Design
Many features and technologies used in this new VPLP-designed power cat are derived from offshore racing yachts From yacht racing to sustainable transport
Another remarkable foiling project recently completed at King Marine is a 12.5 metre- long electric foiling catamaran, designed by VPLP from a concept developed by MerConcept. This very interesting design won an award in the powerboat category at the fifth Foiling Awards in Milan. It features innovations derived from offshore racing, in particular technologies relating to foiling and flight management. With an eye towards high performance
only 7,570 kg (slightly more than a TP52). Principal designer Mark Mills says for every 100 kg there is a 0.1-knot delay of take-off speed, so this put tremendous pressure on the design team, working with the suppliers and builders at King Marine, to be at their absolute best in achieving target design weights. King Marine was able to meet this challenge by having a close collaborative relationship with all the various parties involved with the success of Flying Nikka throughout the life of the project. Only in this way were they able to start in June 2021 and finish in May 2022, on time and on budget. It’s a remarkable achievement given the lingering supply and staffing issues due to Covid and other new issues that arose recently due to the war in Ukraine. The entire team was composed of recognised leaders in their fields including Mark Mills and KND Marine as co-designers; Pure Engineering on structure design; Nat Shaver on foil design; Thiha Win for the wing system and steering concepts; and Michele Malandra for sail design.
80 SEAHORSE
in addition to being eco-friendly, this carbon craft is powered by two electric motors, a single foil and two elevator rudders. The flight control system was developed by Madintec, which says: ‘This hydrofoil catamaran is the first boat that really demonstrates our will to transfer technologies from offshore racing to a more sustainable maritime mobility.’ Electrically powered craft of any type have to navigate some tricky trade-offs.
Putting the design concepts into action
were other team members that included suppliers Cariboni for the hydraulic systems; Donati Racing for electronics; Faro Advanced Systems and Ricadro Bencatel for PLC and flight controls; Gottifredi Maffioli for running rigging; Re Fraschini for foils and rudders; Southern Spars for the mast; KZ Marine custom furlers; North Sails for sails; Platero for the engine system; and Harken for winches and deck hardware. This remarkable group was led by project manager Micky Costa, internal project manager Matias Bevacqua and hi-tech boatbuilding experts like Pablo Santarsiero, who were tasked with transforming all ideas into achievable plans. ‘This project took 30,000 man hours to
complete,’ says Santarsiero. ‘That is more than twice the amount for a typical TP52, which as we know is also a demanding build in carbon where every kilo counts. The spirit of collaboration on this project
Batteries are not light and the more you have the more range and power you may achieve, but also at the price of greater take-off speeds. For this design the boat’s autonomy in power is targeted for a 90- mile cruise at 22kts with a payload of eight people aboard, which is impressive for a boat this size. The protype of this remarkable design has been built at King Marine to the exacting specifications of the project’s design partners.
was amazing and while there was a lot of stress at the beginning we were really pleased at the end when it all came together. There is no better feeling than delivering a project like this to completion with good results at the end.’ Since there was such a strong
demand to minimise weight in the build, Santarsiero says they built female tooling for the hull and deck and had no fairing materials – their process of layup and lamination was sufficient to meet the specifications for a raceboat. Making this possible at
‘No boat had been designed and built in this size range to have a wide range of foiling performance’
King Marine are not only their talented in-house team who have 10 years of experience (since the 2013 America’s Cup) in building high-quality
carbon foils, but the tools they use such as the 2.7 x 8 metre autoclave for pre- preg composites, the two Eastman pre- preg cutting plotters for ultra precision in making precisely what’s needed in the laminate with minimal extra waste, and a Faro arm for measuring, to ensure quality
GUILLAUME GATESAIT
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