Leech F8 Foiler launched in Christchurch
by Leech Boats 26 May 2020 01:38 PDT
Will Leech foiling in the F8 on his fifth session in the boat - May 2020 - Christchurch, NZ © Dan Leech
The new youth F8 Foiler prototype from Leech Boats has just been launched at the Charteris Bay Yacht Club in Christchurch, NZ.
11-year-old Will Leech, 30kg, (pictured sailing) has done a nice job of getting the boat going. The F8 is designed to be easy for kids to sail, Will has sailed the F8 five times and is really excited about it and is learning a lot. Will is progressing really well and - most importantly - he is having a huge amount of fun!
This is the prototype that Leech Boats are using to try ideas which will be brought through to the final production boat. The boat is performing very well early on, which is really positive. We are playing with a few systems for easy launching and retrieval.
The F8 is very simple and fast to rig and can be rigged and ready to go in 5 - 10 minutes. With the free-standing mast from C Tech and pocket luff, un-cambered sail from Doyle Sails, it is a very simple mast and sail package for the kids to use.
Ideally, kids would want to spend around three years in a boat like the Optimist to learn good base sailing skills before they start sailing an F8. For example, Will has just completed his fourth season sailing the Optimist. Our initial thoughts are the weight range for the F8 would be around 30 – 60kg. The boat is a nice size for this group, from rigging, handling the boat on shore, sailing and righting the boat after a capsize.
For more information see:
F8 Foiler Facebook page
Email dan@leechboats.com