Three fellow students with a passion for sailing
As is often the case with business creation adventures, Birdyfish was born out of a friendship between 3 study buddies in La Rochelle, Pierre Rhimbault, Alban Satgé and Jean-Baptiste Morin. During their last year of engineering school at EIGSI, Pierre and Alban worked on the idea of a foil dinghy. Already a high-level sailor during his studies with the French 470 youth team, he became a professional match-race skipper, then a Figaro skipper in the CMB Course au Large program, after graduating. But the project is not abandoned and obtains awards that finally convince its initiators to create the Birdyfish company in September 2018 to take the plunge.
A double-handed dinghy, flying and accessible
For Pierre Rhimbault, the objective was clear from the start: to make flying accessible to inexperienced yachtsmen, at a reasonable budget, on a dinghy designed for double-handed sailing. To achieve this, he set the course from the start to the naval architect in charge of the project. "The specifications we gave to Etienne Bertrand put on the same level the boat's ability to fly and its ease of construction, with a view to being able to do series. With his experience of the Mini 6.50, and the fact that he is building the prototype, we were confident that we would be able to build a boat without any problems" explains the founder of Birdyfish.
With its marotte and its beautiful width of 1.90 meters, the sailboat of 4.70 meters long can accommodate according to the regulations 3 persons or 225 kg, in design category D.
Use the right materials for the right purpose
To combine performance and cost control, the hull is made of foam-fiberglass sandwich and polyester resin. The construction is made in infusion. For reasons of weight and strength, carbon and epoxy resin were chosen for the foils and rudder. In order to rationalize, the starboard and port foils are interchangeable. To do this, the 3D printed end pieces used to secure the appendage in the lowered position are simply replaced.
The mast is made of standard aluminum profile, made with AG Spar, remaining in the most common materials. The final weight of the equipped boat is 135 kg.
In a concern for sustainable development, Birdyfish is also working on bio-composite alternatives to fiberglass. The company has recently produced a first hull made of flax fibers with Roland Jourdain's company Kaïros, but no commercial offer is planned at this time.
