Balanced on the thin blades of daggerboards, hurtling across the surface of the ocean at a staggering 40-50 knots, the crew needs both speed and control to achieve "plane sailing" on their route to securing the prestige of being the team to take the cup home.
A daggerboard is a kind of foil, a device well known in sailing for using hydrodynamic forces to lift the hull higher in the water to reduce the surface contact area and minimise drag.
The daggerboard is a movable appendage to the hull, which can be stowed out of the water for manoeuvring or deployed beneath the water surface," explains Durocher.
The Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed Rambler 88 is a new kind of pocket maxi that has punched well above it's weight since its launch two years ago; as seen by it leading the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart until smashing a
daggerboard.
84 -metre
daggerboards, which look more inboard than Comanche and angled, to create lift as well as reduce leeway.
Built to a single, tightly controlled set of plans from Farr Yacht Design in the US, designed to withstand the toughest conditions on the planet, the VO65 is a collaboration among a consortium of four boatyards: Persico (Italy) for the hull, the
daggerboards and some internal structure; Multiplast (France) for the deck and some components; Decision (Switzerland) for the internal structure; and Green Marine (United Kingdom) for final assembly and many of the components, including the galley, media station, rudders and steering wheels.
Richards and the crew now affectionately refer to their charge as the 'Swiss Army Knife', because of the number of appendages she boasts: a hydrofoil wing, a retractable forward centreboard, two retractable
daggerboards, a canting keel, and the conventional rudder at the stern.
The twin
daggerboards ensure good pointing to windward and the sail plan comes with Genoa, staysail and is set up for a cruising chute too.
The hulls are resin infused, carbon/e-glass hybrid construction with foam core and are held together with carbon crossbeams, and for upwind performance
daggerboards are used.
The innovation adds to Wild Oats XI's blade armoury of rudder, canting keel, two retractable
daggerboards and a retractable forward foil, which it uses in light, upwind work with the
daggerboards retracted.
So we don't lose count of what lies beneath the surface, the yacht has a hydrofoil wing, a retractable forward rudder, two retractable
daggerboards, canting keel, and the conventional rudder at the stern.
They have led to Richards and the crew to affectionately refer to the yacht as the 'Swiss Army Knife', because of the number of appendages she now boasts: the new hydrofoil wing, a retractable forward rudder, two retractable
daggerboards, canting keel, and the conventional rudder at the stern.
The new carbon rocketship will have similar foils to a Volvo with
daggerboards and a canting keel, yet with much more emphasis on all points of sail, so there is a relatively lighter keel.