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TF10, the trimaran for foiling enthusiasts

Article published on 04/11/2017

By Jean-Christophe Guillaumin

published in n°156 nov. / dec.

Here is the TF10, the latest boat from DNA, an innovative yard based in the Netherlands.  

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This folding trimaran is equipped with foils, measures 11 m and is the first in a one-design series which will therefore offer the chance to its owners to be able to compete on equal terms.  The best thing about the TF10 is its simplicity of use - even for diehard monohull sailors - with the control of the foils being simple and assisted.  Five boats have already been ordered, and the first race will take place in 2018 in the USA.  

Check them out at: www.dnaperformancesailing.com

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TF10: 2019 Foiler

• By Dave Reed
• Updated: December 26, 2018

Seventy-five-year-old foiling fanatic Malcolm Gefter, dressed in tattered neoprene sailing gear, with an impact-padded PFD and sailing helmet loosely clipped and askew, is beaming ear to ear as he watches his 35-foot trimaran stream across the horizon, hovering 3 or 4 feet above the water with plumes of spray spitting from its rudders. We’re chasing them in our RIB, the big diesel outboard humming at full speed. On board the trimaran is one experienced pro and three of our Boat of the Year personnel. The three of them have zero foiling experience and less than 30 minutes on this boat.

Yet, there is BOTY judge Tom Rich, more familiar helming his 41-foot IMS-era lead dragger, perched on the TF10’s bench seat, carbon tiller in his left hand, just absolutely sending the boat down Narragansett Bay at 25 knots. Rich is wide-eyed, white-knuckled and trying like hell not to wipe out. But otherwise, he’s ­comfortable. And confident.

“See? No problem. He’s doing it,” Gefter mumbles nonchalantly. “I told you they’d foil on their first try.”

No sooner do the words leave Gefter’s zinc-covered lips does the trimaran’s weather hull plunge, punch a hole in the bay, lift right back up and get going again as if nothing happened.

“In a big catamaran, like the M32, that would have been a pitch-pole or capsize, for sure,” Gefter says. “With this boat, you get the buoyancy from the center hull, so that’s not going to happen.”

Gefter would know. His previous boat was a carbon Marstrom 32 catamaran that required experienced dudes and a chase boat every time he wanted to go yachting. He’s done with that. This TF10 trimaran is his next boat, a product of his hyper­analytical mind. He’s been hands-on with the design and build since inception, and has invested a small fortune of his own time and money.

“The concept was to build a boat that takes advantage of foiling capability and to bring it to the realm of the ordinary, but competitive, high-performance sailor,” Gefter explains to the Boat of the Year judges. “Guys from TP52s, Melges 32s, etc., that ought to be able to take a step up to this boat and go foiling.”

When it comes to fast and stable flight, what makes the TF10 different from smaller foiling craft such as Moths and other singlehanders, which use human weight as righting moment, is the trimaran’s “mechanics,” Gefter says. “This boat is about the mechanics and how you use them.” That, and the undeniable fact that a trimaran is a more stable and comfortable platform for first‑time foilers like our judges.

“You might get a little wet,” Gefter says. “But it will be possible for each of you to foil from the helm on your first go.”

Before setting off from the dock, Gefter explains the three-sail-inventory (gennaker, reefable jib and main). The mechanics he’d referred to earlier are the four appendages — two large L-shaped daggerboards and two high-aspect T-rudders. All four stay down, he says, for what’s called four-point foiling, but the windward board can be raised upwind for a fraction of a speed gain. Off-the-wind sailing is another story; all four must remain down all the time. Four-button control modules to control “lift and no-lift” for each of the appendages are mounted at each of the trimming stations.

Gefter’s TF10 foiling 101 is as such: “The windward rudder is pulling down to create righting moment, and the leeward rudder is lifting up to create lift and adjust pitch. The windward ­daggerboard is providing most of the lift, and the windward board is providing slightly less lift.”

Like any other boat, the TF10 sails upwind with leeward heel, and with the big center hull, the sensation is similar to any other sportboat. Gefter sometimes drives from the center cockpit, but mostly from the bench alongside the main trimmer. Once the gennaker is deployed, driver and trimmers work in sync to level the boat, and get the foils in balance and the boat’s ­attitude just right.

“It’s not easy to do,” Gefter says, “but it’s doable and straightforward once you do.”

Built by DNA Performance Sailing in Holland, the TF10 is a carbon-fiber collector’s item, but fairly simple in the grand scheme, a boat that will demand constant attention and tweaking. A boat captain — or at least an experienced high-performance nipper — will be essential to make good use of every outing.

“Time on the water with this thing is critical to learning how to sail it, and that’s going to be the biggest challenge for any owner,” Allen says. “If you want to go sailing, you’ll need to have the right conditions, and the guys ready to go. With these types of boats, there will always be projects once you’re back at the dock, but it is what it is.”

While the first seven boats are built by DNA, the original group of owners — New York YC members — own the aluminum tooling, Gefter says, so they can build boats whenever and wherever they want. “It has to be said how well it’s built,” says judge Greg Stewart. “It’s all nice and fair. The boat looks awesome at the dock, with a very cool profile.”

The trampoline is a carbon fabric, creating a strong, impermeable shield to sprint across. It blocks spray too, so the boat is dry until you get aggressive with its fast weather-heel mode. It’s loaded with standard high-performance multihull controls: a diamond tensioned carbon rig with rotation assembly, and a wishbone boom that assists with the end-plate effect of a deck sweeper main.

The boat is sailed with four to five crew, positioned in different places to help trim and balance. Downwind, one crew moves inboard to the cockpit winch, grinding for the trimmer, who’s outboard on the bench with the main trimmer and driver. For righting moment and safety, Gefter says, they never allow more than four people on the bench at once.

While on the topic of safety, Gefter admits they have yet to capsize or pitch-pole the TF10, but could it? “Sure, it can happen, but it will be rare,” he says matter-of-factly. “But the trimaran configuration is so forgiving. The center hull’s flotation is significant, and at 2,600 pounds, it’s much heavier than the Marstrom, and that’s a stabilizing damping force on the skittishness. If it capsizes, it will turtle, which of course would not be pleasant.”

The judges never come close enough to finding out, and Rich is happy to report that he is well at ease cruising at altitude at 25 knots. Stewart, too, has the ride of his life. “It was a breakthrough day of sailing,” he says. “Just windy enough it wasn’t scary at all. Another 5 knots and we probably would have been putting in a reef and been just as fine.”

Boat of the Year worthy? Most definitely, but too narrow of a niche, Allen says. “You’ll definitely be having guys on the payroll to sail it, and the fleet will always be relatively small — maybe 10 or 15 at most — but they’ll have a lot of fun together doing point-to-point racing and trying different formats, especially when they’ve all got it wired.”

Rich agrees, adding that the TF10 checked all its boxes: It’s very well-built, sails great and meets its design criteria. “They guaranteed foiling, and we did,” he says. “The speed numbers Malcolm quoted about when the boat would do certain things was right on. It went upwind amazingly well too. We were flying upwind at 15 knots at pretty high angles.”

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Published on August 30th, 2017 | by Editor

TF10 Trimaran: Foiling Goes Mainstream

Published on August 30th, 2017 by Editor -->

Over the past year and half, high-ranking and highly engaged members met inside New York YC’s Harbour Court Station to agree upon what the club’s next sanctioned one-design class would be. The result was the commissioning of the Westerly Marine-built IC37 monohull , of which club member Malcom Gefter has little interest in.

The white-haired and freakishly fit septuagenarian thorn in the selection committee’s side will instead be off flying his 36-foot TF10 trimaran. Gefter and four others, including New York YC Commodore Phil Lotz, have embarked on their own endeavor, one that packages multihull sailing with foiling.

The TF10 is not only about going fast, says Gefter, although, for him, that is the appeal. Gefter’s 11 years of experience in one-design grand-prix racing includes stints in the Melges 32, Swan 42, and Marstrom 32 classes. His takeaway from those experiences is that often the difference between winning and losing is the pocketbook and not the skill of the owner-driver.

When North Sails president Ken Read suggested to Gefter he get in on the Marstrom 32 catamaran, however, he saw an opportunity to race at a more level owner/driver playing field. “The Marstrom was a place where the heavy spenders couldn’t dominate because there was a balance of experience, and it’s an environment where they were not comfortable.”

His entre into the multihull world did more than put him on even standing, however. It allowed him to push beyond his own physical and mental limitations, to a place he says most of his yacht club peers today are unwilling to go — “there” being outside their respective comfort zone, as well as the gym.

In lobbying his New York YC colleagues to embrace a multihull concept, however, he had to strike down the stigmas of catamaran sailing: the inherent dangers of pitchpoling and capsizing, and the greater technical challenges of big-boat foiling: primarily the power required to raise and lower the foils under load.

Safety, therefore, became the underlying principle when Gefter and a group of stakeholders commissioned their foiling trimaran to the design offices of Morelli & Melvin and the builder, DNA Performance Sailing in the Netherlands.

“If you look at all the ocean-going multihulls setting records, they’re all trimarans,” says Gefter. “This boat bridges the gap between monohull and multihull sailors and embraces both worlds.”

For the foiling aspect of the TF10, they looked to the A-Class catamaran, and the concept of “four-point” sailing whereas both foils and rudders deliver the necessary lift and down-force components for simpler and more stable flight.

Four-point foiling also eliminates the need to mechanically drive the boards up and down during maneuvers. Flight control, instead, simply comes from electronically adjusting the foils’ angle of attack. You can set the ride height how you like, says Gefter, depending on your skills, conditions, and personal comfort level. – Full report

Tags: DNA , TF10 Trimaran

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The TF10 is a foiling trimaran measuring 11 meters overall, designed by Morrelli and Melvin, and built and marketed by DNA.

• TF10 class association
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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Sea trials for the flying TF10 trimaran

• Katy Stickland
• October 27, 2017

The sea trials of DNA's new TF10 foiling trimaran didn't quite go according to plan off the coast of Spain although there was plenty of performance

Credit: Tomàs Moya/DNA Performance Sailing

Sea trials are designed to push a new boat to the limits and this certainly was the case for the new TF10 foiling trimaran.

The multihull, which has been built by the Dutch boatyard, DNA Performance Sailing, suffered a dismasting during testing off Barcelona in northerly breezes.

The TF10 was pushing past 25 knots in quiet, flat water when the high-modulus carbon fibre mast suddenly crumpled to the deck, breaking in parts on the way down.

Multiple catamaran racing world champion and DNA adviser Mischa Heemskerk, who was helming at the time, said he was surprised to see the mast let go in such light air.

“It seems we may be quite a bit faster than the simulations predicted, which means we could be developing too much power for the mast design,” said the Dutch racer, who stressed that breakages have been an important part of the development of all foiling boats – especially the big ones.

The broken mast is recovered. Credit: Tomàs Moya/DNA Performance Sailing

“Foiling in big yachts has only been possible for a few short years, so sea and sail trials are an extremely important tool to find the weak links in these cutting-edge designs,” he added.

Heemskerk said the yacht’s designers and builders are already investigating the breakage to determine what modifications are needed before the production run gets fully underway, and they’re confident the fix isn’t complicated.

“The silver lining here is that we had a great month of sailing with a respectable showing for the (European) Yacht of the Year competition, we learned a ton about the boat, and aside from the mast and a couple of insignificant bits and pieces, the boat performed flawlessly,” he stressed.

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According to DNA, the TF10 will be “the first sailing boat in history designed from the ground up to provide an exhilarating yet unintimidating flying experience to sailors of all skill levels”.

The trimaran is designed to replicate the performance of foiling America’s Cup boats, and uses Z-Foil Technology and electronic foil control.

It has been designed by Southern California-based Morrelli & Melvin, the same team behind both the foiling multihull – Team New Zealand’s AC72 Aotearoa.

At 36-foot long, the TF10 is designed to sail up to three times the wind speed in lighter air, reaching 25-30 knots in stiffer breeze.

The trimaran hitting over 25 knots in just 11 knots of wind. Credit: Tomàs Moya/DNA Performance Sailing

It has been commissioned by a group of Newport, Rhode Island-based sailing enthusiasts.

The owner of hull #1, Dr Malcolm Gefer, said the group wants to create a new racing class with “state-of-the-art performance but without the kind of “arms race” and cost escalation from which most grand prix sailing classes suffer”.

“As a group, we knew we wanted something that pushed the boundaries of what is possible in foiling boat design, and it looks like the designers and builders have created something completely unique and exceptional,” he said.

The new TF10 is expected to be on the racing circuit before the end of the winter.

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The foiling TF10 trimaran by DNA Performance Sailing is designed for every day racers

This super crazy trimaran can entertain and delight. The 11m(36ft) TF10 trimaran by Dna allows amateur sailors to ride on, since it’s made to be easy to handle.

DNA performance sailing BV is working to put the power to fly in the hands of every day racers.

The new TF10 has been nominated as a candidate for European Yacht of the Year 2018 in the category Special Yachts. Dutch boat builder DNA performance sailing has launched the foiling TF10 trimaran. The DNA TF10 is the first boat designed from scratch to introduce the lessons learned; making foiling safer and more accessible for the everyday performance sailor. The TF10 is a foiling boat with good manners.

DNA is the high performance sailing division of Dutch based advanced composite engineering and manufacturing company Holland Composites.

“The TF10 embodies the race-proved qualities of performance, ‘ sailability ’, reliability and safety which we believe are all desirable to make the TF10 a success as the next One Design boat for yacht club racing – a boat enticing men and women, youth and adults,” said the dutch boat builder.

The TF10 has been designed to exceed ABS offshore racing yachts requirements and is constructed of pre-preg carbon fibre with a Nomex honeycomb core for a lightweight, yet safe and robust construction. The boat can be offered in strict One Design spec for competition purposes. It is designed to be raced by a competent crew of four or five sailors, in a relatively stable and safe mode over a wide range of wind speeds and sea states.

“We hope it fires your imaginations too and we ensure that the TF10 will deliver on the thrill of sailing; after the foiling revolution there is now evolution, and the TF10 is the first boat designed from scratch to introduce lessons learned; making foiling safer and more accessible for the everyday performance sailor. The TF10 is a foiling boat with good manners,” say the boat builders.

“The first hull was conceived towards the end of 2015 and has been commissioned by five US members from the New York Yacht Club and who purchased for personal use. Six orders have been received by the shipyard so far,” said asia-pacificboating.com.

“Steering is light, the foils are forgiving in terms of control and operation due to their inherent design, rake control is electric and very easy to do. The amas fold inwards for shipping, which means the boat can be transported by road too.”

Easily transport the TF10 – retract the amas and trailer or ship your boat. The TF10 has been built with ease of competition in mind. You can arrive in Key West on your own trailer, or ship to Europe on a standard 40’ flat rack.

Open up new inland weekend cruising destinations with the ease of a boat ramp. No need to line up for a hoist, pay for a travel lift or register for a highway permit. The TF10 can be pulled with a standard HD pickup truck and can be launched from a ramp. The TF10 is simple to transport and set up, and can be stored indoors. According to the Dutch boat builder, the dna TF10 trimaran is now available for deliveries in 2018.

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Innovative design, fast, foiling & fun, custom parts & hydrofoils, tf10 foiling trimaran.

The Morrelli & Melvin designed TF10 is a safe and easy to sail foiling trimaran

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Multiple World Cup constructors title winning design within the international A-class catamaran division

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We produce hydrofoils for the Olympic Nacra 17 and MOD70 foiling multihulls and many other types of carbon hydrofoils for various foiling sailboats

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About dna performance sailing, the boat building division of holland composites.

DNA Performance Sailing is the high-quality boat building division of Holland Composites, the composite production company based in Lelystad, The Netherlands. DNA builds state-of-the-art foiling multihull sailboats. A passionate team works here from the design, the complete construction and detailed finishing to the delivery of the boat to the customer.

The DNA Performance Sailing line-up consists of the following models:

• the F1x – a 5.5 m lightweight and super-fast A-class catamaran. Multiple World Championship constructors title winning design within the international A-class catamaran division
• the TF10 – a 10 m one-design foiling trimaran designed by Morrelli & Melvin, the perfect transportable foiling multihull sailboat.

Our foiling multihull sailboats are designed to make flying above water at every level and accessible to a wide audience. We strive to deliver beautiful, safe and efficient foiling multihull sailboats. Always combined with a very committed customer service. Welcome to tomorrow’s sailing.

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2021: let’s foil again.

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SPECIAL BLOG: 10 facts about the TF10 foiling trimaran!

In this special blog you can discover 10 interesting and funny facts about the... Lees verder

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