Enata Marine, builders of world’s first production foiling yacht, caused quite a stir at the Dubai International Boat Show earlier this year with its world debut of their new Foiler yacht.
Now the company is set to wow French Riviera having set up permanent berths at the Yacht Club de Monaco and in Saint Tropez for the summer.
The boat is to be made available for those seeking to try it out and we are hoping to be amongst the first.
Delivering a smooth and exhilarating ride for passengers, the new high speed yacht offers a comfortable high-performance driving experience for whoever is at the helm.
Its retractable carbon fibre hydrofoils deliver strength, rigidity and lightness, allowing the yacht to fly 1.5 metres above the water for an exciting and relaxing yachting experience.
Foiling technology has been around for some time and is used mostly in sail boats and kitesurfing, but in building Foiler, Enata has made the first hydrofoil motor yacht that is both easy for anyone to use and efficient.
Foiler has a high window of efficiency as it starts to foil at 12 knots and is completely out of the water at 17 knots with a maximum speed of 40 knots in flight mode.
Handling waves up to 2.5m to 3m in foiling mode in force 5 to 6 she can still provide complete comfort for up to 8 people
In more extreme conditionsFoilercan retract the foils and be used as a classical boat.
The foils are fully retractable. Using the patented system, Foiler switches from foiling mode to Archimedean mode in a few seconds.
When moored or at the harbour, the foils and electric torpedoes – which propel the boat – are entirely out of the water.
That way they stay dry and clean, thereby reducing the maintenance.
The Foiler is environmentally friendly in several ways.
The first is her low fuel consumption. Because the yachts hull is lifted clear of the water there is much less drag, meaning it uses a lot less fuel.
Secondly it uses a hybrid propulsion system. Two diesel engines power a large battery, that then feeds the electric propellers.
All of this combined makes the Foiler about 20% to 50% more fuel efficient than other yachts.
It can even go completely silent in full electric mode at 10 knots for up to 10min, and get a larger range at lower speeds, which is important for port manoeuvres or when engaged in fishing or trawling.
Another great advantage is the elimination of the wake caused by having less hull in the water.
Finally, low engine noise and no noise from the waves hitting the hull ensures the boat is extremely quiet.
Quite an achievement at 40 knots.