Michele Petrucci builds again masts for A-Class

Michele has building carbon parts for years now. Bimare built plenty of ACats and masts, and later Michele continue with his own S9 Foiler Project. A double wand T foil flying cat which delivers excellent out of the box foiling capabilities for every skill level. Masts above look pretty good too.

The S9 requires a good amount of building hours and tech, having not one but two a la Moth wand systems which control automatic flights. Michele built his own masts for the S9 and now he is offering mast for A-Class platforms.

Below a mail Michele sent us with data on his autoclave built masts after reading my comments on a short rig I got here for a light weight sailor (which has been tested in Australia by Brewin and Bundy, and also by the Caviezel bros / Scheurer Camp , in fact the rig we have here was from Sandro (Mast from Piet Saarberg / Felix / Landy Radial) .
We think and wrote, as Michele points out, that a Shorter mast is the way to go in foiling mode. We have draw a cambered rig last year to acommodate a shorter mast, we will publish it soon. Some already have seen it.

For more info on Michele Petrucci A-Cat masts alternative contact him at [email protected] and https://www.facebook.com/catamaran.stunt

By Michelle Petrucci – S9 Foiler Cat & Carbon Mast builder

Hi Martin,

“Just noted your comments on the A-Class light breeze pace with the Landy radial main by Felix Egner and them 830cm mast Setup.

Just wanted to say it’s something that we, at Catamaran Stunt, have been playing around intensively in the last few years with shorter rigs. We ‘ve testes different configurations developing the S9 platform and we ended up with a 7,5 metre mast with a main-jib sailplan. The  boat is simply faster, easier to steer , more stable and less sensitive to pitch. 

Even in the a Class A solo main configuration I guess the shorter mast is for sure a setup to dig in more. Especially in accordance to the extreme foiling evolution  we’ve seen lately.

Reducing heeling-pitching moment, lowering centre of efforts ( dynamically of course) and center of gravity are all turnkey points to deal with a faster boat. isn’t it ? Can we match all these benefits with the taller rig and slightly higher aspect ratio sail? Well.. we think so, time will tell. Hopefully sail designers and mast makers can definitely approach this option and see what happens.

Ps. Side effects benefits of the shorter mast configuration: less rig aero drag, 10% lower overall rig weight, safer to get back the boat upright, more cost effective. Moreover.. less loads applied and more favourable set up for light and young (male-female) crews.

Here is a little update of what’s going on here at Catamaran Stunt

_ S9 update: new board (fore aft )trimming system. New  sails and mast set up and trim. Luckily still lots of performances and improvements to be taken out of the boat..

_S1  Sport cat launch. The S1 is a simple and fast beach cat. The straight or curve board configuration and t foil rudder allows a very fast skimming mode at ease. Lots of positive feedbacks and performance improvements tips were taken even compared with ACats (classic mode). Quiet a fun and seriously fast boat, very well suited to young crews and girls. The main+jib configuration seems paying off especially in the breezes.I will give you more details, photos and tech data sheet soon..

_Mast making division: we strongly wanted to come back as mast makers. We had the skills and the back logs.

Bimare was in the 90 s the first company to launch carbon masts on beach cats. Since then hundreds of masts were produced and sailed successfully. Our aim is to focus on mast quality and structural performances, we ‘re using the pre reg-autoclave 6 bars pressure 130 ° curing, that is by far the best method available in the market. Autoclave curing is essential to reach the very best stiffness/ strength to weight ratio. A very nice progressive curve is achievable matching mainsail luff curve according to sailmakers design targets. Production  has already started, the deliver of 5 Class A 9 meter section fully rigged masts is on the way.

Moreover our wish is to propose the shorter mast Class A configuration as a series production. Of course We will keep our minds  open to new collaborations driven by passion and innovation, exciting times gonna come soon!!

Let’s stay unite and positive … but above all… go sailing !!