The Ventilo yard in Rolle (Switzerland, ) designed a brand new wave-piercer catamaran of 28 feet, the so-called "Ventilo 28 M2". This new cat weights in at around 390 kg with a 15m carbon fiber mast; it is designed to be sailed with a crew of 3.

The sail area amounts to 70sqm upwind and 140sqm downwind, split as follows: mainsail 50m2, jib 20m2 and gennaker 76m2. Foils will be added to the rudders, to enhance longitudinal stability at high-speed. This cat is designed to be sailed in cat-boat configuration above 12 knts TWS upwind.

Since the order for the first boat was passed, 7 other teams have decided to join this new class. 8 identical boats will thus be launched during the next 5 months. The first one should hit the water on [color:"red"]April 1st[/color] , 2005.

I'm not an expert on Lake Geneva, but is there a real need for wave piercing on a lake? (unless you're like us poor saps in the SE USA and have to deal with water camaro infestation)