big pimpin’
Our pals at Gunboat continue to work on the super-sexy coastal racer/cruising G4, but with a twist: Now, you can get them with J-foils. Flight of fancy or flight for real? We grabbed team member and design dude Rudo Enserink for a quick update.
SA: With the J-boards and T-rudders, this is looking like a full foiler. Is that really possible on a boat with bunks and a kitchen?
RE: Yes and no. We’re first going to build high-lift C-foils for safe but very fast foil-assisted sailing. The mildly asymmetric C-boards can be raked from -1 to +7 degrees and will be set at the factory for safe cruising. The lift of these foils maxes out at 80% of displacement, and advanced owners can play with the rake adjustment to optimize for purpose and conditions. One of the great things about C-foils is that you can leave the windward daggerboard deployed in all tacks.
The hull and daggerboard casing structure is prepared for full foiling, as are daggerboard bearings and rudder bearings.
If there’s enough interest from the market we’ll develop an electronically stabilized full foiling package that will be available as aftermarket upgrade. The current concept for this is an L-foil and auto-leveling T-rudders.
SA: Who is building/designing the foils?
RE: Foils are designed jointly by Doug Schickler from Schickler Tagliapietra, with Davide Tagliapietra, Pieter Jan Dwarshuis, Mischa Heemskerk and Rudo Enserink. They will be built in by Holland Composites (also builder of DNA A-cats), in their autoclave, and you can see some progress at their Facebook page.
SA: That’s a pretty serious VPP chart. Is that with the C-foils or with the new J/L foils?
RE: This VPP is with the C-foils.
For more info on the very hot Gunboat G4, check out the full details here or ask questions in the thread here. Title shout to the best cartoon of the 80s.
