A new gearing system provides two-and-a-half times more range than previously. The gearing also changes to a horizontal system utilising spherical bearings running along a gearing rod. This allowed the flattening of the forward deck-fairing without any ‘bubble’. The bell crank has been replaced with a titanium printed version to accept the spherical bearings; to clean up the control lines and flight control system an ‘engine room’ has been created below deck. Control lines lead from the base of the mast post beneath the front beam to turning blocks that lead lines internally to recessed cleat plates on the wing deck. Lines then re-enter outboard in the wing back down to turning blocks aft then to the take-up systems. The turning blocks are inhouse designed, carbon plastic printed housings assembled onto a CNC-carbon plate. To minimise friction the below deck systems run fore-and-aft to avoid lines crossing


improve airflow around the leeward wing. The stiffening of the outer edge of the


wing-deck is now integrated into the wing rather than being a separate beam and the new wing decks are moulded with inte- grated tunnels for the control lines. We also took the opportunity to raise the height of the outboard edge of the racks to further improve righting moment from the crew when sailing upwind as well as improving the aerodynamic contribution of the leeward wing. One of the challenges of our previous


design was that the main foil flap control linkages were on centreline and by neces- sity well above the foil and deck of the boat. This was exacerbated by the vertical gearing arm above the final flap pushrod bellcrank that allows the crew to easily change the gearing between the wand and


38 SEAHORSE


the flap on the fly – further increasing the height of the assembly. Not only did these linkages pass


through the highly loaded mast compres- sion post (forcing the post in the old boat to become larger and less aerodynamic) but they got in the way of the deck- sweeping sails that had proved to be so effective. Mackay Boats worked hard to design a


new linkage arrangement that flips the gearing assembly onto its side so that it is lower and now operates parallel to the deck rather than perpendicular to it. They also lowered the watertight (concealed) hull-deck to allow the myriad control and rigging lines to pass beneath the forward cross arm unmolested. This in turn allowed us to establish a deck fairing that is as close as I can


imagine to an ideal end-plate for the deck- sweeping mainsail. As with the original version of the boat,


Leopold Fricke and Thomas Hahn from the Ixent engineering firm in Munich carried out the advanced structural analy- sis of the revised hull and beam structures – allowing us to pare some more weight out of the package without compromising stiffness or strength. I’ve worked with Ixent on many challenging America’s Cup- related structures for decades and as always they were a joy to work with. The job of bringing this whole package


together was managed by David McDiarmid and his team at Mackay Boats. David cut his teeth sailing at the front of the fleet in the skiff classes, winning the JJ Giltman Trophy in the 18ft skiffs on three separate occasions.


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