CATRI 24

THE BOAT FROM THE FUTURE

Why Hydrofoils?
Even though sailing boats are not readily associated with speed records, the modern wing-like sails are very effective at high speed. The real capacity of a sail's potential increases rapidly with speed. The greater the speed the greater the sail's real potential. The hydrofoil can also be very effective at high speed. It can lift a boat up thereby reducing water resistance by three times.

A combination of sails and hydrofoil is therefore very effective. Both scientists and designers agree that the future of the "speed sailboat" is inextricably linked to the hydrofoil.

What is the problem?

A higher sailboat speed can only be achieved by ensuring a higher level of stability, which cannot be guaranteed by traditional types of boats. Multihulls offer a solution to this problem.

The problem of hydrofoil sailing boat stability is even more complicated. Up until now technical solutions have been found only for still water and uniform wind conditions. Under these conditions the speed of a hydrofoil sailboat exceeds 40kn (74 km/h). Still, up to now no appropriate hydrofoil sailing boat has been developed for open sea and real weather conditions. CATRI foilers offer the first feasible solution to this problem.

Why Latvia?

The French have been more active than others in the field of sail-hydrofoil research. Very expensive hydrofoil projects take place regularly in France. Still, up till now, they have not been able to win in any significant competitions. Similar attempts have been made in Great Britain and the USA but again, no really practical solutions have been found.

On the other hand, despite years of isolation from the international community, Latvia has made use of a number of stimulating factors - namely the results of Russian research in the field of hydrofoil application. A group of talented students from Riga started yachting-research as a hobby, but understood soon enough, that their only hope of competing with the outside world was in attempting to break the speed records. The theoretical basis of the "sail-hydrofoil" combination was worked out and the Latvians went for an unconventional angle of research - which turned out to be successful.

History

Latvian Multihulls: Brief History
1959
A group of enthusiasts from Riga Technical University builds a yacht with two connected hulls, not being aware of the fact that similar yachts are built somewhere else and that they are called "catamarans". L=5.5m B= 2.6m S=18sqm
1961
The third catamaran, built in Riga, achieves a considerable speed and becomes very popular. In all winds it passes the fastest yachts and pulls a water-skier without any problems. L=6.5m B=2.6m S=30sqm
1969
The first cruising catamaran is built. This catamaran makes the longest distance in the season and wins all races. L=9.3m B=5m S=60sqm
1970
A shipyard is established in the collective fishing farm Carnikava nearby Riga. The production of cruising catamarans for sale is started.
1971-2
The problems of offshore multihull stability and safety are investigated: the optimal length and breadth ratio and safety reserve in large heeling angles at determined; at the same time a safety device for an automatic release of sails at dangerous heeling angles is developed.
1973
The largest USSR offshore race in the Baltic Sea is held with course length of 1,000 nautical miles; about 100 offshore yachts take part. The Latvian catamarans finish first in all legs of the race. There is a similar result in all the following years.
1976
An unsuccessful attempt to acquire permission to participate in OSTAR (Single Handed Trans Atlantic) race. For this purpose a special catamaran, Centaurus 44, is built. In speed tests this catamaran reaches 24.9 knots and wins title of fastest yacht in the USSR for many years to come. L=13.3m B=8.1m S=140sqm
1982
A proa-type hydrofoil for speed records is developed and built. The speed of 27 kn is registered on a lake near Riga, which exceeded all the records of the limited classes. Thus began investigation for a broader application of hydrofoils in sailing.
1984-5
Permission from Moscow to organise export of catamarans built in Riga. Catamaran Centaurus 38 exhibited in Hamburg and Genoa. The Latvian catamaran builders and sailing teams and not allowed to attend these exhibitions.
1989
For the first time the Latvian team of Centaurus-38 receives permission to visit Germany, Sweden and Finland.
1992
The catamaran "Kuapo" the Centaurus 44 built for OSTAR 1976 crosses the Atlantic - from Riga to Boston and back. The skipper of the catamaran Valdis Greenberg is one of the three constructors of the first Latvian multihull.
1993
The shipyard for a serial production of multihulls is privatised - the shipyard CATRI is established. Transition to modern yacht consruction materials and technology. Training the staff in Germany.
1997
The prototype of the first hydrofoil-stabilised trimaran, the CATRI 26 is successfully tested and demonstrated in the Netherlands.

The CATRI solution

If we compare a hydrofoil with an arrow, it is remarkable that up until now attempts have been made by attaching the feathers at the wrong end! All patents, issued in this field in recent years, have to do with moving hydrofoil stabilisation mechanisms, whereas the CATRI Foiler solution simply attaches the "feather" at the right end of the arrow, thus making all kinds of regulating mechanisms irrelevant.

'Arrow feathers' placed at the correct end of the arrow

Tests have been carried out in order to control the working interaction of sails, hydrofoil and wind, and an optimal solution has been found. When designing a foiler for traditional sailing, the goal is not to lift the boat above the water. One needs to be aware of all the possible influences of the hydrofoil and achieve the greatest possible balance for the real sailing conditions. CATRI's hydrofoil system takes up to 90% of the full weight and at the same time is oriented towards the increase of the stability in both directions, the decrease in pitching and the neutralising of wave motion from the back of the hull.

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