This boat is insane. It has a cantilevered arm hydrofoil thing, allowing it to turn on a dime. Mind blowing engineering.
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Boat Nerds: American's Cup new AC75
- Thread starter r32
- Start date
The old cup boats all relied on human power. These bad rockets have hydraulic motors/electric winches.
When you watch them tack or jibe, listen to the sounds.... They make this grinding/creaking mechanical noise.
Also the minimal amount of contact surface they make when up on foil. Flying along on just one of those arms...Mind boggling...
When you watch them tack or jibe, listen to the sounds.... They make this grinding/creaking mechanical noise.
Also the minimal amount of contact surface they make when up on foil. Flying along on just one of those arms...Mind boggling...
There is really no such thing as down wind on those boats. Apparent wind is always well forward of beam. Look how tightly sheeted in the boom is on their "downwind legs." Not my grandpa's sailing...
or on a reach. The boom barely moves on a tack. They're almost always sailing upwind due to their speed; there is always a huge slotting effect on the main.
Purists won't like it, but the problem is it's like getting pro sports off drugs: no one wants to see boats go slower than last year just like they don't want to see athletes throw slower or hit shorter distances.
Seems like the class rules allow you to make some bets on how much you think you'll be on the hull and how fast you'll probably be going and what the boat will weigh with crew which affects the size of the foils.
I wonder if you could put a radar altimeter in the bow and write a feedback loop to control the ailerons in the foils to automate the foil control in bigger seas to control hull pitch and altitude. I suppose you'd smack into waves that were too big if you were going too fast no matter what.
I think I saw a guy do this with his UFO catamaran.
I wonder if you could put a radar altimeter in the bow and write a feedback loop to control the ailerons in the foils to automate the foil control in bigger seas to control hull pitch and altitude. I suppose you'd smack into waves that were too big if you were going too fast no matter what.
I think I saw a guy do this with his UFO catamaran.
This was the guy I was thinking of:
Digital Flight Control System for Foiling Dinghies
I am working on a Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) for my UFO foiler. In this space, I plan to share my design as I progress with it.
forums.sailinganarchy.com
Hi tech. Moths have an analog foil adjuster off the bow.This was the guy I was thinking of:
he started out using sonar and now I think he's using LIDAR, but the automotive radars would probably work.Digital Flight Control System for Foiling Dinghies
I am working on a Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) for my UFO foiler. In this space, I plan to share my design as I progress with it.
Edit: just watched a video and UFOs have the same wand. Simple lever. Super cool.
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I wing in the river here sometimes and the moths hit a tight u-bend at speed. I’ve just sat on the side of the channel watching them, thinking how much fun that would be to learn.
analog > digital. Now I know what you're talking about. Seems like that can't look far ahead though. Would that work in the open ocean? What does the AC75 use?
I heard they're hard to learn. I give my sailing a D- so maybe it's easier for everyone else. Definitely want to try a UFO.
v
It's more like F1. The human interaction has been minimalized. Every system on the boat is telemeterized.... F1 pit stops.... the best are 2.6 seconds.... This is the realm you need to live in.
I'm generally opposed to a bunch of "fly by wire" stuff on boats like they put in modern military aircraft because the marine environment is very corrosive (I was a deck division officer in charge of surface preservation). Even so, I think a lot of these principles and ideas will make it down to production boats like the Moth and UFO in a simplified, analog form, which could be cool.
I don't know if we'll see a return of the age of sail but it would be amazing to make a passage on a sailing foiler that was inherently stable and seaworthy. Pretty crazy idea, but so was flight at one point.
Foiled..... but boiled......
World Cups..... At least these bitches are too big for the lineup...........
World Cups..... At least these bitches are too big for the lineup...........
You listen to these yachts crank down on a tack change. Hydraulics... It used to be human power.... Set a Spinnacker..... All human..... 1000% good in a bay, a lake, Flat water....... Spectators......
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