Article: "Foilers here to stay"

[mattotoole]

So, toss a .5 cent plastic bag in the water in front of a foiling Moth and tell me what speeds it has attained with the lifting component thoroughly cooked and said sailor back in the watery world.

Can someone say, Excessive drag? How about face-a-plant with said speedy foiler on top of the sailor?

I remember a really fast, Indy 500 car owned by Andy Granatelli that ran a revolutionary turbine engine. Amazingly fast car. That dude lapped the field and was on its way to laying waste to the speed records of established Indy teams of the day.

Somewhere in the last lap of the race, a $6 bearing in the turbine took a dump and the car coasted to a stop in sight of the brickband, while the rest of the turtles flew by to the checkered flag. Funny how the simplest of things can overdose the fastest of the fast when they can least handle it...

No doubt foils are cool in very controlled conditions with no crap in the water. Let me know when they get the plastic bag thing sorted and I'll see if I'm still interested.

The sad thing about the turbine story is that turbines are actually more reliable than piston engines, as well as more efficient. This is why they're used in airplanes and helicopters. They could be used in automobiles today if they hadn't been banned from racing after the Granatelli incident, nearly 4 decades ago. Imagine benefitting now from 4 decades of automobile turbine development, first in racing, then in the mainstream.

Foilers definitely have their problems and aren't my thing either. But with further development they could be.

 

[mattotoole]

Doug, I'm astonished by the lack of coverage in the mainstream sailing press too, especially in light of what a spectacle these boats are.

 

[RHough]

Slightly Off Topic

The sad thing about the turbine story is that turbines are actually more reliable than piston engines, as well as more efficient. This is why they're used in airplanes and helicopters. They could be used in automobiles today if they hadn't been banned from racing after the Granatelli incident, nearly 4 decades ago. Imagine benefitting now from 4 decades of automobile turbine development, first in racing, then in the mainstream.

Turbines are not great in all applications. In an aircraft or marine application the engine never has to operate in a low load situation or idle much. Repeated acceleration from idle and operation at a wide range of loading at the same RPM are strong points for Otto Cycle engines. Turbines might well be a viable choice for hybrids if they can be made easy to start and efficient during the 15-30 minute duty cycle that defines most automotive use. Turbines might also be a viable choice for locomotives and long-haul trucks where the duty cycle more closely matches the turbine's characteristics. Turbines can use much less expensive fuels, using them in situations that suit them could have the effect of lowering fuel costs for others.

Sorry for the off topic relpy ...

We now return to all foilers all the time ...