gc 32 catamaran

RACE.FLY.LIVE EXPERIENCE THE GC32 CATAMARAN

• SPECIFICATIONS
• 12.00m Length (overall)
• 10.00m Length (hull)
• 6.00m Width
• 2.10m Max Board Draft
• 1.60m Max Rudder Draft
• 16.50m Mast Height (above beam)
• 6.60m Bow Sprit Length
• 975kg Total Boat Weight
• 55.30m2 3DI Raw Northsail Mainsail
• 19.02m2 3DI Raw Northsail Small Jib
• 24.17m2 3DI Raw Northsail Big Jib
• 88.00m2 3DI Raw Northsail Gennaker

GC32 Racing

From the Drawing Board: Dr Martin Fischer on the design of the GC32 rocketship

With the Extreme Sailing Series™ moving to the hydro-foiling GC32 catamaran in 2016, German naval architect and GC32 designer Martin Fischer talks through the technicalities of how these unbelievably fast rocketships rise up out of the water and fly across the surface.

Thursday 19th November 2015

Dr Fischer, who is at the forefront of the revolution in sailing brought about by the invention of foils, has got used to simplifying the complex design features and theories that underline a step-change in sailing that has already turned the leading edge of the sport into a hybrid between yachting as we thought we knew it and flying.

The key innovation is the foils, the slender carbon-fibre winglets or arms that are deployed under both hulls of the GC32 and provide the magical ingredient – lift. This is what enables the GC32s to rise up above the surface and fly in the air above the waves, travelling at speeds that would be unimaginable on conventional “displacement” boats.

“The foils work like wings on an aeroplane,” explained Dr Fischer, a physicist and specialist in fluid dynamics who has worked on America’s Cup yachts, Volvo Ocean Race yachts and maxi-multihulls for solo sailors. “The foils do two things at once on the GC32. They provide lateral resistance to counteract the sideforce created by the sails but, in addition, they also create a vertical force that pushes the boat up.”

And here’s the critical bit: “The faster you go, the more powerful this upwards force is and, at a certain speed, the vertical lift is big enough to carry the whole weight of the boat out of the water, just as a wing on a plane lifts the fuselage off the ground.”

One big difference between a racing catamaran and a plane is that a plane needs to keep rising to reach an altitude at which it can fly safely. By contrast a boat can only rise a relatively small amount before its foils lose contact with the water. If that happens the foils stall and the boat suddenly crashes into the weaves and stops. Not good.

To stop the GC32 rising too high, Dr Fisher worked out a profile for the foils so that the height of the boat stabilises automatically. “We opted for a V-shaped foil,” he said. “The specificity of this shape is such that it stabilises the foiling height automatically without any interaction from the crew. That makes it pretty easy for an inexperienced crew to sail this boat.”

In comparison to the foils that we saw being used at the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco, the foils on the GC32s are quite big. This is because you need bigger foils to generate lift in light airs and, unlike the big cats on San Francisco Bay where there was plenty of wind, the GC32s need to work in a broad range of conditions and often very light winds. The critical element is the take-off speed. At what point will the boat come up and start to fly? After running a series of simulations Dr Fischer arrived at a take-off speed of around 16 knots of boatspeed. This is achieved in about 14 or 15 knots of wind when the boats are going to windward and about eight knots of wind when the boats are going downwind under spinnaker.

Fischer knows perhaps better than anyone what it will take to race them at optimum performance. He says that with so many control points to adjust – rudders, sails, foils – trimming the boat and understanding where to deploy crew in terms of weight and balance will be critical. He predicts that subtle variations across the Extreme Sailing Series fleet will make all the difference in any given set of conditions.

Overall, however, the key will be managing the transition between displacement mode and foiling, especially at the turning points on the course. “Tacking and gybing are not so easy because on a foiling boat the speed is really high and during a gybe, for example, you lose a lot if you get back to displacement mode,” said Dr Fischer. “In order to reduce that loss, the crew have to be able to perform foiling gybes and that requires quite a bit of training, especially on a boat like the GC32 that does not have hydraulic systems to control the foils like on the America’s Cup boats.”

For everyone this is going to be an exciting season in the Extreme Sailing Series. For Dr Fischer, the adoption of the GC32 class is a special moment. “It is very exciting to have the GC32 in the Extreme Sailing Series. I am very proud of it.” he said.

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GC32 Lagos Cup, 21-25 June 2023 – Lagos, Algarve, Portugal

The GC32 Racing Tour 2023 takes place in Lagos. While this harbour on Portugal’s Algarve coast was not known in yacht racing circles before the GC32 Racing Tour first visited in 2018, since then it has become a firm favourite with the GC32 teams.

Being in southern Portugal, albeit just 20 miles from Cape St Vincent, the southwesternmost tip of Europe, its sailing area is largely protected from Atlantic waves and the brunt of the prevailing northwesterly winds by the land. In optimum conditions, the waters in the bay off Lagos can provide strong winds and flat water but frequently the weather conditions are more irregular so teams must be prepared for anything.

While weather conditions are an attraction, the venue is popular because of the local support the GC32 Racing Tour and its teams receive from the City of Lagos and Tourism Portugal, plus Sopromar, Marina de Lagos and Clube de Vela de Lagos as well as the event’s ‘family atmosphere’ thanks to members of Clube de Vela de Lagos and its enthusiastic youth sailors.

2023 GC32 Racing Tour   The GC32 Racing Tour is aimed at both pro and owner-driver teams. The circuit is mostly across Southern Europe with the aim of providing easy logistics, with venues chosen to provide optimum conditions for teams to fly their catamarans for the maximum amount of time.

Find out more about the 2023 GC32 Racing Tour  www.GC32RacingTour.com

PCT PROJECTS

Great Cup 32 

Great Cup 32 The Mk2 version of the Martin Fischer-designed, Great Cup 32 (GC32) catamaran delivers high performance, sensational racing and high safety. The GC32 is the one design for the Great Cup Racing circuit.

High Performance Combining low drag hull, L foils, high righting moment and generous sail area, the GC32 has the capability to reach 35 knots and beyond.

By combining T Rudder, High Freeboard, Smart Volume distribution, the GC32 has unprecedented safe behavior in hard winds and rough sea conditions.

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GC32 Racing Tour 2021

After a break the 2021 GC32 Racing Tour will once again see top foiling catamaran competition between some of the world's top professional teams as well as owner drivers kicking off in Lagos, Portugal at the end of June.

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Foiling GC32 Catamarans Prepare for Mar Menor Grand Finale The GC32 foiling catamarans are one week away from entering into combat for a fourth and final time in 2021 with the GC32 Mar Menor Cup which runs from 3rd to the 7th November. This grand finale represents the first time the flying multihulls have visited Spain’s famous 170km² salt water lagoon located near Cartagena […]

Foiling gc32 catamarans prepare for mar menor grand finale, by tash on 27 oct. 2021.

The GC32 foiling catamarans are one week away from entering into combat for a fourth and final time in 2021 with the GC32 Mar Menor Cup which runs from 3rd to the 7th November. This grand finale represents the first time the flying multihulls have visited Spain’s famous 170km² salt water lagoon located near Cartagena on the Costa Calida, within the Autonomous Community of Murcia.

The event is being hosted by the Club Náutico Lo Pagán with the support of the Turismo Region Murcia, the Autoridad Portuaria de Cartagena and the local municipalities of San Pedro del Pinatar, Cartagena, San Javier and Los Alcázares.

The outcome of the GC32 Mar Menor Cup will decide the overall winner of this ninth season of the GC32 Racing Tour.

At present the favourite to take the title is Alinghi, the team of two time America’s Cup winner Ernesto Bertarelli. With Arnaud Psarofaghis helming, the Swiss team won the two opening events of the season in Lagos, Portugal and last month were on track to defend their GC32 World Championship title in Villasimius, Sardinia, until it was unexpectedly prised off them by Red Bull Sailing Team on the last leg of the last race.

GC32 World Championship – Villasimius 2021

Nonetheless on the leaderboard going into the Mar Menor event Alinghi holds a solid three point lead over second placed Red Bull Sailing Team.

The team most strongly on the ascent in 2021 has been another from Switzerland, Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team. Helmed by New Zealander Chris Steele, they came close to winning the second event in Lagos at the end of July. “We made a big step forward this year and I hope we can continue,” said Zuerrer of their prospects next week. “We are still on the podium, but like at the Worlds, you can have a good day and be in front or have a bad day and be at the back. We are definitely looking forward to Red Bull and will do our best.” 

As the season has progressed the standard has raised across the entire fleet to the extent that all of the teams taking part are capable of winning races and since Alinghi’s run-away debut to the season [in Lagos] all the events have been ultra-close.  “For me it makes for interesting racing when you are close together and everyone can beat each other,” continues Zuerrer. “Hopefully, that will help attract other owners and other teams.”

Other teams to watch are Frenchman Erik Maris’ Zoulou, which neatly bookended their GC32 World Championship winning the first and the last races. Showing ever increasing potential is Nicolai Sehested’s Danish team on Team Rockwool Racing while American Jason Carroll’s Argo team comes race fit to Murcia having just set an extraordinary new race record for the Rolex Middle Sea Race aboard the team’s MOD70 trimaran.

The majority of the GC32 teams have not sailed or raced on the Mar Menor before. However being near-locked, separated from the Mediterranean by a 22km long sandbar ranging in width from 100 to 1,200m, means that the lagoon can provide not just the optimum windy, flat water conditions but also high salinity water enabling the flying catamarans to achieve their highest speeds approaching 40 knots.

Zuerrer personally has sailed on the Mar Menor only once before, on a foiling Moth and for fun, not racing, but acknowledges that it is a perfect venue for foiling boats. The team which has the most experience of the lagoon is Alinghi, which has previously spent most of a winter training here.  “It was really flat and we had good wind,” advises Alinghi’s Yves Detrey. “I have never seen anything this flat before. It is really good.”

Racing will take place out of San Pedro del Pinata on the Mar Menor’s northern corner where the GC32 Mar Menor Cup is being hosted by the Club Náutico Lo Pagán.

The event is part of the Spanish celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of the circumnavigation of Ferninand Magellan, that was completed by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano.

Reducing risk to keep crews and equipment safe on board the GC32

Rockwool’s lagos gc32 masterclass, top conditions expected for this week’s gc32 lagos cup, third consecutive gc32 racing tour overall victory for swiss team, black star win gc32 worlds nail biter.

c/o GC32 Event GmbH Gartenstrasse 4, 6302 Zug, Switzerland Email: [email protected]

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Extreme Sailing Series move to super-light GC32 foiling catamarans for 2016 season

• Harriett Ferris
• August 25, 2015

The Extreme Sailing Series organisers OC Sport has announced a switch of racing platform from the Extreme 40 to the GC32 catamaran for the start of the 2016 season

Scroll down for video

The Extreme Sailing Series will now be held on foiling GC32 catamarans , as the competition moves to foiling yachts as part of a long-term strategy.

The series, which celebrates its tenth season in 2016, will introduce the fleet of foiling GC32’s in time for the next run of events in 2016. The competiion is currently held on Extreme 40’s.

The super-light GC32 foiling catamarans can reach speeds of almost 40 knots and the 2016 season will again feature professional and brand-backed sponsored teams racing at iconic venues as diverse as Saint Petersburg, Cardiff and Sydney. Yachting World Racing Editor Matt Sheahan sailed the GC32 early this year and was ‘hooked’ in just one sail. Read his report here.

The switch to foiling will also bring forward a refresh of the Extreme Sailing Series format, which will now incorporate Pro-Am racing on short courses, and open water racing where venues permit, as well as its original format of sailing close to shore in it’s successful ‘Stadium Racing’ concept.

A GC32 foiling catamaran racing in the Round the Island Race, 27 June 2015 , Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour. © Sander van der Borch

Related: The foiling phenomenon- everything you need to know about the move to foils

Related: Profile of the GC32: the cat that learned to fly at 30 knots

Today’s announcement of a switch to GC32s from the start of the 2016 season is part of a longer term commitment by OC Sport and The Great Cup BV (builders of the GC32s), as Laurent Lenne, CEO of the company behind GC32s, summarised: “Together we aim to develop the GC32 as a global and accessible class for both professional teams of all levels and private owners wanting to experience high speed big boat foiling and racing.”

The foiling GC32 catamaran marks a move away from the exisiting Extreme 40 fleet pictured below.

The Extreme 40 catamarans in Cardiff Bay for Act 4 of the Extreme Sailing Series 2015. Photo: Mark Lloyd

OC Sport has ordered a number of GC32 boats to ensure availability for teams considering entering the Extreme Sailing Series 2016.

For more information on the Extreme Sailing Series, visit www.extremesailingseries.com

Preview: Gougeon 32 – A Fast Trailerable Catamaran

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January 26, 2017

Jump aboard the Gougeon 32, a fast, trailerable, retro catamaran, as Russell Brown and Alan Gurski give us the inside scoop on this cool cat.

The Gougeon 32, or G32, was designed by Meade and Jan Gougeon, best known for their WEST System epoxy. Meade and Jan set out with some very lofty engineering goals: make a fast, light, strong catamaran that can be trailered by a car. Full of innovative ideas and processes, production of the G32 ended after just 14 boats were built. Russell Brown is now taking his to the next level, stripping it down past the gel coat in order to rebuild it from the ground up and make his own solo assault on the Race to Alaska 2017.

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16 Responses So Far to “ Gougeon 32 – A Fast Trailerable Catamaran ”

Kent Fujiwara says:

Just SO cool. A Sr of plans would be pretty sweet.

Rod McLaren says:

Just had to revisit this video today. Bernd Kohler is currently designing a boat inspired by the G32 – I will be watching for his design with keen interest. Thanks for taking us along to check out this classic cat. Perhaps one day soon you will be checking out a new boat inspired by it.

Richard Van Heynigen says:

Great to see this video on the G32. And you must do a video with Russell and his proas !

Peter Fynn says:

Was Jan on Gulfstreamer with Phil Weld when she capsized?

Thomas Dalzell says:

3 other things that are worth noting for a boat of this type: The berth is a palace for what you get in similar weight multis; the raising of the mast is among the fastest of any boat of the type; The trailer is such that you can launch the boat in 0 inches of water. This is great when it comes to launching, but it is also great when it comes to a lot of routine tasks one has with boats, sometimes you want the boat off the trailer, you need to maintain the trailer, or use if for some other purpose, or you have some maintenance to do on the boat that is easier off the trailer. The same set of features makes it possible to launch the cat in ankle deep water, or have it low to the road when trailering.

Hugh Horton of Bufflehead fame (now there is a natural subject if you haven’t covered it yet, the Gougeon sailing canoes, and Hugh’s sailing canoes) put me in touch with Jan, about the time that he was finishing up on Strings. Strings is basically a G32 with an insane level of additional complications so that it could provide all the benefits of that boat, while having a folding system to have the ability to max out beam as well as water ballast, self-righting, etc…

Jan perhaps under the weight of what he had started with Strings, told me his next boat was to be a short version of the G32. He thought that for his uses that the G32 was too long.

I got in touch with him at the time because I felt the G32 was the best best trailerable multi ever. I also had noticed that several designers had actually made similar boats in their day and had said they were their favourites. Bob Oram for instance, the great Oz designer of kit cats, said a water ballasted boat was his first love. So I contacted Jan to get his feedback about doing a shorter one.

Jan was very encouraging, but my project died on the fact I was never able to resolve the idea of a 21 foot G32 (my requirement due to zoning), and what the design is capable of being. At 21 feet there are plenty of 8′ 4″ cats on the basis of beam alone. It sorta looses the thread of why one needs all the extra complexity of a G32. I did think that given a personal preference for a 6 foot max trailering beam, I might just scale down a G32 beam a little, but while I am not all that vain, it is nice to have a boat people appreciate and I never met another living soul who though that was a rational way to proceed. I still dream about doing my little cat. I have built to near that size once already and have the shop space. Time is running out.

The idea of the bows is they will cut out of a pitchpole situation. When conventional decks go underwater, they are basically anchored in there, if the angle is steep enough. These things are supposed to ride out. But the other parts of it are that most pitchpoles are over the diagonal bow, these bows are pretty much in line. If you get into trouble you probably aren’t going endover, just capsizing. And the boat is designed to deal with that. Jan was in some New England multihull race and won, but like capsized it 4 times, or something. In the right conditions that is fully recoverable.

The other point to consider is the power to weight ratio. Multis often have huge rigs 150% of the waterline in height over the deck height, . My tri is 23′ has a 26 foot Hobbie mast and though I am no great sailor, scares the heck out of me at times, It scares me with 2 reefs, at times, Yet the first question out of any sailors mouth to me is don’t I want a bigger rig. Then on top of that recently a cool 18 foot tri came out with a small cabin and folding system and guys were talking about dericking up 32 foot masts not an easy task of itself.

So the point is the G32 is an entire package, small rig, mainsail reefing, capsize recovery, hulls and one thing that wasn’t fully mentioned is that it takes on so much ballast when the tanks are full you can sail it with the family and it will run like a tug.

Thomas Nance says:

Great video as normal, but give us a video on the Proa!! I would love to see a OCH styled look into Russel Browns proa.

Robert Hauser says:

Great video great boat, thanks. Ahead of it’s time with the “wave piercing” hulls. I’ll be looking for Russell in the Race to AK.

Robert De Leo says:

As usual… A wonderful presentation by OCH. I’ve been on some large multi-hulls i.e. up to 50 footers designed by John Wharram, and loved the ride particularly in a following sea with the wind at our backs. Light displacement high efficiency… Is the only way to go. My only question after seeing this video is if the bow of this boat as it is designed will tend to get buried in rougher sea conditions creating a higher risk of pitch poling ?? The shear line is very pretty, but I wonder about performance in more challenging conditions. Anyway… I salute everyone involved in the design and production of this exceptional boat.

Floyd Graves says:

Thank you for another great video and boat tour. Thanks for pointing out all the unique things about this boat.

Jacob Burbach says:

A really cool design with lots of cool ideas, I love it. I also love that Russel Brown always seems to have such cool, unconventional, and very effective boats; like a Burt Rutan of the water. Nice that he’s thinking of doing the R2AK as well, look forward to seeing that.

Also, for those interested Russel has been keeping a blog of his refit, upgrades, etc over at https://gougeon32.blogspot.com/

Ashlyn & Russell Brown says:

Thank you for yet another great video!

Richard Zablocki says:

Neat, thought provoking design features for future builders and less than 2,000#! Thanks

Jim Dumser says:

Great video. Thanks. Such an innovative design. Shame so few were actually built. Love to see more about the cleat on a hinge around 8:50…

eric pomber says:

Jan once told me that you knew you were having fun on a G32 when there was sea weed in the rigging. A nice guy and a great sailor.

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