UFO Review

On May 4th, I took a plane to Rhode Island to visit with the Fulcrum Speedworks team and check out their manufacturing facility, and the innovative UFO foiling catamaran. I also had the pleasure of sailing a UFO in Bristol Bay, Rhode Island! 

At the manufacture facility the boats go through a series of exact steps to reach end production... an absolutely beautiful, high tech, and unique foiling catamaran sailboat. Each boat is the same weight, which is important to racers. Dave Clark and his father Steve are the designers and builders of this amazing boat, with plenty of previous experience in boat construction. At one time, Steve was president of Vanguard Sailboats (1987-2004), which built Lasers and other sailboats at the time. With their knowledge the UFO is built to high standards, resulting in a rigid and durable boat that will supply years of enjoyable sailing.

Dave and crew offered to let me sail a UFO and I jumped at the opportunity. The days sail included 17 knots of wind with 3 to 4 foot erratic choppy seas, making it bit of an wild ride. I spent some time trying to sail her level and in the water, which they call the displacement mode. It's fairly easy to sail her flat in the strong winds even though the chop made it a wet ride, like sailing a Laser. Then the boat went into launch mode, working to find the balance of getting her to fly. During this mode she would rise up on one hull just like one would experiences on any small cat. Reminded me of sailing a Hobie 14. After that flight mode (foiling) was achieved, which is an experience unlike any boat I have sailed. Once on the foils, the ride was amazingly quiet and smooth, while being incredibly fast. Through all the modes the UFO was a freaking joy to sail! :)

Dave sailed her before and after my sail, masterfully flying with ease. With the boat foiling above the waves he did not have to deal with the rough conditions. I was aboard the support boat while he was flying, amazed at this boat's speed while foiling. The support boat had a difficult time keeping up in the rough seas. 

So, you might ask who this boat is suited for, and the answer is for anyone, age 9 to 78, in fairly good shape physically, with good stomach muscles needed for hiking out, and being limber enough to pass under the sail. The boom does sit high above the deck so when you are crossing the boat the sail that lies below the boom is soft to pass by.

Rigging and de-rigging the boat is easy with only a few steps for set up and take down. The sail is just 25.6 square feet, making raising and lowering a breeze. The boat is 10 ft long and 5.5 feet wide with solid deck (no trampoline) at only 110 lbs fully rigged weight. One could easily car top it, put it in back of a pick up (tipped on its side), or on a light weight trailer. So one could get on and off the water very quickly, launching from a beach with the dolly that comes with the boat or taking off from a dock.

Lowering and raising the lightweight foil rudder and forward foil is a simple up and down motion. Sail adjustments are easy to reach. With only a mainsail there is only the mainsheet line to deal with, primarily. When sailing I found no weather helm. To be honest I really found no issues to note. The construction is sound, parts are durable, and she is seaworthy with the wet ride of a typical lightweight sailing dinghy. If you have to ask if you will get wet when sailing her then this boat might be for you. It is a sailing dinghy with the wet factor in line with a Laser or Hobie 14. Matter of fact the UFO reminds me of these two boats but with the ability of course to fly above the waves, thus, at much greater speeds.

If you have any question email me (Miles Moore) at funtosail@gmail.com . We will have a UFO coming to our sailboat business in a month or so, and will be doing demos. Date of demos to be noted on our calendar and in an announcement here on this website.

Boat Details

The UFO is a modern design hydrofoiler, based on recent technological advances in sailing hydrofoils, that allows anyone to fly above the water. More stable than the International Moth, with a simple rig, and a set of fully retractable foils, all for under $8000 USD. The UFO provides the easiest and most affordable foiling experience, while maintaining a one-design philosophy creating close and exciting racing on foils!

- Unique hull and rig designs
- Stable on and above the water
- Small footprint for easy boatyard storage
- Takeoff from about 8 knots of wind
- Fast, fun, easy to control foiling
- Designed and built in the USA
- Under $8000 USD
- Compact for storage and mass transport
- Lightweight for easy maneuverability
- Solid, nearly dent-proof, hull

Boat Specifications

- 105 inch waterline length + 15 inch rudder gantry (10 feet overall)
- 67 inch beam
- 50 kg all-up ready to sail weight
- 7.8 sq. meter sail
- Steve Clark design

USS Constitution

On a May 2018 business trip it was my pleasure to visit the sailing frigate USS Constitution (USSC). I have dreamed of seeing her since I was a little boy, ...sparked by my very patriotic father reading to me about the USSC via his various books and magazines he acquired over the years. I certainly carried on his enthusiasm! He never got to walk her decks, so it seemed I was doing it with him.

I have to admit I got a little emotional when I first stepped on board. It was like stepping back in time when sailing was the only mode of propulsion, when ships had to solely rely on the wind. One can not help but feel patriotic as well that this national treasure is still afloat. After her almost being scraped twice and the many battles she was involved in (she is undefeated), its amazing she survived.

The USSC was named by George Washington himself and was part of a 6 ship order via the Naval Act of 1794. She was built in Boston Massachusetts and launched April 18 1897. She is considered a heavy frigate, much stronger than ships of her kind during that era. She was designed to be faster than the larger British war ships, yet big enough to carry enough canons (44 to 50) to do some major damage. She had about 33 battles from small scale to major cannon blazing battles. Three of her most notorious battles were against British war ships during the War of 1812. One battle was against the 38 gun frigate Guerriere, next against the 38 gun frigate Java (both similar in size); and after that against two smaller 20 gun war ships at the same time (HMS Cyane and HMS Levant). She also had the opportunity to use her speed to get away from a fleet of 5 British ships, one of which was a large 104 cannon ship. This escape came to be known as "The Great Escape."

During her battle with Guerriere she received the nickname Ironside, when cannon balls were seen bouncing off her sides. An American sailor exclaimed “Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!” Later her nickname was change to Old Ironside when ships started to be built with actual iron. There was also a time when her name, USSC, was going to be used on another ship; but as it turns out the other ship was not completed and the name was returned to her.

It is noted that about 10-15% of the original wood is still in her. One might say that is not much, but think of this... “THE ORIGINAL WOOD!” That wood is 220 years old. Also realize that this ship fought in many battles so the damages from these battles needed to be fixed. ...broken masts, bowsprit that got tangled twice with ships it was fighting, and so on. She also went through various changes... from war ship, to diplomatic vessel, to training, and having housing built on her deck to accommodate cadets living aboard, etc. Later she was restored to her 1797 configuration, and thus she is today.

When I stepped aboard I could not help but get a bit emotional. It was at that point my childhood dream came true, the realization that I was on board a national treasure, aboard a ship that had been involved in keeping this nation safe, and a ship that men had fought and died on. It was an amazing realization. I could not help but take my time and take it all in, touching her and taking in the sights and smells. We arrived at noon and did not get off the ship until closing at 6:pm, we were the last people to exit the ship. They kind of had to prompt us to leave with happy enthusiasm. It was hard for me to leave, very hard. Thus we lingered on shore looking at her for some time until it was dark, finally left to have dinner.

There is a visitor center and museum next to the ship, which we spent little time in, but on my next trip I would like to go through it slowly and read all of the information. We did watch a historical video about the USSC in the museum that highlighted all its history, etc.

On board I found that they were selling American flags. The note by the flags indicated they had been flown on the ship, and so I thought wow that would be great to have one. However I did not realize that, in fact, I would be raising and lowering the flag. It was the best $25 I have ever spent! Not only did I get the flag after lowering it and folding it properly with the naval officer on board (all on board are active duty naval officers), but all the money goes toward caring for this wonderful ship.

Another wonderful part of this visit was sharing this experience with my daughter who is an avid sailor and is currently taking a college course on American history. She said to me that coming aboard made what she was studying more real.

I hope to visit her again but if I do not I do have this one amazing visit to always remember.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures and video. If you have any questions feel free to email me at funtosail@gmail.com

Learn more about this amazing ship at these links 
http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/constitution/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution

SEE VIDEOS BELOW AND CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE

Officers Galley

Tiller Room with Naval Officer

Helm

Starboard side of ship

Cannons 2nd level

Anchor winch

Bow forestays block and tackle

Mid ship deck

Aft Mizzen Mast

Bow... note lion carving on end of beam

VIDEOS

GC32 World Championships

Next Extreme Racing Series Regatta is this May 24-27. Officially this event will also be the first inaugural GC32 foiling catamaran World Championships. It all takes place at Riva del Garda, Italy.
Watch live on Youtube and Facebook... Extreme Racing Series... https://www.youtube.com/user/ExtremeSailingSeries
https://www.facebook.com/extremesailingseries/

UFO

The UFO will land in the Inland NW this May if all goes as planned. Then it will be shown, highlighted, demoed, and raced at the May 19th Desert Regatta near the Tri-Cities. When ordering a UFO there is about a 3 month lead time from the time you give the deposit from the time the boat will ship.

We are excited to receive out first UFO sometime this May. The alien invasion has begun, and you can be a part of it.

So here is the deal the deposit are 100% refundable until the point that production commences on the undersigned customer specific boat. Beyond that point the deposits are non-refundable. The Full UFO foiler, ready to sail boat is priced at $7600 USD, payable at any time in the process. Shipping is not included. For more info please email at funtosail@gmail.com or call/text 208-704-4454.

SuperFoiler Final

Today's (Saturday or Sunday in Australia) SuperFoiler Grand Prix racing is done and EuroFlex triumphs in winning all of the days races and the series overall. It's been a great 3 days of racing and today's final was spectacular. Tech2 (2nd) and Pavement (3rd) gave EuroFlex a run for their money, leading at times but in the end it was EuroFlex that pulled out the wins. The racing is on for next year with word there will be more teams joining.

All the racing took place in Australia but there are rumors it's going to go international. Certainly they will be very successful it they do so and we will keep you posted as it develops.

The racing was live on youtube but now watch the replay via the video supplied here. For all the info and highlights visit superfoiler.com

Fridays Racing (Saturdays racing in Australia)

TRAPSEAT NEWS

Attention Trapseat sponsors, potential sponsors, and interested parties.

For 2018 our adaptive recreational program is going to focus on our Hobie 16 Trapseat program. Trapseats which are adaptive wing seats that attach to either side of a Hobie 16 catamaran sailboat, which allows those with spinal cord injuries, etc. to sail/race on equal terms with those without any physical limitations.

Some call the Trapseats the wheelchairs of adaptive sailing due to the fact that the Trapseats are fairly economical priced (like some wheelchairs) and used Hobie 16's can be had for very little cost all over the world (like some wheelchairs), yet are also still in production (like wheelchairs), and is the most active beach cat class in the world (like wheelchair sports).

The Hobie 16 Trapseat program is progressing forward at a steadily pace. In 2017 we were able to acquire two very nice Hobie 16's to attach our Trapseats (adaptive wings seats) to. These two boats are now on a double stack trailer that allow us to transported them to any venue. We have two sets of Trapseats for these boats.

One of our goals is to put Trapseats back into production in 2018, which will allow us to grow the Trapseat program internationally. With the current decline in accessible/disAbled sailing throughout the world (a topic for another time) the Hobie 16 Trapseat is positioned to renew the sport.

There is a major difference between the previous Trapseat design, which was large and balky, and our 2018 Trapseats. Our new designed breaks down into a small size for ease of shipping to programs and/or race venues all over the world. Both the old and new Trapseats meet the weight and specs of the class rules.

The exciting news for 2018... There will be a international San Diego Trapseat regatta. Stay tuned as more info about this is coming soon.

We do need sponsors to help support our program. 2018 donations will go to the following...
1. Production of the first batch of Trapseats.
2. Some welding work on our double stack trailer.
3. New hitch for our trailer.
4. Other needs as they arise.

TO DONATE... Contact Miles Moore at funtosail@gmail.com or text 208-704-4454

Muscat Final

4 days of top notch racing ended on Sunday with team Alinghi squeaking out the top spot, but SAP Extreme (last years winner of the series) was hot on their stern. In my view the team to watch this year is Red Bull Sailing team. Check out the video here of the final day of racing or visit the extremesailingseries.com for all 4 days or racing and other info. Next stop in the series is Riva del Garda, Italy, May 24-27.