Whisper Foiler : Q&A with Henry White
Images & video sent by Henry White. – Two weeks ago Henry sent me some pics of the Whisper to publish, and as we didn´t publish much info on the Whisper till now we took the chance to know more about the UK double handed foiler using 2x a la Moth wand systems. Along the S9 from Michele Petrucci and now the new IFly, they complete the lineup of production foilers going for 4x T Foils instead of the Team New Zealand J setup or the Z foil setup of the A-Class / Nacra 17 MKII.
The Whisper fills the gap of easy foiling for a double handed flying cat and looks as a great alternative to experience some great rides.
——————————————————
——————————————————
– CSN: You are building the first double handed production foiler using Moth wand system,
Which is the main target of your customers and initial design goal of the project (Racing or recreational or both) and who designed it ? The Whisper looks fast but also easy to fly on its 4pt T foils
Henry White: The Whisper was designed by Ron Price a Senior Lecturer in Naval Architecture at Southampton Solent University. The initial aim behind this project is to produce a very stable foiling platform which can be sailed by all but still be fast enough to be enjoyed by experience sailors. We have found that are main clients are the older generation who want to foil but feel that the FP or F20 would be to much to handle, also with the option to go sailing single handed.
– I’ve published also some pics of the Whisper racing at Carnac, the diff I’m seeing with the FP or F20, is hull volume and the ability to sail floating skimming mode for those. How the Whisper manages high breeze & waves?
HW:The Whisper manages the waves well, especially the short sharp chop, Four foils and the automatic trimming on the main foils help this.
– Performance match if any so far?
HW: The Whisper was not designed with the same aims as the FP and F20 of out right speed. As it has a lot more stability but that does come at the cost of speed. However we are able to foil up wind continually. There are Whisper owners hitting 25knt. This is fast enough for over 90% of sailors
– FP/F20 are not boats for everyone above certain wind speed, how about the Whisper and does the platform has a manual rake beyond the automatic trim of the wands?
Because the Whisper is such a stable platform its relatively safe in all conditions. Also it has both ride high and rake adjustment allowing the sailors to reduce lift and ride height in heavy conditions, helping to keep the boat on the water.
So we are able to trim the foils with both ride high and board rake. The board rake uses a worm drive system.
– Wands are placed behind foils, and the Moths are now using poles for a more forward position, which is the reason then for that placement, easy of built or structural convinience?
HW: One of the reasons for this is just for easy of use allowing the whole foiling system to kept simple and allowing the boards to be pulled up easily, making launching and recovering as easy as a non foiling boat.
– Any special care or restriction to launch the Whisper ? The FP / F20 have boards down but are tough & heavy boards.
HW: With the Whisper the foils need to place in from the bottom when rigging but they are designed to stay there until you want to tow the boat away. When launching its just a case of dropping the foils down when its deep enough.
– The info I got from the built process is that the moulds are two vertical halves, which are the structural benefits on this method?
HW: Correct, this allows us the make a very stiff platform, because the beams are part of the hull, they can not twist. Keeping the boat stiff and stable while foiling.
– Materials used and overall weight with foils included?
The hull is full carbon epoxy as are all the spars and foils. All up sailing weight is 110kg
– How many boats have been built to date and which countries?
HW: We have build 40 boats now after being in production for 18 months. With boats in: Uk, France, Germany, Holland, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and America.
– Any plans for an OD Class , or racing teams for Long Distances?
The Whisper OD class is building and we are looking to have a Europeans in 2017 and some Archipelago racing in the future. A Calendar of Whisper event will be published shortly.
– Which is the current demand and prod schedule?
We currently have a back orders until June. With 5 boats going out in January. We are considering building another mold to help with production.
– Costs for a full boat?
It is ready to sail at £21,000 inc vat
– Any optionals?
We also offer and single handler package.
The boat is available in any colour and the foils and sails can be coded to match. We also produce trailer boxes for all the equipment to be store in, this can also be colour coded.
——————–
More info at whiteformula.com/WhiteFormula_UK/Whisper.html
