Gunboats Full Foiling G4 Cruiser/Racer

[caradow]

Picture on todays SA has the new G4 foiling.
It is advertised as a Cruiser/Racer.
Just curious how many on CF would actually take this boat ocean cruising?
Cant wait to see how it performs in the ocean with Gale force winds.
I am sure it is a hoot to sail but then again so is my Starboat.

[MIRELOS]

looks like a lot of fun, in protected waters

[Geekatlrg]

First off Congratulations, Gunboat and Holland Composites!




Looking at the pictures I have seen so far it looks like one heck of a ride!

Originally Posted by caradow

Picture on todays SA has the new G4 foiling.
It is advertised as a Cruiser/Racer.
Just curious how many on CF would actually take this boat ocean cruising?
Cant wait to see how it performs in the ocean with Gale force winds.
I am sure it is a hoot to sail but then again so is my Starboat.

This is the most inconsequential drivel and I have seen it all to many times in regards to gunboats on these forums…. haters going to hate…

Many “CW cruisers” have successfully accomplished circumnavigations in **** boxes I would not step foot on. Let alone the lolz that don’t make it. Does that make them any less cruisers?

No it may not be in the level of comfort you or I is looking for but will it perform the job.
Yes….

This is an Extreme Boat and I think that is the target they are going after.
Is this the ideal craft for you and your family to going circumnavigation on??? I don’t know your family but I am going to go with NO. So go buy yourself a condomaran to play cribbage on wont upset them you’re not the target market.

[senormechanico]

Looks like fun until you cross a PNW tide line.
There are logs, kelp balls in plentiful supply at certain times of year.

[Stumble]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Looks like fun until you cross a PNW tide line.
There are logs, kelp balls in plentiful supply at certain times of year.

Now this is just silly. The G4 has about two square foot of board in the water while foiling. The likelyhood of actually hitting something is going to be dramatically lessened by having nothing in the water.

Even assuming you do hit something and snap a blade, well it's going to be an expensive accident but you just sail in like any other boat.

[senormechanico]

You obviously haven't sailed around here.


We once ran over a nearly invisible log in a tide rip while on a close reach at ten knots.
Trust me, when you hit hard stuff at speed, it gets your attention.
The centerboard kicked up with a big crash, followed almost instantly by the rudder kicking. The steering went numb and by the sound, I thought the rig was going to fall.
It was only a second after all this we saw a log almost as long as the boat and about ten inches in diameter roll out from the stern.
We went from ten knots to about 1 in a flash, and we had hit the log at 90 degrees while crossing a tide rip.

Three people in the cockpit an no one saw it.

After resetting the rudder and centerboard clutches, we kept sailing with no damage.

I can only wonder what kind of impact it would be in a foiling cat at 20 knots.
But then, with such a small amount of boat in the water, that's nearly impossible, isn't it? <sarcasm>

[2Hulls]

The G4 looks like a lot of fun. I wish I had a good friend who was buying one. OPBs (other people's boats) have huge advantages.

So it's called a racer/cruiser. I don't see this boat doing any long range cruising. Maybe short cruises near coastal.

As for racing, against who? You'd have to get several of them in one location and race sorta one-design. The rating systems for cats that don't foil are frequently controversial and are intended to equalize the boats anyway. Attempting to rate these boats with non-foilers could be laughable as well as naive....

But, any one needing crew on one of these, please let me know.

Dave

[a64pilot]

Guys this is an extreme boat, automotive equivalent is a Bugatti Veyron or something.
and just like that car it's sort of a specialized thing, Bugatti probably isn't worth a crap in the snow or getting groceries, but that doesn't make it less of a phenomenal car.
This boat not doing well hitting submerged objects doesn't make it less of a phenomenal boat

Gunboats marketing dept may be calling it a cruiser, but I doubt many listen to marketing depts anymore do they?

[four winds]

Look at the size off that genny, or whatever it is! What's that , a 190?

Awesome looking. I want a ride.

Maybe sharpen the foils so it cut the logs in half. :-)

[neilpride]

I see it Yesterday docked in SXM , impresive, full carbón, is small , kind of a Nacra on steroids, the attention to details is just awesome, for inshore racing cruising is perfect if you want your adrenaline rush at hig speed, for offshore sailing i guess no, he can fly a hull really easy, is really light , i guess capsize scenario with this baby can be real, storage no idea but looking at the size i think is nil....

[senormechanico]

A64,

I wasn't criticizing the boat, just its an impractical design for the Puget Sound and inland Canadian waters because of all the logs etc.

I am sure it's an E Ticket ride !

[belizesailor]

Thought about the G4 today while having a great sail in the San Blas. We were reefed and doing about 7.5 knots. My GF asked me "why not shake out the reef?"...because I don't want to go any faster!

I was already feeling like a whirling dervish monitoring two different sets of charts and eyeballing (in poor overcast light). Lots of opportunities to make a catastrophic mistake here...witnessed by the the 6 total loses already this season (and the Nautitec 44 I saw yesterday with both keels lashed to the foredeck!)

If sailing a G4 several times faster my pucker factor would have been unpleasantly high.

Not a practical cruising boat I think, but sure would be a rush to sail in the right circumstances.

[tp12]

Personally, I'd give my left nut for one.

You don't always have to be foiling but it's nice to know you can drop the hammer when conditions etc allow. On a tradewinds circumnavigation you could really shorten some legs ...

I race motorbikes, I like to go fast, this thing gives me the horn!

[Sailingcouple13]

I would think there would be a good market for a two hour day cruising. Say 5 guests at $300 each 3 times a day. $4500 for the day, thats $31,500 a week, $120k + per month.
I think it would cash flow just fine, plenty of free Crew from all the volunteers here....
I am just trying to convince the admiral I will be ok to buy one.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Zanshin]

Originally Posted by neilpride

I see it Yesterday docked in SXM...

And I saw it making all the other boats between St. Martin and Anguilla look literally like they were standing still the day before yesterday. Not the sailless charter cat in the picture but some 60+ foot racing monohulls. The winds were about 15 knots true and the swell just over a meter and this G4 was flying!