Motor Boat & Yachting - July 2018

We up the speed and it immediately

feels as if there’s an invisible hand on the

foredeck, pushing the bow into the water

themselves depending on whether it’s a head sea, a following sea

or the waves are on the beam. The team claims that because the

foils also work independently of each other, they can rectify lean

if the boat is unevenly loaded so there isn’t the need for trim tabs

or interceptors.

It’s important to clarify that from the hull up, this mule is

nothing like the fi nished product. Pininfarina’s 3D renderings

on the previous page give the clearest idea yet as to what the

production version will look like and we know that below decks,

there is space for a convertible vee berth and a separate bathroom.

The hull, engines, drivetrain and foil technology will adorn

the production boat but the rest of this prototype is a thrown-

together test bed made up of bits from the parts bin. It’s properly

basic, with no soundproofi ng or even a windscreen, and the helm

seats have been pinched from one of Princess’s fl ybridge models.

Recognisable Volvo Penta switchgear and screens, presenting

only what is strictly necessary, nestle within a roughly fi nished

dashboard.

Simon Schofi eld of BAR Technologies is prodding away on

a tablet, which is linked to a laptop lashed down within an inch

of its life inside the cabin that talks to the foils. This is how the

foils are controlled in the development stage but at launch,

the boat will have an interface embedded within the glass bridge

multifunction display that will allow the driver to switch between

modes and adjust the foils’ pitch to plus and minus 5º via a touch-

sensitive slider.

BRIT PACK

Standard Volvo Penta

sterndrives provide

propulsion

Putting the R35

through its paces.

The amount of grip

on offer is staggering

A snapshot of the

team’s aerodynamic

fi ndings