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Sailing hydrofoils lift the hull of a sailboat out of the water, reducing drag and increasing speed. They can be retrofitted to most boats and come in single or multiple hull designs. Hydrofoils are powered by their wing-like appendage and can travel faster than the wind. The concept is over 100 years old and has been applied to motor boats as well.
A sailing hydrofoil is a wing-shaped structure on a sailboat that provides a speed advantage over more traditional boat designs. Sailing hydrofoil actually lifts most of the hull, or even the entire hull, out of the water, greatly reducing drag when going through the water. The concept is over 100 years old and allowed man to break some speed records. Some boats can be retrofitted with hydrofoils.
Most types of boats can accommodate hydrofoils, and sailboats are no different. The sailing hydrofoil could be a single hull, often referred to as a monohull, catamaran, or trimaran. A catamaran is a sailboat with two hulls and a trimaran has three hulls. Those hulls are held together by a single top deck. The wider the boat, the more stable the sailing hydrofoil is.
The sailing hydrofoil is powered by its wing-like appendage. Just like a wing on an airplane provides lift, a hydrofoil on the water does the same. The main difference is that a hydrofoil doesn’t need to be as big as an airplane wing, because water is much denser than air.
One of the main claims of the sailing hydrofoil is that it can travel faster than the speed of the wind that drives it. As far-fetched as it sounds, that’s actually true. Airboats can raise the sailboat to such a level that the airboats are almost out of the water. While this is happening, the wind flowing over the sails provides thrust to the boat, thus replacing some of the wind that was originally responsible for propulsion.
While the most commonly seen sailing airboats are those intended for one or two people, larger models also exist. The smaller models are typically used for recreational use and racing competitions. Larger boats may actually have stacked hydrofoils, which provide even more lift. This allows for even higher speeds as the hull of the boat is lifted out of the water.
The concept of a hydrofoil sailboat is nothing new. The first hydrofoil ideas were developed by William E. Meacham in 1906. Two years later, Alexander Graham Bell began testing the idea in real-world applications. By 1920, hydrofoils had reached speeds of 119 miles per hour (191.5 kilometers per hour). Since then, the concept has even been applied to motor boats to help reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency.
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