Afinado

A Thick, Flexible Wingsail for Everyone?

When Philippe Marcovich invited me for a ride on his rigid-wing catamaran (designed by Hugues de Turckheim and Philippe himself), I couldn’t say no… even though we’d already tested this prototype in our Forever Green Special Edition #22. Afinado, as it is called, will be unveiled to the public for the first time at La Grande-Motte.

Our video: 

This all-carbon multihull, 10 meters long and 9 meters wide—including its ladders—weighs barely a ton. With its elegant canoe-style bows, it certainly has style, but it’s not its design that should catch your eye… Instead, one looks up to discover a 17-meter carbon mast supporting an astonishing 60-square-meter flexible, thick wing called the ACCWing (for automatic camber control wing). The principle is thus to have at one’s disposal, depending on the wind direction and strength, a flat or cambered profile, much like an airplane wing. The similarity to modern aircraft doesn’t stop there, as the system operates automatically thanks to internal flexible “muscles.” On the water, the craft speeds along at over 9 knots with just 11 knots of wind… all with a wide range of adjustment.

Philippe has announced the construction of a 15-meter catamaran with two wings, and we hope to find out very soon which major shipyards will be embarking on the rigid-wing adventure with ACCWing… stay tuned!

Technical Specifications

Builder: ACC Wingsail
Sail designer: Hugues de Turckheim
Catamaran architect: Julian Spooner
Length: 32’10” (10 m)
Max width (with trampolines): 28’10” (8.8 m)
Sail area: 645 sq ft (60 m²)
Mast length: 56’ (17 m)
Motors: Electric outboards

www.accwingsail.com 

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