New I-Fly 15 ‘Razzor Pro’ Racing at Duc d’Albe 2021
Photos & Video sent by Michael Miller / IflySail .
Text by Michael Miller :
First video of the new iFLY RAZZOR Pro
> racing with a competitive international F18 fleet at Duc d’Albe 2021, Hyères, Southern France.
Besides iFLY15 One Design, the new iFLY RAZZOR Pro is the new iFLY flagship, optimized for maximum performance – to race in the emerging Formula Foil and in mixed regattas with foiling and non-foiling performance catamarans. One of RAZZOR’s new key features is MDT, iFLY’s Mainfoil Differential T-Foil Technology.
Additional to wand-controlled active control of flaps, the differential on iFLY’s entire mainfoils adds a huge amount of righting moment. Way more than with a rudder differential. MDT provides a boost in performance and stability, especially when full foiling upwind or reaching.
Allowing to be foiling in even stronger winds – see video, racing in Mistral with gusts in the upper 6 Beaufort range. In the same time, MDT allows to sail larger rigs, which was tested intensively during the past 3 years with different prototypes, e.g. iFLY XXL rig on 9m 6.3 Fiberfoam tapered mast & 1DS sail, and 8.4m Piet Saarberg mast with both, XXL Heru Softwing sail as well as Pedro Lima sail up to 14.5sqm. During Foiling Week 2020, an earlier prototype was already able to keep pace with the fleet of the Flying Phantoms, while full foiling upwind: https://youtu.be/vhe0obbo_VM .
iFLY RAZZOR MDT, in the configuration with XXL rig and with future extra-light hull design (comparable with today’s ACat lamination schemes) will take off even earlier than iFLY15 One Design. On top of all this, it still can be combined with the successful CodeF lightwind headsail (now available as Kevlar laminate, achieving great vmg, also foiling upwind). This will push the minimum wind speed for full foiling even lower, below 6kts. TWS. There is also a 2 years project for new choices of RAZZOR mainfoils.
Design efforts started back in March 2020 for both, a high speed version and a early lift off version. These more radical foils are aiming to push the max speed of iFLY RAZZOR further beyond the 30kts. achieved today, and more important than top speed, to reach speeds beyond 25kts. already in 10kts. of wind. Today’s iFLY15 foils are achieving a well balanced mix between high performance and superior flight stability. The new RAZZOR foils are a bit more radical, oriented towards maximum performance and earliest take off.
iFLY RAZZOR stands for evolution and the multiple new developments will no longer be class legal for the iFLY15 One Design Class. iFLY RAZZOR is racing in the emerging Formula Foil construction class and in the big mixed fleet events.
about MDT:
iFLY’s new Mainfoil Differential T-foil Technology took 3 years to bring to maturity. MDT is a certain breach with iFLY philosophy that always has claimed simplicity in the way, that on an iFLY, foils do not need to be manipulated by the sailor while flying. iFLY RAZZOR brings additional trim options for those sailors who aim to push performance of the boat even further and beyond iFLY One Design. MDT allows to complement the automatic function of iFLY’s flight assistance system by manually controlling the angle of attack of the mainfoils within a wide range.
This can also be adjusted while trapezing. Adjusting the AOA of the mainfoil horizontal wings allows to increase righting moment in a far more effective way than e.g. by differential rudder system (given the different size of wing area).
Adjusting the T-configuration mainfoils of iFLY to negative angles of attack can induce strong downwind forces on windward, thus providing a huge increase in righting moment, while still be foiling stable, as the active flight control system keeps working on both of the mainfoil’s flaps.
The advantages of MDT are especially strong on 4 point foil configuration. They are over-compensating by far any potential increase in drag. A enormous step-up in performance – the full potential of MDT is yet just starting to be discovered.
During 2020 Foiling Week Garda and Grand Prix de Maubuisson, the new technology was tested for the first time in racing conditions.
The boat speeds and vmg were even beyond expectation. One year later, the system has been developed to perfection and sailed with great success e.g. during Duc d’Albe, September 17th-19th (showing in the video).
