THE NEED FOR SPEEEEEED!

FOILERS – The Swiss Hydros team, based in the Parc Scientifique d’Ecublens of the EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne), is jointly pursuing three ambitious projects. In September 2013, Hydros will enter two state-of-the-art Class C multihulls in the Little Americas Cup at Falmouth, UK.

The yachts are currently under construction at the Decision SA boatyard in Lausanne. The rigid wing that will replace the sails is also under construction at Decision. The first Class C crew will comprise Jérémie Lagarrigue and Billy Besson, who recently came third in the Formula 18 World Championships (sport catamarans) at Long Beach.

At the same time, some members of the Hydros team are developing the HydroContest, a competition that challenges universities to find solutions to some of the issues maritime transport faces: dwindling reserves of fossil fuels and the need to reduce their consumption by transport ships.

Finally, Hydros is developing a mobile application that will be used within the Hydro Speed Tour, a global speed record competition to increase public awareness of the need to use energy efficiently and save energy without compromising performance.

See also the short video on the progress of ‘Hydroptère.ch’. The break of the starboard floater interrupted the record attempts on Lake Geneva in September.