Opposite: the new PlanaTech FD on its way to a first world title in Largs, Scotland in the hands of Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos. FDs have not got any simpler (far left) with the passing years… Left: FD No2 was launched back in 1951
ensure optimum performance of the materials, while many gear components are also built in-house taking advantage of the mechanical characteristics of carbon… like the adjustable carbon jib sheet mechanism which is truly a thing of beauty!
ENGINEERING – Paolo Dassi, Gurit
line can vary up to 12.5mm. The combina- tion of these permitted tolerances in the keel line compared to a theoretical keel ‘zero’ (which in turn are related to the two ‘end points’ of the transom and Station 9 near the bow), and the tolerances allowed in the height of the sections can lead to very significant changes in final hull shape. Returning to first principles, if you imagine the FD hull sliced in a horizontal plane passing through the zero point of the transom and the zero point of Station 9 and then measure the underwater volume of two hulls both complying with the rules but designed to opposing philosophies, you can obtain differences in immersed volume equal to 100% of the volume itself, plus significant differences in terms of coefficients and resistance. Of course, we did not have to start from scratch. Having a clear idea of what could be the target to be achieved, and having the right tools for a comparative 3D geometric analysis and for the calculation of theoreti- cal hull drag, we could operate in a very analytical way, making a comparative hull drag analysis of a number of different hulls, obtained by modelling different canoe bodies and trying step-by-step to get closer to the limits allowed. In particular, we worked hard to try to make the FD hull less distorted, especially in the bow area. We have primarily sought to make the line of the keel as straight as possible, moving volume towards the ends of the canoe body so as to ‘stretch’ the waterline length in both static and dynamic cases. We also tried to increase Prismatic Coeffi- cient, which is an important dimensional factor that tends to proportionally lower resistance at high relative velocities. We then put great effort into the 3D- shaping of the hull to minimise the longitu- dinal inflections that characterise the FD’s original design, then trying to increase vol- ume in the bow but decrease it as much as possible moving back towards midships. For the rather old-fashioned centreboard and rudder design, tolerances are relatively smaller than those allowed for the hull. Our main effort here was to find the best balance between strength and performance. As I said at the beginning, the fact that this design, created with the greatest
possible accuracy offered by the latest 3D software, was then made real through the use of CNC machines driven directly from our virtually modelled surfaces, allowed us to push the limits harder – not having to allow for the tolerances that were required with earlier construction methods. Another advantage of these technol - ogies, which were also applied in a previ- ous iteration in projects for the Star class (including Torben Grael’s 2000 bronze Olympic medal-winning Star), is the poss - ibility of obtaining a perfectly symmetrical hull and a perfectly aligned centreboard and rudder with tolerances under 1mm.
BUILD – Luca Ungaro
PlanaTech is a relatively new Italian com- pany specialising in the manufacture of high-tech composite components. Luca Ungaro, Antonio and Andrea Latini (for- merly the creators of Latini Marine) are the founders of PlanaTech – individually they can each boast at least 20 years’ expe- rience in creating high-tech racing boats. PlanaTech currently also works in the aeronautical, rail and military sectors. In 2011 PlanaTech decided to launch a totally new full-carbon Flying Dutchman, and after a thorough analysis of the class rules we commissioned Felci Yacht Design for the study of the hull lines while Luca Ungaro performed the 3D design of the deck layout and systems. An engineering review of the structure was also undertaken using Finite Element Analysis to optimise weight and stiffness of the overall assembly. As has been touched on, the application of the latest Cad-Cam technol- ogy also allowed us to build carbon tooling for every component which allowed the designer to go very close to the rule limits. The new boat’s performance has proved that further increasing stiffness and opti- mising hull shape combine to deliver a step forward in a class where you thought that there was not much left to be invented! Our new FD is built entirely of pre-preg carbon laminated in a clean room and cured at 100°C in a dedicated oven, which enables the processing of all the biggest components in one shot. Some elements including the foils are manufactured using an autoclave to
Gurit’s engineering team worked alongside PlanaTech and Felci Yacht Design to opti- mise the composite structure of this new high-tech dinghy. Despite the relatively small dimensions of the boat the design of this FD structure followed similar tech- niques to those normally associated with large high-performance racing yachts. Firstly, a preliminary assessment of the laminates and optimum core thicknesses and densities was carried out. Then the calculations moved on to the ply-based FEA analysis and optimisation of the foredeck region. The increased level of platform stiffness achieved allows for more precise rig tuning plus better upwind performance due to reduced forestay sag. Our work then moved on to the details, such as the shroud-to-hull connections, cockpit and deck laminate, plus the longi- tudinal bulkhead and forestay support. For the latter many different solutions were evaluated with a view to also max- imising the volume of the spinnaker chute tube to speed up launch and recovery.
SAILING
– Szabolcs Majthenyi, 2014 FD World Champion
PlanaTech FD HUN 70… the story so far. In late 2012 the legendary Bojsen-Møller brothers and ourselves were invited to Rome by Luca Ungaro for the new PlanaTech FD presentation and a first two-day sailing test with five hours afloat each day. We soon observed the following: PlanaTech had clearly used the latest technology and highest-quality materials with zero compromises. PlanaTech had applied an independent approach to design supported by their own first-class engineering pedigree. The new boat is a very stiff and high-quality product in every respect. The design goals, like improved pitch stability in waves, better overall performance and so on could only really be validated in the heat of competition. We decided there and then to take up the challenge and campaign the PlanaTech FD throughout 2014. After an intense three months of focused tuning and preparation we achieved a consistently good performance during the 2014 FD World Championship… winning PlanaTech’s first world championship title!
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