A quote from Aldis Eglajs
"Have you noticed that all photographs of high speed foilers are in flat seas? The trick is doing it with waves"
Luiz
Yup. Excellent observation from watching the Tri-Foiler vids. The problem with the Hobie is those little fragile skids riding forward of the bows. A chop plays hell with those things; a design limitation if not a flaw. That's why you never see a Tri-Foiler in water that is only a little confused. The Rave, however, with T-foils about six feet deep will sail eerily smoothly above a three foot chop which is a lot more common when the wind is up. Once foilborne on the Rave the chop is just something to look at. The Rave's foils are riding through the water a couple of feet below the chop and the wands controlling the flaps on the port and starboard foils are slapping the top of the chop so fast that the wands don't have much of a chance to drop into the short troughs so they ride pretty much at a level as if they were on smoother water. The Tri-Foiler can't do that.
I've hit a two foot chop off the shore of Quietwater Beach near Key Sailing in Pensacola. Also, out there behind Tristan Tower. An early French review of the Rave mentioned the most strange feeling of riding so smoothly above a big chop.
To be fair, SOME foilers are designed to be sailed in conditions that favor the design and can too much resemble a one-tack, one-sea state boat. The Rave is much more versatile and it's only drawback is that it is a bit slow in light air but that is also attributed to the warping of the hull shape as it moves through the water while hullborne. That's a tradeoff for using a material that is inexpensive but durable; the high-density poly. A foiler has a hard time being beachcat-like and a speed machine all the time. Don't hit them too hard until you expect a Piper Cub to be able to cruise down the interstate like a Corvette or a Corvette to brave a light chop. Well, it's made of fiberglass. That's a start.
