Last weekend we managed to produce our first test section. The test section is a hydrofoil section, made out of chopped strand mat instead of carbon. The goal of making a test section was to trial the production and mould release techniques, and see if we really need a foil that is basically solid carbon fiber.



One of the first lessons learned was that gelcat makes the whole mould release process easier and produces a much better job. (That was actually the second lesson learned, the first was that you should not forget to put both release wax and pva release liquid on your plug.)

We decided to try and build the foil with a strip of gasket rubber embedded in the section for the foil hinge, which we will cut free using the router bench.

After a 24 hour cure, the mould opened quite easily and produced a pretty good looking section. Initial tests showed that the section was very green and probably still had a liquid centre. So real structural testing will be deferred until it cures.

Construction continues on the new foils for the 05-06 season. Faced with the choice of a three piece “tee” mould, or moulding individual sections; we have decided to make the sections individually and bolt them together with some serious We are following this approach for a couple of reasons.

• It appears that almost every set of foils made to date has had some form of failure at the tee joint, so we are going to put some serious reinforcement in the sections and use several 3/16 stainless bolts to connect the foils together.
• We can easily try different foils on the same centerboard
• We are going to use the same sections on another hydrofoil project that involves a Hobie 18 …

The photo above shows one of the finished mold halves, and the male plug. We have used chopped strand mat instead of just making a screeded bog mould because of the large number of sections we will be making.

This is a closeup of the end of the top half of the NACA 63412 section with a 120mm cord. Thanks to John Illet for full disclosure of the section shapes and sizes he is using, removing the need for a ton of guesswork.

After a 10 year hiatus, I am going to start sailing again in the 2005-06 season. My boat, Virtual Reality aka AUS 9243 is currently being prepared for a move to hydrofoils.



Originally built for the nationals held in Lauderdale in Tasmania, the design was my own (BM 2), heavily influenced by Andrew Landenberger’s boat for that season. When originally launched it featured no foredeck, (the cockpit went all the way to the bow) with the wings supported by “understays” from the hull just above the waterline. It was re-decked in 94 into the BM 2B configuration, which also included a narrowing of the stern by 50 mm, and an additional 50mm of spring added to the last third of the hull.



Here are some old shots taken during the last major regatta that I sailed in, the Sunshine Worlds in 1994-95.

Currently we are planning on adding a set of Illet “clone” foils, with a slightly longer span for the hydrofoil to support my bodyweight.



Work is currently progressing on the female foil moulds, made from a chopped strand mat mould of a wooden plug, which is shown under construction, here:

Now if only I can remember how to sail…