Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Valkyrie II
I am extremely excited to present the lines plans for Valkyrie II. After the amazing success of Valkyrie I set out to produce a boat that will weigh 30 - 50% less than the original, with more buoyancy, less drag, more lift, lower take off speeds, higher top end, better roll control, simpler construction, and a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. In the spirit of open source and constructive competition, I am sharing my lines plans here on this website. If you think you can solve the engineering hurdles better than I have, or if you want to produce something similar to Valkyrie II, good luck and go right ahead, or better yet give me a call!
The new version of Valkyrie features a 3' longer hull with more canoe like underwater shapes for an improved prismatic coefficient and overall better low speed performance, including at unusual pitch angles, all with a heavier load than before. The amas are better hydro-dynamically and the biggest improvement will be the foils themselves. Previously I used 1/4 inch plywood, 6" wide and 8' long to create a "wing". This time, I am using an actual foil shape, which I hope to give the designer credit for after recieving his permission.
Construction has already begun with the purchase of lumber. Updates and pictures will follow soon!
Valkyrie Update
There is good news and bad news. First, I must apologize to all the fans out there. There is no footage of Valkyrie foiling under sail, and there never will be, but not due to any problem with Valkyrie. Unfortunately, it was time for me to leave the Caribbean and move back to the suburbs of Southern California and Valkyrie had to be scrapped. That's the bad news. The good news, is that Valkyrie performed almost exactly as hoped. During the last week of testing, in mid Dec. 2010, there were uncharacteristically light winds of less than 12 knots. I always estimated Valyrie would need 12 knots to fly. During several runs, in the gusts, she seemed to "want" to lift but it was never caught on film.
Now, the good news. I have learned so much with Valkyrie, and am so pleased with the successes, that plans for Valkyrie II are in the works. I'll post some pictures soon!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Valkyrie Design Montage
Here is a little video showing Valkyrie's CAD drawings as they evolved during the construction of the working prototype.
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