Vortex Pod Racer brings easy foiling to everyone

“V-pilots”, as McCaunoghy calls the foiling dinghy’s new owners, will sit inside a cockpit roughly the same width as a conventional dinghy, steering the boat via a pair of pedals and controlling the Vortex’s trim and heel with a joystick.

All sail controls for the jib and main lead directly back to the cockpit, and are laid out in front of the skipper’s seat.

McConaghy says the big benefit of the Vortex is that, unlike a foiling Moth, you don’t need a high level of fitness to operate it.

Once on the foils, McConaghy is suggesting a top speed of more than 30 knots in the right conditions, “allowing the V-Pilot to soar like a graceful bird or with the aggressive dynamics of a fighter jet”.

It makes sense, then, that McConaghy suggests anyone jumping into the Vortex’s cockpit should wear a helmet.

The boat’s hull and pontoons are made from carbonfibre using a foam core sandwich to make it strong yet light. The “wings” running out to the pontoons are also used to carry the torsional load of the rigging and foils.

The Vortex is designed so that the forward foils use trimming wands similar to those used on a foiling Moth. That means they automatically trim to lift the hull and pontoons out of the water as speeds rise, creating what McConaghy says is a “next-level acceleration”.

The foils also can be raised and lowered, meaning the Vortex can be launched in shallow water.

McConaghy has tapped North Sails to provide the laundry, using its lightweight i3D RAW molded sail technology.

According to McConaghy, the sails will stand up just as well to being flogged by someone new to the Vortex as it will to “providing a high-performance experience from day one for more seasoned sailors”.

How much does this need for speed cost? According to the Vortex website, a boat ready to hit the water is priced from $39,400, and that’s before you add gear such as the $1300 beach trolley and a $3800 electronics package.

Colour choices include the raw carbonfibre finish, yellow, red, white and blue.

You can even order it to be delivered in a custom timber shipping box.

McConaghy says it also plans to launch a one-make racing series for Vortex Pod Racer owners.