The Hydrofoil

the Hydrofoil is a registered trade name by Alain Thébault, it is a name of mark and the name of the machine which it develops. After 20 years of research and several models, Alain Thébault succeeded in building a model with real scale sailing with 45 nodes (approximately 83 km/h) thanks to the new materials (carbon and titanium) much more resistant and light. Despite everything, the Hydrofoil weighs nearly 5 tons.

Structure

The Hydrofoil resembles, in its appearance, with a traditional Trimaran: a central hull, carrying a mast, and balanced by two side floats, moved away from the hull by arms.

The Hydrofoil has a suspension derived from the Rafale marine which between in action starting from 30 tons of effort while allowing the foil to partly go up during the few tenths of a second of the peak of effort, then to take again its initial position before the following wave.

The side floats act as ballast S (capacity: 800 liters each one), supplied with the saffron S: only the ballast with the wind fills, and ensures a good balance the Hydrofoil. A third ballast, smaller, is in the central hull, and avoids with the Hydrofoil bucking.

Materials used

The Hydrofoil uses primarily carbon. The arms of connection are out of carbon/honeycomb and resin cooked in Autoclave. They make 12 m length. The hydrofoils also use it the same material, the side foils having moreover one leading edge in carbon composite (replacing the Aluminum first versions). The central foil makes 3,3 m, and has a plan carrying 55 cm, mobile, which makes it possible to order takeoff. The side foils make six meters, and weigh 240 kg; they are finished by secondary ailerons, winglets, which stabilize the Hydrofoil. They are maintained with an angle of 42 with 45° by arms in Titane.

The hull and the floats (manufactured by DCN of Lorient) are made several carbon fibers layers soaked with resin and separated by structures in honeycomb; the whole is covered with a layer of Kevlar.

Gréément

The sail is moulded, and made same fabric as the stratospheric balloons: a fabric of Kevlar between two layers of Mylar. It makes 400 m ², and weighs 50 kg less than one traditional sail.

The mast is out of carbon, and makes 27 m in height. It is conceived by Herve Devaux Structures (specialist structural analysis in the water sport).

Tests

February 9th, 2005 the Hydrofoil of a weight of 4,7 tons, length a 18 24 meters meters and broad, “scratched” the English Channel with 33,3 nodes (61,67 km/h) of average, that is to say 2 minutes and 36 seconds of less than the plane driven by Louis Blériot in 1909. Alain Thébault hopes soon to attack some records, like the longest distance covered of 24 hours and the crossing of the Atlantic.

April 24th, 2007, the Hydrofoil was seen approving, by the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Council Record), its absolute speed records for a machine with veil on one thousand nautical (41,69 nodes is 0,55 node moreover than the precedent, held by the veliplanchist Björn Dunkerbeck since October 2006). Another record was also approved, 44,81 nodes out of 500 meters - but it acts-there only of the record of the category (more than 300 square feet of aerofoil), and not of the absolute records.

Precursors

However, at the beginning of the 20th century, many which is those worked on the installation of hydrofoils on engine machines or sailing ships. In 1908, Alexander Graham Beautiful the inventor of the Telephone, worked already on this type of machines but one can also quote the names of Baker, Grogono, Bradfield, Ketterman.

In France Claude Tisserand as Roland Tiercelin as of the Sixties, worked on flying sailing ships. In all, between 1900 and 2000, more than 100 hydrofoils with veils took off. Before Alain Thébault, Eric Tabarly was one of those which allowed the development of the hydrofoils on the machines veils of open sea. It is the latter which has in the Eighties transmitted the torch to Alain Thébault.

External bonds

the Hydrofoil Alain Thébault
km No International Hydrofoil of leisures
Hydrofoils Society
Foilers! the blog of the boats which steal

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