First foil tests for "Canova"

The first strokes off Jakobstad in Finland revealed design details such as the wooden deckhouse pillar or the hardtop spanning the cockpit with retractable glass panes on both sides, but above all brilliant sailing performance. Farr Yacht Design carried out the structural calculations, while Italian architect Lucio Micheletti provided the design specifications both inside and out.

The sail laminate was supplied by North Sails, while Rondal manufactured the mast and furling boom from carbon fibre. The top cross batten of the 570 square metre mainsail measures 3.50 metres, and the top supported by backstays is correspondingly blunt. The large, minimally overlapping genoa measures 390 square metres in the sail plan. The standing rigging from Carbo-Link has to work against the additional load generated by the DSS foil.

The nine-metre-long carbon wing is moved out of the nine-metre-wide hull amidships at the push of a button and is designed to increase comfort and speed on long passages. Baltic had been flirting with Infiniti Yachts' foil technology for ten years, but only found the right customer in the "Canova" owner. Baltic Yachts' sales manager Kenneth Nyfelt reports on how the 43-metre boat coped with rough conditions: "The effect of the DSS foil was noticeable and impressive; the reduced pitching and leaning made 'Canova' really light on the helm."

The Baltic engineers and fluidsailing project managers also kept a close eye on the hybrid propulsion system. The compact 420-kilowatt electric motor propelled the 145-tonne sloop to 14 knots and the forward-facing propeller successfully fed six lithium-ion batteries via recuperation. Baltic Yachts is aiming for delivery of the "Canova" in the autumn.