Sodebo Ultim 3 Foiling Trimaran

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Doug Lord, Jan 1, 2019.

  1. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  2. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
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    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    From an interview with the skipper:
    "The choice NOT to put liftable rudders is driven by the round the world race, single handed, which was planned originally for end of the year. We wanted to start with a tried and proven solution, and lighter too. A lifting system is heavier, more complex and therefore with more things to tune and get right. We wanted to use proven solutions. You have to be very humble on this type of boat. We also do not have foils on the main daggerboard. We will eventually, but we are moving forward step by step. We did not want to have more problems upfront with a complex system."

    The whole interview, translated by "Laurent" on sa:

    Thomas Coville, skipper ofSodebo Ultim' 3 : "We have been sailing for 2 1/2 months now and we are very, very happy. No structural problem, we sailed a lot, we are very satisfied with the boat. I have to admit that I am in awe with the boat... The learning curve is so steep though, that we cannot make any comparison with the previous Sodebo Ultim. We are learning every time we go out on the water. I have been surprised that all systems work well; it is to the credit of the huge work done by the team upstream. We have not found right away the right settings for the foils. we were trying and trying and suddenly we "cracked the nut". The first time the boat lifted off, it went pretty high, then stabilized, and then crashed down. It was a lot of emotion for the whole team that it actually worked. With the team, we wanted to go through the preparation and include some local races, like Tour de Belle Ile, but it was the day of the christening of the boat... On the Armen Race, with Actual Leader and Gitana 17, there wasn't much at stake. But it was a nice first evaluation against the competition, against Frank Cammas. I would not draw conclusions, because the wind was very light. We had a good time, it is always fun to start this way...

    At the end of this week, Sodebo Ultim' 3 will be pulled out of the water and go through a summer refit that was planned from the very beginning. We will modify the settings on the foils and the rudders, make a full check and a few other small modifications. We have a long list to improve the boat, some details to prepare the Fastnet race and the Trophée des Multicoques. And also the double handed race at the end of the year with Jean Luc Nélias. That will allow me to take a small break in the schedule and spend some time in the mountains. It was not obvious that we could stick to the schedule as much. These boats require a tuning period similar to race cars, but we have only one boat; no trial car to compare set ups. So you have to prepare all those times of refit and improvement very carefully.

    Sailing with the mast behind you is not as disturbing as I thought. I was worried that we would lose our reference points, for main sail tuning, but we found new ones... We are thrown around quite a bit by the lateral motion of the boat. It is not very comfortable. The layout is easier for some things and less so for others. But it did not change the way I sail. We will see in heavy weather with big seas... We do not know if we are right or wrong with this evolution yet... As of today, it is not a handicap.

    The choice NOT to put liftable rudders is driven by the round the world race, single handed, which was planned originally for end of the year. We wanted to start with a tried and proven solution, and lighter too. A lifting system is heavier, more complex and therefore with more things to tune and get right. We wanted to use proven solutions. You have to be very humble on this type of boat. We also do not have foils on the main daggerboard. We will eventually, but we are moving forward step by step. We did not want to have more problems upfront with a complex system.

    In heavy weather we are very well protected. All maneuvers can be done from the cockpit. We are still going to improve protection at the helm. The most difficult thing aboard is the noise. It is worse than on the previous boat. We have to work on this, because it is going to be really tough single handed around the world. But overall, protection is really good. Some crew have not even worn foulies yet...

    Regarding speed, compared to the previous boat, we cannot reveal too much, but I can tell you that improvements are double digits everywhere... On the other hand, it is harder to extract highest speed, more subtle. You have to be more focused, to keep high average speeds. The max speed, which does not mean much, is 47 knots, stabilized. What is much more interesting are the average speeds, and even more important, average speeds under autopilot. Regarding flying on the foils, I was very humble during the design of the boat. During a round the world sail, you have to adapt to the local weather conditions. We chose to have less high performance at the start. The boat is going to evolve. It is already planned. I did not know we would have so much to learn.

    We are a blessed generation. We are discoverers. Physically, there is not much difference with the previous boat. When flying the motion is sometimes more brutal vertically. But since they are large boats, it is relatively "smooth". You will have to be extremely focused, able to analyze all the data, to make the right decisions at the right time.

    At the end of the week, I will sail the Mini-Fastnet race, and beginning of July, the Transpac on the maxi "Comanche".
     
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  3. Dolfiman
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Location: France

    Dolfiman Senior Member

    A video of Sodebo 3 with an interview of Thomas Coville august 9th after his 3rd place at the Fastnet : he is now completlety convinced that he should turn his new Ultim into a full flying one (an expected option, needing a centreboard with foil as he explained with his arm), will be done next year after the Brest Atlantique double-handed race in November (Brest -Rio - Capetown -Brest in one leg). A media man will be also on board .
     
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  4. Dolfiman
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Location: France

    Dolfiman Senior Member

    The last video edited, taken by the media man during the qualification for the Brest Atlantique race :
     
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  5. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
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    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  6. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Video tour of Sodebo:
     
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  7. Dolfiman
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Location: France

    Dolfiman Senior Member

    This is the first sailing of Sodebo3 in its new full flying configuration :
     
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  8. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
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    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

     

  9. Dolfiman
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Location: France

    Dolfiman Senior Member

    Training by breeze for the Jules Verne Trophy :
     
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