Bladerider FX

Bladerider have launched the new FX, http://www.bladerider.com.au/ A fibregalss one-man sailboat on hydrofoils.

As part of the Research and Development team for Bladerider we were asked to come up with a really tough, economically priced epoxy resin based hull, with a hardwearing gelcoat finish. The weight limit was set at 20Kg.

After looking at several manufacturing processes we selected resin infusion, for a few key reasons: consistency between hull weights and less expansion/shrinkage issues relating to the mould/hull relationship among others.

We made a hull in Perth, shipped it to Melbourne for testing and some ''heavy weather'' abuse. We got some really positive feedback, but what stood out for them was how tough the hull construction was.

The FX has since sailed in the 2008 International Moth World Titles http://www.moth-sailing.org/ and came a credible 17th out of 94 starters. A pretty impressive result considering that the boat is probably 10kg heavier than most others, which really counts when a complete boat in this class can weight less than 30kg fully rigged.