BMW ORACLE Racing, the American challenger, representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, won the 33rd America’s Cup in February, beating the Swiss defender, Alinghi.
Working with Core Builders of Anacortes, Washington, USA, the BMW ORACLE Racing team's custom boat building facility, Janicki Industries provided tooling for most of the carbon fibre components of the racing yacht originally called BOR 90 (aka Dogzilla) and finally named USA.
Most recently, Janicki manufactured moulds for the wing sail on USA, giving BMW ORACLE Racing a technological breakthrough in the yacht's maneuverability and speed.
Working with BMW ORACLE Racing's America's Cup campaigns has provided Janicki Industries with its own opportunities to be innovative.
According to Jim Payant, VP - Marine, Energy and Transportation: "The team at Core Builders always finds a way to help us expand our limits. We've developed entire product lines out of this collaboration. While the wing sail is getting lots of attention at the moment, this was a two and a half year effort, filled with incredible teamwork coupled with some amazing technology. BMW ORACLE Racing is a great organisation to work with and we're really excited about the prospects for the AC 34."
Janicki Industries, located in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, is a technical engineering company that creates composite tools, prototypes and production parts for transportation, aerospace, space and defence, marine, wind energy and other markets throughout the world.
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Hull Boat type: Trimaran of carbon composite construction. Where built: Core Builders, Anacortes, WA, USA. Overall length: 114 ft (34 m). Waterline length: 90 ft (27 m). Beam: 90 ft (27 m). Time to build: 150 000 hours. Mast Height: Up to 185 ft (55 m). Where built: Hall Spars, Bristol, RI, USA; Core Builders, Anacortes, WA, USA. Wing sail Height: 223 ft (68 m) (for comparison, a Boeing 747 wing is 102 ft/31 m long, and an Airbus 380 wing is 143 ft/43.5 m long). Chord: 10-45 ft (3-14 m). Width: 2-6 ft (0.5-2.0 m). Surface area: 7000 ft2 (650 m2) (profile) Weight: 7700 lbs (3500 kg) (approx.) Design and R&D BMW ORACLE Racing Design Team: Mike Drummond, Director; 30 designers and scientists. Principal naval architects: VPLP (Van Peteghem and Lauriot Prévost). Notes on the wing The wing sail consists of two main components: the main element and the flap element. The main element is one single piece that rotates around the mast step. Nine flaps rotate around the trailing edge of the main element. Both elements are separated by a small gap and linked together by hinges. The wing sail is primarily constructed from carbon fibre and Kevlar with a light, shrinkable aeronautical film material used as an overall skin over the frame. |
