Mini 650 takes flight too

[myszek]

I can say that the conditions of the first leg were very very lights (the slowest leg of the mini transat story) and indeed not favorable for foiler : first upwind with tacks in about 6-8 Knots wind to get out of the Biscay Gulf, then 12-15 knots for just 36-48 h offshore Cap Finisterre, and then terribly light winds up to the arrival, 3 to 6 knots patches of wind here and there, always from rear.

In these conditions, Arkema 3 was never able to be in the first 10 protos. Let' see what he could do in the second leg a priori more favorable.

Exactly. However, there were a few days, when they made over 8 knots. That would be close to the take-off speed for foilers. But nothing happened, Arkema did not fly away.
I suspect, that the current Mini foilers are too conservative yet, and they can fly only in ideal conditions.

regards

krzys

 

[Dolfiman]

However, there were a few days, when they made over 8 knots. That would be close to the take-off speed for foilers. But nothing happened, Arkema did not fly away.
I suspect, that the current Mini foilers are too conservative yet, and they can fly only in ideal conditions.

That was the few days offshore Cap Finisterre : the sea off this Cape is always big of an Atlantic swell and when the wind blows, the waves crests break easily, it is difficult and not safe to go fast under these conditions, I experimented it myself.
This interview of Quentin Vlaminck (in English) confirms that the conditions were never ideal even when wind blowed : "For a start, I didn't break anything and the boat held up very well, it was super.The 24-30 hours of sustained wind off Cape Finisterre were interesting, even though I was never able to get the foils out because of the wretched sea conditions."
All the interview here :
First leg of the Mini Transat: Quentin Vlamynck still in the race! https://www.arkema.com/en/media/news/news-details/First-leg-of-the-Mini-Transat-Quentin-Vlamynck-still-in-the-race/

 

[OzFred]

Here's a good YouTube article on Arkema 3. Hopefully not a repost.

 

[Dolfiman]

Here's a good YouTube article on Arkema 3. Hopefully not a repost.

Thanks ! The Naval architect Romaric Neyhousser is also a close collaborator of Guillaume Verdier :

Les collaborateurs de Guillaume Verdier http://www.guillaumeverdier.com/collaborateurs/

 

[Dolfiman]

Second leg started, here the cartography to follow Arkema 3 the foiler :
Cartography | Mini-Transat La Boulangère http://www.minitransat.fr/en/follow-race/cartography

 

[Dolfiman]

Minis are now in the trade winds off Capo Verde, Arkema 3 the foiler is eight but far from the leader Griffon/ Ian Lipinski, already 273 NM ahead.
Cartographie | Mini-Transat La Boulangère http://www.minitransat.fr/suivi-de-la-course/cartographie

 

[Boy Griffioen]

It seems like he can't really take advantage of the foils. Because his boatspeed hardly higher than the rest. At least until 12knot of wind I did not see him have significantly higher boatspeed.

 

[Boy Griffioen]

I'm really curious how the DSS mini would perform. It's a pity it did not participate.

 

[Dolfiman]

9-

It seems like he can't really take advantage of the foils. Because his boatspeed hardly higher than the rest. At least until 12knot of wind I did not see him have significantly higher boatspeed.

Yes, I would say 12 knots minimum boat speed, and presently they are in the 9-10 knots average.

 

[OzFred]

I'm really curious how the DSS mini would perform. It's a pity it did not participate.

Yes, it would be good to see how it goes. DSS style lateral foils have been tried on a number of larger offshore yachts, but have not shown clear performance benefits. Like scow bows, the jury may well be out until they can show a clear benefit.

 

[Doug Lord]

DSS has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt on numerous boats including the Quant 28 and 30, the Infinity 36 and others.

 

[Boy Griffioen]

I think the DSS style mini of Hugh Welbourn could maybe taken to a more extreme approach. The mini rules are expanded to a 6,5 meter beam with foils extended. @Tanton put up a design called monomaran iirc. with a very narrow beam and with some modification it could pass the mini rules. Only the ballast needed for the stability test would make life difficult (45kg on the halyard and come up from mast flat on the water). Even more extreme would be a design in the lines of Frog of @Gary Baigent . Maybe a ******* love baby between frog and the cox bay skimmer 650? A biplane rig would make the stability test more easy to pass. I think it could be quick, but will it be quicker than the scows? Bakers Monitor foiler design with wings was made out of wood and steel and was designed for 30+ knots. The monomaran is even more extreme in it's lines. It would be worth an efford i think.

 

[Boy Griffioen]

This one,

 

[Boy Griffioen]

And the sail-plan. All of this forum, credits for mr. @Tanton

 

[OzFred]

I think the DSS style mini of Hugh Welbourn could maybe taken to a more extreme approach. The mini rules are expanded to a 6,5 meter beam with foils extended.

Do you have more details of "le couteau dans l'eau"? The text in the article you've posted is illegible and there's no link. There's a thread on Sailing Anarchy that mentions it with a good image. It seems the plan was to start racing it in 2014, but that doesn't seem to have happened. The Proto 650 rules change often, maybe it was obsolete before it hit the water and no one wanted to pay for upgrades?