To all (and not specifically to James)
Just for the record.
I do think the moths are very exiting sail craft and really respect the guys that developped the full foiling moth into a viable alternative to the non-foiling moth.
The fact I have serious doubts about a full foiling catamaran doesn't mean I look negatively upon the moth themselves.
I do believe that partial foiling like the ORMA tris and the John de Vries special are doing is viable for large cats. This involves bruce foils (or curved foils) and only lift the boat up by say 60% at their absolute full speed.
The reason for this are the control issues that arise when more of the boat is lifted and a positive feedback is created between the rise of the hull and increasing the angle of incidence of the foil which in turn ... well the famous foiling jump.
I also have a question for James. Do you feel the VYC rating of 84 is correct for the Moth, considering it is an average that is to be taken over all windconditions ?
Wouter
I don't think ratings will work well for Moths as their performance is not consistent for all conditions. When not foiling then I am as quick as a Laser if I am lucky and they rate over 100 in VYC. When foiling in a wind range of 8-12 then no cats can get close as you are still powering up. 20+ is survival mode in the Moth (at least for me) and lots of issues with just keeping the mast pointed upright whilst the boat is going like a scalded cat (awesome fun though and scary). If you don't have your foils set up correctly for lift then prepared to be lightning fast with a massive crash at any moment.
As for foils on cats. Will happen. I don't think the current approaches have worked or were the best ideas, but I don't know what the alternative will be or should be. Someone I am sure will get the lightbulb idea and make it work.
Drag is the big issue, but also auto-adjustment on the fly too. The amount of time I spend adjusting and re-adjusting the foils is quite significant. Really set it up for the conditions, wind and wave. All down to the gearing and how it reacts. So for a cat with 2 hulls this could become a fine art.
