Moonshot #1 is a sailing craft that flies its pod a few feet above the surface, using foils to keep it grounded to the water, with kites providing the propulsion.
The pilots in the pod will have to control the kite and foil to avoid crashes at dangerous speeds. But the main hurdle the designers have faced is mastering the cavitation – the air bubbles that build up as the foils move faster – at speeds that no sailing vessel has ever reached.
America’s Cup racing vessels have used foils for about five years to attain lightning-fast water speeds, but they tweak the shapes continuously to minimize cavitation.
Syroco’s “Moonshot I” combines technology in an innovative way that extends beyond speed and into lowering the world’s carbon footprint.
Moonshot #1 expects to reach 80.99 knots (150 kilometres per hour)
Syroco is a scientific and technical lab that generates innovation through pioneering achievements.
Covering broad Multiphysics domains, the Syroco teams work on the entire spectrum of technologies, simulation tools and platforms for modelling and experimentation.