Austrian A-Class Catamaran Championship 2023 - Race 3 - foiling and classic

Race 3 on Day 2 of 6 races had enough wind for foiling and was my and Mikes best race. Austrian Championship 2023 was won by Mike Mödlhammer on a foiling camaran, and overall Regatta was won by Scott Anderson on classic A-Cat who did prove to be even faster than foilers in these conditions. Congratulations! Overall great sailing at Wallersee and great experience and learnings for me to sail my first A-Class regatta and this one even with world class A-Cat sailors. Thanks for organizing a great event and making the best out of the rainy weather.

[@jameslittlewood7821]

That was pretty cool

[@dianecampbell3006]

Competed for 25 years in Hobie 16,17, & 18's years ago. That's all pretty much gone now and I'm probably too old, but sure envy these guys on those great boats. Always admired the A class cats and almost got one about 15 years ago. Great video, especially while racing!

[@kevindimauro9689]

Great video. Glad to see the A class is alive and well. I used to race US 1, designed and built by Dave and Jerry Hubbard. It had a hiking board rather than a trapeze but still a fun piece of kit.

[@greenstripeypaint]

Good racing. Nice job. The slow drag to the last mark must have been frustrating.

[@flyinggorilla]

indeed. always hard to estimate how much to try to go onto the foils or go straight downwind. as foilers have more drag than classic a-cats flight time is essential. still lots to learn, its great fun

[@botston]

I didnt know you could MANUALLY control your flight height, super cool

[@flyinggorilla]

yes, thats cool. the shape of the main foils is also somewhat self controlling, because the higher the flight the lower their lift. to a limit.

[@gregmatthies8128]

Mate I am 100% envious of boat and youth as I am too old and fat now. The start was good but on that knock next to last leg a tack would have been better I thought. Love the foils sailing has come a LLOONNGG way with new designs and materials. What is the weight of a fully rigged A class now?

[@flyinggorilla]

foiling A-class fully rigged is about 90kg. classic A-Class boats are at minimum 75kg.

[@DialedN_07]

Interested to see the camera mount on the back of the boat

[@flyinggorilla]

i use the forevercam ggopro mount www.amazon.de/gp/product/B092VMMN64 at the end of the boom and have a gopro mini there upside down.

[@drlv3250]

Loool, Attersee? Richtig cool! Was kost so ein Gerät?

[@flyinggorilla]

~35kEUR Segelfertig und damit eigentlich in der ähnlichen Preisliga wie eine Motte.

[@mogensostergaard5951]

Great video, thanks Which watch/device are you using for the track and speed registration?

[@flyinggorilla]

Thanks! I do use a vakaros atlas 2 for race timer and on-board information. while you could use exported CSV data for video overlay as well, it is easier to have the GoPro track GPS too alongside the video capture. For that video I had a GoPro 10 mounted inbetween the forestays. I had also a GoPro 11 mini on the boom, which doesnt do GPS. TelemetryOverlay software then extracts GPS speed/track information from GoPro videos allowing to create overlays.

[@mogensostergaard5951]

@@flyinggorilla Thanks, appreciated

[@teamcyclingbear]

Cool video. Enjoyed it. How do you find the vakaros atlas 2 on the a cat. Can you view it easily from the trapeze. I have same model exploder as you and looking to purchase one. Also how are you mounting the go pro on the boom? I like that angle

[@MartinHoffFoilingSailboats]

Cool video! What was the wind range? Seems lightish.

[@flyinggorilla]

@@teamcyclingbear thanks! the vakaros atlas 2 works well. can view from trapeze in both up and downwind. also buttons are easy to pin the line and start race timer for regattas. battery lasts days. go pro mount i use (you find it also at e.g. amazon) www.forevercam.com/collections/mount-handlebars/products/updated-version360-rotation-and-lock-any-direction0-6-1-3inch-all-aluminum-bike-motorcycle-handlebars-seat-post-ski-pole-mount-for-gopro-8-hero7-hero6-black-hero5-black4-3-2-hd-dji-osmo-action-cam

[@user-oe1mb9hu9i]

How heavy are YOU ?

[@flyinggorilla]

same as boat class :-) which is 75kg

[@cpt.schimantzky6508]

Hi, wie schwierig ist der Einstieg in diese Bootsklasse? (komme vom Laser)

[@flyinggorilla]

Wenn du vom Laser kommst, dann hilft das schon sehr viel für den Segel-trim und Boots balance. Der Hauptunterschied (und das coole) am A-Cat (und schnelleren Bootsklassen im Allgemeinen) ist das Segeln mit dem scheinbaren Wind. Daran muss man sich erst gewöhnen, dass man seinen down-wind Kurs mit Halbwind beginnt und bei zunehmender Geschwindigkeit auf raumen Kurs abfällt. Was zu empfehlen wär ist die ersten 2-3x den foil und rudder-rake auf neutral zu stellen, um mal das Boot ohne foiling kennen zu lernen. Wenn das mal halbwegs gut gelingt, dann kann man sich ja auf foiling herantasten. Also in Summe musst du ein wenig mehr Hand anlegen als beim Laser, das wird aber mit sehr viel mehr spass am Segeln überkompensiert.

[@cpt.schimantzky6508]

@@flyinggorilla Ja, ein wenig Erfahrung mit schnellen booten hab ich eh schon machen dürfen. (49erFX, Hobbie 16 und Flying Phantom) Trapezsteuern ist mir dementsprechend auch schon bekannt. Für mich wärs mal sehr interessant so ein Boot auszuprobieren, gibt's da im Salzkammergut leute die willig sind da eine kleine Trainingseinheit zu geben?

[@flyinggorilla]

@@cpt.schimantzky6508 dann kommst mal zu mir zum training.

[@cpt.schimantzky6508]

@@flyinggorillaWie lange bist du dieses Jahr noch am Wasser?

[@flyinggorilla]

@@cpt.schimantzky6508 bis mitte/ende Oktober je nach Kälte

[@rshawiii]

fun video to watch, but too much chasing velocity in those light conditions. You'd be better to stay on the boat and sail deeper or higher. Its about VMG, not just V.

[@flyinggorilla]

thanks for watching! indeed, in that light conditions it is very risky to chase for velocity. However, we raced A-Class classic (non-foiling) and A-Class foiling together, and as the classics have less water resistance and a sail shape that works better for non-foiling downwind, there is no chance to win against the classic boats but try to get onto the foils when there is a reasonable chance. I lost the bet with choosing foiling mode, but displacement mode wouldnt have brought me to the front either. The Austrian A-Class champion foiled better than me in these conditions and took a top place in that race. bottom line you are right, I learned in further light wind regattas this year that more patience and being more conservative by going downwind shortest distance, very very deep derisks and pays off more often than it harms due to a lost opportunity of speed. thanks!