You hit the nail on the head here. Safety is a key question that often comes up in discussions that we have with customers, and is of course a key focus in the development of the Candela model range.
As you mention, the deep V hull cuts waves pretty well, but we also have algorithms monitoring the position of the boat in 3D space, looking for signals that indicate a treacherous seastate or an unfavorable position of the boat. This means that we won't do the nose dives that you see in the sailing videos.
Be sure that we have landed unexpectedly quite a few times to get to where we are! :D
To sum it up, when you are accustomed to flying with the Seven and you know where the limits are in terms of wave handling, then it's no different from riding in a regular boat in choppy seas or high waves. Unruly seas require alert sailors, in all types of boats.
We're publishing a short video soon, purely focused on running through waves from large passenger ferries. Sub to our youtube to know when.
Looks like fun...in the right environment. For example, our local lakes have vegetation that comes all the way up to the surface. Hit a "kelp" bank at speed and it will not end well. I've had the experience of getting stuck in one such beds in a rowing shell. Let's just say it wasn't fun at all.
Open water with a low probability of colliding with anything near the surface? Yeah, this looks like a blast!
Open waters on a windy day or the day after a windy day can be hard.
Check out our videos from the Caribbean and a comparison with an 8 meter aluminum boat in a choppy archipelago condition.
Can we foil in every single wave height there is? Abosolutely not, but our boats outperform regular boats in comfort in weathers where you'd normally bring out your 8 meter daycruiser/open boat.
It's also worth remembering that in rough seas, you can go down from the foils with no issue. You just cut the efficiency down to regular boat levels...
Even if not foiling, can you still take the boat out with, say, beaufort 8-9 weather? That's more similar to what I was expecting in the "high waves" videos, and is not unusual to encounter when commuting or spending the day elsewhere, depending on your area (obviously, it starts being unpleasant if you want to spend the day at sea on a speedboat).
Edit: now realizing it, but your target market is probably only going to go out with calm weather in protected seas, given the price point and finish. I hope that sort of product will get mainstream at some point.
If you encounter force 8-9 while out on a speedboat day trip you've seriously messed up with your preparation and planning! it doesn't just come out of nowhere.
The reality is that it's the sea state that matters. A sheltered lake or estuary could only have 30cm waves with 40 knots of wind, whereas the open sea would have a 1.5m+ swell with 1m waves on top.
Let's just be honest, you're not going out in Beaufort 8-9 kind of weather with this size boat, foiling or not, unless you have to. I have a boat larger and likely more capable of taking on rough seas than the Candela and I will avoid those kinds of winds if I can, and only really go out in that kind s of weather if I must.
Yeah, you are right, I was mainly thinking about swell, which can sometimes be quite important, while local wind isn't particularly strong. Beaufort scale is more a wind scale than a swell scale, my apologies for using it. I don't think big waves are that problematic to navigate with a speedboat if the period between two waves is long enough, but I don't think foiling would work with that kind of sea. Since I used to live in an area where such conditions were relatively frequent, I was wondering how well the Candela could handle them.
My boating skills aren't that fresh anymore, despite living on one during my childhood, and spending a good chunk of my youth close to the sea. I might thus misremember or exaggerate things, but I am fairly confident of the above.
You're not wrong, but also the minimum foiling speed for this particular boat is listed at 17 knots. If you're navigating a speed boat through rough seas at 17 knots you're a braver person than I am for sure. :o)
Below that it seems to me like it behaves more or less like a regular boat. Regardless, I'd probably avoid speeds above 10 knots if I found myself in relatively high seas, and I'd just avoid going out in that kind of boat altogether if I had the option. If you do find yourself in that kind of sea though my experience is that most swells tend to come from one direction so you can find a good bearing surf the waves, zig-zagging if need be. Adjusting speed as need be is crucial in rough seas for sure.
It does have a reasonable draft without the foils extended it seems, 1 meter, and at 2.4 meters wide it seems like it could be pretty stable actually. It'll be interesting to see once my buddy gets his delivered.
I'm sure given my other comments in this thread you can figure out which customer of yours is my friend. We're on the Swedish west coast where the sea is quite choppy most of the time, so it'll be really interesting to see how well it performs. Happy to provide you with feedback as best I can.
As you mention, the deep V hull cuts waves pretty well, but we also have algorithms monitoring the position of the boat in 3D space, looking for signals that indicate a treacherous seastate or an unfavorable position of the boat. This means that we won't do the nose dives that you see in the sailing videos.
Be sure that we have landed unexpectedly quite a few times to get to where we are! :D
To sum it up, when you are accustomed to flying with the Seven and you know where the limits are in terms of wave handling, then it's no different from riding in a regular boat in choppy seas or high waves. Unruly seas require alert sailors, in all types of boats.
We're publishing a short video soon, purely focused on running through waves from large passenger ferries. Sub to our youtube to know when.