FLUID DYNAMICS PRIMER

Any foil—a wing, sail, keel, rudder or lifting foil—redirects the flow of fluid (air included), creating high- and low-pressure areas on opposite sides of the appendage, while developing lift perpendicular to the foil’s surface.

Advancements in foiling science is due in part to the hundreds of foil shapes that were tested, with tabulated results, by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. For the better part of a century now, aircraft

The future is now for Alex Thomson aboard the soaring IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss (top). Foils on the Beneteau Figaro 3 provide lift to lessen the boat’s displacement.