portable dinghy: reverso air

there is a new(-ish) small dinghy on the market, with certainly a new twist – the sailboat hull is ultra-portable with the hull sections actually coming completely apart into 4 main pieces, so that the entire boat, sail, mast, and all rigging components can fit into the back of a car.

photo via Reverso website

the reverso air is built in France, so getting one the USA might be difficult/costly unless there is a local dealer, but if you are looking for a performance sailboat that can be easily transported and stored away in a corner closet, this may be the boat for you.

here is a neat little video showing how the 4 hull sections connect together, and how quickly you can set the entire boat up and have it ready to sail in less than 2 minutes.

back in 2018, Sail-World called it “the boat of the future“:

The four nested modules are assembled and locked rigidly together in a few moments to become a very modern, sporty performance dinghy. In all, it takes less than three minutes – without tools – to turn these parts into an elegant dinghy. It is responsive and fun and is easily a match for some of the latest dinghies from the big builders and uses some of the latest offshore design technology.

for simplicity of setup and rigging, it probably can’t be beat. I’d be curious how the hull joints will hold up to long-term use – it’d be killer trying to reconnect those pieces if the hull joints separated while out in deep water.

for now, I’ll probably just still my good ol’ Sunfish. simple and easy to use, reliable, and it is easy to find used Sunfish on craigslist, FB marketplace, or similar.

you can see more pictures and video at the Reverso instagram.

on the wings of a Sunfish

I found a woodworking and sailing creator named Mark on Instagram that has been experimenting with building a wing foil for his Sunfish.

photo by Mark Palmquist

The wing is designed to skim over the water like a horizontal water ski. If it dives, the wing will still have a lifting force due to its curved upper trailing edge. The speed record for a sunfish is around 11 knots in 20 knots of wind. Beyond that bow gets too bouncy and your live ballast can no long keep the hull flat. The wing creates lift on the leeward side forward of the center of effort lifting the hull. Hopefully the wing won’t come loose. It’s basically clamped on.

photo by Mark Palmquist

Mark has two videos posted with the wing foil attached to his Sunfish – the first was very light winds, so not really a good test, but the video below was higher wind. (click thru to watch the video on Instagram…)

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A post shared by Mark Palmquist (@mark.palmquist)

Results: a hydroplaning wing works much better on a skinnier, faster hull. The current wing shape is not ideal. Fluid separated on the upper surface. It needs to be optimized for underwater lift, which means having the foil lower and changing the profile shape. Hydroplaning only works well at speeds above 11 knots and that’s the speed limit of the sunfish. Therefore a sunfish would benefit more from a hydrofoil since they work at 8 knots.

sounds like mixed results, so I’ll be curious to see if Mark goes back to the drawing board to tweak the foil shape… or if he maybe has moved on to tweaking his ideas on a sailboat that is a little sleeker than an ol’ Sunfish.

laser surfing

pretty insane waves this sailor is “surfing” on with his Laser near the Barra Lighthouse (Farol da Barra) in Brazil.

I’ve sailed in some fairly decent waves on Lake Michigan, but nothing quite that big.

chasing bubbles [sailing documentary]

if you’re like most of us right now – stuck at home in some type of “stay in place” or “shelter in place” due to the corona virus pandemic, here’s a sailing documentary that you might check out:

the true story of “the worst sailor to ever sail around the world.”

for more information, you can check out the “Chasing Bubbles” website: http://www.chasingbubblesmovie.com/

if you just want to check out the preview first to see if it looks interesting, here is the official trailer:

I’ve not watched the full documentary yet, but will try to in the next couple days.

Cypress Gardens Sunfish Regatta

a great video showing off an old Sunfish regatta.

h/t: Small Boat Restoration posted this on the Sunfish Forum.

sunfish alpa skip sailing [video]

here is a great video of a Sunfish clone in Italy called the Alpa Skip flying across the water:

 

the video was posted in the comments on my “photos” page, and I thought it was too good to leave there and should be published as a post.

here’s a little more information from his comments:

Alpa was an iconic shipyard in Italian yachting history. Under the leadership of Danilo Cattadori, [Alpa] has build beautiful yachts but also great dinghies such as Alpa 550, Alpa S. They build also a Sunfish clone named Alpa Skip that was robust but lighter than sunfish. It is a very good boat, so good that even if the Sunfish class is quite strong in Italy, Alpa Skip is today still more common. Alpa Skip is the typical 80′ and 90′ sailing school or family boat. Cheaper than Sunfish. Easier than Laser. Actually “Skip” is still produced by Paiardi shipyard (www.paiardi.com) that holds Alpa’s moulds.  Information are not so common, but you can refer to Alpa Historical Club: https://www.alpahistorical.org/alpa-skip.html

I know there are multiple Sunfish clones but I’ve never heard of this one.