http://www.boards.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11656&TPN=1

Makes me want to dig out the sewing machine...

mmm, obviously a prop for the next james bond film?

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Originally posted by RAL INN

Interesting.

however it seems that in the real world we currently have sails capable of doing the speeds.

It's that thing sticking to the water that's needs thought.

Oh! and the dope hanging on.

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ha ha ha. Was thinking similar... Bit of a different take on things though, shape doesn't appeal to me. Seems to set ok. Battens not reach mast is interesting.

It's an interesting concept, and respect to him for thinking outside the box. In light winds high aspects can prove very fast- Simmer cyberrace anyone (sucked in stronger winds though). There is a guy here that now kites who made some high aspect's, they are smaller than usual sail sizes being much more powerful.

The problems I can see with that pommy design is- sleeve tension, on the beach it almost looks ok but on the water might be very different. The second is the inducement is non driven, so stability might suffer a bit when the wind gets up.

As for sails that are fast enough, yes production sails are very fast now days but they dont account for size etc. An example was Thierry Bielak whose sails were very tight in leach tension to suit his size and strength- people that have bought his sails have often struggled. Another example is Dunky. Now they are limited as everything has gone production but given the choice they'd probably be using customs.

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Originally posted by catapilla

Must be bored ... finidng random investigations to conduct.

Looked over photos of wierd catamaran contraption.

Have no ideas creatively however did a search under the boat ID number (see last photo) and it comes up with an encripted NASA affiliated website. Conspiracy theory anyone?

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This is the reply I got from the owner of the photos;

It’s a research craft for open-water travel. The suspension system keeps the ‘pod’ from moving so much, and the sponsons are hinged about 2/3 the way back so the engines stay in the water when cresting waves. Supposedly there will be some kind of press conferences in the next few weeks about it.

The owner is Ugo Conti, a PhD at University of California, Berkeley, who owns or leads “Marine Advanced Research”.