Gitana 18: the new flying Ultim trimaran

> while the customers were still asking for 1880's style 'brown' cloth sails for the traditional Dutch fleet

That is missing the point a bit. For quite a lot of fleets, keeping the tradition alive is a very important aspect of sailing/racing said boats. The other aspect is that for these "one design" classes, the rules, including what the material of the sail is, are meant to keep the old boats competitive and, probably the most important aspect, not end up with pay-to-win situations.

Have you watched sail gp or the recent America's cups. The racing is as incredibly exciting to watch and the skills of the sailors is a huge part of it. I'd argue that technology was always a huge part of sailing, but compare that to many of the "old" America's cups and now you'll see the racing is so much more exciting (largely because while technology is at the forefront, the rules make boats technologically advanced, but also comparable enough to each other).

I'd also argue that sailors (and particularly skippers) are still celebrities (within the sailing community). Now where you're right, is that that these boats are not accessible to the average sailors anymore, but it is because they require so much skill to sail.

There's also Moth-class sailing or windfoiling for mere mortals.

Basically every contest tends to lose interest, for me, either as a spectator or participant, the more “refined” the play. From board games to sports.

I’d love to be able to go back and watch some of the goofy stuff that went on in, say, early baseball, among the best players of the time. And the slower play, et cetera.

I’d take up golf if the equipment and course sizes were more like they were in the early 20th century. (Yes, there are organizations and a handful of courses that support this, but they’re rare enough not to be something a person can really do unless they live close to the right place, are comfortably retired, or are the idle rich). Ultra-engineered balls and clubs so you can hit the ball farther than you can even see… what? Why? How is that improving the game?

Yes, that is a most impressive stat, if they can achieve it.

Spoken like someone that's been on a boat :) Interestingly, the only time I got really seasick was on a giant ferry...

I guess the situation with boats is the same as with land speed records? In the limit, the fastest boat simply becomes an airplane just touching the water.

In the context of a planing catamaran, flying refers to allowing the windward hull to lift out of the water in order to minimize wetted surface area. These boats, especially the Hobie 16, were quite popular in the 70s and 80s.

They call it flying because foils are flying through a medium, generating lift, just as the wings of airplanes do.

A big difference is that these wings lift the main body out of that medium (water) into a much less dense one (air), hugely decreasing resistance.

And yes, this doesn’t lift the boat completely out of the water, but airplanes do not get completely out of the medium they use (air), either.

it’s been “flying” as long as I can remember. It’s the distinction between that and floating.

A traditional boat relies on buoyancy to keep it away from the murky depths, while these boats rely on buoyancy only when at rest or going slowly. After that, once the foils take over, they are genuinely flying in that no buoyancy is involved.

But then again, does the word really matter? People refer to “flying” in hot air balloons, too.

Foils are starting to appear in production boats

Well, it's not an Ekranoplan (AKA Ground-effect vehicle)

They also need very detailed regulations to stop F1 being "wired shaped airplane flies close to tarmac"

It's an unholy circle jerk of rich people's pet projects and back handed corporate R&D. Don't try and make it make sense. It doesn't. It may be partially self funding through viewership and other but it's still a money fire no matter how you cut it. Think of it like space exploration circa 2005 only funded by rich people and interests rather than by nation states. Every now and then something trickles down into "normal use". Plastic braided rope is a good example.

The French public pays attention to it, as do offshore sailors in general, but it’s a tiny “market” of eyeballs. My Naval architect friends who don’t sail also find it interesting from an engineering perspective and Gitana puts out good content, albeit in French, so I’m using the translator a lot. The programs and races are mostly sponsored by large French banks and dynastically wealthy families, I assume there is some overlap there… It’s like formula 1 but less eyeballs and more French prestige. A vast majority of the skippers and crew of these yachts these days are French, with the occasional Brit thrown in there.