Hugh Welbourn has now designed many yachts with Dynamic Stability System foils in them and the Quant GT33 looks just as groundbreaking as his previous launches
The latest foil-assisted Hugh Welbourn design for Quant Boats is a 33ft weekender with DSS foils, water ballast, and a flexible sail plan designed to cope with the rapidly changing conditions that are often encountered on the larger central European lakes.
The additional stability provided by the foils means there’s no need to rely on form stability, so the hull is very slender by today’s standards, especially in the forward sections. In older designs such fine forward sections would have created a risk of nose-diving when sailing fast downwind. However, the DSS foils create lift as well as stability, so this is no longer a problem and the result is a hull with a very narrow waterline beam that’s quick in light airs but can also handle stronger conditions.
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At speeds of 20 knots the foil produces more than a tonne of lift, so minimal ballast is needed and displacement for the Quant GT33 is little more than 1,000kg – an astonishingly small figure for a boat of this length. Combined with a 12m high rig it gives a power-to-weight ratio that’s nothing short of awesome.
The accentuated reverse sheer gives this design a distinctive style, yet it’s also an inherently strong shape that keeps weight out of the ends of the hull. The first example was launched at the end of May and is currently undergoing sea trials.
Founder Michael Aeppli says they will know pricing once they have received the first few orders and can build the moulds for series production, but estimates it to be from £250,000 without sails or VAT.
Quant GT 33 Specifications
LOA: 33ft / 10m
Beam: 8ft / 2.5m
Draft lifting keel: 4ft 5in – 7ft 8in / 1.4-2.4m
Builder: quant-boats.com
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