Has anyone seen the foils they're now using in some of the Olympic sailing?

[muriel_volestrangler]

It's amazing - windsurfing with an underwater foil, reaching speeds up to about 40mph, and the kite foil reaching 50 mph! It almost looks like they're floating in the air.

[Old Crank]

1. I have not seen them

But the hydrofoil use has gone down to the small beginner classes. The boats are much faster.

[PJMcK]

2. Yes!

Sailboat racing technology has accelerated at a nearly exponential rate in the last few decades. The advancement of the winged keel-- which helped Australia capture the America's Cup-- is quaint by comparison.

Today's racing sailboats are incredible machines capable of remarkable speeds under a wide variety of conditions.

My cruising sailboat has a maximum hull speed of 6.14 knots. Here's the calculation.

HS = 1.34 X Square Root of the LWL

HS = Hull Speed while LWL = Length of the Water Line. Most boats have an overhang at the bow and the stern so the calculation of boat speed uses the length of the vessel where the surface of the water meets the hull. My boat has an LWL of 21-feet so it's maximum speed displacing water is 6.14 knots. A knot is one nautical mile per hour, (nautical miles are slightly longer than the statute miles that we use day to day and are based on geographical measurements).

My little boat, therefore, maxes out at a whopping 7.1 mph! Thankfully, were never in a hurry.

To my point of view, traveling 40 mph over the water in a light-weight boat is too scary!