GC 32 super cat

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Doug Lord, Oct 15, 2012.

  1. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Gc 32

    Thanks, Corley. Apparently the boat hasn't flown yet....
    --------
    UPDATE-- "Macca" answered my question about foiling on SA:

     
  2. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

  3. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    I've been watching on SA and haven't yet seen any pictures of the boat foiling-"Macca" sad he would post them on the SA thread..
     
  4. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Gc 32

    Very close to fully foiling though not quite there yet. Still, much less wetted surface partially foiling than there would be with a "normal" cat. Looks great....
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUs4d6oOlo4
     
  5. Red Dwarf
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    Red Dwarf Senior Member

    Is the CG in front of the foils? I am curious if the elevator force at the rudder acts down or up.
     
  6. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Gc32

    On most foilers, the CG is between the mainfoil and the rudder foil so that the mainfoil takes roughly 80% of the load and the rudder 20% vertical lift at takeoff. On a boat like the Rave or Osprey there is a crossover point at "X" speed where the rudder foil begins to produce downforce(automatically)
    Don't know the characteristics of this boat but it's probably similar. The GC32 appears to require a higher boat speed for takeoff than the Osprey does(6-7kts).
     
  7. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    Close but still not quite lifting fully on the foils. Looks like quite a bit of wind required to lift the boat out fully, obvious foil assist though.

    http://youtu.be/IxfparIumZg

     
  8. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Gc 32

    It wants to lift... Martin Fischer is brilliant and his development of a foil system that doesn't use surface piercing foils yet has automatic altitude control without a wand or manual control is fantastic. It'll fly-I've seen the video of the Phantom F18 flying somewhere and he designed that system as well.
     
  9. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    Video showing 20 knots boatspeed in 10 knots true, looking at the seastate it looks fairly accurate.

     
  10. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Gc 32

    Thanks, Corley! Still waiting for those special photos or video-you know what I mean....
     
  11. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    An update through the Great Cup facebook page. It will be interesting to see how this boat stacks up against the lake rockets in the Bol d'Or

    Sun is back in medemblik and the ice melt down.
    Finally on our way to a great sailing season. Soon in May our first venue in Traunsee, then in June Geneva Rolle Geneva and the Bol d'Or within 1 week... And a lot more iconic locations to come! Within 2 weeks we will present our full program for this year!
    So owners, sailors, after such depressing European winter, it is time to engage with the GC32 community and define with us the course of the most exciting sailing class.

    Do not wait too long and order your piece of pleasure for 2013 and for the years to come!!!
     
  12. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    ====================
    Shame that ,as far as I know, still no foiling pictures. The system has a lot of promise-I wish them luck.
     
  13. Corley
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    Corley epoxy coated

    Extract from the latest GC32 press release I thought the foil fans in particular would find it interesting:

    British Olympic Tornado sailor and multihull specialist Hugh Styles has been racing on the GC32s at Cowes Week too. “It has got the opportunities of all the bigger cats I have sailed on before, but you can play with the foils to give you some more performance,” he says of the GC32. “And the performance is just electric!”

    When sailing the double-S configuration foils on the GC32 are both constantly kept down, but their pitch can be altered to provide either positive or negative vertical lift. More positive vertical lift can be applied to the foil in the weather hull to help it fly in marginal conditions, but in more breeze, this same foil can be articulated in the opposite direction, dragging the weather hull down, effectively increasing righting moment.

    “That gives us the opportunity to fly the hull earlier and once we get foiling we can use the foil to create grip on the windward hull, like having extra crew sitting there,” says Styles. Using the foils as described, he adds, has allowed them to enabled them to be hull flying in as little as 8 knots.

    With Cowes Week on and several top international racing boats in the Solent area preparing to take part in the Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday, several VIPs have been for a ride on GC32, including MOD70 trimaran crewman and multiple round the world sailor Damian Foxall, Ireland’s top sailor. Foxall was suitably impressed with the new catamaran. “He came for a little look and was buzzing at the end of it,” says Styles. “We tried all sorts of different configurations with the centreboards and inclining the L-shaped rudder forward and back. You realise that for years and years you have focussed on everything above the water, but there is so much to be achieved on how the appendages work below the water.”

    Of note for Styles with the new catamaran is how it feels locked to the water. “You see Extreme 40s downwind and they pitch a lot, whereas with this you are locked in on this constant pitch angle fore and aft – it is really stable. You feel really safe on board even in bear aways.”

    And a video of the racing and an interview with Damien Foxall.

    http://youtu.be/fGsvxA0c-J4

     
  14. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    =======================
    I don't know what to make of these guys. They still refer to foiling and yet there has never been a picture of the boat foiling-I don't get it. I asked "macca" about it 6 months ago and he said they hadn't had enough wind yet. I think the boat is effective using "foil assist" but I'm not convinced it actually foils-"flys boat hulls".
     

  15. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    This from todays press release an update to the foils on the cards:

    On a technical side there is also great development afoot. The GC32s are set up with daggerboard boxes that can accommodate different shapes of board and this autumn the intention is to install a new set of lifting foils, similar to those fitting on AC72s. So soon the GC32s will also be defying gravity, fully foiling, just like the catamarans currently racing in the America’s Cup. “That is one of the advantages of our boat. You just have to change the top and bottom bearings. 12 bolts and it is done,” concludes Macpherson.
     
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