1. The foil cassette panel, which supports the point-loading of the lower rollers using a core, which is a combination of airex foam and 1.5mm thick webs of carbon spaced 12mm apart.
2. Sea anchor deploy tunnel, which connects to and also drains the dry well storage area.
3. Secondary filleting and taping of the inboard ama hull halves.
Today we tested the new kite-launching mast on the Kitefoiler for the first time. The setup includes the K1 winch with custom platform, two carbon windsurfing masts with extensions, and an intricate system of pulleys. Don, Joe, and Dudu successfully launched the kite three times, but had difficulty transitioning from launch controls to sailing controls. Overall, the test went well, as each successive launch improved upon the last. However, they attempted a fourth launch, but the kite lost air after hitting a sharp carbon piece on the bow. Today was also the first test of some of the new modifications to the boat, including steel reinforcements on the rail moldings and bronze bushings and smaller wheels on the […more]
We performed the first Kitefoiler test with a kite today. Greg Ketterman, designer of the Trifoiler, joined us on the test. Prior to testing with the kite, we towed the boat to the city and back around Treasure Island to make sure that everything was working as expected. The foils were a little looser than we would have liked, but the wind picked up, so we tried the kite anyway. Despite the mediocre wind speed, the boat performed very well, foiling consistently with two crew members in the area between Angel Island and Chrissy Field. After returning to the shop, Joe disassembled the cassettes and found the problem with the foils–the stress on the bearings had caused them to fall […more]
