A foiling sailboat for sailors with disabilities among the winners of the call funded by city Genoa
by We Are Foiling - SAS Foiling Class 23 Nov 2022 07:21 PST
The SAS Project © We Are Foiling / SAS Foiling Class
The SAS Project - Safe, Accessible and Sustainable, for the creation of a foiling sailboat with assisted flight control for sailors with disabilities and produced with sustainable and recyclable materials, is among the winners of the "Towards The Ocean Race - Call for innovation, sport in the blue economy", promoted and funded by the City of Genoa as part of the Blue District initiative, winning a grant of 198,000 euros.
Proposed for the first time in 2017 by Luca Rizzotti at the FOILING WEEK™ Forum, SAS Project will be led by Enrico Benco and Cristiana Talon of GS4C Sustainable Solutions and will be developed in collaboration with FOILING WEEK™ (strategic development and communication), FaRo Advanced Systems (electronics), Guillaume Verdier Architecture Navale (design and engineering) and Sangiorgio Marine shipyard (boat building).
The SAS prototype will be developed based on an existing hull equipped with piercing foils and T rudders designed by Studio Verdier. Structural modifications will be made on this and the necessary equipment for safe and autonomous foiling will be installed. The stability of the boat will be controlled by onboard electronics tuned by FaRo, which will minimize the need to help straighten the hull by shifting crew weight.
SAS Project will offer a foiling experience not only to those with mobility issues, but also to inexperienced sailors, effectively broadening the potential user base.
The data acquired during the sea trials will make it possible to optimize the construction of the boat through the study of the structural characteristics of the fibers and sustainable resins thanks to which it is planned to start industrial production.
SAS Project wants to become the symbol of the integration of technology and sustainability without compromise, a boat where the physicality and the technique and of the crew do not represent barriers to entry, a rig capable of allowing everyone to race on an equal footing. SAS was conceived with the explicit goal of creating a Paralympic circuit in the orbit of the We Are Foiling events.
SAS will be part of the initiatives that will animate the Innovation Village in Genoa during The Ocean Race The Grand Finale in June 2023.