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gone quite far in terms of boxiness, with really hard chines to maximise power. Here, as on our 2020 Imocas, we are ask- ing the foil to do the work, everything in terms of hull shape design is targeting the lowest hydro and aero drag possible.’ The bow sections are quite full (just like


the VPLP Imoca Charal which last winter acquired even fuller bow sections!), to minimise shape distortions and thus drag when heeling – all of which was validated with CFD tools, of course. ‘The foils themselves then had to be


designed taking into account the need to remain ‘discreet’ when in harbour, and to be a ‘no penalty’ feature in light air.’ Most interestingly, when retracted they also had to stay out of the way of the headsails... ‘If conditions required the leeward foil


to be brought back in while the jib was trimmed hard to go upwind, that had to be possible on this boat,’ says Lucet. The solution adopted does indeed concede no performance compromise, but the result- ing multiple-radius foil is very complex to engineer and manufacture. Particularly at the scale of an 80-footer. The more traditional curved shape ini-


tially foreseen had a near-constant radius, while this one displays an elbow making things a bit more difficult (this feature also explains the ‘RADEvo’ denomination, as in ‘radius évolutif’). It’s also important to note that being


able to rely on the canard for anti-leeway purposes, the design of the foil could at least be freed of that constraint (not so on Imoca boats where the number of appendages is limited, requiring the foil to be more of a multi-tasker). As seen on Cup boats as well as Imocas,


having a V-shape as opposed to L-shape foil can lead to a more self-regulating and tolerant flight mode. And ease of handling as well as sense of safety are enhanced, an important feature for owner-drivers. Size-wise, VPLP looked at two options


but quickly discarded the small solution! ‘We wanted the appendage to lift 10 tonnes at speed and bring up to 40 tonne- metres of righting moment. This was not something we wanted to be able to “call’’ a foiler – to achieve our objective the foils really had to be big!’ Lucet explains. Studies carried out by the team showed


that a non-foiler version of the boat would, when reaching in 12kt of breeze, get 72% of its total righting moment from the keel, leaving 28% coming from the hull. With a full foiler in 12kt TWS the first number drops to 43% of RM coming from the keel, 22% from the hull, with the foils generating the remaining 35%. Interestingly, a lot of the work done to


refine the performance of this maxi yacht was carried out using a simulator, which Lucet seemed understandably excited about. ‘It’s quickly become a staple of our process. We can choose the type of boat, the appendage configuration, wind speed and sea state… and then have the opportu- nity to play with all the parameters that


50 SEAHORSE


sailors would have access to onboard.’ The simulator used is based on a sim


developed for the America’s Cup which VPLP licensed and are currently tailoring for their own specific wider purposes. ‘Our own tool will be ready in September, but first we wanted to really understand the physics and mathematical models used to make sure we ended up with something suiting our and our clients’ needs.’ The idea is not to become a software


provider, but VPLP have three different applications in mind for their latest gizmo: to make it an integral part of their design arsenal (and thus overall value proposi- tion), to develop a ‘player’ version that the teams they work for can also have access to, and finally to make it available as a comms prop to the marketing departments of sponsors. ‘It will be a nice thing to have at the start of races, for use by the public… a sort of a “steer your favourite skipper’s boat” interactive display,’ foresees Lucet. But long before reaching that stage there


is a vast amount of ground to cover as the team focus on getting to know the tool better and particularly understanding its limitations. Even so, ‘Already it is provid- ing really useful info,’ says Quentin. ‘And all our Imoca skippers who’ve


tried it are impressed by how close to real- life situations it actually gets, in terms of target speeds or longitudinal balance, for example. The same was true when we showed it to the Argo MOD70 team – Brian Thompson was very enthusiastic about it. And Brian is not easy to impress!’ At this stage VPLP’s Maxi foiler concept


has not generated any orders, which could be due to an understandable apprehension on the part of existing owners as well as new ones. ‘I think that the idea still needs to be seen on the water before that type of client can be convinced to make the jump,’ says Lucet. ‘The concept is appealing but people don’t yet grasp how easy it is… plus the multihull notion of reducing sail area to go faster, above a certain speed threshold,


is counterintuitive. Definitely that still frightens some people… ‘It will take a bit of time for the idea to


take root, but as soon as one person decides to go for it we are 100 per cent convinced that the others will follow. ‘By this time next year even the most


conservative racing yacht owner will have grown bored of watching an Imoca fly at more than 30kt. Then they see their own multi-million-dollar yacht travelling along at hull speed! As highly ambitious, com- petitive people, what do you think will be going through their minds? ‘We’ve seen IRC boats with canting


keels before, the solution we offer isn’t that much more complex – you’ll have an extra button to press to deploy and retract the foil… It is a significant evolution, but not a revolution,’ says Lucet. Of course embracing it can be seen as a


double-edged sword by potential owners: get it right and you’ll make your mark on the circuit as a bold innovator. On the other hand, if it takes too long for your team to find their feet you can write off key events (if not a whole season). That way lie bruised egos… a poor selling point in a sensitive market. ‘The figures do speak for themselves,


though,’ concludes Lucet. ‘Between a fixed keel and daggerboards-equipped 80-footer and a canting-keel foiler, reaching in 15kt of breeze you’re 5kt faster on the latter.’ VPLP’s own projections show 16.7 and 21.7kt respectively in that case (the gain is about 2.5kt for the lifting (non-canting) keel foiler against the baseline). The idea of an 80-footer reaching back


from the Fastnet Rock at over 30kt while flashing its underbelly Imoca-style defi- nitely appeals… Jocelyn Blériot


VPLP Maxi Foiler project team Architecture: Daniele Capua, Vincent Lauriot Prévost, Quentin Lucet Performance: Philippe Orhan


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