TF35: FLIGHT CONTROL

A New Class Launches on Lake Geneva

Their take off was a bit delayed but the newly developed foiling TF35 fleet recently met on Lake Geneva for the first of two training weekends. The sessions provide sailors, class organizers and the development team an opportunity to see their vision in action, and trial a format for future regattas. For North Sails, these early training days serve as a chance to analyze the performance of the new TF35 sails.

The TF35 is built on an ambitious design brief; bringing top-level foiling to a wider range of sailors. While the idea of an accessible, high-performance foiler sounds like a strange pairing, a big focus of the training weekend was testing out and then dialing in the boat’s flight control system, which makes the platform more stable and safe. A mere 6 knots of TWS downwind are needed for take-off and the TF35 gets foiling upwind in 8 knots TWS. The flight control system brings stability and safety to the platform, addressing the class’s wish to make a high-performance foiling experience available to more owners.

Lake Geneva is known for varying conditions, but the weekend presented ideal weather for dialing in the TF35. Arnaud Psarofaghis, sail designer and Alinghi co-helmsman said: “Our specific wind conditions on the lake are really challenging in terms of sail range, boat can accelerate quickly, boat speed can vary from 12 to 20 knots within 2 knots of TWS.”

The much anticipated training session saw dream conditions on Lake Geneva, allowing the race committee to complete nine races in winds ranging from 4 – 12 knots. It was a unique opportunity for each of the seven TF35 crews to assess their level and progress within the fleet after training independently over the summer months.

Summarizing the weekend, North Sails Suisse director Pierre Yves Jorand said, “It was a very rewarding weekend we were able to test the TF35 in different sail configurations. The objective of the series is to have boats that offer the great experience of foiling in the typical Lake Geneva conditions. It’s now up to us to optimize the sail combination and boat set up to maximize the level of fun and performance of the boat in the lead up the 2021 TF35 Trophy Championship.”

North Sails has been deeply involved in the development of this new class and our lofts in Switzerland and France worked together to outfit teams with North 3Di.

Patrick Mazuay, North sail designer, member of TF35 Class design team responsible for sail development explains: “We have seen a great improvement already in just one weekend from all of the crews. As one of the sail suppliers, all of us at North Sails are thrilled to see the positive development of everyone on the water. We now have the advantage of the October training session to improve and tweak the sail configuration.”

The overall feeling on sails from everyone involved at the end of the three days training is of great satisfaction, both performance and robustness wise.

Coming up next on October 9-12 is test event #2. Learn more about the class here.