Steve and Dave Clarks Unidentified Foiling Object
- Thread starter Doug Lord
- Start date
Dave Clark
Anarchist
PM me. Batch 1 is literally being produced right now. I'm overseeing a hull deck bond job at 9am tomorrow.
DRC
duncan (the other one)
Super Anarchist
cheers -- make sense.. automagic is good.atefooterz said:
duncan (the other one)
Super Anarchist
low mode - you have sheet to play with, so can adjust.
high mode -- you're fully sheeted in, and rely on mast tip bend and fat top layoff.
gui
Anarchist
Is it no wonder that Steve and Dave kept this secret for so long. Some of you guys do ask some stupid questions.
This family has an impeccable record in sailboat innovation, design, construction and manufacture, so if they are ready to show the world they have a lot of things well sorted. Trust them. They have done the fun bit, the tough bit comes next.
But it's only just going into some sort of limited production and it looks like there is only one sample sailing so far. The boat is far from fully tuned and sorted. No one knows yet how it will go with different winds or different waves, especially compared to anything else let alone with different size people. We may get the answers once they sell enough to people who actually want to race them, and who spend the time to work out how to get the most from them.
It looks like a nice simple option to get people flying, I doubt it's going to be a world beating performance foiler, but Steve has posted already that ease of use was his priority.
Hats off to them creating something for an apparent market for a simple fun foiler. Wish them luck with the marketing and answering all the other stupid questions.
This family has an impeccable record in sailboat innovation, design, construction and manufacture, so if they are ready to show the world they have a lot of things well sorted. Trust them. They have done the fun bit, the tough bit comes next.
But it's only just going into some sort of limited production and it looks like there is only one sample sailing so far. The boat is far from fully tuned and sorted. No one knows yet how it will go with different winds or different waves, especially compared to anything else let alone with different size people. We may get the answers once they sell enough to people who actually want to race them, and who spend the time to work out how to get the most from them.
It looks like a nice simple option to get people flying, I doubt it's going to be a world beating performance foiler, but Steve has posted already that ease of use was his priority.
Hats off to them creating something for an apparent market for a simple fun foiler. Wish them luck with the marketing and answering all the other stupid questions.
DTA
Anarchist
I will buy this when available. Marvelous!
Gouvernail
Lottsa people don’t know I’m famous
I am interested
Major Tom
Super Anarchist
See you in Newport, if I can get half way round the world to be there it can't be too hard can it?
Having a planned business trip does help a little.......
Having a planned business trip does help a little.......
When the Clarks says a product is ready for release/production, I'm going to take their word for it. I look forward to photos and videos, but especially reports. In particular I'm curious how it'll cope with an average dinghy sailor bloke who has minimal "high performance" background, and on the experiences from a current adept moth sailor to hear how it compares to the standard in foiling. If we hear from some high performance dingy and skiff sailors, that's bonus, and in Newport I'm sure there's no shortage of keelboat sailors to give it a try.
Hopefully we don't find out how fragile it is.
Hopefully we don't find out how fragile it is.
Mambo Kings
Super Anarchist
Ahhh, dad's typos again!
You are using the old quare meter rule. Glad you quared that one away.
GybeSet
Super Anarchist
whats it rate?
Gouvernail
Lottsa people don’t know I’m famous
ortegakid
Super Anarchist
Looks great DRC,SHC, might need one also!
ortegakid
Super Anarchist
JimC
Not actually an anarchist.
From 100 yards off the beach to 100 yards from the beach i suspect it may be no easier to sail and own than a Moth. However the rest is a very big deal indeed.
The big things i see are way easier launching and rigging, and far less risk of handling damage to the foils. That's huge.
But i shall look on the rig with great interest. The obvious aim is to permit deck end plate at the luff coupled with a way of managing leech tension that doesn't involve the current insane loads. It seems very feasible that the gains from the deck sweeping will way more than outweigh drag losses from the 'wishbone' spars. It gives me an idea...
The big things i see are way easier launching and rigging, and far less risk of handling damage to the foils. That's huge.
But i shall look on the rig with great interest. The obvious aim is to permit deck end plate at the luff coupled with a way of managing leech tension that doesn't involve the current insane loads. It seems very feasible that the gains from the deck sweeping will way more than outweigh drag losses from the 'wishbone' spars. It gives me an idea...
Jim.
The Clarks have said the boat is aimed at being easy to use. Its obviously way ahead of the Moth, Wazsp, or any of the foing cats in this aspect and with regard to simplicity of rig and launching. To do this there are compromises. It has a lot of windage, the rig looks to be very full and twisted compared to what makes a moth go fast, but that might make it easier to take off, even if it limits upwind ability and top speed. The righting moment is limited by moderate beam, again limiting speed. Its not going to be a fast foiler, it's going to be an easy foiler. That's their target market. If it gets more US sailors thinking fast it's got to be a good thing.
The Clarks have said the boat is aimed at being easy to use. Its obviously way ahead of the Moth, Wazsp, or any of the foing cats in this aspect and with regard to simplicity of rig and launching. To do this there are compromises. It has a lot of windage, the rig looks to be very full and twisted compared to what makes a moth go fast, but that might make it easier to take off, even if it limits upwind ability and top speed. The righting moment is limited by moderate beam, again limiting speed. Its not going to be a fast foiler, it's going to be an easy foiler. That's their target market. If it gets more US sailors thinking fast it's got to be a good thing.
