- Land Rover engineers find new aerodynamics solutions as they work with the team to make Sir Ben Ainslie’s catamaran the fastest boat in the America’s Cup
- Engineers’ pioneering work creates software that has the potential to unlock crucial extra performance and manoeuvrability to get team over the line first
- Sophisticated computer analysis of carbon fibre wingsail and air flow provides many new avenues of performance gains for the team
- Land Rover BAR aims to bring home the world’s oldest sporting trophy to Britain for the first time in its 165‑year history
Monday 7th November 2016, Whitley: Land Rover BAR is preparing to unveil Britain’s latest America’s Cup racing boat, which uses industry‑first aerodynamic testing by Land Rover engineers to exploit and explore new areas of performance gains to make the boat faster through water and the air.
Land Rover’s engineers have worked on the boat’s giant 77ft high wingsail using their understanding of aerodynamics and the computer technology gained on developing cars, including the all‑new Discovery. The team has created sophisticated software to explore the detailed and dynamic performance of the wingsail, analysing 80 million computational cells in each test, which will seek definitive results to help further performance gains.
Land Rover BAR Test Boat Training
This engineering process is similar to processes we use at Jaguar Land Rover to assess how our vehicles respond at high speeds. Our aim is to minimise the effect of aerodynamic forces that act to deform parts of the vehicle and to make them more fuel efficient.
We have been working extremely closely with the design team at the base in Portsmouth and the America’s Cup race boat, known as R1, which will be ready to launch early next year. The engineers are seeing their hard work pay off and as the Cup will be won on those vital few seconds, we anticipate seeing significant performance gains which we believe will ultimately help the team to win in Bermuda.
Tony Harper
Director of Research at Jaguar Land Rover
Land Rover’s engineers have developed sophisticated software which analyses the carbon fibre wing to make the boat even faster. It is as important as shaving fractions of a second off the performance of an F1 racing car. This software, called Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI), combines aerodynamic testing approaches to increase the performance of the boat’s wing – the catamaran’s main source of power – with structural analysis of its deformation. This has been created because the carbon fibre wing not only needs to withstand strong winds and be crafted from the lightest structures, but also needs to deform to generate acceleration and speed – not drag.
The FSI system processes data from separate software used to analyse the structure of the wing and the airflow around it. Combining this information is key.
One example is how the Clysar – the film covering the wing – distorts and impacts the boat’s speed due to natural forces. By combining these processes, the team is able to gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between the wing’s aerodynamics and structural dynamics to evaluate the new airflow and changes to the wing shape.
This is complex work in the fine grain of the wing’s performance. We couldn’t have done this work without Land Rover. Their computational sophistication and resource has made a substantial difference to how we have tackled this problem.
We expect to see real gains out on the water next summer as a result of this work. With the America’s Cup, we could have the best sailors in the world, but it’s just as much about the design of the final boat which will give us the cutting edge next summer.
Richard Hopkirk
Engineering Manager at Land Rover BAR
Land Rover BAR head to Fukuoka in Japan for the final America’s Cup World Series event on 19‑20 November. They are top of the overall leaderboard. The event is crucial in determining their position going into Bermuda next summer.
The America’s Cup race boat, currently known by the code name R1, will be launched in early 2017 in Bermuda, the host of the 35th America’s Cup in May and June 2017.
Heading into the final America’s Cup World Series event, the overall leaderboard is:
- Land Rover BAR ‑ 437
- ORACLE TEAM USA ‑ 423
- Emirates Team New Zealand ‑ 420
- SoftBank Team Japan ‑ 399
- Artemis Racing ‑ 391
- Groupama Team France ‑ 360
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4eNpYG_tv0&feature=youtu.be
ENDS
Interviews available on request.
Further information
For further information log onto www.media.landrover.com or contact:
Lydia Haley
Senior Press Officer
+44 2476 564 147 / +44 7730 923 507
lhaley1@jaguarlandrover.com
Notes to Editors
Jaguar Land Rover 2016
Jaguar Land Rover is the UK's largest automotive manufacturer, built around two iconic British car brands: Land Rover, the world’s leading manufacturer of premium all‑wheel‑drive vehicles; and Jaguar, one of the world’s premier luxury sports saloon and sports car marques.
The company employs almost 38,000 people globally and supports around 275,000 more through our dealerships, suppliers and local businesses. Manufacturing is centred in the UK, with additional plants in China, Brazil and India.
At Jaguar Land Rover we are driven by a desire to create class‑leading products that deliver great customer experiences. The largest investor in R&D in the UK manufacturing sector, we have invested £12 billion in the last five years and in the current year alone will spend over £3 billion on new product creation and capital expenditure. Last year Jaguar Land Rover sold 487,065 vehicles in 160 countries, with more than 80% of our vehicles produced in the UK being sold abroad.
Land Rover is ‘Title Partner’ and ‘Exclusive Innovation Partner’ of Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR). Land Rover is applying its expertise in advanced engineering, cutting edge design and innovative technological solutions to Land Rover BAR in its attempt to win the America’s Cup.
About Land Rover BAR
Sarah Alexander, Land Rover BAR Press Officer
Sarah.alexander@landroverbar.com t. +44 7766 391 276 / +44 1489 587 838
Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) was launched on June 10th 2014 in the presence of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge. The team was conceived by four‑times Olympic gold medalist and 34th America's Cup winner, Sir Ben Ainslie, with the long‑term aim of challenging for Britain and bringing the America's Cup back home to where it all began in 1851. Sir Ben has developed and will lead a British entry capable of winning the prestigious trophy, something Britain has so far never managed to achieve.
Land Rover BAR is a commercial sporting team, with a number of individual private investors alongside corporate partners. The team is made up of some of the best British and international sailors, designers, builders and racing support.
Sports teams represent key role models in society. This privileged position is not taken for granted at Land Rover BAR. The team believe our influence should extend far beyond the race course, and have put sustainability at the heart of operations since launching the team with Exclusive Sustainability Partner 11th Hour Racing in 2014.
The team have built a new headquarters in the centre of Portsmouth, the 74,000 sq ft. building houses all the team's activities, and will welcome the public into its Tech Deck education centre.
The 1851 Trust is the team's official charity, and HRH The Duchess of Cambridge is its Royal Patron.
Portsmouth will host a second Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event on 21st‑24th July 2016. Almost a quarter of a million spectators enjoyed the action in Portsmouth in 2015, with 25,000 of them taking to the water ‑ more are expected to come back in 2016 to watch the racing and cheer for the home team.
