Dutch A-Class @Hellecat: Heemskerk flying 1st, by Equipment & Technique

All Images courtesy of Danny Broersen / Roughneckmarine Ribs . On Saturday night I published the first good long  video of a legal A-Cat foiling while racing. Danny was driving his rib and followed Mischa Heemskerk an entire downwind leg at Hellecat, and we were able to see for the first time how foiling its done while sailing the course race, plus some incredible top speeds.

It is noticeable that in this stage you still need plenty of trim/technique to foil compared to what I saw/sailed at Carnac on the FP.

So I can understand some sailors feeling left behind by this new required skills, but it was the same when the Pros started to trap downwind.  One thing I need to remark about status quo on development racing Classes:  +40 old guys like us , we are not the future, we are the present and soon we’ll become the ‘past’ , and classes survives in time only on new generations coming to play.

With current setup (see pics above) you need to put hours to learn how to fly, maybe in the future a more stable and efficient racing conf can be developed.
This is what the A-Class has become and more people are learning to fly.
I can testify first hand it is a blast!  (Rules/costs discussions apart..)

Sunday saw lighter winds and Mischa managed to stay in those races within the top 5, when last year he was struggling in light weather. Hellecat Results at hellecat.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Acat-KE21.htm

Mischa has wrote a trim guide at the DNA blog dnacat.blogspot.com/2014/05/flying-lessons-how-to-set-up-your-boat.html
Check Mischa video filmed by Danny Broersen again below: