Return of the AeroRig?

[John_Silver]

Prompted by this pic, of an AeroRigged Iroquois(?), in the PBO engine mounts thread, had a Google around to see what had become of the Carbospars / Ian Howlett brainchild.



Which produced the 70' Fly in the early ninties



Turns out that Carbospars of Southampton folded in the early noughties. BUT that the concept lives on across the Channel. Where it is undergoing full scale commercial trials, as an answer to to low(er) carbon cargo carrying. Although the maiden trans-atlantic crossing threw up some learnings.



The Neoliner Origin put into Lorient, on her return to France. Where the technical know how of the La Base hub (home to the Ultim, and much of the IMOCA, fleet) is being applied to refine the rig.




Perhaps a technology whose time has come?

​

 

[CrossedThreads]

There was a yacht with one of these boats for sale recently. Totally project and located in Kent IIRC.

 

[Minerva]

Fly was berthed just over from us last season - a spectacular boat!

 

[paulbrown22]

I first saw them in a lecture at the Cruising Association, Limehouse back in ~2008 by the original owners of "Lazy Jack", which was a Gerard Dijkstra ~62' with a single AeroRig and lots of other very interesting design ideas, and thought they were a great idea for cruising boats.

Have since then seen a few lectures by Steve Brown the former owner of Novara, another ~60' Dykstra design built by K&M, this time with a pair of AeroRig's: Homepage - Novara .

And somewhere saw sailing yacht Mona Lisa, another ~60' single mast AeroRig, which I thought I read had more recently gone down to Chile/Antartica? (The Ultimate Best Cruising Sailboat Yacht - Pilothouse, Lifting Keel, Dinghy Garage, Luxury, AeroRig, "FOR SALE" - The Best Sailboat, The Best Sailing Yacht, The Best Cruising Sailboat, The Best World Cruiser, The Best Bluewater Passagemaker)