 

I think I'll try to build the F10 in carbon fiber. Would this fabric be suitable?
13018-D-GROUP - Carbon Fiber Fabric - Fabrics, Pre Pregs & Tow - Materials / Tools https://www.rockwestcomposites.com/materials-tools/fabrics-pre-pregs-tow/carbon-fiber-fabric/13018-d-group
And how would I build an control the wingsail?

 

Twill type weave should be ok on a smallish model so this is about 10' long not wildly different to a 2 metre multihull. I settled on two layers of 200gsm twill on my 2 metre model and when I put together some trial hulls from my molds they were fine. You might want to add an additional layer on a 10' model. The lighter everything is the less strong it has to be.

 

What are the benefits of different foil shapes, i.e. traditional L-boards, UpTiP, or a J-Board? And what are the benefits of say, a electronic foil control system versus a wand-controlled one? Thanks.

 

And how can I mold the blades?

 

Doug Lord or Ian Holt on here might be able to advise you on that. I built my non lifting daggerboard out of a couple of layers of 300 gsm carbon uni with some carbon biax at 45/45 that I had lying around, you might need to get fancier than that on a lifting board boat of the size you are proposing. For sure they will be one of the most complicated parts of the build much as they are on the full sized examples.