SEAir: the international hydrofoil specialist
SEAir is based in Lorient (Brittany, France) and is a key player in the boat industry due to its expertise in foiling sailing yachts and motor boats.
SEAir’s founding idea is that hydrofoil technology should not remain the preserve of seasoned skippers, but be made more mainstream.
We did not invent the foil, which is over a hundred years old, but we believe it to be of crucial importance in an elaborate ecosystem, while others see it more as a carbon part that you add to a boat.
SEAir makes alterations to existing boats and also designs the boats of the future, alone or in partnership with boat builders.
We innovate constantly and develop a wide range of components with the purpose of making our foiling systems user-friendly and very efficient. Shocks mitigation is substantial, and fuel savings can be 20 to 50% less, depending on the type of pilotage and sea conditions.
We offer studies for boats from 8 to more than 30m and we also market “Flying Boats” from 8 to 10m.
It is all about balance, since a foiling boat acts counter to the law of Archimedes and Newton! When flying, the stress transferred to the structure of the boat is substantial, so architecture and mastery of structural calculation are essential. SEAir has designed its own VPP (Velocity Prediction Program) to simulate any type of flying boat configuration.
Getting a boat airborne is no mean task. The expertise of our team guarantees optimal sizing of the foils (profile and structure), whether we are working on existing series boats or designing new models to meet your expectations. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are used to validate the structural features of vessels and subsystems. The modelling of Fluid/Structure Interactions (FSI) is carried out to validate the flows and behaviour of boats. This is performed externally by specialized companies.
On significant size vessels, up to about 30m, the Hydrofoil solution for total flight over water allows a significant reduction in energy (fuel) consumption, between -50% and -60%. Whether for a 25m CTV (ZEST project with www.lda.com ) or a future 100 passengers 20m ferry, there is no greener solution today than SEAir’s open sea solutions.
Designing retractable and adjustable systems, providing the best possible horizontal boat position and further enhancing comfort and safety involves an excellent command of mechanics and servo control loops. Based on our expertise in foiling boats we draw up foiling standards that we implement in our onboard systems.
A team of composite technicians is in charge of our assembly and production department where we test our own systems or integrate them in foiling boats.
Our team carries out extensive test campaigns to ensure SEAir systems operate in all possible conditions. We have a strong expertise in taking measurements and analysing boat behaviour (using structural and/or dynamic sensors) as well as passengers sensations (using individual sensors). We can conduct these kind of consulting campaign on your vessels.