Technology
(Much) more than just a supplier
Rondal played a pivotal role throughout the design and engineering loops of the Nilaya project as well as building the deckhouse, cockpit, keel trunk, rig, sailing systems and more
Who do you call when you have a groundbreaking new concept for a superyacht that requires a performance rig, integrated sailing system and a wide range of carbon components? For the 47-metre (154ft) Reichel/Pugh-Nauta sloop Nilaya, the choice of a partner with the required expertise in design, engineering and fabrication of hi- tech sailing systems and marine carbon composites was obvious. It was a job for Rondal. Constructed at the Royal Huisman
shipyard in The Netherlands – the first yacht produced with their innovative new Featherlight methodology – and due for delivery to her owners around the time this issue of Seahorse went to press, the new Nilaya is by a clear margin the lightest-displacement aluminium sailing superyacht ever built. Her polars suggest that she’ll be quite capable of challenging carbon composite superyachts in bucket regattas, even though she is primarily conceived as a long- distance cruiser. Selected to produce the carbon
fibre components of Nilaya’s hybrid hull, as well as supplying her high- modulus carbon mast, furling boom, fully integrated sailing systems and more, Rondal was involved in the project from an early stage onwards. Engineers from Rondal played the key role of sailing system integrator in Royal Huisman’s finite element analysis (FEA)-driven Featherlight approach, ensuring the optimisation of all the carbon composite
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components in the hull and deck, as well as the entire rig, and supporting the process throughout. Many of the aluminium-hulled
superyachts built in recent years have some carbon components but Nilaya takes it to a whole new level. Her keel trunk, for example, is a complex structure with laminations that are more than 65mm thick, manufactured with extreme precision – tolerances of 0.3mm – to ensure that the yacht’s ultra-high aspect lifting keel can operate smoothly, even when sailing upwind when it is subjected to very high loads. The carbon mould for the keel
trunk was precision-milled across complex contours and the final component required multiple cures, due to the unusual depth of laminations that was needed to create a structure strong enough to withstand the colossal forces that could potentially act upon it if the yacht were to run hard aground. Even so, the end result is a remarkably slim and ultra-lightweight keel trunk that contributes a significant weight saving to Nilaya’s displacement while also having a minimal impact on the yacht’s internal layout and interior design. Rondal also produced the deckhouse and main cockpit, with its integrated seating, as a single piece of prepreg composite superstructure measuring 17.5m by 7m, which when bonded to the hull contributes a significant amount of additional stiffness.
Above: a new design from Rondal, the spreaders on Nilaya’s mast are curved to allow a larger genoa which in turn permits closer sheeting angles
Another large composite structure
built by Rondal is designed to serve several purposes on the foredeck. A secure, recessed stowage bay for Nilaya’s main guest tender when she is on passage in cruising mode, it converts into a spacious lounge area when the yacht is anchored, with a broad expanse of daybed cushions and seating around three sides of a table. With the tender and cushions removed and lids fitted, it becomes a part of the flush foredeck. Among the other deck
components that Rondal produced for Nilaya are the custom housing of the twin-steering pedestals, the lazarette, the crew companionway and the removable hardtop bimini that shelters and shades the passenger cockpit. Ten hydraulic deck winches – two on each side of the sailing cockpit, two on the aft deck and four clustered around the base of the mast – were also supplied, along with eight flush, custom skylight hatches in the foredeck and various pieces of titanium hardware. Under the deck, Nilaya’s sail-
handling hardware includes Rondal’s new design of lightweight, hydraulically operated captive reel winches, which combine an aluminium chassis with a filament- wound carbon fibre drum. Exceptionally powerful and proven to withstand very high loads, these winches weigh only half as much as the previous generation of captive reel winches. They are also available
MIKE TESSELAAR
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