Sailing with foils: Monofoil Gonet: a new type of flying boat from Switzerland
Michael Good
· 19.06.2018
The spectacular monohull from Switzerland has already caused quite a stir on the foiling scene. Even during the first, initially still cautious test strokes on Lake Uri, the Monofoil Gonet easily conjured up 25 knots on the log. "But there's certainly still room for improvement," says Eric Monnin, the inventor and brains behind the project.
The focus of attention is on the newly designed foils, which, as a kind of triangular frame construction, can be lowered and raised again using an ingenious mechanism and with a rotating movement over the sides of the ship, for example in light winds and generally also in foiling mode upwind. How it works a short video on the Facebook page of Monofoil Gonet.
The system has been developed in great secrecy over the last two years. Initiator Eric Monnin, top international machracer and probably one of Switzerland's most talented regatta sailors, has worked together with renowned experts and engineers, such as Simon Bovay, who is responsible for the design, or Chris Hill and Clemens Dransfeld for the static calculations. Eric Monnin's brother Jean-Claude, one of the key figures in the Emirates Team New Zealand design team, has taken the lead in the area of simulation calculations and foil design.
The hull itself was built with a few modifications in the mould of the Mocean daysailer (test in YACHT 20/2010), but with corresponding structural reinforcements for the foils and, of course, made exclusively from carbon fibre. The remarkable aircraft weighs just 850 kilograms ready to sail with the foils, the high and powerful carbon rig and the entire mechanical system. By comparison, a conventional Mocean from the shipyard weighs around 1.1 tonnes.
Unfortunately, the Monofoil Gonet's first international appearance at the Bol d'Or Miraubaud did not go as the creative organisers had hoped - this year's edition of the long-distance regatta will go down as one of the windiest and therefore longest ever in the history of the classic event on Lake Geneva, so no conditions for foiling. And yet: after over 18 long hours, the monofoil Gonet crossed the finish line just 4.5 hours after the fastest catamarans and as the second-fastest boat in the TCF1 category of small monohulls. A remarkable achievement - even without foils.
