Opposite: a great deal of pre-preg and an immaculate facility – the shell of the latest Wally Cento… fresh out of the mould. Left: the extraordinary detail in which the management systems on Persico’s first superyacht can now be addressed using the latest simulation tools that the company is able to draw upon in-house. How some ‘large’ deck loadings are resolved (above); a similar portion of the new Wally Cento is modelled as a render (left) and then as a transparent structural model (right). The new yacht features even more ruthless dedication to weight concentration than its successful predecessor Magic Carpet3
Persico. ‘We had some experience with this in the successful co-operation in the Volvo 65 project, but the level of co-operation between everyone and the free flow of ideas to improve the complex superyacht systems on a Wally were outstanding. ‘It was particularly good to have had a few months before starting this project when our team could work with Wally, Mills, Pure Engineering and many of the suppliers to work out the key details; we are particularly proud of the high degree of systems integration on this boat.
‘We now have in our technical office people with many years of experience at Wally, and who know well how to build a Wally. But they are now working alongside experts from the America’s Cup who bring their own knowledge of how to build a super-light boat by hunting down structural and detail optimisations wherever possible. I believe the combination of these two skills will lead to something very special.’
The process started with the initial design and engineering of
the structures, with help from Giovanni Belgrano and Martin Bivoit of Pure Engineering (see May 2016 Seahorse). Their detailed analysis using FEA tools provided the composites experts at Persico with a roadmap to develop the tooling needed to make these structures and also gave systems engineers like Persico’s Matteo Bisio a chance to start work early on finding efficient layouts. Next was to position the engine room and power plant further forward than is usual in order to concentrate weight in the centre of the boat; other advantages are the closer proximity of the power plant to on-deck systems such as the cockpit winch package, which is also placed forward just a few metres aft of the mast. This minimises the weight of cabling, tubing and power loss. The Cariboni line-handling systems are integrated into the main structures and connected so as to be efficient while minimising con- nection lengths and unnecessary complexity. Volvo Ocean Race and Wally Class veteran Michael Joubert at Southern Spars also brought a great deal of input to the layout and design of these systems. With Persico being fully equipped with sophisticated CAD-driven CNC milling machines, developing the complex tooling needed to create not only the structures in high-tech composites but also the interior elements in composites and veneers were not a problem. To make the best job of the flat interior panels, for example, Persico creates composite panels with Nomex cores in a press,
exactly the same manufacturing process that the company uses for the super-light RIBs of America’s Cup wing sails. Because of the high degree of process integration, the complexity of these elements could be seamlessly dealt with through design, engineering, fabrication and ultimately installation. This process efficiency results in maximum strength-to-weight structures, which all contributes, kg by kg, to better performance. In this respect, the fabricated elements of this project embody the Wally philosophy of innovation: by using the right tools, new ideas can be explored rather than just over-engineering old ideas and concepts. The hull, deck and bulkheads are now complete, with assembly and fit-out starting shortly.
Working with a long timeline that would be the envy of raceboat managers, this project allows the various teams at Persico to use their skills to the full, creating not just another successful perfor- mance boat project but a complex and beautiful Wally yacht. This places Persico in an elite field of builders ready to take on the next generation of projects at the sharp end of the superyacht fleet.
FASTER WALLY – Mark Mills
To produce the most refined high-performance solution to the Wally Cento rule, we assembled a design partnership comprising R&D specialist Dimitri Nicolopoulos from KND/Sailing Performance in Valencia, who also provides design management; Giovanni Belgrano of Pure Engineering, ensuring that the engineering requirements remain at the front of the process; plus Gautier Sergeant, lead designer with North Sails; and ourselves. Performance progress has been made in a number of areas, one of the first targeted for improvement being to optimise weight concentration far beyond what is typical of a sailing superyacht. Key to this has been the involvement of Carlo Torre of MYT in Monaco and the Persico team with their raceboat expertise, who remained both creative and flexible throughout the extensive development phase.
Hull and appendage development was undertaken with KND/ Sailing Performance, who employ extensive CFD technology in both panel code and RANS, that built on their experience with our 2014 Maxi 72 World Champion Alegre, foiling Imoca 60s, and in devel- oping the Volvo 65 VPP. Targeting the design to a carefully defined weather and course model reflecting Wally events in the Mediter- ranean, the final hull shape exhibits a combination of low drag in lighter conditions and increased stability in more wind that makes her more versatile than previous generations. The choice of a single rudder further reflects optimisation to a condition set that includes a mix of windward-leeward and coastal courses.
To be involved in the Technical Brief advertorial column please contact –
graeme@seahorse.co.uk SEAHORSE 25
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Technical Brief
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