Put the board down! No! Sideways! No! Way Forward!

On my Classic Moth, I put the daggerboard down when going upwind, pull it up offwind. I might pull it up slightly going upwind in a breeze, but thats not very precise, just a yank before I go upwind. Sometimes in my dotage, Ive completely blanked and forgotten to pull the board up until Im half-way down the leeward leg.

Contrast that with the professional sailors, technologists, and builders on Team Groupama C-class catamaran (who just won the 2015 Little Cup, the Cup formerly known as the Little Americas Cup). Groupama have so finely honed their foiling on their 2015 model C-class catamaran, competitors figure they now have a two year technology edge on the competition.

A very basic primer on how to control the foils on Groupama. There will be a quiz at the end of class. There will be bonus points if you can explain the function of the wooden wedge in the operation of these foils.


Daggerboard kant and rake systems on Groupama from Turtle Danger Productions on Vimeo.

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