How does an F50 work?
The crew of an F50 is composed of six people. For France, the helmsman, Billy Besson, relaxed and human, remains ultra determined:" We are here to give it all and offer a beautiful show to the Marseille public!" Marie Riou, the only woman on the circuit, five-time world champion of Nacra 17 with Billy, is Flight controller. It manages the adjustment and incidence of the F50's load-bearing planes.
Powered by a rigid wing that culminates at 24 m and perched on its foils, the F50 is a condensed version of the most advanced technologies in sailing. "To go fast, you need instability." explains grinder Olivier Herledant. " All settings are constantly changed. Bar, foils and wing are always in motion, there is never anything frozen. It's really an unstable balance."
In the middle of all this high-flying technology, with surprise we find an accessory common to all sailboats: the penons. "They allow you to see the flow, like on a classic sail. They offer feedback that a rigid wing doesn't give, because it never does." explains David, a developer with Team France.
Dry training
In order to prepare as well as possible for very committed competitions, the whole team practices "Dry sailing" in addition to on-water training. The boat is dry, but the crew is training to manoeuvre under the watchful eye of some of the staff.
The sailing team is supported by the technical staf, who takes care of and prepares the tricolour F50. Olivier, a composite specialist, describes these famous foils, the object of all attention:" The core of the foils is made of titanium, covered with a shape composed of several layers of carbon film". In a concern for monotype, it is the SailGP organizer, who chooses the board model[editor's note: foil] according to the weather conditions. There are two models," light air" or" or" "bad weather" .
The privilege of seeing them sail up close
It's time to leave. It takes more than an hour to rig and connect the wing to the platform. Due to the power it develops, crane operation with a rigid wing is a very delicate operation.
Today is a training day in pairs with Team China. The transfers and gybes followed one another. The objective is to keep the boat in flight during these transitional phases. The speed of the F50s requires constant attention for the accompanying boats, as Jérôme, the experienced pilot of our rib, explains to us:" In 9 knots of wind, the speed of the F 50 easily exceeds 30 knots. At Cowes, Team GBR was the first to exceed 50 knots. A security team of former commandos is ready to respond at all times in the event of an accident."
See you this weekend in Marseille to support Team France!
