Groupe Beneteau, after a collaboration with DEMS Sarrazin Design, Noval and SEAir, launches a prototype of its first motor folier
The push to make foiling mainstream has been given a major boost with the launch of Group Beneteau‘s first foiling motor boat.
The prototype, developed and engineered over a period of nine months with project partners Sarrazin Design, Noval and SEAir, is powered by a pair of 200hp outboard engines mounted on an adjustable trim plate and features four pivoting foils which raise clear of the water for berthing or transportation.
Unlike the SEAir RIB that MBY tested last year, the Beneteau has pair of foils aft as well as forward, not just extended trim planes affixed to the outboard(s).
For now, the project has been designed around outboards but Beneteau says that the technology could eventually be developed to work in conjunction with other propulsion methods.
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Groupe Beneteau CEO Hervé Gastiel says: “Following the Figaro Beneteau 3 for sailing, Groupe Beneteau is once again demonstrating its capacity for innovation with this first motor foiler.
“I would like to congratulate the teams who have successfully delivered on the challenge to design and build this boat.”
The resin-infused hull is 9.7m long and was designed from scratch to be used on the foiler. Beneteau says it will use this prototype for testing under real-life conditions to assess the potential of fitting foils to mainstream models in its motor boat range in the future.
