A High-Tech AI—is pitch pole in its future?

In a recent thread, http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=20589&start=0, we discussed the merit of the AI hull and amas shapes.

Here is a high-tech kayak trimaran. It is a beautiful boat with some design features similar to the AI.





Limelight is entered, along with a second boat, in the Mar 6 WaterTribe’s Everglade Challenge race along Florida’s southwest coast. The race organizers describe the race as follows.



I queried the builder, Mark,



It will be interesting...

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

I would be more concerned with the attachment points of the forward Aka's. It appears that the weight of the mast and some sail force will be at the center of the aka with a forestay and aftleading sidestays sharing the majority of the sails forces. Looking at the aka attachment point to the hull I only see two boltheads, I hope I'm wrong or they are really strong. The watertribe is famous for rougher conditions than practice runs I hope it all holds together. I'm sure the designers and builders know this and have go no go criterior.

Isn't that a warren light craft? I wonder about the potential for water to accumulate in the cockpit. It would be great to have the hull be a first rate sea kayak, as the warren is and the AI is not, but I wouldn't want to sail with a sprayskirt on. If the warren just doesn't swamp or take water in the cockpit, it would be interesting to know more about the design differences between it and the AI (how the warren stays dry) since the AI does throw so much water in the cockpit. The other downside to the warren is that, while they do advertise trampolines for it, I don't think it looks as conducive to sailing with a companion -- looks like it might be difficult to swap in and out of the cockpit. On the other hand it looks faster and prettier than the AI and has a more interesting sail plan. It is also a light boat in comparison if I remember the stats correctly.

http://www.warrenlightcraft.com/specs15sail.html

looks pretty quick

http://www.cruisingworld.com/article.jsp?ID=1000079903

_________________

Yeah, the Limelight is definitely a Warren Light Craft. As Dave references, here is their commercial version:



The profile seems to show that the kayak hull bow is rockered and significantly above the ama. This should help prevent digging into waves and pitch poling.

I, personally, can't imagine sailing this in rough seas without a sprayskirt on to seal the cockpit.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

yeh the boat is definitely designed for a wave skirt, otherwise i reckon you would sink this bad boy in any kind of chop.

_________________

the hulls on these boats are 100% carbon fibre so a lot stronger than the plastic AI, but also more than twice as expensive.

_________________

I went to the start of the WaterTribe Everglades Challenge. In addition to the 2 AI Tandems that were going to be in the race, I was particularly interested in the Warren Lightcraft trimaran sailing kayak show above. When I got to the beach (starting point) on Friday afternoon, Mar 5, many boats were in the final stages of preparation for the start of the race the next morning. Here is a picture of the Warren Lightcraft--it was simply pulled up on the beach as if returning from a sail. All other boats were above the high tide line--the starting point for Saturday's start. No one was around the trimaran for the next few hours. Hummm?


The next morning when I returned at 6:30 am for the 7:00 am start, the trimaran was nowhere in sight. Some bystanders told me that the owner of the boat had sailed it in some chop the previous day (apparently it was quite windy), and when he landed on the beach he was totally frustrated, saying that it was useless for the race since it continually submarined below the waves. I'm not using the colorful words the bystanders told me the owner used. This is all second hand information, but I can verify that the trimaran did not start the race. I was there.

Keith

PS I will report on the 2 Hobie AI tandems that were in the race in a separate thread.

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

damn.... maybe he needed a wave deflector

_________________

There is a video of some stitched together photos of a TI in the everglades challenge. The TI has a jib rigged somehow.

http://www.watertribe.com/Events/Challe ... eID=EC2010

The bio of the skipper of this boat -- Pelican -- says that the TI is solar powered.