Design and Construction
The Switch is ultralight and full-carbon, with a platform weight of just 29 kg that fits in a box you can put on top of a car anchor. The decks disassemble in a few minutes, and the mast unfolds in three pieces, which makes the physical object as much a piece of transportable sporting equipment as a traditional sailboat. Production was placed with a Thai yard already building Olympic boats, and the class is chaired by Luigi Buzzi with Pietro Negri distributing the new class across Italy and Europe. The boat is 2.25 meters wide with its wings extended, giving it the beam footprint of a much larger dinghy while the hull itself stays under four meters.
Rig and Flight Performance
This is a foiler that takes off as early as 5–6 knots of wind and flies at 19 knots upwind before reaching a top flying speed of 30 knots anchor. Flight is controlled by a wand — a bow batten — that automatically adjusts the center inverted-T foil while airborne, and period reporting describes flying the Switch as simple rather than expert-only. Three sail plans are provided by the class, scaled to crew category: 6.5 square meters for Youth, 7.5 for Women, and 8.4 for Men, all built as One Design Quantum Membrane Sail sails to keep the fleet level.
Class Structure and Ownership Model
The distributor describes the boat as very easy to transport and notes that a structured Switch class already runs its own independent race circuit anchor. For 2024 the calendar held four stages plus an Italian championship on Lakes Como and Garda, a schedule that signals a committed one-design program rather than a lone experimental prototype. The boat did not cost an extravagance according to the launch coverage, positioning it as an accessible entry to foiling rather than a superyacht toy.
The Verdict
The Switch One Design is a serious attempt to make foiling flight accessible within a disciplined one-design framework. Its Italian engineering lineage and Thai Olympic-grade production give it credibility, while the automatic foil control and early takeoff threshold lower the skill barrier that usually surrounds multi-knot foiling. The strict sail-plan assignment and class-run circuit mean an owner buys into a rulebook, not a customization project.
Pros
- Full-carbon 29 kg platform that disassembles and fits in a car-top box
- Flies from 5–6 knots and reaches 30 knots with automatic foil adjustment
- Structured independent class circuit with 2024 Italian championship
Cons
- Strict one-design format leaves no room for owner-driven modification
- 3.9 m length and foiling focus exclude any cruising or accommodation use
