WHISPER
OVERVIEW
The White Formula Whisper is a cutting edge catamaran that has been designed and built in the UK.
Designer Ron Price had the idea to bring an affordable flying catamaran to the world sailing scene. After watching the incredible 2014 Americas Cup upset, Ron decided if he couldn’t get a ride on one he would build his own, he designed the Whisper completely on a computer and modeled it using very sophisticated marine development software. Six months later he was well on his way to launching his prototype. On day one of testing the Whisper prototype foiled flawlessly for over 4 minutes without dropping off the foils.
DESIGN
The boat is a carbon fibre T foiling catarman. the Whisper comes in at a platform weight of only 78Kg.
The T foil system allows the ride height to be easily adjusted Being able to adjust the ride height makes it easier to sail the boat in a variety of conditions. In light weather the hulls can ride high above the surface; in breezier, choppier conditions the lower ride height helps to keep the foils submerged.
The dual foil system also helps with lateral stability. Because there are two independently controlled systems on the cat, each T-foil adjusts the ride height of each hull, which helps keep the cat flat automatically.
Apart from the foil system there is another particularly impressive feature of this boat: her build. At 78kg all up she is supremely light thanks to her carbon sandwich-infused construction. A Tornado is the same length, but double the weight.
The standard of build and fit-out is also impressive, but the key to this boat is that her clever construction makes her very stiff.
Unlike conventional cats with aluminium crossbeams bolted to the hulls, the Formula Whisper’s beams are an integral part of the hull and deck. In simple terms she uses a biscuit tin type construction arrangement where the lid (the deck) slips over the hull (the tin).
HOW ARE THEY BUILT?
The boat is made using a cutting edge epoxy / carbon fibre infusion method, fully built in the UK and fitted out in our production facility in Essex. The advancements in 3D printing and laser sintering has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, the recent application of printing Carbon Fibre has allowed us to cut a lot of cost out of manufacturing intricate moving parts. We also computer cut all of the internal parts of the boat using our own 3 axis cnc machine, this means we can incorporate weight saving areas into the structure of the hull, lowering the overall weight.
THE COMMUNITY
The Whisper is a one design class, but when it comes to the styling, the sky is the limit. Our customers have had some pretty wacky ideas, so we are looking forward to a pretty interesting start line, coupled with the ability to foil in just 4 knots of wind we could see some “pretty fly styles”.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
WEIGHT
LENGTH
BEAM
SAIL AREA
TARGET CREW WEIGHT RANGE
TAKE OFF WIND SPEED
TARGET BOAT SPEED RANGE
125 kg
5.4m
2.3m
14.3m2 Main + 3.5m2 Jib + 15.3m2 Spinnaker
100-180 kg
5 kts
12-20 kts