Two man flying

The UK Cherub class are experimenting with hydrofoils

UK Cherubs have never been shy of flying. With there high power to weight ratio and low wetted surface area allowing them get clear of the water at almost any opportunity. But now it seems Andy Lang may be looking to go one better. With his fully foiling UK Cherub!

Andy's Aquamarina was the first UK Cherub to use a pitch controlled 'T' foil rudder successfully and now it seems that she will be the first to fly on foils.

There are two schools of thought currently in the UK Cherubs when it comes to foiling. There's fully foiling and then there is the more pragmatic school of Reduced Displacement Foiling. In fact Phil Alderson the builder and original owner of Aquamarina was the first to go down this path a few years back. The idea being to recover some of the energy through the 'T' foil, i.e to surf your own manufactured stern wave, and secondly to support the weight of the crew and reduce displacement. Although never ultimately successful at the Nationals she was a winning boat and spurred on several other members of the class to go down this RDF (reduced displacement foiling) route, notably Andy Paterson who employed his foil to pip Ben Brown and Daryl Wilkinson in Loco Perro at the 2005 nationals.

So now it seems the next stage has been reached in the foil debate, with Andy taking on the challenge of fully foiling his UK Cherub. Will it be ultimately successful? Who knows, but one thing is for sure, it's going to get Andy's heart racing finding out.

Come and check out the UK Cherubs at their next Open meeting at Stone SC on the River Blackwater, Essex, on the 24 - 25 of June. You never know you might just fall in love.