SYZ & CO hydrofoil catamaran takes off on Lake Léman

The SYZ & CO hydrofoil catamaran takes off on Lake Léman © SYZ & CO

The SYZ & CO hydrofoil catamaran takes off on Lake Léman © SYZ & CO

After two years of development and hard work, the SYZ & CO hydrofoil catamaran took off yesterday for its maiden flight in a northerly breeze averaging 13 knots on the slightly choppy waters of Lake Léman and has demonstrated its striking manner the validity of its concept. The next weeks will be devoted to tuning up in order to be ready for the main races of the season. To allow the public to follow project developments, a web site is now available www.syzfoiler.com.

The SYZ & CO hydrofoil catamaran has flown over Lake Léman

After over two years of development, thousand of working hours and first trials marked by teething technical problems between December and March, the hydrofoil catamaran finally took off yesterday evening in the waters off Société Nautique de Genève.

This historical outing started yesterday evening a little before 6 pm and the crew, comprising Alex Schneiter, Patrick Firmenich, Arnaud Psarofaghis and Boet Brinkgreve, had a superb navigation in the Geneva harbour. Sailing in a breeze of approximately 13 knots with gusts going up to 16 knots, the hydrofoil catamaran first started with a reef on the main sail and the genoa. As the wind picked up, the crew quickly changed the fore sail and switched to the forestaysail. The SYZ & CO then proceeded windward until Creux-de-Genthod and the bearing away already promised to be spectacular. The crew gained in confidence in the prototype and rushed downwind towards Geneva at a speed of 10 knots. A magical moment, every one holding his breath until finally a hull lifts up out of the water followed a moment later by the second one! The catamaran accelerates to quickly reach 20 knots. The water is a little choppy and the boat dances on the waves. Helmsman Alex Schneiter later tells: "She’s quite light to steer and responds quickly but remains tolerant. In flight, she stays pleasant to steer and easy to trim. When she’s on the water, in Archimedean mode, she’s heavier than a conventional yacht but I think that a lot will depend on the tune up."

Around 6.15pm, the wind weakens a little and the crew puts the genoa back on and continues with the full main sail. François Psarofaghis, on the chase boat, cannot hide his satisfaction: "It’s a good start, but it’s only the start! You can feel she has a great potential but we’ll need hours and hours of tuning. She’s really a racing monster and for the time being, we’re only using a tiny part of the boat’s potential. We’re really looking forward to sailing with the gennaker on on our next outing!"

Arnaud Gavairon, from North Sails, is also closely following the sailing: "These new 3Di sails also require a lot of tuning. It’s like the boat: we’ve gone very far with the technology and a lot of detailed work will be needed. There is a lot of room for progression."

The beginning of an adventure

Back ashore, the crew confides: "It really went on very well and we got a very good feeling. Given our obviously limited flight experience, we needed little time to adjust to sailing aloft. We are now very confident in the gear but, as we don’t know the boat very well yet, we’re going step by step."

Once these initial moments of emotion and the pleasure of discovery have passed, the crew will start a performance development phase and will indentify all the tuning factors. In fact, for this first test, the crew stayed voluntarily cautious and did not try to break any speed records. There’s a lot of tuning up to do, be it on the foils, on the flaps, on the crew position and the tilting of the mast. The first impression is very reassuring and encouraging: « She flies very well and you can drive her hard. We’re very happy because the concept proves to be very sound » adds Arnaud Psarofaghis.

Next sailing and test and tuning phase

An intensive training and testing program has been established. During this crucial phase, Pierre-Yves Jorand, member of the Alinghi team, and Boet Brinkgreve will be the key people. Pierre-Yves, who logically is very interested in this project, will be able to share his America’s Cup experience and the discipline that defines it. Boet, the on-board tactician, has put in place a test and checks program, managed from an on-board computer, and has created a systematic analysis database for all parameters. Moreover, an optical fiber sensor system has been installed in order to analyze the performance and the loads on the foils.

New website

Encouraged by the strong interest received by the prototype both in Switzerland and abroad, the team has set up a website entirely dedicated to the SYZ & CO hydrofoil catamaran. This new site, www.syzfoiler.com, recounts the whole development of the project and features regularly updated photo and video galleries. All team results and news will be available.