An international collaboration to enhance sailing yacht performance An EU-New Zealand team aims for knowledge transfer in the realm of yacht engineering. The goal will be achieved through staff exchanges and a new professional association, to the benefit of fluid dynamics research concerning yacht hulls and sails. Industrial Technologies © Ignazio Maria Viola Backed by EU funding, the SAILINGFLUIDS (An EU - New Zealand Research collaboration to develop synergies and make cutting-edge breakthroughs in yacht engineering) project is a research collaboration among three European universities and one in New Zealand. The subject area concerns yacht engineering. The undertaking aims to achieve knowledge transfer, to be fostered through staff exchanges and networking activities. The planned creation of an international association of yacht engineering is expected to further facilitate exchange. Both project aspects are expected to develop opportunities for the promotion of research into fluid dynamics of yachts. Such activities should enhance the impact of such research. The project runs for four years from late 2012. Partners developed new techniques for measuring surface pressure, both in a wind tunnel and at full-scale. Model-scale downwind sails were tested in a windtunnel, allowing accurate definition of pressure distributions and validation of numerical codes. Full-scale testing simultaneously measured sail geometries, global aerodynamic forces and surface pressure distributions. The measurements provided a valuable new understanding of the effects of variable wind conditions, and allowed realistic measurement of the Reynolds number effect. The team measured the hydrodynamics of three different slender hulls in a towing tank, involving a range of speeds and yawangles. Results illustrated the performance efficiency of various hull forms when sailing upwind without appendices, and helped to understand early Polynesian sailing techniques. Group members devised a novel model of sailor risk attitude. The model will have applications in training, design performance assessment and race tactics. The SAILINGFLUIDS project achieved exchange of expertise among the four partners. The collaborative research also yielded new insights into sailing forces, to be used in yacht design. Keywords Yachts, yacht engineering, fluid dynamics research, sail aerodynamics, yacht hulls, yacht design, yacht performance
