Over February and March 2020 each of the TF35 teams can get their hands on Boat Zero for a week of winter training in Mar Menor, Murcia, Spain. 

After a week on the water, Jean-Sebastien Ponce gives us his first impressions of the boat: "The team of designers, builders and class manager have done a great job by giving us such a weapon. The boat is very powerful, the mast is tall and the sails are enormous. 

"For our first time, the foiling take-off speed was around 12/13 knots but achieved very quickly because of the sail area and the surface of the foils and rudders. As soon as the boat is foiling, the flight assistance takes his role and the flight is very stable."

As well as giving many of the crews their first of taste of t-foiling on the sea rather than Lake Geneva, the class is using the week-long training sessions as an important development step to further improve the automatic flight control and ergonomics of the deck. 

"There is still some work to be done to make it 100% reliable, but the design team is focused on getting the best out of the boat now that we can get some consistent sailing in," he adds. 

The full announcement of the 2020 TF35 teams will be made in the coming weeks.