Update
The organisers of this new series from the Storm Trysail, Coral Reef, Nassau and Lauderdale Yacht Clubs are all ready to be at the forefront of a revival in interest to have qualified entries take to the seas. Scoring for the series will be in both IRC and ORC Club to encourage entries to come and compete from far and wide, just as in the days of yore… Dobbs Davis
HERBERT PEARCEY – Dave Hollom
It is with deep sadness that I record the passing last month of Herbert H Pearcey, the renowned British aerodynamicist and a member of the UK’s last 12 Metre America’s Cup Challenge. Herbert pioneered, among many other achievements, the development of supercritical wing sections that allow the modern traveller to go large distances economically at speeds just below that of sound. His work was carried out in the 1950s and so, as far as I am aware, preceded that of NASA’s Richard Whitcomb in the early 1960s.
Herbert’s work first influenced the wing design of the Vickers VC10 which, to this day, has the fastest economical cruising speed of any commercial subsonic transport aircraft – testament to the efficiency of his wing sections. He was also instrumental in the wing design of the BAC 111, Hawker Siddeley Trident and Hawker Siddeley 125 executive aircraft.
Additionally, his work was used in the wing design of the first Airbus, the A300B; it was only when Eastern Airlines, with a number of 300Bs on trial, realised that the Airbus was 33 per cent more economical than the Lockheed Tri-Stars it was then operating, that sales of the aircraft, which had been sluggish, took off. He also influenced the wing design of the Avro Vulcan Bomber. Herbert had been the principal scientific officer in the aerody- namics division at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), but when I first met him he had retired from that post while remaining an NPL
consultant as well as being Professor of Aeronautics at City University, London.
Herbert strongly believed in the power of intuition and encouraged me to follow my hunches, particularly in my work on foils, and to think outside the box as he had always tried to do himself. He gleefully told the story of the mathematicians who had told him that what he was trying to achieve with supercritical airfoils was impossible – it gave him great pleasure that his hunches were correct and their mathematics were wrong.
As with many people, in later life Herbert was loath to change old habits. Not in the use of new ideas, which his agile mind was quick to appreciate, but in some of the tools he used. We would regularly turn up at design meetings with our calculators at the ready while Herbert turned up with his trusty slide rule… but he still often beat us to the answer.
Although originally hired by the 1986 British Cup challenge to organise testing and collate the results Herbert contributed much to the flow of ideas that are the lifeblood of any design programme. With two competing design teams rivalry was often intense and Herbert was not reticent in putting forward the merits of our more radical design that later became Crusader 2.
When that boat finally went to Fremantle Herbert was invited out to see it perform but he declined because he didn’t like flying… which makes one wonder what he knew and we don’t. He had the most interesting of lives but he will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, Herbert, you will not be forgotten.
SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
q
Some words occasionally need redefining. A Russian tycoon (won’t name, too scared) has launched this 142m ‘sailing’ yacht: 100m spars, US$450million, 14,500 tons, a permanent crew of 54 souls and christened ‘A’ in order to ensure that it tops all the shipping registers (no comment). Oh yes, that word… UGLY
12 SEAHORSE
Curtain call… sailing legend (for that he is – ed) Dave Perry has hung up his match racing kit After… winning the US title for the fifth time in October Tricky… next year’s World Match Race Tour is using M32 cats, while Bermuda’s prestigious Argo Gold Cup traditionally uses IODs So… the Cup and the Tour are now both multihull events Just… saying However… the WMRT is promising US$1million prizemoney at the 2016 worlds in Marstrand Plus… US$100,000 at each of 11 events next year To be… continued, no doubt Chart Art… from super-snapper Rick Tomlinson and in plenty of time for Xmas:
chartart.com Hotting up… former Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena has joined ETNZ, Francesco Bruni joins Artemis while ETNZ design director Nick Holroyd has been headhunted by Dean Barker at Team Japan Along… no doubt, with a heap of relevant technical knowledge None of it… on ‘paper’ Of… course Lock and leave… Maxi72 and TP52 racer Niklas Zennström is winning again In… the J/70 fleet Knackered… the best ever 24-hour run by a kitesurfer was by Rimas Kinka of Lithuania who managed 401.2nm off Florida That’s… insane Also pretty insane… Phaedo’s Fastnet course record of 27 hours Suck on that… everyone else who’s ever lapped the rock Back… in the poo. The Laser class is going through one of its periods of chaos as arguments rage about light hulls, light decks And… downright light Lasers Still rocks… FD champion and 12 Metre skipper Terry McLaughlin won the Canadian J/105 title last month Oh yeah… Franck ‘Groupama’ Cammas crushed his rivals in the Little America’s Cup in Geneva Some… heavy C-Class stuff next month Tangy deal… the glamourous Plastic Fantastic is yours for offers on €250,000 Yes… ScuttlebuttEurope and RaceboatsOnly Is indeed… where you will find ‘interesting’ Christmas presents
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