Big Pimpin’
Wilson Marquinez are following the tradition of free-thinking Argentine designers ready to break the old moulds wherever they see opportunity
Argentina’s track record for producing some of the world’s foremost (and most disruptive) yacht designers is underscored by the latest offering from the young Wilson Marquinez Design House: the MW680F.
At 6.80m this small, very light yet stable design bridges a gap in high-performance sportboats between the fastest class keelboat and a true foiling sportboat. With a crew of three, the 680F is low freeboard but decked over in the bow to shed water, has racks rather than trapezes for easier manoeuvres, a lifting 1.6m bulb keel, and 40m2 of sail to propel only 300kg in boat weight plus another 250kg in crew.
Getting around in this ‘wet mode’ the boat will be fast, but when fitted with adjustable V-foils it takes off like a rocket with boat speed projected to match wind speed over about 10kt of true wind. The rake of the T-rudder needed for foiling is pre-set for the wind conditions with the main foil being controlled to maintain longitudinal stability over the foiling range. Launched as a one-design, the MW680F features a single jib, one main and one asymmetric spinnaker that is shaped more like a Code 0. Read on.
