Dear All,

You like Catamarans,
You like nice boats
You like great pictures of Cats...

Then surf on the below link and enjoy.

http://www.am2.org/

Ok, they are "Swiss pictures only", the site is in French only, but it show a dynamism that is great.

If you have questions about a text in french, do not hesitate to contact me.

Jr

I think a set of beachwheels would have been cheaper...

Correct... but some large one, plus a inlarge the roads. Do not forget that we are talking about Swiss, mountains, small roads etc.

It's impressive to see that in real. We do not often see flying cats...

On the other hands, it seems that it cost less to fly them by Helicopter than dismounting, transport and mounting them again once arrived (As per what I have heard).

Jr

Interesting..
who needs cat trax when...

Also, interesting boat- but wouldn't the lee wing dig in pretty quickly.. and the spin goes to the mast head.

damn.. you guys beat me to it.

H2O,

I must say they are great looking machines.

Would be interested in the complete specs for these boats.

The best I could get from the web site with babblefish
doing some translation is:-
hull length is between 23 and 28ft
with some 30ft boats allowed that were built before 1997.

The height of the mast max is 16.6metres.

I'm I right so far?

How about:-
max beam, min weight and things like
Main Sail , Jib and Spinnaker.
Length of spi pole etc.
As I said, great looking machines.

Thanks,
Phill

Phill,

In big lines:

M2 class regroup boats between 7.01m and 8.53 (wish is 22 to 28 feets, 9.15m (30 feets) for boats older than December 10th 1997.
Max Lenght: 11.20m
Max width: no limit
Max height: 16.60m (not only the mast)
Max Sails: No limits

Art. 7
Except the rules that are listed in the "M2 Class Rules". The boats are not under any restriction of any nature, even if a specific rules has been established for the "Sailing Racing Rules" by ISAF.

This Translation may have some imperfections (I'm not english mother tong...), but the general sens is respected.

Basically... open class

Hope this answer you questions, if not let me know or I'm sure that the AM2 class president would take honor to answer you...

Sincerely,
JR

Latest rumor I heard is that also Loick Peyron ordered a new M2 from Ventilo.

The totally open class rules lead IMO to a arms race. without a serious amount of cash you will not be competive.

JR,
Thankyou very much for your assistance.
They really do photograph well.

My next question was going to be how are these beautiful machines financed. They don't appear to be the type of machine the average sailor could afford.

There is nothing wrong with this provided there are firms willing to provide sponsorship for those who have the neccesary requirements to warrant sponsorship to get involved.
So I suppose my question is do you know if the average M2 is financed through sponsorship arrangements or purchased with private funds either individual or syndicate based.
Regardless of cost they a great looking machines.

Andi,
Do you know what Ventilo charge for an M2 and do you have pic of a Ventilo M2?

Do these craft have central base in Switzerland or are they scattered over the country. If I make it to that region I'd be interested in seeing them. So if I know in advance I'll keep an eye out.


Regards,
Phill

Hi phill

The M2 class is mostly raced on the lake of geneva, but some of them are also located at the lake of neuchatel.

I heard that Ventilo sells the M2 for around 100k CHF. I don't know if sails are included or not. That is actually not that mutch money. The M2 is sailed by 3, if everyone pays a share...

The Ventilo shipyard is near Lausanne, so you will find them there.
For pictures see the website: http://www.ventilo.ch

100,000 CHF = about 65,000 Euro's

That is not expensive at all. The Volvo Extreme V40's go for about 130,000 Euro's

Wouter

Andi,
Thankyou for that info.
I think I passed by there last year, actually now is really is the year before last ie,16 months ago. Damn shame I didn't know this then or I would have looked them up.
I'd really like to see the leeward wing on these machines fold up.
Just the way I see it.
Great looking boats.

Phill

Hey looks at this new design !

Saw this one when browsing the Ventilo website

http://www.out95.com/





A sailing Saucer !


Wouter

Looks like a cross between an 18ft skiff and a trimaran.
I must say I admire people who aren't afraid to think outside the box. Not sure if the out95 would work on the Ocean but you never know unless you give it a go.
Looks good in the conditions it's being sailed.
Regards,
Phill

In Lake Geneva sails M1 Decision 35 / M2 und M3 ( M3 is 20HT and 18HT )

a M2 kost inkl. Sails ca. 80`000.- Euro

Infos Decision 35:
http://www.decision.ch/ANG/construction-navale/decision35.htm

Here sails Russell Coutss against Ernesto Bertarelli

greet
Steve

The rendering appears to show the dolphin striker under the mast to be supported for and aft by a) the rear cross beam and, b) a spinnaker pole? I see no vertical upward vertical suppport for the forward end of the pole, except from the mast via halyard and or forestay.

Can this work?

GARY

This is on the front page of SA with a resultant thread talking about it. Seems to me they'd be better off not making the wings solid and adding hulls to the ends of them. Hmmmm, what would that look like... Maybe something like this.

There's a dutch yacht which is based on the same concept, though not as radical. Its been around for about 10 years so its hardly a new idea. Cant find any pictures right now, but I guess its around 50ft and IIRC has done some ocean crossings/races.

My thoughts exactly--I saw it on the SA page and thought, why not just make a catamaran--it would be faster and easier to sail...

Tony,
Actually, it reminded me of the boat the Kiwi's used in the America's Cup when Dennis Conner sailed a Cat against them.
REgards,
Phill

Phil,

Andi and Steve are correct. Starting prices are about CHF 100K but count around 120/130 to have a boat like the others.

If I'm not mistaken, most of the boats are owned by friends. In four (which is the normal number of people on the boats... that's give us approximatly the same price as a F18/18HT full options... Now having sponsors always helps and more than that when you need to move the boat from a lake to an other.

Pictures are done by at least one well know photographe Loris Von Siebenthal, which is always doing great pictures (works sometimes for a really nice Swiss Magazine called Skipper's Mag).

Now, their are some really great regatta organized, dates can be found in the AM2.org website.

I've heard, but nothing is confirmed that they would love to get an International involvement for this class. No doubt that with such price/boat qualities it should develop soon (unless people prefer more conventional boats like for the F18...).

The Geneve-Rolle-Geneve and the Leman Bol d'Or are two great regatta that are really cool to watch.

For the second one, imagine about 600 boats alligned in one start... lake size at the place is about 1.5km, so view on the boats is great.

Jr