“Impossible is not a declaration, it’s a dare”

An Oppie… on foils…many people have said it is impossible, (or at least those that saw me launching her into a cold and blustery December morning did). But this is a story of faith and belief.

Despite the doubters, I believed; believed that plugging my Moth hydrofoils into an Oppie would make her fly; believed that once the rowlocks had been removed an old wooden Oppie that was destined for life as a tender would be the vessel to achieve this feat; believed that somehow she would push her aerodynamic bath-tub form through the water to a sufficient speed for take off.

Was my faith misplaced? Well after a faltering start with a few moments of foil assist but not take off, a big gust hit… she accelerated… she started to lift…the bow was out…

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TriFoiler Wiki

Post articles and images quickly and easily using the well known Wiki engine. Original articles are permitted but please reference whenever it is possible.

See the discussion tab for progress on site development and helpful hints.

This site was conceived and launched through the initiative of several Trifoiler owners for the purpose of sharing technical information and sailing experiences related to this amazing boat.

Many thanks go out to Hobiecat and Dan Ketterman for permission to use narrative and pictures from the Hobiecat web site

Click on the logos to follow some chatter and a story,

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History of Foilers

R Class Foil building

The first set of foils is all foam filled, levelled and ready to join together. The second set have been started, with the first 3 halves foam filled. Not too far to go before there’s another couple of boats on the water. Dave and I are getting systems sorted. We had some issues with the reusable compressible seal on the retangular frame that mates the vacuum bag to the table, but after changing the foam and getting more clamps things are working really well. We’re also in the process of upgrading the heaters so things can be operated with less supervision during the fairly long heat cycles.

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latest images from Juerg Kaufmann

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and here

flying banana

The Amazing Boats of Kotaro Horiuchi

Don’t just
walk on water.
Hop on it.

The AquaSkipper’s patented design, hydrofoil wings and fiberglass spring let you fly across the water by hopping up and down. The secret to your awesome power? Hydrofoil wings have very little drag in the water. Plus, the aircraft aluminum frame weighs a mere 26 pounds. So take on the surf. Try new tricks. Race your friends. And turn heads everywhere you ride.

When the fun is done, quickly stow your AquaSkipper in the optional tote bag.

It’s environmentally-friendly. No noise pollution. No air pollution. No water pollution. No engine. And with the AquaSkipper, the only fuel you’ll burn are the calories from an exhilarating and invigorating cardiovascular workout.

The AquaSkipper has been featured nationally on The Today Show on CBS, MTV’s Parental Control, Discovery Channel’s MythBusters, I Want That! on HGTV, Beyond Tomorrow, and The Price is Right, and was a semi-finalist in the History Channel’s Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge in 2007. It has done extremely well in Australia and Europe, where it was recognized with an international award for new sport-related inventions at ispo BrandNew in Munich, Germany.

Incredible human-powered flight!! Man powered hydrofoils

Inventist began in 2003. Shane Chen, founder of the company, started the business as a way to bring his distinctive inventions to life.

Inventist is unique in that Mr.Chen dreams, designs and develops his own inspired products. The inventions span many different fields, but they are all designed with the same goal in mind: to continue to provide a variety of new and interesting products for people everywhere that are fun, exciting and different.

Mr. Chen came to the United States in the late 1980’s and soon started his first business, CID Inc., which specializes in producing instruments for plant research.

http://www.inventist.com/

“Surf’s Up”
on any body
of water.

Powered by a quick-charge, high-torque electric motor, Hydroglider’s patented design has a wing that lifts the surfboard and you up out of the water, greatly reducing drag and allowing you to achieve speeds up to an exhilarating twenty-five miles per hour.  A steering bar makes maneuvering safe and effortless.  Lie down or stand up, either way, the Hydroglider makes you feel as if you are surfing on water and air!  Easy to use and fun for everyone under the Sun.

Parker MacCready’s PogoFoil

Just off the wire

So you don’t feel left out. This is an R Class yacht, a developement class yacht in New Zealand. Twin wire 2 man dinghy currently trialing foils details later.

Lift Off

October 2008

Video here

3news-home

The SYZ & CO hydrofoil catamaran

The SYZ & CO is a high-performance catamaran equipped with hydrofoils (wing-like foils mounted under the hull) that enable her hulls to lift out of the water at a certain speed, thus drastically reducing the vessel’s wetted area, which results in minimised drag and greatly enhanced speed compared to classical sailing craft.

World-leading specialists have implemented leading-edge technologies in the development of this prototype. Its construction revealed to combine minute crafting precision and highly advanced materials such as titanium or high-grade carbon fibre. She has been launched on 1 October 2008.

Geneva, October 3rd, 2008 – The SYZ & CO foil catamaran’s entire crew was
assembled yesterday evening at the Société Nautique de Genève to celebrate the
flying boat’s christening. The catamaran, suspended in mid-air in front of the Club,
drew much attention from the crowd of visitors who had come to admire this hightechnology
sailing craft. The project’s initiators, Patrick Firmenich, Jean
Psarofaghis and Alex Schneiter, were present along with the entire staff that has
worked on this leading-edge project: Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot
Prévost (of VPLP Yacht Design), Yvan Ravussin (of ZR Concept, in charge of the
foils’ development), the leading executives of Banque SYZ & CO, as well as
engineers Clemens Dransfeld and Giorgio Provinciali were all gathered around the
boat with Alain Prost, its godfather.

more here

more images here

Happy Sailing

Steve Alloway

Part 1 here

This post is tagged Alain Prost, Aqua Skipper, Clemens Dransfeld, Dan Leech, Flying Banana, Giorgio Provinciali, Kotara Horiuchi, Mirabaud LX, Pogo Foil, R Class, SYZ & Co, VPLP Yacht Design, yachtyakka