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044<br />
lake geneva, testing tank<br />
FOR FOILERS<br />
Vincent Gillioz<br />
<strong>2009</strong> looks like being the year of the hydrofoil on Lake Geneva. The flying boat projects on our shores have<br />
never been so numerous, and the lake has been transformed into a real technological hub for foilers.<br />
Lake Geneva has always been a dream for the audacious, and sailors from all over the world enviously<br />
observe this lake. Here any kind of project is authorized, the limits are imposed only by the laws of<br />
physics and the creativity of the architects. The right weather conditions, a favourable economic<br />
environment, Swiss expertise and, above all, passion are the main ingredients which have helped<br />
Lake Geneva’s sailing world to acquire an outstanding reputation.<br />
Foilers are no exception to this rule, and the most successful ones are being developed on our shores.<br />
Indeed, more and more boats defying Archimedes and his principle can be seen sailing on the lake.<br />
Some of the biggest names in yacht racing are turning towards this new concept of racing, by flying.<br />
THE FORERUNNERS<br />
The principle is not new and craft equipped with hydrofoils have been developed for several<br />
decades in the history of sailing. The first project to have shown a certain amount of potential<br />
was a modified Tornado which appeared in the early 1970s. The ocean racers, for their part, waited<br />
until the 1980s before starting to experiment; the Charles Heidsieck IV would probably be the most<br />
representative of this fertile period. Unfortunately, this boat never managed to rise out of the water<br />
because of a weight problem. As for Alain Thébault’s famous Hydroptère, a joint project with Eric<br />
Tabarly, it started flying in 1994, proving that the principle had a future when applied to a lighter<br />
craft. The Hydroptère is currently working on its speed records in the Mediterranean.<br />
1 The model of<br />
Hydroptère.ch, a<br />
technological gem,<br />
which will be sailing<br />
on Lake Geneva<br />
next year.<br />
The foil fever only reached Lake Geneva a few years later even though Holy Smoke, a catamaran equipped<br />
with magical appendices, won the Bol d’Or back in 1983. At that time, the aim was essentially to lift the<br />
floats to reduce drag. In calm water, the leeward float only rose by 10 to 15 cm.<br />
MONOHULL FOILERS<br />
On the monohull front, it was an exchange of e-mails between an 18ft lake racer enthusiast, Thomas<br />
Jundt, and John Illet, the Australian inventor of the famous Moth foiler, which led to one of the boldest<br />
projects currently underway, the Mirabaud LX. The engineer in fact decided to apply the Moth principle
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