On a Wing and a Rudder - Part I

Andy Rice looks at the T-foil technology that propelled Zach Berkowitz to the title of International 14 World Champion

Berkowitz was competing at Beer without a T-foil but was so awestruck by the performance of his fellow Americans that he got local boatbuilder Kevin Driver and Olympic Tornado crew Adam May to hurry one together for him, in time to hang on the transom for the final race of the Worlds that year. But for the Brits, Aussies and other nations present the world-beating T-foils failed to make much of an impression.

That has all changed this year, after Berkowitz's devastating performance in Bermuda. Go to www.i14.org, and you'll find a heated debate raging as to whether T-foils should continue to be sanctioned or banned, but more of that later.

Berkowitz went back home with his new, but rather crude, T-foil to do some serious thinking. Having parted company with long-time crew Karl Baldauf whose back problems have seriously hampered his sailing over the years, Berkowitz teamed up with Trevor Baylis. Baylis had just finished a 49er campaign with his wife Tina that saw them qualify for the Olympics for Canada, only to miss out on the Games due to political wrangling with ISAF.

Baylis brought the professionalism of 49er campaigning to Berkowitz's long experience and technical knowledge of the 14. Both were keen to pursue the potential of T-foil technology. T-foils originate from the International Moth, which uses them to dampen down pitching moment. That was what Berkowitz foresaw would be the chief advantage of applying them to the 14.

While reduction of pitching has indeed proved to be a significant advantage, the American Fourteeners discovered a secondary and potentially greater advantage once they started varying the angle of attack of the rudder.

The first generation T-foil, as used to win the Worlds in 2000, saw the whole rudder pivot through the daggercase on the transom, with the wing permanently fixed to the rudder.

This is what Zeb Elliott used this year at the Worlds but the downside was that you can get enormous weather helm or lee helm, depending on how the rudder is canted, "enough to push you off the side of the boat", according to Berkowitz.

To get round this, Berkowitz and Baylis developed a system with Bieker and Larry Tuttle whereby the rudder rake would remain fixed, but the T-foil angle would be adjustable via a push-rod system that ran down the centre of the rudder foil. Quite a feat of engineering, but worth the effort, on the face of it.

Was the T-foil really as significant as it appears? Find in Part II of this article tomorrow on madforsailing