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TF10 foiling trimaran: Farewell archimedes, we’re foiling now!

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The crew (4 or 5 members) in flight configuration: A helmsman, a mainsail trimmer, a headsail trimmer and a grinder in the central hull

Stable flight is a miracle which leads to the discovery of the magic of sailing in another dimension!

The TF10 starts to lift off in very light winds (8 to 10 kts), and in a few seconds it will be out on its foils

The crew are all part of the program, but remain in no danger thanks to the stability of the trimaran

A beautiful all-carbon creation! The perception of quality is outstanding!

Note the ergonomic comfort of the central hull and neoprene trampolines on flexible carbon panels

The helm seats and trimmer positions are magnificent. They are also comfortable and provide exceptional safety

An airbag at the masthead. Well, you never know! This will avoid the boat turning turtle and will allow it to be righted easily with the help of another boat

The dashboard for the rake settings of the 4 appendages! It would be hard to make it clearer

The superb Southern Spars rotating rig and articulating mast spanner. The inertia of the tube was increased after severe tests on the prototype. The strength of self-stiffening fiber rigging has been doubled and the 0 code fixing point lowered

Analog rake position indicator reminder for the starboard foil!

Almost a little cruising boat! This boat can be used for coastal camping or rallies for 4 people (tents can be erected for sleeping on the very comfortable trampolines)

The lethal weapons for flight! The Z-foils

On the way to flying! An impressive lift certainly, but a rational one. Observe the precision of the work in the central hull to accommodate the floats

Finally, a relatively simple folding, transportable boat! Note the mechanism for the articulated hinges and the beauty of appendages

The TF10 before being painted in the shed where it was born! Does it remind you of something from Star Wars?

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Practical info

Boat Test price$5.00Inc. tax

Purchase

Boat Test price$5.00Inc. tax

Purchase

The life of a multihull tester involves many enjoyable encounters with some very diverse craft, and a lot of amazing discoveries and some exceptional moments, cruising or on racing machines! This was the case with the TF10. Its modest size conceals an airborne bundle of nerves with explosive performance, but it’s definitely within the capabilities of knowledgeable amateurs! It opens a whole new world to enthusiasts: that of multihull flight, without needing to have a professional crew on board, nor a complex logistical team to accompany them. Are you ready for take-off?

THE EARLY STAGES OF THE TF10 PROJECT

The three previous America's Cups have created a fantastic (and very elitist!) development of flying boats: we saw the delirious AC90s from the edition of Valencia 2010 lifting out of the water; the amazing show of San Francisco 2013 revealing the exceptional power of the AC72s and their crew of tightrope walkers achieving awesome speeds (and their danger too, notably with the Artemis accident that cost the life of Andrew Simpson), yet it was the "small" AC50s of Bermuda 2017 which turned the tables with their spectacular evolution and off-the-scale performance (27 knots upwind, 45 downwind for 15m cats!). Alas, we have been accustomed to sublime incongruity with the America’s Cup since its creation. The latest thing is the prohibition of the electro-hydraulic assistance of foils (yet we are talking ultra-high-tech machines!) This leads to 4 crewmembers out of 6 needing to constantly work to produce hydraulic pressure, while creative solutions existed that would have made a fascinating eco-technical match within a sporting contest! The format has been abandoned and that's a shame. A mess in fact! The sensory shock generated by these visionar...

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