When sailing is no longer sailing

Foiling boats are meant to foil, but wind is required. Not enough and they are bikes with flat tires. They are slow and worse. All sense of racing to the next mark gets lost as they angle away for lift off. Foiling boats not foiling is hard to watch.

For the 2024 America’s Cup, the significant change to the AC75 was to improve light air foiling. Memories from the 2021 edition had these techno-marvels fumbling along, so weight has been removed from the boats to initiate flight.

But why rely on wind? “Perhaps there could be some conjecture here on the role of power in sailing,” offers Ian Ward, “but I suspect that horse bolted long ago with electric winches, engines to power canting keels, cyclors in AC75s and even that most unedifying vigorous manual pumping, rocking, ooching, and flapping displayed by Finns, 470s, Sailboards, Windfoilers, and now Wingfoilers.”

His solution is rocket-boosters… sort of. – Full report.