A whole new language


Artemis Racing may not be challenging for the next America’s Cup but they are not letting intellectual property developed for San Francisco and Bermuda go to waste. James Boyd steps ‘aboard’


Led by CEO Iain Percy, since the end of the 2017 America’s Cup – or for Artemis the Louis Vuitton Cup – what is now Artemis Technologies have gained new faces from the worlds of aerospace and, inevitably in today’s world, motorsport as well. Initially based in Cambridge, Artemis Technologies now operate from an indus- trial unit outside Slough with another larger facility close to Belfast Airport. The fledgling operation’s business is


diverse. Currently on the drawing board, their most innovative planned creation is the Autonomous Sailing Vessel (ASV). A ‘wind-electric hybrid’, this flying cata - maran is designed primarily for commer- cial use. It is powered by a wing rig in each hull, Team Philips-style, but when there is no wind at all it can also be powered by a small electric motor that is so compact it can be fitted in the foil. When there is too much wind the motor ‘reverses’ to become a generator to recharge the batteries. As a result the ASV could ultimately


require no fossil fuels and so, assuming there is wind from time to time, enjoy theoretically unlimited range. They are currently working on a full-


scale 45m version that they hope will reach a cruising speed of 30kt and a top speed of


42 SEAHORSE


50, with a payload of 7.5 tonnes. However, that is for the future. For now


they have designed all of the hydraulics, electronics, data-acquisition tools, power and control systems for the F50 flying catamarans set to be used on the new Coutts-Ellison SailGP circuit. Much of this is Artemis AC50-influenced, but they have also been able to cherry-pick from each campaign’s AC50 systems. While the AC50 hardware spec largely


hasn’t changed, the philosophy has. The AC50s relied on human power to maintain hydraulic pressure and frequently came up short. As a result the whole design and the techniques for using the hydraulic functions were about maximising efficiency. Now that the F50 has a battery powering the hydraulic pumps, such efficiency is less necessary. So, for example, the AC50s’ hydraulic pumps had gears plus multiple pistons that could be switched in and out causing up to six times more fluid to be pumped around when needed. The F50 pumps are much simpler single-speed affairs. Another monumental step Artemis


Technologies have made is in creating the complete model for the F50 and being able to run this in real time. Today it seems a boat model can genuinely be an accurate copy of the real thing. Such a tool was a key reason for Emirates Team New Zealand’s victory in the last America’s Cup; but with their new set-up Iain Percy’s group believe they have probably caught and maybe even surpassed the Kiwis… ‘During the last campaign we had a


boat simulation, a hydraulic simulation and a controller which we just used on the water,’ explains Artemis engineering


director Jonathan Nicholls. ‘We never had an environment to sail the whole boat virtually, to test the systems together, and to work with the sailors to get a good idea of what we were going to put on the water, before we put it on the water. We could have eliminated quite a few “disap- pointing days” with a tool like this!’ Significantly the greatly improved tool


also enables them to use their integrated model to drive a full-scale F50 sailing sim- ulator. Prior to the F50 launch in New Zealand, SailGP teams were filing through Artemis Technologies’ facility in Slough where they spent time on this extraordi- nary equipment getting a feel for the new big foiling cat. They may not have had such a physical


simulator but it is now clear that by late 2015 the Kiwis were able to run the com- plete model of their AC50. But perhaps this was not so surprising: Professor Mark Gillan, who is now project leader for the ASV, joined McLaren in 1998 when he worked on their F1 simulator alongside a young Dan Bernasconi, now head of design at Emirates Team New Zealand. It might not have a firehose and large


fan attached, but Artemis Technologies’ simulator does provide a valuable re - creation of racing a F50. Although it involves visiting Slough (only 20 minutes from Heathrow Airport), users can dial in the weather they wish to train in – and eliminate the palaver of 30 people having to step the wing and launch and later recover the boat at the end of each day. ‘A dedicated programme using some-


thing like this will cover its costs pretty fast… if used wisely,’ observes Nicholls.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102