How Sailboats Fly [Foiling]

[GordMay]

How Sailboats Fly

”In anticipation of SailGP races in Halifax*, coaches from across Canada are working on their foiling skills in the city’s harbour. CBC reporter Elizabeth McMillan stopped by to learn more about foiling, the type of sailing that sees boats rise into the air. If a sailor has enough skill that is.”

Video [4:21] ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.4368928


* Sail Grand Prix Halifax: June 01, ➛ June 02, 2024
➥ https://discoverhalifaxns.com/event/...-prix-halifax/

[DragonflyBob]

I’ve raced A-Class catamarans since 2001 and up until 2022, I was racing the foiling version which entered into class competition around 2014. Since that time, the class has split into two divisions, foiling and non-foiling (or Classic) because the foiling boats have evolved to the point where they are only slower than the non-foilers if the breeze is less than 7 knots. This was a wise move for the class and I am now racing in the non-foiler division primarily because it suits my age better (knocking on 66).

My last foiling boat (built by Exploder boats in Poland and called the AD3) was an 18’ version of the SailGP boats and was designed by the same naval architect. It was an amazing machine. I hit nearly 27 knots foiling downwind in 12-13 knots of wind and at times foiled upwind at 18-22 knots. Foiling upwind is physically challenging since you can be handling 30-40 knots of apparent wind through your mainsheet. In the last two World Championships, the winner was in his late 20’s so the foilers are evolving to a younger, more athletic sailor.

That said, I’m really happy I had the opportunity to sail and race a foiling sailboat. It’s certainly not for everyone but foiling is not going away on the high performance racing scene and it is getting a lot of younger sailors excited about the sport. And I will say there is plenty of strategy and tactics racing a foiling boat. You have to think WAY ahead and respond faster especially when you are closing with another boat at 40+ knots.

[S/V Illusion]

Apparently written by and for someone who has never seen an airplane fly or understand how.

[DragonflyBob]

Here’s a link to great footage from a recent A-Class event on Lake Garda. USA 76 and POL 41 are the 2022 and 2023 world champions in the foiling division of the class. They make it look easy but there is a lot more to the eye on the set up and adjustments as well as the body movements.

https://www.catsailingnews.com/2024/...g-footage.html

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by DragonflyBob

I’ve raced A-Class catamarans since 2001 and up until 2022, I was racing the foiling version which entered into class competition around 2014. Since that time, the class has split into two divisions, foiling and non-foiling (or Classic) because the foiling boats have evolved to the point where they are only slower than the non-foilers if the breeze is less than 7 knots. This was a wise move for the class and I am now racing in the non-foiler division primarily because it suits my age better (knocking on 66).

My last foiling boat (built by Exploder boats in Poland and called the AD3) was an 18’ version of the SailGP boats and was designed by the same naval architect. It was an amazing machine. I hit nearly 27 knots foiling downwind in 12-13 knots of wind and at times foiled upwind at 18-22 knots. Foiling upwind is physically challenging since you can be handling 30-40 knots of apparent wind through your mainsheet. In the last two World Championships, the winner was in his late 20’s so the foilers are evolving to a younger, more athletic sailor.

That said, I’m really happy I had the opportunity to sail and race a foiling sailboat. It’s certainly not for everyone but foiling is not going away on the high performance racing scene and it is getting a lot of younger sailors excited about the sport. And I will say there is plenty of strategy and tactics racing a foiling boat. You have to think WAY ahead and respond faster especially when you are closing with another boat at 40+ knots.

The younger sailors must not be getting too excited since beach cat sailboat racing has been on the decline for many years now.

You used to see 30 or more boats sailing along the Virginia Beach Coastline all in a row, but now you are lucky to see any at all sailing.

I see maybe 2-3 beach cats a year maybe sailing in the bay along the beach.

[DragonflyBob]

Originally Posted by thomm225

The younger sailors must not be getting too excited since beach cat sailboat racing has been on the decline for many years now.

You used to see 30 or more boats sailing along the Virginia Beach Coastline all in a row, but now you are lucky to see any at all sailing.

I see maybe 2-3 beach cats a year maybe sailing in the bay along the beach.

Entry level for foiling in the US for young sailors is trending more towards kite boards and platforms like the Waspz. There is pretty good activity and yacht clubs like St. Francis YC in San Francisco and recently the New York YC are starting to embrace foiling more and establishing foiling programs for juniors. But the US is still FAR behind both Europe and Australia/New Zealand in getting kids interested in high performance sailing whether it’s foiling, skiffs, windsurfing, or multihulls.

That is why we (the US) get our butts kicked at the Olympics and we really see a small number of US sailors actually sailing in the AC and events like Sail GP.

US A-Class is still pretty healthy. While we had a relatively small turnout at the recent 2024 NAC (37 competitors total), our average in the last 8-10 years has been 45-50 boats. Our winter circuit regattas are also pretty good with on average 25-30 boats at each one.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by DragonflyBob

Entry level for foiling in the US for young sailors is trending more towards kite boards and platforms like the Waspz. There is pretty good activity and yacht clubs like St. Francis YC in San Francisco and recently the New York YC are starting to embrace foiling more and establishing foiling programs for juniors. But the US is still FAR behind both Europe and Australia/New Zealand in getting kids interested in high performance sailing whether it’s foiling, skiffs, windsurfing, or multihulls.

That is why we (the US) get our butts kicked at the Olympics and we really see a small number of US sailors actually sailing in the AC and events like Sail GP.

US A-Class is still pretty healthy. While we had a relatively small turnout at the recent 2024 NAC (37 competitors total), our average in the last 8-10 years has been 45-50 boats. Our winter circuit regattas are also pretty good with on average 25-30 boats at each one.

Still doesn't compare very well to the 82 boats we had for the Round the Island Race out of Ft Walton Beach in 1997.

[Jim Cate]

Still doesn't compare very well to the 82 boats we had for the Round the Island Race out of Ft Walton Beach in 1997.

I suspect that the foiling boats cost a hell of a lot more than their non-foiling brethren. If true, that might help explain the lower number of entrants.

Jim

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I suspect that the foiling boats cost a hell of a lot more than their non-foiling brethren. If true, that might help explain the lower number of entrants.

Jim

That will slow it down some, but beach cat sailing has been on the decline for many years.

A Class Catamarans were quite expensive before foiling also.

My last beach cat was $10,500 in 2001 which I bought new. An A Class Beach Catamaran was quite a bit more even then.

My new Nacra 6.0 was $8,000 with a trade in Hobie 16 in 1996.

Many things have contributed to the decline.

First, it was jet skis.

The Hobie Cat rentals decreased and the jet ski rentals increased as far back as the late 90's.

When I was still racing beach cats in like 2000-2005, I noticed I was racing the same old folks all the time with maybe 1-2 younger guys giving it a shot.

Then folks with money started buying up beach front property so it became harder and harder to launch your boat.

We used to just go to the beach and back the trailer up to the sand and unload after assembly then take the boat to the water on beach wheels.

Beach cat racing today may be as low as 5%-10% of what it was in the mid to late 1990's.

Most places the Hobie Fleets have simply disappeared.

Also if you check out an A Class Regatta many of the sailors are quite old.

There just isn't much interest from the younger folks.

30-35 boats at a major event is quite sad as that is what we used to get for many weekend regattas most anywhere.

Even that Round the Island 100 mile race I mentioned earlier had a significant decrease in participation as early as 2002 or 2003.

We had 82 boats on the starting line in 1997 and by 2002 or so there were 30-40 boats.

The Hurricanes didn't help any either.

I remember coming into Ft Walton one night at the end of the 100 mile race and the water smelled like crap as the treatment plants had over flowed and everything was dumped into the sea.

This was maybe 1998. My female crew just started crying at that point as it was 9:30 PM and the race stared at 7:00 am.

She wasn't used to beach cat racing was older, and I probably made a mistake asking her to crew on such a long race.

My 15 year old son was normally my crew but by then he was 16 and had a Jeep of his own and would rather be out with friends than racing a long 100 mile race on the weekend.

Photo is her sitting on my Nacra 6.0

[DragonflyBob]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Still doesn't compare very well to the 82 boats we had for the Round the Island Race out of Ft Walton Beach in 1997.

I’ve sailed RTI 4x. Twice on my Corsair Sprint 750 shortly before they decided to go to a 2 day format and staggered starts. I sailed with Mike Kelly on his Nacra 6.0 the year we had to sail inside for the whole race due to high wind and big Gulf (was that 1997?) and then I sailed with him on Carbon Copy (the SC22) in 1999.

Regarding your comments about the A-Class, it’s the best sailboat I have ever sailed and raced and the class is just a great group. What’s impressive to me is that given it is an open development class, we have consistently had 40-50 boats at our NAC with the exception of this year. On the world level, there have been 100+ boats at each WC since 2007 with the exception of the first post Covid WC (around 80 boats). Foiling has brought the age demographic in the US fleet down a bit (the ranks of 20ish - 30ish sailors who have been active in the class in the last 10 years include Matthew Smyth, Cam Farrah, Leon Pinson, Matthew Whitehead, Ravi Parent, Jeremy Herron, etc.).

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by DragonflyBob

I’ve sailed RTI 4x. Twice on my Corsair Sprint 750 shortly before they decided to go to a 2 day format and staggered starts. I sailed with Mike Kelly on his Nacra 6.0 the year we had to sail inside for the whole race due to high wind and big Gulf (was that 1997?) and then I sailed with him on Carbon Copy (the SC22) in 1999.

Regarding your comments about the A-Class, I’ve been sailing the boats since 2001 and it’s the best sailboat I have ever sailed and raced and the class is just a great group. Foiling has brought the age demographic down a bit (the ranks of 20ish - 30ish sailors who have been active in the class in the last 10 years include Matthew Smyth, Cam Farrah, Leon Pinson, Matthew Whitehead, Ravi Parent, Jeremy Herron, etc.). I’ve not seen you at any A-Class events so not sure how you can qualify your conclusions.

I was using the numbers you posted which were quite low as compared to beach cat numbers back in the day.

I only beat Mike Kelly once and that was at a White or Wheat race in Navarre in maybe 2003 or 2004. I won on handicap, but I didn't care about that part of it.

What I cared about was beating all boats to the first mark.

I beat two 22' boats one being Mike Kelly the other was I believe that big guy that was a pilot for Delta.

https://owners.aquarius-sail.com/php...topic.php?t=86

Also beat Mark Smith again which was always enjoyable.

I should have stopped there, but I sailed the whole 35 mile race and won on handicap according to the race committee.

The wind cranked up and was oscillating which made it hard for a single handed sailor running a spinnaker.

I got to the first mark in front because it was a downwind start, and I nailed the start with my spinnaker already up.

Plus my sails were flatter and the other boats couldn't stay as close to the wind as it came around during that first 10 mile leg to the first mark.

Speaking of the RTI out of Ft. Walton, first time we did that race in 1997, my son and I entered Pensacola Pass beside or just behind Randy Smyth on his F25C.

If I had a spinnaker back then we would have been top 10, but I had just learned about spinnakers for beach cats a couple years earlier.

I also saw Kirk Newkirk stop at his business on the Super Cat 22 he and Glen? were sailing. I was maybe 200 yards behind them at that time. Kirk decided not to continue at that point.

We were sailing my Nacra 6.0 which I had just bought the year before. I had only been sailing at that time for 4 years on beach cats (or any sailboat for that matter and was self taught) mainly in Tennessee and northern Mississippi.

[DragonflyBob]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I was using the numbers you posted which were quite low as compared to beach cat numbers back in the day.

I only beat Mike Kelly once and that was at a White or Wheat race in Navarre in maybe 2003 or 2004. I won on handicap, but I didn't care about that part of it.

What I cared about was beating all boats to the first mark.

I beat two 22' boats one being Mike Kelly the other was I believe that big guy that was a pilot for Delta.

https://owners.aquarius-sail.com/php...topic.php?t=86

Also beat Mark Smith again which was always enjoyable.

I should have stopped there, but I sailed the whole 35 mile race and won on handicap according to the race committee.

The wind cranked up and was oscillating which made it hard for a single handed sailor running a spinnaker.

I got to the first mark in front because it was a downwind start, and I nailed the start with my spinnaker already up.

Plus my sails were flatter and the other boats couldn't stay as close to the wind as it came around during that first 10 mile leg to the first mark.

Speaking of the RTI out of Ft. Walton, first time we did that race in 1997, my son and I entered Pensacola Pass beside or just behind Randy Smyth on his F25C.

If I had a spinnaker back then we would have been top 10, but I had just learned about spinnakers for beach cats a couple years earlier.

I also saw Kirk Newkirk stop at his business on the Super Cat 22 he and Glen? were sailing. I was maybe 200 yards behind them at that time. Kirk decided not to continue at that point.

We were sailing my Nacra 6.0 which I had just bought the year before. I had only been sailing at that time for 4 years on beach cats (or any sailboat for that matter and was self taught) mainly in Tennessee and northern Mississippi.

You are obviously very accomplished.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by DragonflyBob

You are obviously very accomplished.

At least you understand there is no need to continue to say that beach cat racing or A Class Catamaran racing is on the rise and changed the subject.

It is anything but on the rise.

A great example is the RTI Race you mentioned. It's format changed to a two day event from a one because many of the sailors are now old geezers and cannot do that race in one day anymore. Plus the entry numbers are way down.

As far as my post above, your previous name dropping reminded me of some calculations I had made on what my boat might be able to do in a distance race with a downwind start.

That race from 20 years ago proved it.

It was a fun day, and a good workout.

I spent yesterday sailing in light winds and took breaks to hook up my reefing lines on my new main. It has three sets of reef points.

My sailboat preparations today are quite different than what I did 20 years ago.

The stronger winds we had in that race and especially the 20-25 knot winds the following day when the races were cancelled would have been welcomed these days, and no big deal to sail in.

[MicHughV]

The trend in my neck of the woods is the foiling (and non-foiling( kite boarders.
They can certainly zip along and seems like their goal is to get airborne for as long as they can.
I'd like to try it, but am likely too long in the tooth to give it a fair go

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

The trend in my neck of the woods is the foiling (and non-foiling( kite boarders.
They can certainly zip along and seems like their goal is to get airborne for as long as they can.
I'd like to try it, but am likely too long in the tooth to give it a fair go

That's why it's a good idea to sail beach cats etc. when you are young then switch to slow boat monohull sailing when you get older.

We would all have been foiling/kite boarding etc. back in the day if the technology had been available at that time.