The cream of the crop at Foiling Week 2020 Gurit Forum

Each year at Foiling Week forum everyone marvels at the increasing reach that foiling projects have in the marine industry: from boards to ocean going vessels, from high end racing yachts to more commercial marine applications.

The forum this year is moving online and will be freely visible on Foiling Week social channels (Facebook, YouTube and Linkedin) with the purpose of enhancing the interaction with the foiling community. It’s an active and engaged community: take Blair Tuke, a supremely talented Olympic gold medalist , America’s cup and Ocean Race sailor that has recently formed with Peter Burling the Live Ocean Charitable Trust: we will discuss how top end sailors can make the difference and lead the way in protecting the sea we all love.

The heads of design of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and Emirates Team New Zealand will discuss the technological advancements of the AC75 , on the other side it will be possible to explore the trickle-down of America’s cup technology into commercial vessels from the directors of Artemis Technologies and Bar Technologies.
Only a couple of months are left before the start of the legendary Vendee Globe: a hot topic will be the next design changes of the IMOCA class discussed with the president Antoine Mermod, plus designers Guillaume Verdier and Juan K.
Also, large foiling yachts and catamarans are topics discussed respectively by Mani Frers and Tommy Gonzales.

Back to racing it is easy to see that innovation in foiling is not just on the boats but also in the formats. Sail GP and the Persico 69F Cup have proved a new way is possible: Julien Di Biase and Giorgio Benussi will share their vision. Last but not least the sustainable approach to moth design and construction by international naval universities competing in the SuMoth Challenge will be under the expert eyes of the 11Hour Racing jury.

Paolo Manganelli, Principal Engineer for Gurit, notes that “The foiling revolution is truly the result of naval architects, structural engineers, hydrodynamicists, sailors, and passionate inventors from multiple horizons all having contributed their ideas and innovations. The Gurit Forum at The Foiling Week offers a great venue for these people to come together, exchange ideas and information, and ultimately lay the grounds for yet more groundbreaking and sustainable projects. We are proud to support another edition of the forum and look forward to working with the new designs and ideas that will result.”

Many more technical interviews are part of the Gurit Forum at Foiling Week 2020.