iFLY15 foiling while towed by rib // crazy stuff : overtaking towing rib // foiling gybe while towed

iFLY15 full foiling while being towed by rib. Even being towed, iFLY15 keeps stable foiling while staying under control, thanks to FlySafe® technology. Some people believe foiling behind a towing motorboat is easy. It is not, with many dynamic factors influencing (e.g. sail trim, direction of the light remaining breeze, waves, pulling angle...). Don't try this without a state of the art active flight control system. And be sure to have a quick release towing rope! Seeing in this video also some crazy stuff we did to have fun in very little breeze: The towed iFLY15 is overtaking the towing motorboat. Actually, it was quite a hot ride and got a bit scary when the foiling cat was speeding up so radically. Some discussions ongoing how this is possible. Is it only the pulling angle of the rope or is it also the effect of the apparent wind, powering the flat trimmed wingsail? I think it is a combination of both. Being on the boat, actively driving the mainsheet, I could feel the force and advancing by the mainsail and also for horizontal flight attitude had to support the active foil control system by mainsheet work . The light breeze mixing up with the headwind is creating a usable apparent wind. I think also the wingsail helped a lot. And for sure, an important factor is also minimum drag by the advanced iFLY foils. Those are having an extremely slim section thickness. To have such a slim profiles for the daggerboards is a big advantage performance wise, but also a huge challenge from the point of view of static engineering. To have sufficient structural strength, the iFLY foils are full carbone, no sandwich, with a highly engineered layup plan and a combination of different carbon fibers, plus a titanium core structure. And they are manufactured by compression molding at 40t. With this advanced engineering, they are very stiff and still endure the loads of a crew of 180kg. Or a sturdy single handed sailor stepping on the tip of the foil to easily righten the boat after a capsize. // Another crazy thing in this video: foiling gybing while being towed. Not easy to do, and I would not dare without a really good flight stability. And make sure you can always quickly release the towing rope, when doing such tricks....