A first
Like many readers of bateaux.com, I had never flown a sailboat before. So when the Easy To Fly team offered me the chance to try out their brand new flying catamaran, the answer was quick. Developed within the Absolute Dreamer team, owned by the racer Jean-Pierre Dick, this new 8.10 m hydrofoil multihull aims to offer a stable and easy to access platform so that catamaran flying is no longer reserved for professional sailors. Easy to fly, everything is said... Passionate about sailing, but new to flying, I was right on target.
Timid start
When the semi-rigid leaves the port of Minimes to join the catamaran, already taken out for first tests, Eole is still hesitant. 5 to 6 knots of wind did not succeed in making the boat fly with its previous passengers. A little disappointed at the idea of not being able to take off, I embark nevertheless, accompanied by the Harken referent, who came to see the optimizations still possible on the fittings provided by the brand. We join Robert and Jérémy from the Easy To Fly team, who pilot the machine for the tests.
While the wind is still timid, the speed of the boat is already high and the impacts on the hulls make the 325 kg of carbon of the boat resonate. If it's like that on a 26-foot catamaran in the Charente channels, I can understand better the noise-cancelling helmets worn by the Vendée Globe skippers in the ocean lows.
A cloud and it takes off
Big clouds on the horizon. The catamaran slows down and we all hope that with them the wind comes back. We feel that the boat accelerates. Robert, at the helm, asks Jeremy to tuck in. "Send some watts!". The boat takes power and miracle, the music changes. We hear whistling around us. That's it, we're flying!
Easy speed
The wind has settled down to a little under 10 knots, enough for some nice tacks, set up on top of the foils. There are many boats around us in the channels, but they all seem to be at a standstill. The catamaran is wandering in the middle of the channel, making around 25 knots. However, it is difficult to realize this other than by looking at the boats and the coast. It seems so easy...
Always upwind
If you look at the sails, it seems that the wind is turning with us. We are still set up close-hauled. Indeed, our apparent wind is such that, once launched on the foils, all the sails are tucked in at maximum. The gennaker initially planned was abandoned, because even downwind, it systematically deflated!
A very nice toy
As you can see, the crew was smiling. The wind had finally allowed the catamaran to take off and the crew to approach the 7th sky! If the program of simplicity of flight seems relatively achieved, the Easy to Fly is perhaps not Easy to Buy. Announced at 150 000 euros on the Grand Pavois like all hard drugs, flying a sailboat is not yet within the reach of everyone. However, the commercial team seems optimistic and we should soon see other red catamarans flying. What to rejoice spectators and practitioners!
