Pity they are going to stick a bloody great advert for ineos on top of it

You’re not alone jimw. The Js and similar boats were elegant, but to me the 12 Metres are beautiful. Timeless craft that seem to defy aging. I liked the charachters that sailed them too. Turner, Conner, Blackaller and even the steely eyed upstart Dickson. Plus match racing in 12s is far more appealing to me than drag racing.

As a lifelong sailor I’m trying to a take an interest but……….meh

A stupid money business of a sport looking ridiculously incongruous in the current global situation and the UK effort is sponsored by a pretty unpleasant company that also looks like a dinosaur to the direction of travel most of would hoped were were travelling in term of the environment and sustainability before the world got covid bolloxed.

So, I’m out.

Aaaaa and it’s nearly Vendee Globe time 😉

How much stuff must they sell to make sponsoring something this expensive pay?

I was ganna see them off in a couple of weeks but COVID-19 has put paid to that. We’ve sneaked one France trip in this year and that’s it. Normally at least monthly 🙄

I was looking at a still from that video earlier, and one thing that struck me was the underside of the hull looks exactly like the underside of the hull of the Cutty Sark!

Seeing as how fast the tea clippers were, there must be a hydrodynamic reason for having that flat centre part of the keel running back from the bow.

Amazing how much water that J class boat is shifting – all that power going towards literally ploughing a hole through the sea, whereas the foiling boats are just skimming across the surface. Unfortunately, the fast boats look incredible on TV and that’s what they need to get non-enthusiasts to watch to attract sponsors to pay for it all. I just dread what’s gonna happen if one of them crashes at high speed.

The bottom of that looks like an old pre-foiling International Moth – basically one long planing surface.
As a (now retired) foredeckie, I slightly resent the loss of spinnakers in racing. Asyms are fun and all, but need less knitting and hopscotch skills up front.
On the plus side, the speed of these things means that tactics and strategy are more easily seen and discussed with non-sailors.
I’m toying with getting back into dinghies as my oldest is really getting into his sailing and I don’t have the time to devote to getting good enough for bigger boat series; if I can’t spare the time, I don’t want to curse the rest of my crew with my declining skills…

Always makes Aussies laugh.

Seeing as how fast the tea clippers were, there must be a hydrodynamic reason for having that flat centre part of the keel running back from the bow.

Based on the first generation I think it’s to keep it stable in intermediate conditions. As it lands you want the wetted surface to be minimal and increase gradually, otherwise it will slow down too much then the surface friction means there’s a huge hump to get over to take off again.

The outer dimensions of the hull are strictly controlled (so you end up with something that looks like a “boat”) by the rules otherwise I suspect they’d have ended up closer to very narrow scows.

There was an argument over the wind conditions that would be allowed for racing. Obviously, there’s an upper limit, but you need to know the lower limit so you know whether you need to design the “hull” to work in the water, or whether you can focus on it being merely an aerodynamic fuselage (remember they’re doing 50mph, the aerodynamics are important). Judging by that hull they’ve decided there’ll be some racing in the water not just on it.

Doesn’t look like the Brittannia’s port and stbd foils lift, like we see the Emirates doing? Is it a generation behind?

The lifting arms and mechanism are a one-design part to keep them strong enough. Just the foils on the end are unique.

If that video is supposed to make the team look good it’s an epic fail.
The “Patriot” name is typically American and lame.

anyone heard an explanation into the holes in the side of Britannias hull on the bustle just behind the foil arm? cockpit drains maybe, but surely they would cause drag? or is there some form of ventilation thing going on generating pressure under the hull?

Foiling is the future of light wind sailing…having started windfoiling in the last couple of months, I’m getting on the water way more…and 20kts in 10kts of wind is fantastic (and I’m only a beginner at it). A bit “exciting” when the foil breaks the surface and you crash down…

Envious! I was promised some time on a foiling board this summer in Portland Harbour but then Covid happened.

I had the same question – and assumed it was ventilation of some kind, like steps on a powerboat.

Interesting. At first I thought that they were there to introduce air to break up the laminar flow [that is normally a good thing on no-foiling boats] and allow the hull to ‘unstick’ earlier and hence foil quicker.
But I’d have thought, in that case, that the holes would run down the hull towards the keel….. so, I have no idea.
Seems an odd place for drainage to exit though.