Article on Voilemagazine on Hydroptere and Hydroptere Maxi

Repost of article from voilemagazine.

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original article (in French)

Voile Magazine Hydroptere article

Back to the future of Hydroptère

Posted August 26, 2012 by Seb

Note the length of the floats and the carrying surface at the rear, on each of them. © VPLP / Hydroptère

Since the beginning of July, after a ferry in cargo, it is in California and ride between Los Angeles and San Francisco (350 miles north) - the latest news, it was on the side of the Golden Gate to go shoot some edges not far from AC 45. He is not above the boat, which is still in draft form, but Hydroptère "usual", if one may say - see below extract a picture of the beautiful series Christophe Launay.
Feels Like yesterday, the "flying fish" (a nickname referring to the decor DCNS fish scales) was flashed at more than 43 knots in the center of town. With a little luck, they may also play guests for the launch of the first AC 72 Oracle event scheduled for next week ... But above all, the hydrofoil is preparing for an assault against the record Pacific between Los Angeles and Honolulu (Hawaii) - the path of the Transpac (see also our number 199 , July 2012, and this ticket partner). A record held since 2005 by the maxi-trimaran Geronimo in 4 days, 19 hours, 19 knots. If this clock seems to reach the big bird (and although the behavior of long-term foiler on seas is still a relative unknown), it is already less clear for the record distance in 24 hours, the program Alain Thebault and his crew for 2013 (908 miles, score established by Banque Populaire 5 in 2009), and even less clear for the record of the North Atlantic, which Hydroptère must address in 2014 (3 days and 15 hours by the same giant trimaran Banque Populaire 5 ).

Yes, but ... Alain Thebault and his "Popes" (engineers) have a few ideas behind the head. You had mentioned in passing in this post on the Bol d'Or: it is a Hydroptère maxi version, the Tribune de Genève had discussed end of 2011 (see also this post on the excellent blog Trend Blue ). Frankly, these few pictures do not they already make your hair stand on end? But rather than go directly to larger size, the team plans to first develop a second 60-foot trimaran prefiguring the max.
Compared to the hydrofoil that we know since 1994 (although it has changed a lot since), the differences are obvious. Future boats look a little less foiler today ... and much more to a trimaran (almost) conventional. But with foils, of course. Besides Hydroptère present, they are distinguished by their first float much longer (nearly as long as the central hull seems it) and their two foils back (one on each float), but also by their lifting foils ... like catamarans lémaniques Hydroptère. ch and Syz & Co (see here ) ... and their two-pronged wing ... like the trimaran USA 17 ( Oracle ) winner of the Cup final, or the AC 45 [1] ! Note also the sharp looking rig.
On paper, this hydrofoil deuxpointzéro comes so today in two versions, a 60 feet (codenamed "TH10"), and another 30 m ( Hydroptère Maxi ). Ideally, these two foilers be built successively. For both boats, hydroptériens also advanced other names such as baptism Libryd , Hydroptère 2 , or iDroptere - name of the application for iPhone and iPod Touch dedicated to foiler of Thébault. Philippe Perrier, one of the "popes" of foiler, explains:

"In fact currently TH10 is primarily a concept from experience TH5 (current boat). The nearly twenty years of sailing this boat, with dozens of hours of recording many onboard sensors and analyze the behavior of the boat with a simulator especially developed for the Hydroptère allowed us to conclude that the boat's performance, especially its behavior in rough seas, can be significantly improved with a trimaran-style architecture but with long floats and a whole saffron + plan holder at the rear of each float. The rationale for this conclusion is, for the moment, confidential.
Based on this conclusion, we believe that boat size very close to that of TH5 (about 60 feet) but with this new architecture would be able to beat the Most oceanic records whose term is consistent with its living space, particularly the record of the Atlantic. This is boat whose internal code name is TH10. Its displacement is probably slightly higher than TH5 foils but have comparable dimensions. Performance AC45 also encourage us to consider the establishment of a rigid wing. The type of wing remains unclear. '

Yes you read that right: Philippe Perrier believes that hydrofoil deuxpointzéro only 60 feet would be able to beat the record held by the North Atlantic the maxi-trimaran Banque Populaire 5 , 40 m long, he could do 2880 miles in less than 3 days and 15 hours, more than 33 knots. And the Jules Verne Trophy, it would be mainly a problem of living space ...

"The ultimate goal of the team is to Hydrofoil beat all records ocean, including the Jules Verne Trophy! A 60-foot boat does not have a sufficient living space and it will be necessary to make a larger boat which we call "Hydroptère Maxi". This boat could be of the order of 30 x 30 m. Obviously TH10 experience will be extremely useful for this boat whose budget will necessarily be more important. Both boats should have the front and rear lifting foils, essential to preserve performance in light winds. '

Stay tuned.
[1] Remember that Oracle has already tested the configuration foils + wing on one of its AC 45.

Tests on foils Oracle AC 45. © Guilain Grenier / Oracle Team USA