When we discussed the Phantom Flyer foiling cat some people here wondered if it would be possible to have a "foiling addon" for other boats not originally intended to be foiled.
Evidently it is, here is a video by Australian Nathan Outteridge going into depth on how his A-Class catamaran from Poland (The Exploder) has been modified to allow foiling.
The amazing thing is that because the A-Class rules don't allow inserting boards from below the hulls they have created J shaped foiling boards that are able to be inserted from above, I didn't think that would be possible.
Take a look and share what you think here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikjdzwPo1jI
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Damon Linkous
I find it amazing how fast the technology brought to the fore by the AC boats, has found its way to the A cats. And how creative these motivated sailors are in adapting to their existing rules, which which were originally written specifically to exclude lifting foils. I can understand possible frustration of some class members who can't afford to keep up, but it's exciting to watch this develop. Kudos to Nathan and other boaters who've been willing to share so much detail with us all. A great time to be a catsailor! Thanks Damon!
That is a cool video. Impressive how open he is with his setup. For one of his competitors it is probably obvious from a quick look at his boat what he has done, but for us common folk it sure was a lot of information and creativity he displayed.
I would not have guessed this kind of modification would be implemented so quickly.
Scott
Hobie 18M in Chicago
there is probably a market for retrofiting older cats with foils.
Maybe - but remember that the A-cats are only 75kg, and most are glued together and therefore very rigid platforms to begin with.