DSC at SailGP
On Sunday 1st March, the Drummoyne curtesy bus was loaded with junior sailors and taken across to White Bay for Sail GP Inspire Tech Tour at the Sail GP base.
The 15 DSC Junior sailors from across the Sabot and Laser fleets (plus a few adults tagging along) were given a full tour of the SailGP base which in Sydney this year was at White Bay.
To transport the fleet around the world some 140 x 40ft shipping containers get unpacked across a few days, the sailors go racing, and then all the boxes are repacked and shipped to the next regatta. It takes between 2 - 3 days to setup & pack down base & boats, teams working around the clock.
Sone fun SailGP facts each boat weighs 2.4 tonne with the sail on, the T foils and foils on the rudders supporting that weight when they are flying.
When the boats are flying, on the bear away the F50 cats regularly reach speeds over 100km/h or about 54 knots
The SailGP F50 catamarans use modular, interchangeable wingsails to optimize performance across varying wind conditions, primarily utilizing 18m, 24m, and 29m (or new 27.5m) heights. These carbon and titanium wings operate like aircraft wings to maximize speed and control, with smaller wings used in high wind and larger ones in light air. The kids were able to get up close & personal with the wing sails + get to know the hydraulics and inner workings of the wingsails.
The daggerboards and rudders system consists of two main daggerboard foils for lift and twin T-foil rudders for stability and steering, with new, thinner rudder designs aiming to delay cavitation and improve control at high speeds.
The hull structure is built from aluminium honeycomb core vacuum bonded with carbon fibre skins, to allow for transport in 40ft containers the bow section forward of the front crossbeam is bolted to the hull with approximately 50 bolts per section
Each boat has 125 sensors which are utilised as data collection points, with the data shared between all the teams.
Sam Newton a key member of the Bonds Flying Roos team stopped by to chat to our DSC Junior sailors while Tom Slingsby & Aussie golfing great Greg Norman were having a chat up on the tramp
For some the highlight was meeting 3 time America's Cup winner and SailGP Black Foils skipper (and Gold + Silver multi 49er Olympian) ... Peter Burling!!!
A great experience.
Thanks to SailGP, Australian Sailing & Drummoyne Sailing Club (opportunity & DSC bus!)
