New Exploder A-Class AD3 2020 Unveiled

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Photos by Paula Kopylowicz / Exploder, Video by Krzysiek Grodzki / provideos.pl . Finally the official release of the new 2020 Exploder AD3. The Final evolution from the Exploder & D3 Applied Technologies. Hulls looks similar to the previous D3 but this is a new platform.

Plenty of aspects to address on this new A-Class so we will make a QA soon with more details.

Below the concept by Gonzalo Redondo from D3 Applied Technologies.

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D3 Applied Techonologies / Exploder statement on the new AD3 2020 A-Class.

“The AD3 2020 model is the result of over a decade of learning, testing, failing, succeeding at times, and overall, developing these boats. With the previous platform we made some compromises from a design perspective, enabling us to build test boats over the years with different board and beam locations. On the other hand, we were very strict with developing foils for a given daggerboard case, so owners would not need to change cases to upgrade their boats. It has been a very successful platform, widely used by the majority of the class.

However, in the last couple of years we have been considering changing the cases, but in order to respect our philosophy, that would require a new platform. Exploder has stepped up year by year, up to a point where it was clear to us we could do something nicer. Last year we tested a few systems on the 2019 AD3 (carbon traveller car, rudder differential, etc), so we prepared the grounds to design a new model in 2020.

You have limited opportunities to design a new platform, and in most projects, new ideas sometimes fade away in the design process as we face boatbuilding realities (materials, tooling, custom hardware, etc). On this model we were given plenty of freedom in terms of shapes and surfacing, and for once this was maintained until the end. The aero-package of an upwind-foiler is one of the main drivers of performance, and this boat is very clean in that aspect.

We took the opportunity to update the foils (Z42) and the rudder elevators. We not only changed the rondure and planform but also the family of foil sections following the most recent design tool developments. The shape of the foil inside the case is now a bit complicated due to the 2.3m rule. At least we will not see tips being chopped at the Worlds!

The systems are nicely integrated, with focus on friction reduction. As of rudder lift control, we can sail now with a more extreme rudder differential. Righting moment is the horsepower of any boat, so this should be noticeable, particularly upwind.

The rest was the typical process of designing a racing boat: countless design iterations, computational fluid dynamics for aero and hydrodynamics, VPP iterations to update polars, this is, the same time, motivation, effort and resources as a big boat. From a hydro point of view, this hull is designed as a foiler, so we ended up reducing the volume, rocker and freeboard of the hulls. Interestingly, we managed to reduce drag at lower speeds (2 hull downwind and non-foiling upwind). From an aerodynamic perspective the boat has a smaller footprint and overall cleaner than before.

Time will tell if this AD3 2020 model has the same success as its antecesor. Now it is time to test it and make sure we understand the pros and cons of the decisions made so far, so we can keep developing!”