One of the most spectacular parts of the Rolex SailGP Championship is that all our teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
The culmination go 10 years of development in high-performance, foiling, multi-hull racing, the F50 is a technological marvel.
Based on the AC50 catamaran which raced in the 2017 America’s Cup, the F50 revolutionized the sport with its foiling design, which sees the boat out of the water, allowing it to hit speeds of over 100 km/h in perfect conditions. Measuring 15 meters, the F50 is a one-design class that goes over three times the speed of the wind.
Despite being based on the AC50, the F50 shares few similarities with its predecessor; nearly the entire design was reworked to create faster, flatter and more stable flight.
The foils are constructed with higher modulus carbon fiber, producing a thinner section which has less resistance at high speeds. The geometry of the boards has also been extended outside the maximum beam of the boat.
These improvements all contribute to the boat moving significantly faster, as the onset of cavitation - the ‘boiling’ of the water boiling which creates air bubbles that increase drag and reduce lift - is delayed until much higher speeds.
To adapt to various wind and weather conditions, the F50 catamarans are equipped to race with three different wing sizes, - the 18m high air wing, the 24m all purpose wing and the 29m low air wing, as well as interchangeable daggerboards and rudders. All this allows SailGP to optimize performance.
The smallest wing is used in strong winds to maintain control, the largest wing is deployed in light winds to maximize power, and the middle wing is the all-purpose wing to cover all bases.
The F50 is similar to an airplane on the runway. When it reaches the right speed, its hydrofoils lift the boat out of the water. All teams race in the same boat with exactly the same equipment - the only thing that separates them is the crew.
While racing, the athletes are on the limit. If they fly the F50 too high or lose control, they could crash. Capsizing is also a constant risk - with the boat spectacularly flipping over if there’s too much power in the wing.
Success on the F50 requires a combination of mind and body, unwavering focus and rapid reactions that enable these athletes to push limits and achieve incredible speeds.
STAT: France holds the current F50 racing speed record of 99.94km/h set at its home event in Saint-Tropez in Season 3.
Athletes on board the Canada F50 set a new speed record while testing the incoming T-Foils in 2024, hitting 101.98 km/h.
