Video: Nathan Outteridge first ride on the FP @Carnac 2014
The first part of video shows Nathan out of the box first helm ride on the Flying Phantom. The second part was shoot at the end of the day, Outteridge sailing with a youth from the RSBC.
The video shows how easy is to foil in those specific conditions, check the end and how he is just cruising. After that ride I got on board to crew for him. Some minutes to adjust and later it was the same relaxed ride, I even left the mainsheet at ease for moments. Once the boats sets in trim, the word to describe the ride is
almost “Auto Flight” mode.
Conditions were around 8-9knots in the afternoon, lots of patches, my ride was with even less wind than the footage above.
The FP starts foiling in the same range when the F18s start to lift one hull with Spi in +6-7knots, that was the feeling I got from the power needed. And we were foiling without Spi. The RSBC kids also got to helm
the boat as Henry did past week, and they were foiling easily in this range of wind.
With more wind early in the day, Nathan worked a little bit harder as more active trim was needed by the helm with the traveler sheet to flat the boat. The feedback I got from him is that the FP has a super smooth ride.
Racing the long distance for Gurvan & Ben was no cruising either, mostly to the unstable wind conditions, but at the end being able to have this kind of relaxed rides on the FP are basically what I like most about Catsailing.
They are as good as those incredible flat 8-10knots Spi rides I always have here at BA with my good friend Javi Poclava.
About the FP, the difference NO made with the Exploder he flew at Takapuna was about the active trim, if you let the trim at ease with the A you get too much lift and bow up, with the FP is the opposite, smooth trim is better, so at the end you have a more stable ride, of course foil setups are quite different too.
The traveler is key, and I think a new purchase system must be developed to have a smoother trim.
Having him & Peyron to Match or fleet race one of this is going to be fun to watch. And although he is at the top of the Pyramid in our sport, he is just an easy going fellow, with lots of talent and good vibes.
More videos coming done by Pros equipped with the inertial rig, plus filmed feedback from Nathan.
These are just some shots I could film between taking photos.
