America’s Cup sailors targeted for summer SuperFoiler series
IT’S Olympic medal winning sailor Olivia Price’s pet peeve about her sport — getting wet. But that’s something she won’t have to worry about too much on a SuperFoiler.
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IT’S Olympic medal winning sailor Olivia Price’s pet peeve about her sport — getting wet.
It’s why racing the hi-tech, SuperFoiler on a Grand Prix series over summer should be the perfect fit for the Sydney skipper.
Sailing’s version of walking on water, this 26-foot long, 17-foot wide machines ability to foil both upwind and downwind means the hulls will rarely touch water as aerodynamic, carbon fibre blades lift it to record speeds.
“It’s just perfect. I don’t do wet and cold,’’ laughed Price, a silver medallist in match-racing at the London Olympics and one of six sailors who will steer the new racing machines in a proposed six-event series starting on December 8 and concluding with a Sydney Harbour Grand Final in March.
“They are just so exciting, exhilarating and fast. And the physicality will be intense. I can’t wait.’’
America’s Cup and leading foiling sailors from New Zealand, the US, China, France and Australia will be targeted for the series set to be raced over three-days at venues in South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, Newcastle and Sydney Harbour.
Sydney businessman and sailing entrepreneur Bill Macartney and son Jack are basing the new series on the highly successful 18-foot skiff Grand Prix which flourished in the 1990s due to its super-fast, short course format, sponsorships and revolutionary TV coverage involving on-board cameras and miked-up sailors.
These flying billboards revolutionised the image of sailing with the slick series providing inspiration for numerous other international series as the sport scurried to make itself more appealing to the public and TV audiences.
With the foils reducing drag, Jack Macartney says the 350 kilo, three-person SuperFoiler has been designed to hit speeds in excess of 40 knots — 74kmph — as it skims the water and for around 240 kilos of crew weight
“They just fly. It’s scary,’’ he said.
The prototype is currently being tested on Sydney Harbour with skippers and crews to be revealed in upcoming months.
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