Kiwis leading charge for multihull sailing

(Photosport)
(Photosport)

The last America's Cup introduced many to the thrills and sometimes spills of multihull sailing.

A number of other major regattas have followed suit and switched to catamaran classes, and Kiwi sailors are making the most of the changes.

Simon Hull is one of those with a new toy.

The latest addition to the Team Vodafone Sailing fleet is a GC32 – a 10-metre foiling catamaran.

Hull is no stranger to multihull sailing – his 18-metre trimaran holds most of the local offshore records.

The new, smaller boat is geared towards harbour sailing in calmer waters, and getting airborne.

"Obviously foiling's the way of the future for sailing, and we wanted to get a bit of it, get involved with it and learn it, and that's what we're doing," Hull says.

A big reason for foiling's popularity was the last America's Cup.

Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby – a 16-time world champion across various multihull classes – puts some of the recent resurgence down to the work done by the Kiwi team.

"From those hard yards that we did here on the Waitemata, I think people all around the world are getting to enjoy multihull sailing, and the spinoffs from that have been fantastic for sailing in general," he says.

Catamarans will return to the Olympic programme with the Nacra 17 in Rio.

Following in the footsteps of the America's Cup, the Extreme Sailing Series is changing to the GC32 in 2016, while the World Match Racing Tour has ditched monohulls for a similar foiling cat class.

The change is opening the door for faster, more exciting sailing, and Hull believes the local sailors are more than adapted to the change.

"Our Kiwis are transitioning pretty well across to it. A lot of the skills are pretty similar in a whole lot of the mentalities to want to keep getting better and faster and continual improvement. That Kiwi attitude seems to be transitioning pretty well. There's a lot of Kiwis sailing multihull now."

While Hull aims to keep improving in his new boat, another New Zealand team are also hoping for some success of their own.

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