Exceptionally great overview of what is going on with the "secret" details of these boats, thanks so much for putting this video together!! Looking forward to your next episode!!!
This is all new for me and I appreciate the effort you made to explain these developments. I found it fascinating and it deepened my interest in the vendee race and sailing.
And in IMOCAs the foils cannot have moving parts like ailerons. During the race the skippers can change only the length and the angle of the foil, but only 5 degrees.
In windsurfing - if you close the gap meaning you put your boom and sail on the deck - you go faster...just like in the America's cup. Go look at world windsurfing records and their technique - of closing the gap...
talking about aerodynamics at 8.07, don't forget you have to plan for apparent wind, which could be way faster than speed over the ground would suggest....
tricky part is apparent wind angle. If you turn your boat 45 deg that Cd suddenly looks very bad. Probably why instead of airfoils everywhere everything has large radii.
I think this race will be very interesting indeed. Perhaps a key element of the foil size/shape is the % of displacement that is carried in the foil. Previously the foils carried 30 to 40% and hence the hull still remained in the water to some extent. With the new larger foils the entire hull is "flying" and only the keel is still in the water. The risk of this is how robust the design will be in the long run. I have flown 100% foiling trimaran completely clear of the water (and pitchpoled on return). Also, I wonder what provisions are designed in for surviving collision with objects. As a composites professional I know that erosion on the leading edge of wind turbine blades (foil) is a serious performance issue. I look forward to more discussion if you care to set up discussion space on design issues.
Just nitpicking but IMOCAs don't have lifting foils on the rudders, right? So, most of hull is flying but the transom is planted. They fly on the foil and the aft planing surfaces, right?
@@AntiVaganza absolutely right - as you see in my in my initial post it is a "percentage!" of displacement in IMOCA boats compared to 100% foilers like americas cup monohulls to the first generation 30% foilers of the last race. Frankly I see the advantage of being able to see the high speeds of this generation of IMOCA foilers but we will see in this true proving ground of racing how robust this concept is in offshore racing.... My experience in foiling sailboats was with hydrosail inc in the 90's with 100% foiling trimarans and in a wave environment there were problems with staying foiling or airborne - we had trim tabs on the foils and the foil is supporting the boat and the waves are variable. We flew the boat right out of the water at 28 knots in ocean conditions.
I'm confused, isn't 11th hour boat the old Hugo Boss from the last Vendée edition? Not really one of the newest boat. They are building a new one, but it isn´t out yet I think.
You're right - I think 11th hour were using the previous Hugo Boss (distinct by the honeycomb pattern on its deck and all-black finish) for testing and data collection before commissioning a completely new IMOCA 60 build adapted for The Ocean Race format, in particular for sailing it with many more hands than usual. Great video of it here: ua-cam.com/video/KoPTY9kdjGQ/v-deo.html
Theres still so much low hanging fruit to be had with these Imocas. Yes the foils are impressive but this is only the beginning. And we should have been at this point 15yrs ago had it not been for the luddites. I hope this year we don't see so many boats including HB drag so much bow in anything over a light chop when foiling. It seemed the center of lift was too far aft and would pitch the bow down. That doesn't seem to be happening. Instead you see Arkea completely nose up!
The C foils on Hugo Boss were designed to give the same lift whatever the angle of heel, so the lift they produce remains constant. Also, the inboard of the C foil can be pushed forward/angled back, and pivots at the hull, this enables them to adjust the angle of the foil and control the lift it's providing. Finally, the keel pivot on HB runs at an angle, not perpendicular to the blade. By adjusting the keel angle it adjusts the amount of lift the keel provides. This is why when they are foiling the keel is almost vertical, whereas on non-foiling boats the bulb is canted to windward to increase the righting moment. :0)
Loved the vid man, really enjoyed the format! Would he awesome if you did something every week counting what is happening in the race, maybe explaining whats ahead for them, like they might encounter storms and stuff like that, and yes I know you just said that, I’m listening to you’re outro right now 😂
Thank you so much for doing this. I am a yacht surveyor and you have answered all the questions i have been asking. I do wonder when these high tech machines will stop carrying lead on the bottom of the keels and design a cleaver bulb with the batteries encapsulated rather than in the hull. (Resistance i know just over come it ) i really enjoyed watching and very much looking forward to more. Also at these high speeds more in the way of generating power and soon the wasted weight of the engine will be redundant with small electric motor. Imagine where we will be in four years time ! I hope Alex Thompson is able to keep a good look out at the start !
Good comment. I have been wondering when they would get rid of the Diesel engine and go all electric. Batteries in the keel would be great. It would be interesting if they could have electric motors that they are allowed to use if the wind drops as long as they have generated the electricity used to power the boat.
There are any rotating masts on Imocas? That could be another reason to have separate spreaders, not integral to the mast. EDIT: yes, they have rotating masts.
when discussing the bow shaped and the rounded bows I was waiting to hear the word “buoyancy”. the wider rounder bow will have more reserve buoyancy that a older style knife edge bow shape. The extra buoyancy is to prevent or reduce the likelihood of pitch polling at higher speed or while running in a large swell or waves. when referring to the mini transit boats they are limited to an overall length of 6.5 meters I believe. When classes, like the minis, restrict the overall length the designers increase beam to compensate - for greater stability, added structural support of the rig & greater span/leverage for the foils. Like everything it’s all a series of trade offs and finding, or guessing, the optimum solution.
Hugo the Sailing Frenchman explains it quite well in one of their videos: rounded bow in Mini Transat 6.50 reduces wet surface, so reduces water drag. With the rounded and wider bow, the total waterline length is reduced, and the total wet surface reduced too. It helps planing too, of course. This shortening of waterline length would be inconvenient for a non planing boat, but convenient for a boat basically designed for planing. This design has a tradeof when sailing upwind, where pointy bows and longer waterline is better, but it is a case of taking a compromise towards what benefits more, as these boats (and Imocas too) will be sailing much more miles on downwing true wind angles than upwind, so sacrificing a bit in upwind to gain more on downwind is acceptable. On a very small ship as a 6.50 is, there is also the addeed benefit of more internal space for sails and stuff, and better options for moving the stuff to distribute the weight optimally and have that little more space
maybe an idea: we can do a large webinar / video call on 8 november and talk together what we see/ experience instead of every expert sending info one way? and we can experience this togther?
The "double backstays" are running backstays. They are tensioned by winches depending on which tack the boat is on. My understanding is that the deck spreader configuration allows for a rotating mast, providing some aerodynamic efficiency to the main.
In my limited experience, gybing with runners requires almost split second timing & close coordination between the guy on the backstays, the main trimmer & the helmsman. Sounds risky on a single handed boat but I guess these are not normal sailors.
@@anthonyefarr With the swept back spreaders and stays, you can do manouvers with both running backstays loose. Once on the new tack you trim your new backstay on. There are boats like Stark that have some what traditional rigging that allowes mast rotation as well.
@@anthonyefarr It can be done. It is just not as efficient, as it would be when working with a crew, because it will be done in alternating steps. In past races, tacks can take minutes to complete, as compared to seconds on a crewed boat. In past Vendée, a skipper can often be on a tack for a day or more. This makes the the time to do a tack or gybe less of an issue. Depending on the weather, a sail change can take 30 to 40 minutes to do.
@RichardMadden, you are correct. They also, contribute about 10 to 15 percent of to mainsail’s power. At least this was the case, in the last Vendée, where they first appeared on IMOCA 60.
Don't they hit harder? I thought the round bow was to try and keep the boats from nose diving when they hit waves. it much faster to bounce across the top of the waves rather than try and cut your way through them.
Regarding the Hugo Boss cockpit... not sure if you subscribe to the Alex Thomson Racing UA-cam channel. But I think the rationale was multiple, i.e. ergonomically the middle of the boat is the most stable part, i.e. spreaders, mast, swing keel and fins all meet there. You see alot of side to side motion (fin to keel/keel to fin) but not alot of bow to stern/stern to bow motion. So it's very stable particularly the jarring motion you encounter at 25-35kts at the cockpit or stern. Plus then to your points about all the winches are mounted at the strongest part of the boat ... you don't need the extra mass on the stern with a counter weight (or the weight accounted for in the bow). The short lines, lack of blocks all lead to weight reduction... and every little pound/kilo matters. There's editions about the boat design as well as when they lost their keel. The other bit about enclosed is that they stay indoors 80-90% of the time... so why not go 100%?? Foil design... I can't speak to the completely curved Hugo Boss foils but those down and then to the side and then a wing tip... think of a normal airplane wing with winglets to control wingtip vortices. Note F1 has the same thing to contain the vortices. The down part is that the boat is above the water but the wing needs to be below.
Just come across your station/channel. Really interesting. Thanks. Is there any ways to see or hear the boats and if they do any DX ing with amateur radio. I am a ham radio operator near the beginner end of it and it would be great to hear from them.
Thanks for these info and ideas. I wonder about the keel. I gues it is somehow tilting in opposite direction then the mast itself to balance the pressure got from the wind.
I really like this stuff and can't wait for the Vendee start. Some details you should know, 11th hour racing is the 2016 Hugo Boss with a refit. And modern lifting keels don't just swing but also provide lift.
Thanks for this video - indeed it's hard to find in depth info on the IMOCA boats as the teams seem pretty secretive (similar to F1). Also, love the fact that you are deep diving into the Vendee and offshore sailing/racing - And in English language! Much of the content I have found to digest in the past 3 Vendee campaigns has been French or roughly translated! Although I will say the Vendee administration has made great strides in making this race visible and accessible on a global scale (their mobile app is really a must-have for fans). Armed with more knowledge, I am looking forward to following the 2020 edition!
Also foil design... curved vs. straight... Think of it more as a combination of foil, keel, rudder and then the action of the hull, mast, sails when considering heeling, etc. I think if you watch F1 you see the action of the front wing, barge boards, rear wing and under tray... it's really the combination of all that's intended to be apart of the overall system. They all look different but there's more or less known concepts of the individual bits... and then you combine it all together. F1 like Mercedes have a powerful engine so they can run more downforce. But other teams don't have that big of an engine (HP) so they need to be more efficient (less wing but still want the same downforce...). So you really need to understand the whole system goals to understand the individual bits... if that makes sense.
as last vendee, probably the biggest problem is wales/ containers. Do they have fishfinders or other solutions for that installed this race? going from 35 to 0 will break the foils..... and the changes of hugo boss like last time. Do you know?
The top sides of theses boats slope down have nothing to do with aero dynamics. I had the chance of sailing on the previous hugo boss and asked alex thompson the reason. It’s purely taking weight from the bow so it can fly more easily.
Also they were discussing it yesterday at the start of the race. They also need to add instability to the top part in case the boats capsize. It should also be noted that hydrodynamic IS aerodynamic. It's called fluid dynamic for a reason. Air is a fluid, just as water is.
The enclosed cockpit also reduces crew fatigue. Anyone working outdoors in a windy environment knows how tiring it can be to be exposed to wind for any length of time. The reduction to fatigue and risk of physical injury is another factor allowing the crew to push the boat harder in an extended race. Great vid, but please use more sailing footage while you're speaking. You say early on that you're going to do this, but unfortunately the footage flashes by far too quickly while you're discussing a particular point.
I enjoy your relaxed and informative approach to the Race. I look forward to your reports with my coffee in snowy Canada. Keep up your personal approach.
thank you for a interesting video! i think the angles in the bow are also for saving weight(cutting the corners) of the hull. and another reasons for hugo boss` enclosed cockpit is for the water to run straight over, hundreds of liters in there adds a lot of weight
Interesting video! I think you missed the point with the spreader poles is the wing mast that rotates to increase sail area and support the wind coming forward due to the speed they sail at. On boss, one of the other pro’s of the cabin position is to have the weight lower compared to the traditional cockpit. I think the queries on the foil controls might be governed by the IMOCA rule book. The rudder popping up is not just for the drag, but also jumps up to prevent damage when hitting objects in the water, containers etc.
thank you. Yes I am aware of the rotating wingmast, however I can only cover so much in 1 video, so i saved that for the next techno video in a few days , along with several other very cool feautures I want to die into more :)
Great video. Keep up the good work. It would be interesting to see a spreadsheet of all the boats that could be updated as the race progresses. The spreadsheet could list the features of each boat, foiling, movable keel, weight, boat age....and the budget of the teams.
The bow design is purely about speed and interaction with the waves. The Scow Bow on L"Occitane will be quick to plain but more so in flat water but not so advantageous in bigger waves. The deck shape of Alex's boat Hugo Boss is to disperse water quickly because large volumes of water on the boat adds weight. You used 11th hour racing as a reference a lot but this boat is the "Older Generation Hugo Boss Boat" so it has been superseded by the newer boats. The newer boats come from 3 different designers. We also have many of the older generation boats competing being retro-fitted with foils.
11th hour have put their own foil design on the boat, last I knew they only had one on the boat, they’re currently sailing across the Atlantic back to France. Such a shame it’s not racing in this addition as it would have won by a big distance if Alex haven’t broken a foil on day 13 in 2016.
@@gethinsalter599 I think Alex actually was afraid that his older boat would be faster than his newer, so he only agreed to sell it to someone who wasn't gonna participate in the VG. 11th hour racing is focusing on the Ocean Race in 2022
Regarding the scow bow It's been quite successful in the mini transats . Additionally to make it plane easier, it also increases the righting moment. In more modern designs, you might not need that extra righting moment if the foils can do the job
One of the advantages would be to enable better profile of the attacking edge of the sail. It's been on for over 40 years on dinghy sailing ( Tasar, HC16), but fairly new on this type of boats
The forward part of the deck that is angled on both side is also so that during nose dives, water is evacuated more optimally. With a flat deck, water has to be carried away for a while before it flows out.
The big advancement in this generation that made it possible for the massive foils we see today was a rule change that added a degree of freedom to the foils. Previously the foils were only allowed to go in and out, meaning that they could not control the amount of lift they produced. this meant that if you put massive foils on the boat it would be uncontrollable. now they can can change the angle of attack of the foil (Pitch) they can dial back the amount of lift when things get crazy as to save the boat in big waves.
also the low booms are just a way to try and get the center of lift on the sails lower. most of the time they are sailing down wind with the boom quite far out, so not near the coach roof.
The rounded tear dropped bow is surely more to do with wave piercing hydrodynamics - reducing the pitch when the bow hits a larger wave while foiling??
Partly hydrodynamics, but also the waterplane area is increased forward meaning the buoyancy increases rapidly and dampens pitching without additional hydro resistance this probably helps counteract the massive waterplane/planing surface aft. I would say at 15+ knots a sharp bow would be slicker but you want the bow to come out of the wave to get the foil to work again .
Thank you so much for putting all these infosa nd comments together. Also thank you for your impeccable english always appreciated by non english native speakers
Why are the side outriggers not more of a foil shape to make more aerodynamic like a foil? Maybe they are, but the photos seem to indicate they are more of a roundish oblong shape.
Amazing video, this helps a lot while following current Vendée Globe, thanks for that! I think that you could draw a few conclulsions from the first quarter of the rest already, i.e. for this type of solo racing at least, actual high speed of foiled boats is around 25nm. It seems that the flatish foils (I'm talking Apivia and LinkedOut) have been designed and angled so that the flat part is almost horizontal when they are at their optimal speed and angle. They also seem rather fixed, since this shape doesnt make it easy or even feasible to pull them out like the C-shaped ones on Hugo Boss (or Arkea Paprec). Furthermore, there is no hole on top of the boat where the other end of the foils could pop out! When they were in rough conditions in the tropical winds, they probably suffered extra drag from those foils being partly in the water but inefficient when the boat is flat on the sea with small sails; HB was probably a bit faster when pulling foils out, and Jean Le Cam could actually match their speed in these poor conditions. Also for now (and even before the huge structural problems Alex Thompson got), it seems that Apivia and LinkedOut, and also possibly Charal or Corum L'Epargne had they not met early technical issues, are just as fast as Hugo Boss in favourable wind and sea conditions. It's for sure such an exciting race!
Great video, enjoyed it thoroughly! One thing I'd be curious to understand is how a totally enclosed cockpit affects the way Alex changes sails on Hugo Boss. With not being 100% familiar on how changing sails works on an IMOCA, does having everything "downstairs" have any negative (or positive?) effects on the process? Can he do it "blindly", i.e. looking at only the camera images and what he sees through those small windows?
He has very well placed windows to every key area of the boat. so in addition to the camera's he should have a rather good view of all the key elements on the boat while under sail. I believe the only thing he really has to leave the cockpit for, would be changing sails (so not for reefing but for truly changing them) and also for poling out the sail when going down wind. As I explained in the video, the spreaders provide some ability to pole out the sails, but they also cary to poles on the aft deck which he can use to pole the sails out even more if needed.
Hello ! Great site. On Seaexplorer can you get any info on the sea pack testing unit they have on the boat for conducting emvironmental test on the ocean; ph, co2 , etc.... would like to look at putting on our sailboaf ..
old foils gave 3 tons of lift new ones give about 9 tons... especially the biggest ones like Alex's. So you were dead on this point. Hugo boss foils can be extended and pulled back to correctly trim lift, since they are a constant curve. Control happens by moving the top bearing of the foil, so setting rake. Most teams do not only move the bearings front and aft but also slightly side to side. This changes not only rake related to lift but also sideways rake, thus how much leeway they have. Alex cockpit also has to do with protection and there is no cockpit to fill up with green water washing over the deck, which is usually around 400kg plus... Also it lowers the center of gravity. If you have other questions let me know. I am a yacht designer myself and Hugo Boss's Systems Engineer is a fellow landsman ;)
OK I haven't searched comments to see if this has been discussed - it may well have been; but, do you think these Vendee boats are poling out any sails at all? These boats are almost always sailing on apparent wind, even in light winds they would gybe tack down wind to maintain VMG, the most “off the wind” they get is probably close reaching. The Vendee boats are attaining speeds more comparable with the AC boats than displacement yachts. I recall that in the San Francisco AC (so three AC boat renditions back!) one commentator pointed out that there are only a few degrees change in sheeting angle between upwind and downwind - I certainly found it difficult to tell which was the upwind leg unless there were blue line clues or other wind tell tales. Similarly, in the Farrier F-25c trimaran class the word, said to originate from Randy Smythe, was that you sailed with daggerboard down on all points of sail as, if you were sailing properly, you were almost always close reaching. So I wonder if the deck level mast “spreaders” are actually being used for poling out, maybe for some tweaking system for the headsail angle but I think the angles are getting ever smaller. Anyway, thanks for an interesting series, keep the videos coming.
Nice video! Regarding shape of bow and deck. I would say it's mostly a combination of weight distribution and hydrodynamics, the wide bottom when hitting the wave and the narrow top for saving weight. When looking at the aerodynamics, the whole package should be included, ie both sail and hull.
the shape of the deck to reduce wheight and lower the center of gravity was first seen on Gabart's imoca in 2012's Vendee globe, which is now Banque Populaire
Very insightful information - many thanks. The design of the foils and the bow seem to be critical points of the newest designs. More details would be really interesting. The merging of the boom and the deck (and the new skegs) are obviously critical, but I would like to understand the WHY of this design. Maybe an aeronautical engineer could explain the reasons behind this setup.
Thank you. Very informative to the non-sailor. Why do commentaries say the Vendee Globe started in the 1980 when it was there in the 60S? Also, what is "imocca" please?
Very good explanations, thanks. My Wife and I crossed The Atlantic 5 times and one of our worries was to hit a Whale or some other object. With the speed these Boats are doing a collision would be devestating and its not only Whales I´m thinking of, what about Leatherback Turtles? There are thousands out there and they would act like Rocks that get in the way. Were there any incidents yet?
Watch Sam Davies insights from February at ua-cam.com/video/LG6qJnEVYkU/v-deo.html. Starting at 8:36 she talks about autopilot, foils, collision avoidance and more.
As a retired engineer AND a former charter skipper I really appreciate to see, that there is tremendous technical progress in the design of the new SAILING ROCKETS. For engineers its always an adventure , to leave common ground and gain a " NEW DIMENSION " I wish all the best for those men and women, who are under the last heros of our times This should wake up a litttle bit our SNOW FLAKE GENERATION . USE YOUR FRIDAYS to go to school and study hard , so that you can "form" your future life . And dont let OTHERS tell you, that all what your grandparents and parents did was wrong . Dont let them fill your hearts and minds with pseudo religions like climate change and social justice and BLM . LIFE is producing winners and loosers , so accept the RACE OF LIFE .
I am sure others have pointed this out but I think you are a little off on the bow thoughts. A sphere is the best for least wetted surface in relation to volume. But a narrower, more traditional bow would nevertheless have a loss less weight in it. The reason for the new bows are to push volume forward, I think. It's basically a means to optimized the boat for reaching and downwind conditions. It only works since there's so little upwind sailing in the Vendee and Minitransat.
Hi ! thank you for the video, very very nice ! I think that the pilots "inside" the boats are very important because the human stress. This kind of races are so stressing , and long. And if you give a better condition to the racers it is a good solution to avoid human fatigue mistakes , and the racers can stay more time keeping the best performance possible . I think that next step is the "noise" insulation, because this boats are very very noisy during the race ! Once more thanks for the video !
Does tack point mean something different in french? I feel like he is mixing up a few things that are really through me off when discussing the outriggers/spreaders/whiskerpoles. I'm not familiar with these boats
I believe the keels on this new generation of IMOCAs actually have an adjustable rotation available, allowing for lift to be created from the keel whilst canted over, effectively giving lift on both sides of the hull allowing the extended flight periods these boats can now achieve. Just a rumour I heard from somebody in the know ;)
Almost all modern canting keel boats have an inclined pin. The front on the keel pin is raised slightly which means the leading edge is angled upwards creating lift. A small downside is that since the centre of lift is so outboard it kind of acts as reverse righting moment.
Great video, lots of food for thought. It would be great for one on the ac75s too ;) these boats, as they heel over rotate along a diagonal between the back of boat and foil instead of boat centreline . This would cause weird motions as they rise out of the water and would be the cause of the odd motions. Its unlikely to be balancing between the keel and foil 👍
The actual Special Edition of CourseAuLarge for the Vende Globe contains a lot of technical details. By the way, the new foils can be partly controled in angel.
What I notice is that the Imoca tends to fool with the boat on an angle using while the ac75 foils with the boat as flat as possible. Perhaps interesting to take along in the upcoming (?) foiling video ;-) The (chosen?) boat slope/angle of the Imoca surprises me as it seems not to be the optimal for boat speed...
AC boats have foils (T-foils) at the bottom of the rudder to get the stern out of the water. Also, they can control the lift from the 3 foils and thus control the attitude of the boat. IMOCAs aren't allowed foils on the rudder. Hence they are never going to fly like an AC75.
Please do a video on the electronics. They must have 24x7 Internet ? How does the autosteer work ? Are any of the winches electric ? How do they generate power to operate everything ?
I look at these foils and the speed and weight of boats and think about the amount of garbage in the water and wonder how they are engineered to take a struck. Are they designed to break off or will they tear the bottom of the boat off?
Next video is gong LIVE tomorrow morning :). Analyzing the full round the world course in terms of weather and other environmental challenges. Premiere at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
Exceptionally great overview of what is going on with the "secret" details of these boats, thanks so much for putting this video together!! Looking forward to your next episode!!!
This is all new for me and I appreciate the effort you made to explain these developments. I found it fascinating and it deepened my interest in the vendee race and sailing.
Glad to hear that :)
good stuff mate and nicely explained! thanks!
Like the boom sealing on deck, the AC 75's also have a skeg to stop wind going underneath the boat before it foils....
And in IMOCAs the foils cannot have moving parts like ailerons. During the race the skippers can change only the length and the angle of the foil, but only 5 degrees.
In windsurfing - if you close the gap meaning you put your boom and sail on the deck - you go faster...just like in the America's cup. Go look at world windsurfing records and their technique - of closing the gap...
And I think Thomas Coville did the same on his new Sodebo Ultim, by putting the cockpit in front of the mast, allowing him to lower the boom
talking about aerodynamics at 8.07, don't forget you have to plan for apparent wind, which could be way faster than speed over the ground would suggest....
tricky part is apparent wind angle. If you turn your boat 45 deg that Cd suddenly looks very bad. Probably why instead of airfoils everywhere everything has large radii.
I think this race will be very interesting indeed. Perhaps a key element of the foil size/shape is the % of displacement that is carried in the foil. Previously the foils carried 30 to 40% and hence the hull still remained in the water to some extent. With the new larger foils the entire hull is "flying" and only the keel is still in the water. The risk of this is how robust the design will be in the long run. I have flown 100% foiling trimaran completely clear of the water (and pitchpoled on return). Also, I wonder what provisions are designed in for surviving collision with objects. As a composites professional I know that erosion on the leading edge of wind turbine blades (foil) is a serious performance issue. I look forward to more discussion if you care to set up discussion space on design issues.
That could be a very cool convo indeed. I would be up for it! Perhaps get in touch via my insta @Florianrooz
@Jellyfish I'm all for strapping rockets too the foiling boats in the next edition ;) That would be something to see :D
Just nitpicking but IMOCAs don't have lifting foils on the rudders, right? So, most of hull is flying but the transom is planted. They fly on the foil and the aft planing surfaces, right?
@@AntiVaganza absolutely right - as you see in my in my initial post it is a "percentage!" of displacement in IMOCA boats compared to 100% foilers like americas cup monohulls to the first generation 30% foilers of the last race. Frankly I see the advantage of being able to see the high speeds of this generation of IMOCA foilers but we will see in this true proving ground of racing how robust this concept is in offshore racing.... My experience in foiling sailboats was with hydrosail inc in the 90's with 100% foiling trimarans and in a wave environment there were problems with staying foiling or airborne - we had trim tabs on the foils and the foil is supporting the boat and the waves are variable. We flew the boat right out of the water at 28 knots in ocean conditions.
I'm confused, isn't 11th hour boat the old Hugo Boss from the last Vendée edition? Not really one of the newest boat. They are building a new one, but it isn´t out yet I think.
You're right - I think 11th hour were using the previous Hugo Boss (distinct by the honeycomb pattern on its deck and all-black finish) for testing and data collection before commissioning a completely new IMOCA 60 build adapted for The Ocean Race format, in particular for sailing it with many more hands than usual. Great video of it here:
ua-cam.com/video/KoPTY9kdjGQ/v-deo.html
The rudder and keel are also types of foils. As are the sails and even the mast. It's the same physics just in a different direction, lift and drag.
Theres still so much low hanging fruit to be had with these Imocas. Yes the foils are impressive but this is only the beginning. And we should have been at this point 15yrs ago had it not been for the luddites.
I hope this year we don't see so many boats including HB drag so much bow in anything over a light chop when foiling. It seemed the center of lift was too far aft and would pitch the bow down. That doesn't seem to be happening. Instead you see Arkea completely nose up!
Could you ellaborate on what these "low hanging fruits" are in your opinion? Cheers :)
@@balagelost now the speeds are really coming up, it's all aerodynamic. I'll have a video up hopefully by the weekend.
@@PeakTorque Cool, would love to see that! Thanks for giving a heads up once its out ;)
The C foils on Hugo Boss were designed to give the same lift whatever the angle of heel, so the lift they produce remains constant. Also, the inboard of the C foil can be pushed forward/angled back, and pivots at the hull, this enables them to adjust the angle of the foil and control the lift it's providing.
Finally, the keel pivot on HB runs at an angle, not perpendicular to the blade. By adjusting the keel angle it adjusts the amount of lift the keel provides. This is why when they are foiling the keel is almost vertical, whereas on non-foiling boats the bulb is canted to windward to increase the righting moment. :0)
In your opinion how much faster would you say the HB is from the rest of the field? Thomson is a beast but that boat seems to be an absolute weapon.
Loved the vid man, really enjoyed the format! Would he awesome if you did something every week counting what is happening in the race, maybe explaining whats ahead for them, like they might encounter storms and stuff like that, and yes I know you just said that, I’m listening to you’re outro right now 😂
with this spreaders you can rotate your mast in order to create a proper wing profile - like on catamarans
Thank you so much for doing this. I am a yacht surveyor and you have answered all the questions i have been asking. I do wonder when these high tech machines will stop carrying lead on the bottom of the keels and design a cleaver bulb with the batteries encapsulated rather than in the hull. (Resistance i know just over come it ) i really enjoyed watching and very much looking forward to more. Also at these high speeds more in the way of generating power and soon the wasted weight of the engine will be redundant with small electric motor. Imagine where we will be in four years time ! I hope Alex Thompson is able to keep a good look out at the start !
Good comment. I have been wondering when they would get rid of the Diesel engine and go all electric. Batteries in the keel would be great.
It would be interesting if they could have electric motors that they are allowed to use if the wind drops as long as they have generated the electricity used to power the boat.
About trimning the foil. Alex Thompson had Said that Hugo boss is abel to Angel it with a few degreas
There are any rotating masts on Imocas? That could be another reason to have separate spreaders, not integral to the mast. EDIT: yes, they have rotating masts.
There are rotating masts yes
when discussing the bow shaped and the rounded bows I was waiting to hear the word “buoyancy”. the wider rounder bow will have more reserve buoyancy that a older style knife edge bow shape. The extra buoyancy is to prevent or reduce the likelihood of pitch polling at higher speed or while running in a large swell or waves. when referring to the mini transit boats they are limited to an overall length of 6.5 meters I believe. When classes, like the minis, restrict the overall length the designers increase beam to compensate - for greater stability, added structural support of the rig & greater span/leverage for the foils. Like everything it’s all a series of trade offs and finding, or guessing, the optimum solution.
Hugo the Sailing Frenchman explains it quite well in one of their videos: rounded bow in Mini Transat 6.50 reduces wet surface, so reduces water drag. With the rounded and wider bow, the total waterline length is reduced, and the total wet surface reduced too. It helps planing too, of course. This shortening of waterline length would be inconvenient for a non planing boat, but convenient for a boat basically designed for planing. This design has a tradeof when sailing upwind, where pointy bows and longer waterline is better, but it is a case of taking a compromise towards what benefits more, as these boats (and Imocas too) will be sailing much more miles on downwing true wind angles than upwind, so sacrificing a bit in upwind to gain more on downwind is acceptable.
On a very small ship as a 6.50 is, there is also the addeed benefit of more internal space for sails and stuff, and better options for moving the stuff to distribute the weight optimally and have that little more space
maybe an idea: we can do a large webinar / video call on 8 november and talk together what we see/ experience instead of every expert sending info one way? and we can experience this togther?
The "double backstays" are running backstays. They are tensioned by winches depending on which tack the boat is on. My understanding is that the deck spreader configuration allows for a rotating mast, providing some aerodynamic efficiency to the main.
In my limited experience, gybing with runners requires almost split second timing & close coordination between the guy on the backstays, the main trimmer & the helmsman. Sounds risky on a single handed boat but I guess these are not normal sailors.
@@anthonyefarr With the swept back spreaders and stays, you can do manouvers with both running backstays loose. Once on the new tack you trim your new backstay on.
There are boats like Stark that have some what traditional rigging that allowes mast rotation as well.
@@anthonyefarr It can be done. It is just not as efficient, as it would be when working with a crew, because it will be done in alternating steps. In past races, tacks can take minutes to complete, as compared to seconds on a crewed boat. In past Vendée, a skipper can often be on a tack for a day or more. This makes the the time to do a tack or gybe less of an issue.
Depending on the weather, a sail change can take 30 to 40 minutes to do.
@RichardMadden, you are correct. They also, contribute about 10 to 15 percent of to mainsail’s power. At least this was the case, in the last Vendée, where they first appeared on IMOCA 60.
Are they moving the center of pressure (in the sail), thus able to rise or lower the bow then flying?
The new boats have round bow to avoid hard hits on the waves when flying.
Don't they hit harder? I thought the round bow was to try and keep the boats from nose diving when they hit waves. it much faster to bounce across the top of the waves rather than try and cut your way through them.
@@levio1463 it seems that the bouncing is softer than the cutting through.
The circular shape and the added volume prevents the bow going underwater where a pointy bow dives straight in.
Nice video and good explanations. But 11th hour is not a new boat but the old Hugo Boss from the last VG
I never said 11th hour was new, I said I included them as an example because they provided good drone footage 😁👍
Regarding the Hugo Boss cockpit... not sure if you subscribe to the Alex Thomson Racing UA-cam channel. But I think the rationale was multiple, i.e. ergonomically the middle of the boat is the most stable part, i.e. spreaders, mast, swing keel and fins all meet there. You see alot of side to side motion (fin to keel/keel to fin) but not alot of bow to stern/stern to bow motion. So it's very stable particularly the jarring motion you encounter at 25-35kts at the cockpit or stern. Plus then to your points about all the winches are mounted at the strongest part of the boat ... you don't need the extra mass on the stern with a counter weight (or the weight accounted for in the bow). The short lines, lack of blocks all lead to weight reduction... and every little pound/kilo matters. There's editions about the boat design as well as when they lost their keel. The other bit about enclosed is that they stay indoors 80-90% of the time... so why not go 100%?? Foil design... I can't speak to the completely curved Hugo Boss foils but those down and then to the side and then a wing tip... think of a normal airplane wing with winglets to control wingtip vortices. Note F1 has the same thing to contain the vortices. The down part is that the boat is above the water but the wing needs to be below.
I did my last Sydney to Hobart 18 years ago, these are like nothing I've ever seen before!
VDLP already had designed the mast way back at the 100ft fast monster Comanche as computer models proved it would be faster to increase front sails!
Outriggers are also needed since mast and sails are now orientable.
Mast needs to be free of rotating.
Just come across your station/channel. Really interesting. Thanks. Is there any ways to see or hear the boats and if they do any DX ing with amateur radio. I am a ham radio operator near the beginner end of it and it would be great to hear from them.
Thanks for these info and ideas. I wonder about the keel. I gues it is somehow tilting in opposite direction then the mast itself to balance the pressure got from the wind.
I really like this stuff and can't wait for the Vendee start. Some details you should know, 11th hour racing is the 2016 Hugo Boss with a refit. And modern lifting keels don't just swing but also provide lift.
Thanks for this video - indeed it's hard to find in depth info on the IMOCA boats as the teams seem pretty secretive (similar to F1). Also, love the fact that you are deep diving into the Vendee and offshore sailing/racing - And in English language! Much of the content I have found to digest in the past 3 Vendee campaigns has been French or roughly translated! Although I will say the Vendee administration has made great strides in making this race visible and accessible on a global scale (their mobile app is really a must-have for fans). Armed with more knowledge, I am looking forward to following the 2020 edition!
Also foil design... curved vs. straight... Think of it more as a combination of foil, keel, rudder and then the action of the hull, mast, sails when considering heeling, etc. I think if you watch F1 you see the action of the front wing, barge boards, rear wing and under tray... it's really the combination of all that's intended to be apart of the overall system. They all look different but there's more or less known concepts of the individual bits... and then you combine it all together. F1 like Mercedes have a powerful engine so they can run more downforce. But other teams don't have that big of an engine (HP) so they need to be more efficient (less wing but still want the same downforce...). So you really need to understand the whole system goals to understand the individual bits... if that makes sense.
Tks for your intresting aspect
as last vendee, probably the biggest problem is wales/ containers. Do they have fishfinders or other solutions for that installed this race? going from 35 to 0 will break the foils..... and the changes of hugo boss like last time. Do you know?
do have measures against that this time.
When are weighted Keels going to disappear and be replaced by a Foiling Keel?
The top sides of theses boats slope down have nothing to do with aero dynamics. I had the chance of sailing on the previous hugo boss and asked alex thompson the reason. It’s purely taking weight from the bow so it can fly more easily.
Beg to differ - watch some of the explanations of this new generation of IMOCAs and the AC-75s - there is an aero component to the decision.
@@djdfined i’m just repeating what the skipper of the first imoca to embrace this feature told me. I’m not a specialist. 😉
Also they were discussing it yesterday at the start of the race. They also need to add instability to the top part in case the boats capsize. It should also be noted that hydrodynamic IS aerodynamic. It's called fluid dynamic for a reason. Air is a fluid, just as water is.
The enclosed cockpit also reduces crew fatigue. Anyone working outdoors in a windy environment knows how tiring it can be to be exposed to wind for any length of time. The reduction to fatigue and risk of physical injury is another factor allowing the crew to push the boat harder in an extended race.
Great vid, but please use more sailing footage while you're speaking. You say early on that you're going to do this, but unfortunately the footage flashes by far too quickly while you're discussing a particular point.
The video could be half the length, its very irritating.
Sir,
Please, soustitles en French.
Thank you.
București, Ro
I enjoy your relaxed and informative approach to the Race. I look forward to your reports with my coffee in snowy Canada. Keep up your personal approach.
thank you for a interesting video!
i think the angles in the bow are also for saving weight(cutting the corners) of the hull.
and another reasons for hugo boss` enclosed cockpit is for the water to run straight over, hundreds of liters in there adds a lot of weight
Interesting video! I think you missed the point with the spreader poles is the wing mast that rotates to increase sail area and support the wind coming forward due to the speed they sail at. On boss, one of the other pro’s of the cabin position is to have the weight lower compared to the traditional cockpit. I think the queries on the foil controls might be governed by the IMOCA rule book. The rudder popping up is not just for the drag, but also jumps up to prevent damage when hitting objects in the water, containers etc.
thank you. Yes I am aware of the rotating wingmast, however I can only cover so much in 1 video, so i saved that for the next techno video in a few days , along with several other very cool feautures I want to die into more :)
@@SeawolvesTV looking forward to it
Insane! Extremely impressive but survivability when things break? I'd rather sail a 36ft steel Herreschoff ketch.
I, too love Herreschof, but who makes an unbreakable rudder?
Great video. Keep up the good work. It would be interesting to see a spreadsheet of all the boats that could be updated as the race progresses. The spreadsheet could list the features of each boat, foiling, movable keel, weight, boat age....and the budget of the teams.
The bow design is purely about speed and interaction with the waves. The Scow Bow on L"Occitane will be quick to plain but more so in flat water but not so advantageous in bigger waves. The deck shape of Alex's boat Hugo Boss is to disperse water quickly because large volumes of water on the boat adds weight. You used 11th hour racing as a reference a lot but this boat is the "Older Generation Hugo Boss Boat" so it has been superseded by the newer boats. The newer boats come from 3 different designers. We also have many of the older generation boats competing being retro-fitted with foils.
Yes, I do think they updated the foils on 11th hour though, I'm not 100% sure on that.
11th hour have put their own foil design on the boat, last I knew they only had one on the boat, they’re currently sailing across the Atlantic back to France. Such a shame it’s not racing in this addition as it would have won by a big distance if Alex haven’t broken a foil on day 13 in 2016.
@@gethinsalter599 I think Alex actually was afraid that his older boat would be faster than his newer, so he only agreed to sell it to someone who wasn't gonna participate in the VG. 11th hour racing is focusing on the Ocean Race in 2022
Regarding the scow bow It's been quite successful in the mini transats . Additionally to make it plane easier, it also increases the righting moment. In more modern designs, you might not need that extra righting moment if the foils can do the job
@@jonas2674 yes I think that was the idea, still a shame though as the boat was FAST, with some latest generation foils it’d be right up there. 👍👍👍
Hey! Thanks, Florian! (name right?) Great video-clips and comments.tw
Fantastic nerdy video, cant wait for the next one. Some great insights there.
I can’t wait for your next video,man!?!!! 👍 Good job 👌 Vendee Globe is coming!!!😜💪💪💪 20,30,40 knots /24 hours NON STOP 😱😱😱
Next video coming very soon :)!
Thanks very much for the video. Good conversation. Cheers.
Good video. I learnt a lot. Perhaps in the next video you could talk about the advantages/disadvantages of Alex’s rotating mast.
One of the advantages would be to enable better profile of the attacking edge of the sail. It's been on for over 40 years on dinghy sailing ( Tasar, HC16), but fairly new on this type of boats
The forward part of the deck that is angled on both side is also so that during nose dives, water is evacuated more optimally. With a flat deck, water has to be carried away for a while before it flows out.
Also vo65s don’t have lifting rudders great video 👍
I think the new jauge permits a 5° rake for the foils.
Great video and discussion. Thanks Seawolves - excellent -take a bow..
The big advancement in this generation that made it possible for the massive foils we see today was a rule change that added a degree of freedom to the foils. Previously the foils were only allowed to go in and out, meaning that they could not control the amount of lift they produced. this meant that if you put massive foils on the boat it would be uncontrollable. now they can can change the angle of attack of the foil (Pitch) they can dial back the amount of lift when things get crazy as to save the boat in big waves.
also the low booms are just a way to try and get the center of lift on the sails lower. most of the time they are sailing down wind with the boom quite far out, so not near the coach roof.
The rounded tear dropped bow is surely more to do with wave piercing hydrodynamics - reducing the pitch when the bow hits a larger wave while foiling??
Partly hydrodynamics, but also the waterplane area is increased forward meaning the buoyancy increases rapidly and dampens pitching without additional hydro resistance this probably helps counteract the massive waterplane/planing surface aft. I would say at 15+ knots a sharp bow would be slicker but you want the bow to come out of the wave to get the foil to work again .
Thank you so much for putting all these infosa nd comments together. Also thank you for your impeccable english always appreciated by non english native speakers
4:50 The round bow is intended to keep the boat from digging into the waves.
Why are the side outriggers not more of a foil shape to make more aerodynamic like a foil? Maybe they are, but the photos seem to indicate they are more of a roundish oblong shape.
Amazing video, this helps a lot while following current Vendée Globe, thanks for that!
I think that you could draw a few conclulsions from the first quarter of the rest already, i.e. for this type of solo racing at least, actual high speed of foiled boats is around 25nm.
It seems that the flatish foils (I'm talking Apivia and LinkedOut) have been designed and angled so that the flat part is almost horizontal when they are at their optimal speed and angle. They also seem rather fixed, since this shape doesnt make it easy or even feasible to pull them out like the C-shaped ones on Hugo Boss (or Arkea Paprec). Furthermore, there is no hole on top of the boat where the other end of the foils could pop out!
When they were in rough conditions in the tropical winds, they probably suffered extra drag from those foils being partly in the water but inefficient when the boat is flat on the sea with small sails; HB was probably a bit faster when pulling foils out, and Jean Le Cam could actually match their speed in these poor conditions.
Also for now (and even before the huge structural problems Alex Thompson got), it seems that Apivia and LinkedOut, and also possibly Charal or Corum L'Epargne had they not met early technical issues, are just as fast as Hugo Boss in favourable wind and sea conditions.
It's for sure such an exciting race!
Have you considered befriending a naval architect? Or consulting with a maritime academy? Both/Either would be a rich source of knowledge!
Great video, enjoyed it thoroughly! One thing I'd be curious to understand is how a totally enclosed cockpit affects the way Alex changes sails on Hugo Boss. With not being 100% familiar on how changing sails works on an IMOCA, does having everything "downstairs" have any negative (or positive?) effects on the process? Can he do it "blindly", i.e. looking at only the camera images and what he sees through those small windows?
He has very well placed windows to every key area of the boat. so in addition to the camera's he should have a rather good view of all the key elements on the boat while under sail. I believe the only thing he really has to leave the cockpit for, would be changing sails (so not for reefing but for truly changing them) and also for poling out the sail when going down wind. As I explained in the video, the spreaders provide some ability to pole out the sails, but they also cary to poles on the aft deck which he can use to pole the sails out even more if needed.
@@SeawolvesTV Makes sense, thanks for the explanation.
Hello ! Great site. On Seaexplorer can you get any info on the sea pack testing unit they have on the boat for conducting emvironmental test on the ocean; ph, co2 , etc.... would like to look at putting on our sailboaf ..
What a joy to hear cross-over engineering expertise applied creatively to sailing. Hope you find a way to monetise that talent. Thanks. 👏👏👏
I would love to know the loads on everything..the lines sails hull etc..
Your videos are amazing. You have answered for many of my questions. I am looking forward for next videos
This second video is also very enjoyable. Good job.
old foils gave 3 tons of lift new ones give about 9 tons... especially the biggest ones like Alex's. So you were dead on this point. Hugo boss foils can be extended and pulled back to correctly trim lift, since they are a constant curve. Control happens by moving the top bearing of the foil, so setting rake. Most teams do not only move the bearings front and aft but also slightly side to side. This changes not only rake related to lift but also sideways rake, thus how much leeway they have. Alex cockpit also has to do with protection and there is no cockpit to fill up with green water washing over the deck, which is usually around 400kg plus... Also it lowers the center of gravity. If you have other questions let me know. I am a yacht designer myself and Hugo Boss's Systems Engineer is a fellow landsman ;)
OK I haven't searched comments to see if this has been discussed - it may well have been; but, do you think these Vendee boats are poling out any sails at all? These boats are almost always sailing on apparent wind, even in light winds they would gybe tack down wind to maintain VMG, the most “off the wind” they get is probably close reaching. The Vendee boats are attaining speeds more comparable with the AC boats than displacement yachts. I recall that in the San Francisco AC (so three AC boat renditions back!) one commentator pointed out that there are only a few degrees change in sheeting angle between upwind and downwind - I certainly found it difficult to tell which was the upwind leg unless there were blue line clues or other wind tell tales. Similarly, in the Farrier F-25c trimaran class the word, said to originate from Randy Smythe, was that you sailed with daggerboard down on all points of sail as, if you were sailing properly, you were almost always close reaching. So I wonder if the deck level mast “spreaders” are actually being used for poling out, maybe for some tweaking system for the headsail angle but I think the angles are getting ever smaller. Anyway, thanks for an interesting series, keep the videos coming.
Nice video! Regarding shape of bow and deck. I would say it's mostly a combination of weight distribution and hydrodynamics, the wide bottom when hitting the wave and the narrow top for saving weight. When looking at the aerodynamics, the whole package should be included, ie both sail and hull.
the shape of the deck to reduce wheight and lower the center of gravity was first seen on Gabart's imoca in 2012's Vendee globe, which is now Banque Populaire
Very insightful information - many thanks. The design of the foils and the bow seem to be critical points of the newest designs. More details would be really interesting.
The merging of the boom and the deck (and the new skegs) are obviously critical, but I would like to understand the WHY of this design. Maybe an aeronautical engineer could explain the reasons behind this setup.
What about the use of computer technologies?
Yes, this is used in design and also very heavily in the autopilots
Thank you. Very informative to the non-sailor. Why do commentaries say the Vendee Globe started in the 1980 when it was there in the 60S? Also, what is "imocca" please?
Very good explanations, thanks. My Wife and I crossed The Atlantic 5 times and one of our worries was to hit a Whale or some other object. With the speed these Boats are doing a collision would be devestating and its not only Whales I´m thinking of, what about Leatherback Turtles? There are thousands out there and they would act like Rocks that get in the way. Were there any incidents yet?
Watch Sam Davies insights from February at ua-cam.com/video/LG6qJnEVYkU/v-deo.html. Starting at 8:36 she talks about autopilot, foils, collision avoidance and more.
As a retired engineer AND a former charter skipper I really appreciate to see, that there is tremendous technical progress in the design of the new SAILING ROCKETS.
For engineers its always an adventure , to leave common ground and gain a " NEW DIMENSION " I wish all the best for those men and women, who are under the last heros of our times
This should wake up a litttle bit our SNOW FLAKE GENERATION . USE YOUR FRIDAYS to go to school and study hard , so that you can "form" your future life . And dont let OTHERS tell you, that all what your grandparents and parents did was wrong . Dont let them fill your hearts and minds with pseudo religions like climate change and social justice and BLM .
LIFE is producing winners and loosers , so accept the RACE OF LIFE .
I am sure others have pointed this out but I think you are a little off on the bow thoughts. A sphere is the best for least wetted surface in relation to volume. But a narrower, more traditional bow would nevertheless have a loss less weight in it. The reason for the new bows are to push volume forward, I think. It's basically a means to optimized the boat for reaching and downwind conditions. It only works since there's so little upwind sailing in the Vendee and Minitransat.
only discovering this now. Love it! Thank you for all the insights!
Hi !
thank you for the video, very very nice !
I think that the pilots "inside" the boats are very important because the human stress. This kind of races are so stressing , and long. And if you give a better condition to the racers it is a good solution to avoid human fatigue mistakes , and the racers can stay more time keeping the best performance possible . I think that next step is the "noise" insulation, because this boats are very very noisy during the race !
Once more thanks for the video !
Does tack point mean something different in french? I feel like he is mixing up a few things that are really through me off when discussing the outriggers/spreaders/whiskerpoles. I'm not familiar with these boats
I believe the keels on this new generation of IMOCAs actually have an adjustable rotation available, allowing for lift to be created from the keel whilst canted over, effectively giving lift on both sides of the hull allowing the extended flight periods these boats can now achieve. Just a rumour I heard from somebody in the know ;)
Almost all modern canting keel boats have an inclined pin. The front on the keel pin is raised slightly which means the leading edge is angled upwards creating lift. A small downside is that since the centre of lift is so outboard it kind of acts as reverse righting moment.
Super good video! Really like the monkey with semi-automatic handgun, in the background, guarding the money :)
Do speak to an aerodynamicist. Or even preferable to a hydrodynamicist. There are tons that you can speak about regarding the foils. Good vid.
Very interesting video, Thank you very much!
I know the AC75s have flaps on the trailing edge of the foil to control ride height, but I don't think the IMOCAs have that.
Great video, lots of food for thought. It would be great for one on the ac75s too ;) these boats, as they heel over rotate along a diagonal between the back of boat and foil instead of boat centreline . This would cause weird motions as they rise out of the water and would be the cause of the odd motions. Its unlikely to be balancing between the keel and foil 👍
The actual Special Edition of CourseAuLarge for the Vende Globe contains a lot of technical details. By the way, the new foils can be partly controled in angel.
I always thought the inverted bow was about aerodynamics for controlling the wind into the sail more than “speed” aerodynamics.
The mast stays make them look like shrimp trawlers but I love these design innovations. Thanks for the great explanations of these go fast sailboats.
What I notice is that the Imoca tends to fool with the boat on an angle using while the ac75 foils with the boat as flat as possible. Perhaps interesting to take along in the upcoming (?) foiling video ;-) The (chosen?) boat slope/angle of the Imoca surprises me as it seems not to be the optimal for boat speed...
That may be because the ac75's always seem to be in fairly calm water. Not so the Vendée Globe boats.
AC boats have foils (T-foils) at the bottom of the rudder to get the stern out of the water. Also, they can control the lift from the 3 foils and thus control the attitude of the boat.
IMOCAs aren't allowed foils on the rudder. Hence they are never going to fly like an AC75.
Thé pôle name is outrigger, sorry there is nous a lot spinaker on imoca fleet, used to call it j1, j2,j3,code zéro etc
Really enjoyed this video. Thanks
Please do a video on the electronics. They must have 24x7 Internet ? How does the autosteer work ? Are any of the winches electric ? How do they generate power to operate everything ?
You should look at Chevalier Taglang for some very interesting line drawings and data on all the modern racing boats.
Wow chevalier Taglag is a great site, thank you!
The inside of the Hugo Boss boat looks like backstage at a theatre with set rigging.
Why do you use such a weird video resolution? 1920 x 810 pixels? It looks awful!
Great video, loking forward to learn more nerdy stuff 👍
I look at these foils and the speed and weight of boats and think about the amount of garbage in the water and wonder how they are engineered to take a struck. Are they designed to break off or will they tear the bottom of the boat off?
excellent video! Exactly where I was looking for! Thanks
Great overview, I think you found a very interesting niche. Looking forward to your next video!
Next video is gong LIVE tomorrow morning :). Analyzing the full round the world course in terms of weather and other environmental challenges. Premiere at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
ua-cam.com/video/yueViSVyx8w/v-deo.html
Wow- super interesting! Some of these jumps in technology make their way down to us regular folks.