SL33s @Auckland

Past week I published a video posted by Gladwell at Sail World from a SL33 sailing in the breeze with Ashby at the helm, but the cat was struggling to achieve constant or smooth airborne time. Two  SL33 are sailing currently in NZ, the ones used by TNZ to test their revolutionary foiling development, and as I know one of the sailors sailing them I asked him about the foil conf and why the other boat was not that stable on Glenn-s footage.

The reasons are somehow first generations J foils targeted for final speed over stability, also 25knots of wind and 1,5knot current against and the rudders are rather shallow too, making for a low drag but fast foiling package.

This setup (similar in both SLs) force the crew to be more proactive in handling and settings , giving the  possibility to  achieve a major degree of control and knowhow over the foiling physics of a 30′ foiler cat, experience which will be a great asset to have once they’ll upgrade the appendage setup.
The crew has reported racing the SL33 in 28knots of wind with good control overall,  but as this experienced sailor remarks, better stability would also mean better speed, so they might be upgrading foils sooner or later.
A stable  foiler GC32  is expected to arrive in Auckland later this year, and they-ll be able to match SL against it.