Something that seemed ‘out there’ just a few years ago is now making its way firmly into the mainstream. It is also winning yacht races… Gordon Kay has an update on DSS state of the art
With the monohull world increasingly embracing foils it seems timely to reflect on some of the lessons learnt over the past year and how 2017 and beyond look for the impact of DSS and for the other foil solutions in the 2017 marketplace..
By scoring a pair of top-three results at the end of 2016, first in a very competitive Rolex Middle Sea Race and then in the much longer RORC Transatlantic race, the Infiniti 46 Maverick (pictured here) moved DSS design further towards wider acceptability. Both races were scored using IRC but Maverick designer – and DSS creator – Hugh Welbourn expects his DSS 46 to perform similarly well in ORC when well sailed. The boat has proved to be particularly fast – and manageable – when pressed hard… that’s what you get when righting moment increases with velocity
While dramatic footage of semi-flying or flying yachts gets the headlines it is the background story that is perhaps more significant. In 15 years of developing, engineering and supplying DSS foils and installing them on various yachts we have never had a failure beyond the cracking of one foil, quickly identified as a failure by the builder to build the hull exit bearing surface as drawn. It is therefore quite thought-provoking to see the failure level in some other avenues of foil development.
Read on.
