This all-carbon multihull, 33 feet (10 meters) in length and 29’6” (9 meters) in beam - counting its hiking wings - weighs barely a ton. It was built by the Crazy Lobster shipyard and launched at the port of Le Légué, in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany. The particularity of this prototype with its elegant canoe bows is its rig: The ACCWing. This is a flexible 645 sq ft (60 m²) wingsail developed by Hugues de Turckheim. “The boat is not equipped with foils because the aim is to focus on the use of the wing, whose concept can be used by all kinds of sailing boats, yachts and ships,” explains Philippe, “But this wing will of course allow foilers to go even faster and point higher”. The catamaran sailed for the first time on Thursday, October 29th, late in the day (just before the new lockdown was decreed in France) in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc. “The wind was light but there was enough to appreciate the very high efficiency of the rig,” says the inventor. “Tacking is extremely easy thanks to the lift the wing generates, which remains efficient as close as possible to the wind, something a conventional rig cannot provide.” After a few adjustments and optimization work, the prototype will be heading for an open-water port to be able sail without the constraints of tides and locks. Of course, we’ve already planned a test sail!
