Foiling yachts, swing keels, and Colregs

[sarabande]

An idle thought regarding the America's Cup and similar events...

These racing boats have foils and keels that extend far beyond the length and depth of normal keels.


When not racing during the day, or at night, should they be considered as vessels constrained by draft, and thereby have certain priorities over normal sailing and motor boats ?

 

[prv]

When not racing during the day, or at night, should they be considered as vessels constrained by draft, and thereby have certain priorities over normal sailing and motor boats ?

When not racing, they get towed around by a RIB

Pete

 

[LONG_KEELER]

https://www.americascup.com/en/news/14_THE-AMERICA-S-CUP-CLASS-AC75-BOAT-CONCEPT-REVEALED.html

I would say condition Amber to condition Red depending on wind speed.

At least for the rest of us.

 

[johnalison]

I know I'm getting a bit dumb but I would expect them to display the lights/shapes for being constrained by draft if they were constrained by draft.

 

[Iain C]

Interestingly (and not really surprisingly) a modern semi foiling IMOCA60 draws less at rest than an older fixed keel IMOCA 60. And a hell of a lot less when at full chat!

I used to sail a foiling moth, which also at full chat draws about 6" and none of it was in the water. Other boats could be treated almost as stationary objects due to the massive speed difference. I don't know this for sure, but should you encounter Sir Ben training out on the Solent in his komodo dragon thing, your best bet is probably "hold your course" regardless of Colregs. I suspect the last thing he wants is someone to pull off a last minute tack to "get out of the way".

 

[macd]

I know I'm getting a bit dumb but I would expect them to display the lights/shapes for being constrained by draft if they were constrained by draft.

Absolutely. And if they aren't, they're not entitled to be considered as such.