Rig moving laterally !

Seems like a lot of claims typical of a sales brochure. In any weather, even mild, the system is extemely dangerous. What would happen in an emergency jibe? I think the rig would come down.

 

The boat seems heavy for a carbon cat; 150 kg for an 18 footer compares poorly to the cheap F18 and it's heavier than the old and longer Taipan 5.7. Breaking a cross-Channel record seems to mean little as it can depend more on wind and who has gone for the record than anything else.

Shifting weight to leeward can help going wild, but you'd seem to be restricted in this boat because there doesn't seem to be much variation in heel between lifting out the hull, and dragging the lee rig support. And any cat can move lots of weight to leeward just by putting the crew down to lee and the skipper in the centre line, but experience in the class I sail indicates that if you have to move the skipper to far inboard to lift the hull, it's so light that you will actually lose by going wild.

I can understand that you increase RM by moving the rig to windward, but for one with many cats the problem is driving the lee bow under, not lack of RM per se. And trapping, particularly downwind where the place you want to be is well back, which is obstructed by the windward shroud support, would be interesting.

Windage would also be a concern.

 

Hum..This is a very expensive boat.
Do you think they would go for production stages if the boat had not shown some potential?

When it comes to money, investors normally are very cautious.

Future will tell if they are all crazy or if this idea has a potential for speed and seaworthiness.

 

Yes, of course they could have gone to production even if the boat didn't really work. I can think of numerous catamaran builders who have gone into production with boats that didn't really work as well as they should.