When François Gabart launched the first modern Ultim Macif in 2016, while the boat was breathtaking it was also relatively conventional. Once initial load tests were completed Gabart’s crew wasted no time cranking the boat up to full speed. Today things are a little different, especially following the Ultim problems of the last Route du Rhum, so Thomas Coville and lead designer Renaud Bañuls (above) are making sure things progress a little more conservatively as they now work through the many new features being tried at the same time. This shot (left) highlights the mass concentration possible by moving the cockpit forward of the rig, so the mast, cockpit, foils and foil mechanics are all now located tightly together fore-and-aft
dynamic attitudes is of enormous help in refining the real loads applied to the boat as well as to developing the onboard control systems – another area where Team NZ enjoyed a big advantage at AC35. While the design of an offshore racing
analysis. It not only helps provide a better understanding of dynamic phenomena, which is crucial in the design process of these foiling boats, but it will be useful in the future should the Ultim class allow auto- matic control of some of the appendages. Obviously there is a temptation to go a
step further to develop a simulator. Today a ‘simulator’ is no longer a simple computer optimisation of the balance of the boat at a given time, but an analysis of its reaction to external interactions in real time.
48 SEAHORSE The development of a dynamic simula-
tor has multiple purposes. Developed in the America’s Cup, like a flight simulator of an aircraft, the sailing simulator was originally a means for sailors to improve their sailing skills and understanding of a flying boat. However, in terms of final performance, as demonstrated so successfully by Team New Zealand in Bermuda, the bigger value is in allowing the exploring of real-world sailing conditions that a static VPP does not see. The ability to continually vary
sailing boat still focuses primarily on straightline behaviour, a static VPP with the benefit of added dynamic components integrated into the coding offers big advantages. Having begun to get to grips with dynamic sailing performance, the next significant field is in refining the dynamic stresses applied to an Ultim. This is what we will need to conquer to
learn the real lessons from the casualties during the Route du Rhum.
Bañuls design team Renaud Bañuls, Charles Simonin, Johan Boutserin, Steven Robert, Nicolas Coudrais, Joseph Ozanne, Romain Josset, Malo Pocheau, Paul Medinger, Romain Lanos
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