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In order for the boat to have vertical stability, the hydrofoils must somehow manage to "see" the air-water interface and thus be able to respond to a vertical displacement perturbation in such a way as to rapidly restore the original flight altitude. Fully immersed foils can only do this by operating very near the surface where lift is a sensitive function of depth, or by having a surface sensor that transmits orders to the hydrofoil for required changes in angle of attack. At the present stage of development, this feedback method is, in the author's estimation, too heavy and complicated to be appealing.
- Joseph Norwood, Jr.
- High Speed Sailing (1979)
Welcome to the TriFoiler Wiki
This site was conceived and launched through the initiative of several TriFoiler owners for the purpose of sharing technical information and sailing experiences related to this amazing boat. We welcome contributions from all TriFoiler sailors. The usual wiki rules apply.
Many thanks go out to Hobie Cat and Dan Ketterman for permission to use narrative and pictures from the [Hobie Cat web site].
History of Development
Summary
The TriFoiler is a hydrofoil trimaran sailboat that began as a small model in 1981. The project culminated with production of the Ketterman (later Hobie) TriFoiler, manufactured between 1992 and 1999. This story describes the boat and the history of the project.
The idea began with the desire to break the world speed record for sailboats. In the process, Dan and Greg Ketterman built five prototypes (TF20, TF2, TF3, Longshot 1 and Longshot 2) and four production prototypes (Avocet 1, Avocet 2, Avocet 3, and TFP).
Development Detail
The narration in these pages is by Greg Ketterman:
| Revision | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale Model | 1981 | ||
| TF20 | 1987-1988 | ||
| TF2 | 1989-19xx | ||
| Avocet 1,2,3 | 19xx-19xx | ||
| Longshot 1,2 | 1991-1992 | ||
| TF3 | 1990-1991 | ||
| TFP | 1992-1993 | ||
| TriFoiler | 1992-1999 |
Speed Records
Longshot set records in the A, B, and C Classes, and still holds the A Class. The following table is based on data from the official [Weymouth Speed Week] web site.
Boat Sailor Location knots mph
-------- ------------ --------------------------- ----- -----
A Class (100-150 ft^2):
1990 Longshot Russell Long Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada 37.08 42.67
1992 Longshot Russell Long St Maries de la Mer, France 41.89 48.21
1992 Longshot Russell Long Tarifa, Spain 42.03 48.37
1992 Longshot Russell Long Tarifa, Spain 43.55 50.12
Still standing
B Class (150-235 ft^2):
1990 Longshot Russell Long Lake Buchanan, Texas, USA 34.53 39.74
1991 Longshot Russell Long Bodega Bay, Sebastopol, California, USA 38.13 43.87
Broken by:
1993 Yellow Pages Endeavour Simon McKeon Sandy Point, Victoria, Australia 44.65 51.38
C Class (235-300 ft^2):
1991 Longshot Russell Long Bodega Bay, Sebastopol, California, USA 28.29 32.56
1991 Longshot Russell Long Bodega Bay, Sebastopol, California, USA 36.76 42.30
Broken by:
1993 Yellow Pages Endeavour Simon McKeon Sandy Point, Victoria, Australia 46.52 53.53
Longshot's best unofficial record speed is 43.59 knots, or 50.16 mph. This speed did not qualify for a new record because it didn't beat the previous speed by a sufficient margin.
Though no longer the world's fastest sailboat, the TriFoiler is still, and for the forseeable future will remain, the fastest production sailboat.
Hobie Production TriFoiler Specifications
Original Specifications:
- LOA: 22'
- Main Hull Length 16' 3"
- Beam: 19' (25' 4" with main foils raised)
- Mast Length: 18'
- Sail Area: 215 sq.ft. (150 sq.ft. reefed)
- Weight: 320 lbs.
- Designer: Greg Ketterman
Standard Features:
- White Hulls with Colored Graphics
- Colored Patented Multi-Sail Zippered Reefing Sails
- Retractable Forward Hydrofoils
- Built-in Speedometer
- Water-Tight Storage Compartment
- How-to-Rig Video
- Harken Blocks
Optional Features:
- Custom Trailer
- Trailer Ties
Factory Literature
Sales Brochures
Owner's Manuals
Maintenance Documentation
Videos
Other (special) TF-variant boats
Technical Articles
Trifoiler Thesis
Greg Ketterman's 1983 California State Polytechnic University thesis "Design Modifications for a Model Hydrofoil Sailboat".
Analysis and mathematical model of a single-masted model of early Trifoiler concept. Includes velocity prediction program (VPP) source code in BASIC.
Used by permission from Greg Ketterman.
Media:Ketterman_thesis.pdf (dammit, I'm having trouble uploading this... stay tuned)
Ketterman TriFoiler Thesis Inline version
ECNs
The collected TriFoiler Engineering Change Notices (ECNs) issued by the factory during the boat's production. Gathered, sorted out, catalogued, and converted to PDFs by User:jonathan, May 20th, 2008. NB: I just noticed some formatting boo-boos that crept in and I didn't previously spot. Will correct.
Major Production Revisions
Rudder housing
BFC
Bailer
Lee Board
Maintenance, Upgrades, and Modifications
Bringing an Old Boat Current
Airplane Steering
Motors and Mounts
Bailers
Clean Spectra Steering Line Adjustment
Instrumentation
Detail Stuff
Aftermarket Parts
Miscellany
Trailers and Modifications
TriFoiler Engineering or Performance Data Collected
Polar Diagram
Narrative by Dan Ketterman that accompanied the polar diagram below as excerpted from email to User:Neuperg March 2006.
"This is my personal judgment of wind, boat speed, wind and boat angle to the wind, and wave conditions, myself, I weigh about 165 and my wife/crew, is about 130 lbs. These speeds are based on me driving. In looking at the polar diagram closer, my gut feeling is the boat speed is for a single pilot going to weather for both wind levels of 18-35 MPH. However, the diagram looks like it would support 2 people onboard for broadreaching in the wind range of 18-35 MPH. Therefore, I am saying that weight is less critical when sailing deep, because the center of gravity (CG) on a TriFoiler is aft upwind due to the drag in rigging, but the CG goes forward due to less rig drag aloft while broadreaching. More speed generates higher thrust vectors in a more forward direction."
Drag Curves
Track Processing Tools
Individual Boat & Owner Pages
Click on the link above to go direct to these separate pages. Users, please replicate the syntax to create you own pages. A link is created using dummy link . When it is red, it means that the page it is referring to does not yet exist. Just click the red link and the new blank page appears. Once you put something in the blank page, the referring links turn blue.
Gatherings
With less than 200 boats in existence, the earth's TriFoiler population density is very low. That makes it kind of a big deal when a few of us manage to get together.
Harrowing TriFoiler Tales
Fast Foiling Sessions
Mishaps
Classified Ads
Registry
Press
Mailing List
A low-traffic mailing list dedicated to the TriFoiler has been in operation since 2002 at rahul.net. It is our intention that it continue to operate for the forseeable future in parallel with this site. Should it fall into disuse in favour of the forum here, we should probably import its posting archive.Jonathan 19:19, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
Other Online Resources
- Cliff Sojourner's site - the best single assembly to date, but it hasn't been revised in quite a while and its server resources are limited, hence this site. We'll be porting content from there into here.
- A relatively new French site - very little activity there.
Non-TriFoiler
Fast boats and other Foilers
Foil Technology
References
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Narrative is largely based on Hobie cat WEB history of the TriFoiler at http://www.hobiecat.com/sailing/history_trifoiler.html
Used by permission.
WIKI HOW-TO STUFF
Display of pdf or other graphic
Revised June of 2010
Uploading other file types
Useful editing and formatting information
Getting started
The stuff below was from startup and will be deleted
Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.
Disclaimer
Here's some fine print: Mentions of particular products and manufacturers should be taken in context, and are not intended to imply endorsement or affiliation beyond that expressed in the accompanying text by the author(s). Similarly, links to products on commercial sites are for information and convenience only, and nobody here makes any money if you go look at or buy any of that stuff.
