TOUR DE FOIL | F4 DNA FOILING CATAMARAN

North Sails powers F4 catamaran to Bermuda and beyond

The F4 catamaran made its world debut in 2016. This exciting new 46’ one design catamaran teamed up with North Sails, DNA/Holland Composites, and other marine industry partners to support Foiling on Water, a Red Bull athlete project with Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill. Foiling on Water sent Spithill and crew on a 932 nautical mile mission from New York to Bermuda, home of the 35th America’s Cup.

A daydream-come-true reality for Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup veteran Shannon Falcone, the F4 DNA project is a high-performance foiling catamaran designed with sheer speed and grace in mind. After a winter of testing, refits, and repairs in Antigua, Hull #1 is currently preparing for the 1000 nm trip back to Bermuda to join the America’s Cup spectator fleet.

“The team at DNA gave me the opportunity to propose new concepts and features that integrate my past America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race experiences. Thanks to the support of our partners this boat is the result of an industry-wide collaboration to help bring one-design production foiling into a real world racing environment.”

The ultimate goal of the F4 Class is to build the Tour de Foil one design racing series. Falcone and class manager Thomas Loughborough are hoping owners will be attracted to the idea of a high performance, stable foiling platform, combined with one design principles to make ownership as cost effective as possible. The F4 Class will be based out of Newport, RI in the summertime, and will enjoy Caribbean sailing in Antigua during the winter season. Their plans are to maximize the F4’s potential by pushing her to the ultimate challenges: 400 miles a day with key landing points in Block Island, Long Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. In the winter months, their landing points include the BVI’s and St. Barths.

World-class snowboarder Travis Rice joined the F4 crew last fall in the post Foiling On Water delivery from Bermuda to Antigua. Rice is an avid sailor who owns a 60’ Gunboat outfitted with North 3Di sails and has compared his experience to his extreme snowboarding adventures,

“I don’t know how to better describe it except for me it’s just like tree riding….I don’t know, this boat is blowing my mind.”