Hydroptère.ch - 'Flying boat' dips its wings in Lake Geneva

by Simon Bradley on 15 Nov 2010 Hydroptère.ch - A revolutionary Franco-Swiss 'flying yacht' project that aims to smash the round-the-world sailing record has started testing on Lake Geneva.

Hydroptère.ch, a prototype catamaran based on the world’s fastest sailboat, was gently lowered into the clear waters near St Sulpice, west of Lausanne, on Friday.

A five-man crew plan to test the new design, materials and boat behaviour over the coming months on Lake Geneva.

The new ten-metre test boat uses the same hydrofoil design as its older sister, the existing 18-metre Hydroptère, which already has several world speed records to her name. In 2008 it became the first sailing boat to break the magic 50-knot (92.6km/h) speed barrier and then topped 100 km/h, travelling at up to 56.3 knots (i.e. 104 km/h).

But Hydroptère.ch is the first-ever hybrid boat, allowing it to fly on its two hydrofoils in medium to high winds and sail as fast as a normal sailboat in calm conditions, explains Alain Thébault, the 46-year-old Breton who is the brains and driving force behind the project.

'It’s a new concept,' he told swissinfo.ch. 'Today boats float but our flying boats are the first trying to understand the dynamic stability problems of this new design.'

The Hydroptère, which Thébault started working on in 1987, is based on minimising the friction from the water and waves. With the wind blowing at only 12 knots, the two hulls rise above the water, and the vessel skims the surface of the waves with the tips of her wings.

The two adjustable hydrofoils set at angles on the hulls give the vessel stability and lift, while a retractable tail unit at the rear of each hull act as a rudder.

'When we are at full speed, only 80cm of each foil is in the water, we are 1.5m above the sea and there are only three small points in contact. There is no drag and acceleration is really powerful,' said Thébault.

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