Accordingly, there will be no hydrofoil constructions à la "Hydroptére". The publication is intended to give potential challengers the opportunity to submit change requests before finalisation.
The design rule was developed under the direction of the US American Pete Melvin, a former aircraft designer at McDonnell Douglas who twice won the A-Class World Championship and whose design office designed the "Playstation" megacat (see below).
The new design rule is a so-called box rule, meaning that only tolerances are defined within which the engineers can let off steam. The smaller these tolerances are, the more similar the boats will be.
The most important dimensions in the proposal are
Hull length max. 22.0 m
Width max. 14.0 m
Displacement without rigging min. 5.7 t
Total weight min. 7 tonnes
Sash surface max. 260 square metres
Height of the sash max. 40 m
Width of the sash 2.0 to 8.6 m
Sail trim Manually via grinder
It may be sailed with a maximum of eleven crew members, no mechanical drives are permitted for sail trim. The wing may only consist of a maximum of three parts in the longitudinal direction. The hulls and rigs must be configured in such a way that the boat can be assembled for racing within two days and disassembled within one day in order to be highly mobile for the planned tour.
Only two rudders and two daggerboards are permitted, none of which may be longer than six metres. Each appendage must be made of one piece, no movable flaps or wings are permitted, and the adjustability of the centreboards is very limited.
It is therefore quite unlikely that hydrofoil constructions will be seen. This is because the C-shaped centreboards used on modern multihulls do generate lift, but not enough to lift the empty hull out of the water. The buoyancy serves more to stabilise the hull against rocking and undercutting.
Overall, it seems that many boundaries have been drawn to avoid excessive or experimental designs and to keep the boats very similar from the outset. This would only serve to increase the excitement of the races.
The final Boxrule has been announced for 30 September.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
