24/11/2023
We have some remarkable sailors in our small club. James Grogono is one of them.
Grog (James Grogono) appears in the SailGP video below after 4.36 minutes. His contribution was all filmed here in Orford.
Grog writes:
“My certainty that Hydrofoils would “work” in generating high speed under sail was based on fluid dynamic theory – in air and water.
The publication of the “Tornado” catamaran design, 50 years ago, provided a perfect platform to test this theory. We bought one, designed and made some foils, screwed them on, and away we flew!
The other half of the problem was to MEASURE our speed, and I was part of the “ad hoc” committee that invented the rules of “Speedsailing”. The rules have remained unchanged for over 50 years. “Icarus”, the foil converted Tornado, held the “B” Class record from 1972 to 1986, maximum 28.4 knots. The World Record now stands at 65.5 knots,
I was asked “out of the blue” 4 months ago to contribute to this film “
Copies of “A Dozen Tots of Grog”, available from James Grogono @£10.00 tell the story in more detail. Contact James for further information.
