Professional BoatBuilder - December-January 2018

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018 59

DESIGN: Hybrid Wing

and the Navy’s new stealth trimaran

patrol boats and autonomous sailing

submarine seekers, there were the

thousands of recreational and com-

mercial modern multihulls built and

tested by sailors and the sea. Given

that history, it seems reasonable that

private and commercial cra with

wings and foils can drive develop-

ment and refinement of the technol-

ogy to the point that it could be

applied to  shboats, ferries, or FedEx

freighters.

About the Author: Jim Brown built

and went to sea in the first modern

trimaran (an Arthur Piver design) in

1959. He then designed the Searunner
      series of cruising trimarans, and devel-
      oped the Constant Camber construc-
      tion method. He is an accomplished
      teacher and author, a member of the
      Cruising World Hall of Fame, and
      co-founder of the OUTRIG! Project,
      http://www.outrigmedia.com.

thrills and bragging rights to its cre-

ators. I wouldn’t disagree, but I believe

the hybrid wing’s inherent differ-

ences—360° rotation combined with

the ability to set so sail—from what

has come before is an honest break-

through likely to be with us for a very

long time to come. At least that much

of it, I think, is destined for historical

signi cance.

Of course, like so many of our boat-

ing brainstorms, the hybrid wing might

fade in time. Even now it may be too

radical or too obvious to suit Corin-

thian sensibilities. But what about

the prospect of commercial or mili-

tary applications? Long before today’s

plethora of catamaran fast-ferries,

Bearing away at speed is the usual

touch-and-go to avoid diving the lee

bow, but for comparison, Gonzalez

has sailed her with the standard racing

rig, and found a greater tendency to

nosedive, and a somewhat reduced

overall performance.

What’s more, we saw how with a

little practice the bare solid wing can

be manipulated to maneuver the boat

reliably in speci c directions. Manu-

ally swinging it around with one hand

can stop, start, reverse, and slide the

vessel sideways, while letting it weath-

ervane shi s it into neutral.

Our ride was not without wrinkles.

Hoisting and lowering the so sail ele-

ment was tedious.  e square-top bat-

tens apparently bound in the boltrope

track; and to allow the bare wing to

rotate fully, its so sail must be entirely

detached, so it needed some conve-

nient means of stowage. Of course, in

such a developmental rig, teething

problems are to be expected as a natu-

ral part of inevitably growing up.

____)____

Depending on opinion and results,

the hybrid wing, in its present itera-

tions, may or may not be the most e -

cient, yet practical, means of extract-

ing motive power from wind for sea-

faring. Some will say it is immature,

basically a plaything contrived to o er

Caliente at speed with the hybrid wing

sail well trimmed. The next generation of

research will marry the rig to networked

active  ight-control hydrofoils on Eagle.

The halyard runs down the aft side of the

transparent rigid wing. One development

challenge has been how to keep the

battens from binding on the curved sail

track as the soft sail is hoisted or lowered.

HybridWing170-ADFinal.indd 59 10/31/17 3:04 PM