Technology
It all starts with data Rondal’s fully integrated, holistically engineered sailing systems take all
of the guesswork – and much of the risk – out of superyacht handling ‘On a small boat you have the sheet in your hand, you can feel how much force you’re applying,’ says Rondal’s proposal engineer Bart van derMeer. ‘With these bigger boats, 60m-plus, you can’t sail on feel. You need data. We’ve seen a lot of harm done to rig packages simply because the information wasn’t presented usefully or wasn’t available at all.’ Van der Meer’s solution to this
problem is integrated sailing systems for superyachts. Team Rondal believes it is the only way to give a sailing superyacht’s crew absolute clarity about what’s happening in every sail handling system. Only then can the crew sail the yacht to its potential without worrying about breaking it - or indeed actually breaking it. Then there’s the potential of a self-learning system… ‘Our goal is to enhance the
human-machine interface so that a crew can sail a 60m-plus sailboat comfortably.We need to think in a different way, a holistic system-based approach instead of a product-based one. It’s always an exciting, conversation with an owner’s team. ‘It starts with a client discussion.
In the past, as a product supplier, we’d never been in the position to take the hollistic approach. Nilaya
70 SEAHORSE
was the first project where Rondal was responsible for the entire sailing systemand we acted within the shipyard’s teamas project engineer. Being an integral teammember, there is a huge gain. The owner’s team spoke directly to us, we discussed how we could develop this systemto go beyond current capabilities, and we directly integrated our systems.We went fromone loadmeasurement on the headstay to 20measurements, six position indicators, boomangles. You get data to analyse but you can also trimand control properly. ‘These guys don’t leave the dock
without fully defined trim sheets because without doing so it’s almost impossible to trim a double-deflector mast with three headstays. They’re all affecting each other. You need access to reliable data to understand what’s happening. In the past a car didn’t beep if you hadn’t put your seatbelt on, now it’s normal. In the superyacht industry, this never happened, so we’re gradually heading towards a smart sailing system, one that thinks through your operation of it. With the Reckmann furlers for example, the tack load needs to be below say 30 per cent MWL (max workload) and between 0 to 200mm out. Currently we have someone looking at the load
Above: the 154ft Nilaya was the first project where Rondal was responsible for the entire sailing system and they also acted within the builder’s team as a key project engineer
readouts, someone with a linear at the furler and someone at the remote control. ‘Reconsidering this procedure
and provided with the right data we could incorporate delays and visual warnings so that the crew gets reminded something is off. Or a step further, have the furl control start by easing the tack to the right values, and afterwards continue furling. Or in future to push button control “Furl Blade”. The primary goal should be to prevent harm to the system secondary to simplifying procedures and the necessity for heaps of experience, Allowing the owner himself to be able to unfurl his own sails or one of his guests even! ‘The Nilaya runner system is a
fine example of a complete system we’ve designed, engineered and supplied. The yard itself would never risk developing that system because they’re not supplying any of the parts except for the hull structure. The yard has multiple suppliers, standing rigging, mast, winches, cylinders, that are heavily reliant on the runner system. Someone needs to take responsibility for integration. We did that for Nilaya, and we managed to upgrade the system, save 1,200kg and about four cubic metres in the lazarette. Those are
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