WSL: Foil Assist-Final Specs

Here is the Scuttlebutt blurb on these new boats with a rendering of the new boat. They will use curved lifting foils:
Scuttlebutt News: WORLD SAILING LEAGUE UNVEILS SPEED MACHINE DESIGN
Address:http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/0726/

 

World Sailing League 70

Because this new boat will be bringing foil assist for large multihulls into the limelight again as has the new Groupama I thought these comments by Juan K might be apropo here as well as in the 60' monofoiler thread:
From the latest issue(July/August 2007) of Sailing World magazine.
Question to Juan Kouyoumdjian designer of some very innovative and fast monohulls:
SW: "In the next 5 or 10 years, what about the sport will change? Where's the next big technological jump in speed?"
Juan K answers: "I think the answer to your question is to be divided in two. One side is what engineering is allowing you to do today.And from that perspective I can see boats just taking off the water. And when you start getting to the 40-plus knots of boatspeed through hydrofoils and so forth you hit the wall of cavitation, and therefore the morphing foils. I think sooner or later some people will feel the need to go that way. But the other side of the equation is what sailors want to do. There are still a lot of sailors that enjoy sailing on very big,heavy slow boats. I don't think in the general world of sailing there is an interest there to go at more than 40 knots over the water."
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Pretty interesting commentary from a leading designer of very fast monohulls....(predicting flying monohull keelboats)
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From the designer Vincent Lauriot Prevost of VPLP , the design philosophy:
" We are very excited about this catamaran because she represents a step towards the future of racing. If we consider that monohulls were the racing standard, then multihull design has stretched the performance possibilities and now 'outmodes' the mono. Now these multihulls armed with foils will be the next generation that will overtake the conventional multihull. WSL will spearhead this new evolution."
LOA 70'
Beam 39.4'
SA-main 168m²/1807 sq.ft.
-solent 115m²/ 1237 sq. ft.
weight 5700kg/ 12540lb./6.27(!) tons(2000lb tons)

 

Hi Doug. The comment "a lot of sailors enjoy big heavy slow boats" is referring to an attitude to sailing which speedster boat designers need to appreciate. It's not the heavy and slow that the sailors enjoy....it's the reliability and the ability to relax and enjoy the ocean in a sociable kind of way when they are not racing.
I did a lot of yacht racing when I was a boy, and maybe that's why I have the urge for a fastish boat (also I just don't like unnecessary inefficiency).
If you could make a hydrofoil assisted yacht that appeals to the 'relaxed attitude' but also provides a feeling of "Wow Doug.....we're really moving along.....when did you say we'll be arriving at the island?.....pass me another beer....cheers dude..." then you will probably push foil-assisted yachts into the commercial market to such an extent that we will probably never look back at non-foil boats ever again. (oh yeah, and the boats would need to be trailerable).
Just food for thought from a big business point of view.

 

Relaxed

Richard, there are already foil assisted boats out there that allow a degree of relaxation w/o the focus on racing or near death experiences that some of the racing machines are bound to engender. One that comes to mind is the Catri which I think is a 26' tri with a comfortable cockpit and some accomodations.
But this thread is about the WSL boats which are decidedly not cruising boats and where the beer will come(probably) AFTER the sailing. Not that one way is better just different..
I've sailed and raced many slow and heavy boats and the racing has been good-as good as in faster boats. But the speed makes a difference when you can't help but yell "yee ha!" at the top of your lungs without a thought that you may end up 50' from the boat in the next split second. Just different....

 

Yes I take your point. I was just referring to one of the possible reasons why foils don't seem to be catching on on a commercial scale yet. Maybe that's all changing now. I hope so. I took a look at the Catri and I think that's definitely a step in the right direction. Not quite enough room to store the beer though.
As for the WSL (another thing I knew nothing about), I think that's awesome and I hope it's televised properly so that the microphones can pick up all the "yee ha's" and other types of screams. But seriously, I hope that Russell Coutts and Paul Kayard do manage to make a 'TV compatible' new Americas Cup.

 

Renderings of WSL70

Lets add a couple