Always On - Flying on the world's fastest sailboat

[@phillipphil1615]

I met this guy when he was testing his larger and latest scale model in Quiberon in the winter, he was living in a small stone house, completely broke, having to scrounge wood to heat his small stone house. He is incredibly driven and passionate, he managed to convince companies to work and finance his project some came along, some left and others took over. Frankly the performance of the boat is really not what impresses me the most. It's undoubtedly Alain Thebault and his relentless passion.

[@yoliegunderson8749]

Phillip Phil how fortunate for you and thank you for sharing your story. It reminded me to stay the course.

[@wholeNwon]

I think at some level, we all yearn to live our lives like that. "Many men lead lives of quiet desperation." Others have the courage to liberate themselves.

[@jamesbadham9665]

Althought that boat and its speed of 60+ mph is pretty darn impressive.

[@gillescordier8033]

Phillip Phil I woulld say that the boat's performance is quite amazing...!!

[@samfrancisco8095]

I think your story is BS.

[@450cafe]

I don't understand, why so negative? This guy has followed his dream and created something amazing! Why slam him, he should be encouraged to keep going. This is how new products and innovations come to life. Keep going Alain, amazing accomplishment!

[@maxorbit357]

Trolls often disappear. How could you be negative about fast sailboats. lmao!

[@yoliegunderson8749]

Kasey Thompson yes!!! Absolutely. Well said!

[@micheldecaprio7261]

David Ginola

[@kelvinham8576]

I agree with you. These guys push material engineering, hydo dynamics efficiency to a new level. Applications can be picked up in unexpected areas. Big thumbs up to these guys!

[@FJDH11]

Down-voters are probably crazy feminists and beta males.

[@The_Revealer_7]

Very cool design. I really liked the enthusiasm of the French sailboat designer :)) 56 knots is 103,71 kilometre per hour. Very fast.

[@adamdonovan5633]

This guy is a walking/sailing demonstration of what ALIVENESS looks like! Bravo Alain! Bravo!

[@bobbythompson3544]

This is one seriously talented man to make his childhood dream reality, well done sir!

[@u235u235u235]

he certainly hyped himself up. he told us he's passionate like 10x, he told us he's humble, he said he wants to fly!

[@peasoupman]

I love how passionate and energetic the guy is! He's fantastic! More people should look to him as a role model. He's doing something that he loves, He loves life, and he acts like a kid when he's a middle aged man.

[@IanMacLeansnv]

At Chrissy Field, I saw AC 45's out on the bay practicing for a fleet race. Foiling. Inshore of them, however, were foiling moths, and downwind, the moths were blowing past the cats. And out in the middle of the bay, L'Hydroptere was making speed runs. I have never seen anything like it. When pointed right at you, the boat disappeared into it's own thinness much as fighter aircraft do (smallest profile = lowest drag). Sailboats aren't supposed to leave rooster tails larger than the boat. They're not supposed to look like fighter planes obscuring themselves in a supersonic condensation mist, but L'Hydroptere did, creating it's own speed mist which may have lubricated it's drag, come to think of it. Never seen anything like it, love that boat. One of the coolest things ever...

[@kevinmoore4887]

I use to windsurf off Crissy Field. The AC cats were fun to watch. Arne Andersen's Turbine powered boats were amazing too. 100 mph fast with a helicopter to look ahead. Almost zero wake. I have to look into the foiling moths.

[@alexcave7573]

56 knots ! Wow. That is faster than most powerboats on the water and almost the maximum land speed on a motorway. Great seeing the photos of the early model prototypes boats that this man built too. What a brilliant dream to have eventually realised.

[@BenDover-wm7wf]

Lol

[@sandergjertsenstvold1051]

"Just the wind, my paper, my pen, my passion" The most French sentence I've ever heard.

[@sailawayteam]

Alain Thebault is charming! Many high end sailors are very enthusiastic, but he is so very exited, still like a child. Like when he's bouncing on the trampoline to show Molly the boat. :) And this after so many years with his dreamboats, and undoubtedly there have been a lot of setbacks.

[@yoliegunderson8749]

sailawayteam beautifully presented. Yes, I can see the joy in his heart.

[@RGTee]

sailawayteam n

[@nickigna]

Alain Thebault has this irresistible charm to him. What a good chap!

[@muratguney8514]

World need this kind of man for inspiration.

[@orvillehobson8397]

The crowning word..Humble.

[@bestvip5803]

This guy reminds me of Elon Musk, wish we could replace every bad human with one of these types

[@Keet619]

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME! Sailing Tech is advancing in leaps and bounds lately, good job.

[@milesmouse72]

this thing is strictly business, no frills or accents. just a water based fighter jet...love it!!!

[@petermuller7029]

I with you Kasey. Full of respect I am for this guy. Leave the others because they do not know what their missing.

[@evanpenny348]

Agree that there is no need for negativity, but in fact his design looks remarkable similar to a three foil boat designed way back in the late sixties (I think) and called the forty knot sail boat. It was designed by a NASA scientist but never got beyond the working scale model. Gosh, forty knots sounds like such a modest aim these days. so congratulations to Thebault for getting his idea to full size and actually proving the design.

[@illdeletethismusic]

2 angled foils in front, 1 straight in back is a common design for foiling sailboats, it is self stabilizing by pushing more foil into the water leeward, and having that foil closer to horizontal for more lift this was also what moth sailors tried out at first, before that class banned it for being too stable

[@biffbiffsail569]

Saw this boat in France several years ago.Very impressive. Has to be super strong. Lovely blond crew member talked to me about it and said it was a blast.

[@michaelkeaton5394]

Just so you know the older guy olding the model at 1:26 is Eric Tabarly, and if you don't know him Google him...

[@Mr7valentine7]

56 knots - unbelievable! My very best regards!

[@SabdoBagusIngAti]

The basic design of threemaran actually already adopted by fishery boat at Indonesia or south east asia region since the century past and untill now

[@heartfullyhonest]

This is one of the best stories of believing in your dreams and putting everything into it to succeed. Wow 🤩

[@theamorantoplace3493]

so inspiring!!! wishing greater heights for the sailing team!!!

[@chicut84]

Senza parole la passione di quest uomo una passione di una vita trasformata in realtà ! Respect!!

[@cervelo9465]

The new Ineos Grenadiers 2020 has just been launched in New Zealand. Est. top speed 56 knots. I loved Monsieur Thebault's video.

[@barneybruns887]

Stay Humble, show by action. This guy will go far.

[@alfredferreira]

And with speed.

[@777vikingfan]

This is how the Wright brothers started, an idea and a dream..bravo sir!

[@TsarOfRuss]

Alain Thebault is a very POSITIVE MAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So friendly, even with his mates

[@skakpedersen]

Columbus: “Can it fly?” Skipper: “She’d like to”

[@AllenVictorCox]

Hardly sea worthy fast but not safe!

[@kikoleotte]

WELL DONE ... follow your dreams, the world is yours !!

[@CockatooDude]

Well you gotta get an education first. This thing doesn't work for everyone.

[@CockatooDude]

Dane Hartwell Why does that matter? All I am saying is that machines like this yacht here require lots of higher level physics to get the power of the sails, the speed required to hydroplane, etc. So while the guy was building model boats, he was also getting an education, so he could know what he was doing better and continually improve his designs. Also, I am 17, I can't exactly do much right now, but fear not, I definitely intend to make contributions to technology in the future.

[@rapid13]

My dream is where I see myself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at me.

[@vinorob]

I followed my dream and got 12 years

[@chicut84]

No is not true. ...not for every one..! Hi

[@ivandavid-rewiri90]

Well done!!!! .....Follow your passion Alain.....like your boat. Show the sailing world what can be achieved!!!....when you have the passion.

[@CharlieWellsPlus]

Amazing interview.

[@Rob-ln7dd]

What a fantastic inspirational energetic man, his passion energy and enthusiasm are truly a lesson to us all. I love this video it makes me happy and interested, I'd love to work with someone like this, brilliant !

[@kaasie71]

Nice to hear and see those passionate people speak about there lives and the things they achieved.

[@walterpalmer2749]

56 knots under the right conditions. Kudos. Even Magellan needed the wind.

[@glennsecco8260]

Well done mate, awesome fruition of your dreams. Great example to pursue your dreams.

[@auggiecontreras8068]

The definition of "contagious energy" 🙂

[@dehdeh55]

Looks like fun. The water chop looks like no more than 25 knots at most, so he is going twice wind speed. Thus, like an iceboat, the wind speed and direction is mostly due to motion of the boat. Obviously, it is a huge step from the brief flat water speed runs to crossing oceans as he plans. Good luck!

[@shadowbanned5164]

56 knots is amazing for a sailboat holy cow.

[@Rich161202]

SIMPLY AMAZING! PEOPLE THAT ACCOMPLISH THEIR PROJECTS AND DREAMS,! Keep going for sure!!!

[@Wolf-xu1fj]

"When I was young, I told my teacher I wanted to fly" so I built a boat. WHAT.?

[@jonathanellis8737]

You know, flying ships in fantasy stories.

[@trevisonclark7135]

It’s the French...

[@alaskawilliam1]

Hydrodynamics and Aerodynamics are the same. Viscosity is different.

[@Wolf-xu1fj]

william bennett yes, but flying and boating are like sky and water

[@Binette96]

@@alaskawilliam1 maybe a lil difference about the density too ^^

[@petrufka]

holy moly flying jalopy! I love his passion, he is a child playing in the world as an adult. He is pushing the limits! I wonder if he and Laird Hamilton have influenced one-another? LAird redesigned a surfboard he uses to ride Big Waves where the board floats above the water riding a rudder deep in the water. He eliminated the chop one had to surf through. Increased speed, easier handling. Maybe Laird could water ski/surf behind this dude! That'd be sweet!

[@Richard-wk9le]

I have sailed on many different kinds of multi hull boats from Hobie 16,s Tornados, Malibu outriggers and the Catalina express taxi cat which does 35 knots there is just something about going fast on water that gives you passion, flying a Hull must be experienced to be understood but flying an entire boat at those speeds is just incredible if you need more sponsors just take them for a ride.

[@winterroadspokenword4681]

What a man! Best of luck to him!

[@Electobat]

I love Americans. I love their; sail boats, car drives, walk stairs, side walks, dry wall, horse riding, eat outs.

[@drewrowl]

The great invention, would really like to know the source of this whole IDEA and inspiration?

[@d.cypher2920]

11 years later... Still blows my mind, as a 9.5 years live-aboard sailboat dweller. Just blows my mind 🤯 🇺🇸😎🙏❤️❤️❤️

[@tonywilson4713]

I have no idea how an 11 year old video like this was recommended, but its kind of fascinating and also tragic. I checked the Wikipedia page and in 2015 they sailed from Los Angeles to Honolulu and docked in Kewalo Harbor. On 15 March 2016 the Harbor Master posted an "Abandoned Vessel" notice on the Hydroptère which was subsequently sold at auction. There's a comment above from 7 years ago that says they met "this guy" and he was flat broke.

[@theengineer704]

Amazing!! He is a genius. That boat is a dream.

[@chiqo8]

Moi non plus je ne comprends pas, félicitations mon ami pour porter ton rêve aussi loin! Toute mon admiration et mon émerveillement!

[@matthewq2365]

Looks like fun! Beautiful work! I wonder what we will dream next!

[@firstlast7719]

Alexander Graham Bell should be given more credit for his invention in Canada. He was a pioneer and achieved speed records more than a century ago.

[@jansveen]

Realy interesting boat, or boatplane ;-) But how is it in hard weather or big waves? I know that trimarans are good in hard weather, i just would like to know how this one react to ruff sea. Lovely that you made your dream come reality

[@sk-6220]

Génial cette conception de limiter le frottement, la vitesse s'en voit augmentée, j'adore le concept, la france n'a rien à envier des grands pays nous avons les talents qu'il faut, un bateau fait surement déjà des envieux, super les gars ^_^

[@mikelewis5603]

L'Hydroptere had been sitting in Kawalo Basin, here in Honolulu, for a couple of years. Slip fees weren't paid. Then, towed over to Keehi Lagoon, a few miles away, and stuck on a mooring ball. Vandals stole everything. Sold several months ago for $20,000 USD. Very sad, for such a great boat.

[@gr8o2h2o]

I like it! Water and wind is free, your flow dynamics principle with high density medium, water to cause flight at high speeds means you can get places around the world purely on wind power. Plug in stability and smoothness on a cat design and you are now living large. I like it better than traveling sideways slow and all green.

[@trollerxoxox]

56 knots? I've met sailors who are proud of their boats doing 17.5 knots... This is AMAZING!!!

[@gwenaellepage4450]

And now even monohulls are foiling. That thing paved the way.

[@ymp5000]

Holy shit that's fast.

[@Mr7valentine7]

Atlantic in two days and a half - you are great!

[@BenDover-wm7wf]

Until they run into a bit of inclement weather and a little ten foot swell.

[@domdegood5376]

The hydrofoil was invented by an Italian in 1939. he wanted to build a ferry to cross the strait of Sicily at high speed.

[@Lucky-uk1bv]

Who was chasing him... no wait... maybe he had to turn quickly to change sides.... ha hah

[@domdegood5376]

Idiot, read the comment., to build a ferry to transport people in 1939, before the war. the allies won the war because they had 10 to 1 power.

[@davart311]

The aliscafo , winged beam in Italian , has been around for decades

[@domdegood5376]

Has been

[@domdegood5376]

Brad, remember Singapore where the Brits surrenderd before the battle,

[@heifaramurat]

Because of guys like him that I am proud to be French. We have survive because of our will and our brain.

[@NauTzZz]

A very friendly conversation! I like it!

[@jaytemkar8077]

I had to do lot of calculation to understand exact speed. From noughts to miles to kilometers. Its record speed is 104 kilometers per hour. Amazing..

[@FrikInCasualMode]

"Is it a boat? Is it a plane?" "Yes." Incredible construction.

[@Kopie0830]

This guy has the passion to make his dream come true. Perhaps it is true, faith can move mountains...

[@trollking6111]

Wow, what an incredible boat!

[@BR549guy]

A great guy with a great design and a great dream; .... an inspiration for everyone. That's the up-side. The downside is that, as any sailor would know, he could only achieve these speeds on a reach in either direction, most likely a close reach. That's the only way his forward motion could keep adding to the apparent wind. If he were running before the wind, unless he could retract those hydrofoils, my guess is that he'd probably go slower than your standard catamaran. Rule of thumb is: The faster you sail, the more you can only sail in one direction off the weather (in either direction, of course). That tends to rule out pointing, broad reaches, and running before the wind; leaving only 2 and 3, below, as options, but after tweaking catamarans for years, I'd put my money on 2; 0. Weather 1. Pointing 2. Close reach 3. Beam reach 4. Broad reach 5. Running before the wind Thus, out of 180 possible degrees of wind access on each side of the vessel, you're stuck with a little over 30 degrees within which one can attain those speeds. That's great, but if you're needing to go off that direction and can't attain those speeds, most likely the vessel won't get enough lift to get above the chop and it'll get slammed like any other boat in a rough sea.

[@ianb9028]

Not quite remember that you are dealing with the vector of true wind and apparent wind. Modern high speed boats (with a fixed pole asymetric spinnaker or foiling craft) do not start sailing directly down wind but run the vectors and tack downwind. As you build aparent wind you can run deeper (i.e. almost square to the true wind) because the aparent wind vector is always ahead and when this dominates the sails see the wind a close reaching regardless of the direction of true wind. There is a good (albeit rather ancient paper) on this from Frank Bethwaite who worked it out in the late 1980's watching 18ft skiffs on Sydney Harbour. I also recommend his books High Performance Sailing and Higher Performance Sailing.

[@adrianfaulkner3270]

56 knots, that is amazing!

[@chrisdaniel1339]

Only 2 m² in the water! That is wild. Pretty amazing boat

[@MikeBarnett1776]

My little trimaran tends to get jealous when I watch videos of such amazing craft...

[@bokeflo]

It must be incredible sailing on that sailboat.

[@peregrinegrace8570]

Astonishing ! Beautiful ! Amazing ! What a great guy

[@Rompster123]

I love that man. Beautiful innovation.

[@skakpedersen]

What would Columbus have paid, to see this boat? It’s fascinating to see the vast improvements on the vessels, and crew accomodations have been turned back to Columbus’ time. Thanks for sharing this magnificent video.

[@michaelbrewster3736]

Columbus was a jerk!

[@BenDover-wm7wf]

Then the indigenous peoples of the americas could have been eradicated much much faster. Yay!

[@georgezlei]

Googled it and sorry to see the final result. "During July 2015, the Hydroptère sailed 2215 nautical miles from Los Angeles to Honolulu and docked in Kewalo Harbor.[8] On 15 March 2016 the Harbor Master posted an "Abandoned Vessel" notice on the Hydroptère[9] which was subsequently sold at auction.[10][11] In June 2019, L'Hydroptère was bought by Chris Welsh (USA) and Gabriel Terrasse (FRA).[12][13] In November 2019, l'Hydroptère was sailed from Honolulu, Hawaii to San Francisco, California by professional sailor Mike Price and a delivery crew so that she could undergo an extensive re-fit."

[@kkeeper1000]

Bravo pour votre passion et innovation.

[@nebraskatpp]

Top shelf technically. The cutting edge of sail technology.

[@cruithne6021]

Nov. 22 2012, the Vestas Sail Rocket took the record with a documented and recognized 63.25 knots.

[@adavidaz]

A true visionary and builder. Bon chance!

[@bobbyjohnnascar]

He said it's powered by passion , I think that's the same as detroit diesels.

[@reflex1377]

This is what I've been DREAMING of. A sailboat that can FLY!? AND YOU CAN LIVE IN IT!?

[@jmyers9853]

i first heard of this concept fifty years ago in a book call "the forty knot sailboat"

[@user9b2]

If only sailing wings were invented back then, this boat could have been even faster.

[@epicnavigator]

How strong the wind must be to get the speed of 54 knots?

[@rokpreseren3085]

Retsinas Alexandros Little more than 1/2 of that speed, so around 30 knots.

[@alexrodaro1]

What an incredible success!

[@johnnielsen7413]

Such infectious energy.

[@slandshark]

My sailboat goes 7 knots.

[@Aeradill]

+slandshark you'd overtake me. mine does 5.6 max.

[@gijswh2498]

my goes 12 knots

[@gavinfaync]

30 knots maybe

[@Stonyartist]

My goes about 4 but i have reached 6,7knoot and the boat is 5,25m long

[@davidramentol]

mine does 6, but I reached 9 downslope once

[@bcmiller2000]

This is a super large boat attaining these speeds...sail it baby! The Vesta II Sail Rocket reached speeds of 75 mph, now lets break the 100 mph barrier!

[@michaelchristensen2621]

Can a boat like this be designed to be bigger and to carry freight such as light / sustainable materials from southern Europe to Ireland/UK?

[@cliffordwilliams9597]

Did you catch that @3:42 when he said "here is the bathroom"

[@raymondhill3]

He was already great as a teenager!!!!!!

[@yokehuatgoh]

have they made it? like crossing the atlantic in 2 days etc, as he had mentioned?

[@charlesleten3033]

On oublie que l’inventeur de l’hydroptère est Eric Tabarly

[@deemon710]

I like that guy. He seems like a real cool guy to meet.

[@l0OoD1GBY]

Love it! Great story :)

[@UncleFishbits]

I caught this when it was on the bay.... fantastic craft.

[@moviesenthil]

Yeah yeah, it moves fast and all that is incredible, but for me, it moves for FREE! Heck this is the next level of eco friendly transportation and to me, nothing short of a revolution.

[@Aron-ru5zk]

Sailboats have existed for thousands of years so I wouldn’t call it a revolution, more of an evolution, on something we’ve been doing forever, it’s only the last 150 or so they’ve started using fossil fuels for most vessels.

[@moviesenthil]

@@Aron-ru5zk Thank you. Indeed. Only when something revolves does it come back to where it was at some point! The Japanese have a four mast freighter in regular use, I have read.

[@lionelzanette8762]

This guy changes the face of sailing design !

[@danielschechter8130]

This video is almost ten years old. I wonder how l'Hydroptere compares to this year's America's Cup racers.

[@Erik-rp1hi]

When I watched the Americas cup in San Francisco I could not believe those boats. Riding on foils like his is the way to go. I wonder if his can turn on a dime too?

[@ricardograde5134]

Wow.... an amazing french guy. How does that happen!!! Go, go, go...

[@kevinhoffman8214]

wow , great job , i always thought that plodding along at 7 knots could be improved !