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Altair, Artemis Racing design daggerboards

29 May '17

3 min read

Altair and Artemis Racing have teamed up to design daggerboards - foils that lift a boat out of the water to break the drag barrier - which have a significant impact on a boat’s performance. The two have applied design and simulation technology to perfect these composite structures. The development will help Artemis Racing in the 35th America’s Cup.

“Technology plays a huge part in the America’s Cup. It’s been said the fastest boat has won the America’s Cup for the last 160 years and I’m not sure that is about to change. The daggerboard is the appendage that we fly the boat off and also transfers side force into driving force. Millimetres of difference make knots of difference so the optimal manufacturing and design of the daggerboard is absolutely critical,” said Iain Percy, team manager and on-water tactician for Artemis Racing.

The teams have focused much of their effort on optimising the strength, shapes and thicknesses, and how water and wind interact with daggerboards using a simulation-driven design approach. To accomplish this, Artemis Racing used several Altair technologies from the HyperWorks suite including HyperMesh complex composite material finite element model development, OptiStruct for structural analysis and optimization and RADIOSS for nonlinear, large deflection analysis.

Two sets of daggerboards were created to withstand the unexpected challenges from mother nature - one pair designed to perform optimally in heavier winds and waves and another for lighter wind and wave conditions - both designed to rapidly lift the boat from the water with minimum drag.

“The tools that we use are at the forefront of the industries. We are working to tight tolerances and small differences in section shapes on the daggerboards can lead to relatively big gains on the water. We are all pushing hard and pushing the design limits to win that America’s Cup,” says Brett Ellis, lead engineering for daggerboards and rudders.

"The technology involved in designing these boats is a critical component to providing a speed edge for the teams vying for the win. It was an honour to collaborate with the Artemis Racing design team and apply our design and simulation technologies to create a world-class sailing vessel," said Uwe Schramm, chief technology officer, Altair.

Artemis Racing represents Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet (KSSS - the Royal Swedish Yacht Club), the fifth-oldest yacht club in the world. Artemis Racing has a multinational crew comprising the most successful and respected sailors and designers in the world. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India