To reach 80 knots and pulverize the current record, we need huge power. If we followed the traditional codes of sailing, we would require gigantic sails and therefore a boat of enormous size and mass to support such a rig.

With this in mind, our three co-founders quickly turned to the great potential of kites. Indeed, kitesurfers can reach incredible speeds (more than 57 knots / 105 km/h)! To go even faster, the limiting factor is not the kite itself  but the human being who has to support the kite’s power! Our pilot Benoît, kitesurfer since his childhood, knows this well as he often sped at over 45 knots (83 km/h).

At 150 km/h, stability is key so that our pilot can accelerate safely until 80 knots. Our team therefore focused on this essential criteria when designing the global architecture of the boat: its three floats ensure a constant balance, whether it is at standstill, during the record attempts, but also and above all during the transition phases of acceleration and deceleration. 

But why are we keeping our little rocket close to the water when today we often see flying boats? Classical foils actually allow boats to raise above water and thus accelerate by reducing their drag as much as possible.

However, at very high speeds, these foils tend to dramatically reduce the boat’s stability, mostly when the pilot has no electronic assistance to control them. In our case, and according to the record rules, our pilot doesn’t have the right to use electronic assistance !

Thus we rapidly decided to use a different foil that pulls the boat down, preventing him from flying every time it gets windy. The additional drag caused by our three floats touching water is compensated by the kite’s power.