Foiling boat aims to make Sydney Hobart Yacht Race history

However, before you look at the bank account and reach for the checkbook, the group behind the bold bid for the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race aims to spend about $3 million – a fraction of the cost of building a maxi yacht – to get its entry on the water by the end of October, giving it time to train the boat’s crew.

Sydney to Hobart veteran Andrew Buckland is one of the group attempting to get the 50-foot (15.2-metre) foiling yacht on the water in time for this year’s 75th anniversary of the event, along with naval architect Fred Barrett, and yacht builders Simon Grosser, Lindsay Stead and Brett van Munster.

The aim is to build a cheap, fast boat capable of out-running the 100-foot maxis when conditions suit – ideally, south-east coast winds running at between 20-40 knots.

According to Buckland, the first foiling yacht to attempt the gruelling 630 nautical mile race will tap into the work already done by our cousins across the ditch, who showed the world via the America’s Cup that getting boats up on foils did not have to be expensive.

“The time [for foiling] has come,” Buckland said. “The science [of foiling] is advancing fairly rapidly, and the lift they’re getting per unit of drag is just extraordinary, as as you would have seen from the small half-sized America’s Cup mules, and people have shown you can make an Optimist foil.

“The reality is that it’s technically feasible and mechanically feasible – the Kiwis showed us they could build a foil cheaply for their America’s Cup cat using steel for the major structure and carbon for the skin to give more lift.

“To lift our boat, which with the crew and everything will weigh about 6000kg, the actual drag required to lift that in practical operation – not in theoretical operation – will be in the order of 120kg.”

That’s about the same amount of drag as a 37-footer going upwind, Buckland said.

Buckland said the Sydney-Hobart boat would be able to do about 11 knots upwind in 12 knots of breeze with about 400kg of forward force, but once the foils lifted it out of the water, it would still have about 280kg of force to propel the hull and rudder foils through the water at much higher speeds.

“So it’s pretty startling when you start mapping those curves and you can say it will foil in 10 knots of wind... and it’s doing 17 knots.”

The group’s bid to claim line honours depends on finding the money needed to build the first boat by October, giving the crew the time it needs to familiarise itself with the foiling system ahead of making a pitch at the Sydney Hobart. It has asked for investors to jump on board to make the dream a reality.

It will also have to meet the same safety criteria as other yachts entering the annual Cruising Yacht Club of Australia-run event, including hull strength and self-righting ability.

The focus on costs has limited the boat’s design to 50 feet, meaning it can be sailed by a crew of just seven. Electric winches save some of the backbreaking work, while all but the mainsail should be able to be carried by a single crew member. The boat won't use a spinnaker.

In terms of the budget needed to go racing, Buckland said it should not be “too extreme”.

“It’s a big step change, obviously, but the 100-footers, they’re incredibly expensive in dollars and you need 20 people to go for a sail, and the minimum price for anything is about $100,000.”

Buckland said Australia’s offshore sailing community should welcome the idea of lighter foiling boats “because they will make it possible to be in the yacht race with quite a lot less budget, and probably having a lot more fun”.

“For the cost of about eight sails on a maxi, you can build a boat and go racing,” he said. “I’ve sailed big boats enough to know that they’re actually pretty inefficient. This boat, you’ll be actually able to sail it at a pretty high level of efficiency, I’d imagine.”

Buckland said the big 100-foot maxis would still have a place in the annual race despite the challenges a new generation of foiling boats could pose – but their domination of the race and stranglehold on the race record (set by Comanche and currently standing at 1 day 9 hours 15 minutes and 24 seconds) was potentially running out.

“At least we still had five of the things [in last year’s race] – it’s the whole world fleet,” he said. “But you’ll notice that the last one built was Comanche, and there was talk the US guys were going to build another one, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

“A foiling Moth will do 30 knots, and that’s only 11 feet,” Buckland said. “The foils take away the size of the boat in the equation.”