Last Feb I posted a video reference of L'Hydroptere exceeding the 45 knot barrier under sail:
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/37635-post8.html
Well they made it to 47.2
http://www.hydroptere.com/index.php4?lang=EN
...from another forum
The latest I heard, it was last week, was from a wealthy local (Geneva) businessman, who was interviewed because he and his crew had just set a new record for a monohull on the trip from Geneva to the end of the lake and back (7 hours or so, if i'm not mistaken). He said "next month, work will start on my new boat which will be a flying boat leveraging on the Hydroptere and with help of EPFL". We knew since May that EPFL and the Hydroptere team would work together, and that a 12 metre multihull was going to be launched on Lake Geneva. From this interview it looks like the launch could be october or november this year, thus allowing enough time to test the boat a bit before next season (there are few races during the winter time here).
As for Hydroptere the 60-foot version, it always looked to me like the general aerodynamics were just not there. Maybe computer simulations and/or model testing have revealed that some work on the arms (like having a skin over them rather than a gap between the beams), and thinning the "floats", was going to be enough? I have no access to this kind of data so cannot tell. But I guess that if they're going through the trouble, and the investment, whatever they're doing must have been shown, on simulations and or model testing, to have the potential to markedly improve from the current setup?
...and
As it happens, I ended up looking simply on the Hydroptere.com website. And there was an update on the Lake Geneva project, dated September 7th, which I had missed.
It is in French, the main points are:
- the team is complete and a big kick-off meeting took place late August in Lausanne. Plan is to have the boat launch summer '08.
- hydroptere.ch is confirmed as a "toy" to both help the evolution of Hydroptere by allowing to test things in a cheaper way, and to provide data for the potential "Hydroptere Maxi" project (fly a 30-35 meter multihull)
- design and construction overseen by VPLP w obviously huge experience in racing multihulls
There is one initial sketch on the site (follow the link below). It looks a lot overall from the side like a D35 i.e. LOTS of power (mast height 1.6-1.7x hull length, bow sprit extending to 20% of hull length). IF that thing flies, it's going to fly in force 2 winds easy. Now flying and controlling it in some of the famed brutal and sudden wind shifts / gusts of Lake Geneva, might require pretty solid skills.
Interestingly the "pods" look much smaller in the vertical dimension, as well as longer, so maybe this is one of the future changes for Hydroptere.com - might allow for both faster top speed, and better speeds when not flying (more similar to existing trimarans).
Two new boats are about to be developed:
l’Hydroptere.ch, a Lab boat which will sail on Lake Léman;
An Hydroptère Maxi which will sail around the world.
http://www.hydroptere.com/accueil/th...EN/rub/28.html