New Phantom Foiling Catamaran: the FP ULTIMATE

Phantom International is pleased to introduce its latest foiling catamaran: The Flying Phantom ULTIMATE is designed to be more efficient on every point of sail, with upwind VMG up to 15% higher than the foiling cat benchmark. For high performance addicts.

Stability for maximum performance

“It’s not about pure speed, but about efficiency and stability,” explains Phantom founder and CEO Alex Udin. “There is no point building a boat that can beat speed records on straight line because reaching 35+ knots trapezing on a 18ft catamaran is clearly too frightening. What we wanted is a foiling cat that can fly and perform well on every point of sail. The design brief was clear: 100% foiling upwind with enhanced performance and stability and better foiling gybes. It is something that has never been achieved before on this type of boats.”

The Flying Phantom ULTIMATE is the result of Phantom International experience in foiling beach catamarans combined with the benefits from the last AC50 developments in Bermuda during the America’s Cup.

“To design the FP ULTIMATE, Phantom has worked closely with some of the best experts in the yachting industry, including Gonzalo Redondo (A-Class design expert), Benjamin Muyl (head of America’s Cup Land Rover Bar Design Team), and famous French sailor Franck Cammas.” adds Alex Udin.

The Flying Phantom ULTIMATE is limited to 12 units this season. Pre-orders will be open on Monday 18th December for a delivery in May 2018.

FP ULTIMATE key features

The hulls are lighter and have less windage because the freeboard is lower. They have less drag at low speed which improves take off.

The daggerboards / foils reach outboard to increase righting moment which improves upwind foiling. The straight shaft and long tip result in better heave stability and the aspect ratio of the tip is higher, increasing the efficiency.

The rudders have been optimized to improve the stiffness for better handling and control.

The shape of the rudder elevators is also more efficient, with wing tips to reduce induced drag and smooth shaft / elevator junction to reduce pressure drag.

Now that the foils are more efficient we managed to increase the elevator area for the same overall drag, which results in better stability on every point of sail and in the manoeuvres and especially the foiling gybes.

Upwind VMG is up to 15% higher on the FP ULTIMATE

Third boat in Phantom foiling catamaran range

All Phantom catamarans are 18’ long one-design boats and they have different programs are adapted to different uses/to suit your needs.

FP ELITE: launched in 2014, it was the first Flying Phantom designed by Phantom International. It is a high performance boat for experienced sailors. Has its own class and its own circuits (the FP Series / Extreme Sailing Series, and Red Bull Foiling Generation)

FP ESSENTIEL: launched on December 2016, designed to make foiling more accessible. Lower priced, user-friendly and versatile. The perfect catamaran to learn how to foil.

FP ULTIMATE: is an evolution of the ELITE. It has different hull, rudder and foil designs to be more efficient foiling around the course. For high performance catamaran addicts!