Thursday 8 April 2010

Design Philosophy Part 2 Hullshape

The hull is a wave piercer, with a cutaway bow for minimum friction and wave drag. Also known as a upside down design. The hull is an evolution of the Flyer 1 (the mother of all modern designs) and the Nikita (the first succesful design with curved boards). With slightly more volume the boat is optimized for 80+ kg sailors, who can push the boat harder than ever before.
The curved boards increase downwind speeds tremendously and simplify handeling, while the boards stay down downwind.
The latest America's cup designs of BMW-ORACLE and Alinghi were heavily influenced by A-cat designs and A-cat technology. These teams with their deep pockets brought catdesign to a higher level and we on our part  build/designed on that. Look e.g. at the shape of the transom/rearbeam (Alibghi) or the shape of the nose (mix of Alinghi and BOR).
The rearbeam which is bended and goes into the hull creates a perfect hanging position for pushing the boat downwind. On former designs you had either to sit in front of the beam or got locked behind it.

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