Volvo Ocean Race Filmed by High Speed Boat
June 30, 2009
The Volvo Ocean Race 2008/2009 and its official provider of satellite communications, Immarsat, pushed the standards of media coverage of an around the world race in numerous ways. Coverage was beamed to a global audience of over 2 billion – on TV, radio and the Internet. Not only did each boat have an on board media person recording the action, but at points in the Mediterranean and when the fleet reached Galway and started its European port to port sprint some of the media swat team climbed onto Fleet Broadband Express.
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- The advantage of the power cat is it can maintain speed with the racing yachts
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- The Volvo yachts were filmed from the water from a specially designed power catamaran
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- FleetBroadbandExpress can be seen at the right side (leeward) of the fleet
Fleet Broadband Express is the 15-metre catamaran platform designed by Morrelli and Melvin so that the media could follow the fleet. The race organizer’s goal was to bring its audience the stories and multimedia usually could not be provided because the fleets were too far offshore.
It’s difficult to keep up with a fleet that is moving at 25 knots. Even for a catamaran. While the likes of Torben Grael and his team on Ericsson 4 crashed and burned in high seas and gale force gusts, Fleet Broadband Express did its best to match the pace. It proved to be a valuable media platform for the in-port racing and the short legs in European waters.
From the 2009 VolvoLog:
“For the first 18 hours or so after the start, the FleetBroadband Express worked according to plan. In extremely challenging conditions (20-plus knots of wind, two to three metre seas), it was able to keep up to some of the fastest racing monohulls in the world as they scorched down the Irish Coast to the Fastnet Rock.
The boat was a great platform to film from, as you can see by some of the shots Dave Kneale was able to take. The television images were impressive as well, and will turn up in the weekly shows that cover the Galway start.”
- Rick Tomlinson, Volvo Ocean Race.
Fleet Broadband Express is managed by Water Wizards, an international media company specializing in on the water live-feed and film coverage.
The Merits of Wing Power Revealed
June 25, 2009
This article has been used with permission from Lynn Fitzpatrick of WorldRegattas.com
2009-06-23 Released
By Lynn Fitzpatrick
Wing Sail may be the future of the America's Cup design
The architects of the San Diego Yacht Club America’s Cup defense were considered heretics when they went against the tradition dating back to 1851 and proffered a catamaran rather than a monohull design for 27th America’s Cup Defense. Even within the defense syndicate there was a radical group of designers and engineers who worked diligently to test and prove their theory that wings would perform better than soft sails. At first their theory was scorned, but once they came up with a design that proved to be more powerful than the traditional mast rigged with soft sails, they were accepted. The technology that they introduced earlier in the C-Class, helped to Stars and Stripes chalk up the most lopsided America’s Cup victory in history: a cumulative elapsed time trouncing of over 39 minutes in the two race series.
Over twenty years of technological and materials advancements have passed since that America’s Cup. Some have retired, all have aged in one aspect or another, but one thing has remained constant: Duncan MacLane and David Hubbard have continued to use and perfect wing technology. Among their latest collaborative project is the Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vessel being developed by HarborWing Technologies. Not conjoined twins, one is engaged by the Defender and the other is engaged by the Challenger for the 33rd America’s Cup. They are sworn to secrecy. Mark Ott, President of HarborWing Technologies, however, was willing to speak about the merits of wing technology.
While mainstream sailors may consider the use of the wings a bit heretical, those in the know and those involved in the arms race to win the America’s Cup are clearly embracing winged technology.
The merits of hard winged technology over a traditional mast and soft sails on a multihull, according to Ott:
- Wings don’t change shape. Sails do. You change the angle of attack to control a wing. You change the sail shape and the angle of attack to adjust sail trim.
- It is easier to turn a wing on and off by changing the angle of attack than to trim running rigging and soft sails.
- Wings are more precise and controllable.
- Wings only have inertial weight; they do not have compressive loading. Masts get out of column very easily and buckle with compression.
- Without needing to resist the compression loads from a mast shrouds and stays, a winged hull or platform can be much lighter than a traditional hull.
- Wings are more powerful. Tests performed with Harbor Wing Technologies X1 prototype indicate that in certain wind strengths and directions, a wing is at least two times more powerful than a soft-sailed rig. The effect of slots when using multiple wing elements improves the efficiency of wings.
- The weight of a mast, rigging, spreaders, halyards, sheets, winches and deck and hull reinforcements to counter the compression forces is comparable to inertial weight of a wing. (Granted, the weight aloft of a wing is slightly greater than that of traditionally rigged sails.)
- There is less stress on the crew that uses a wing, because they do not haul big sails up and down nor are they constantly trimming.
- Teams will get take advantage of the best of both worlds on the run when they have the wing element engaged and can hoist a big spinnaker or gennaker to capture the breeze.
If you can’t find footage of the 1988 America’s Cup with one of Stars and Stripes’ hulls gliding through the water while the other barely kisses the surface and New Zealand plods along, take a look at the video of Harbor Wing Technologies X1 at www.HarborwingTech.com or on YouTube. The Harbor Wing seagoing vessels do not have shrouds, because the wing must rotate 360º to adjust to changes in sea states and wind conditions instantaneously. The next generation of manned America’s Cup monster multihulls will have shrouds and that’s where some of the fun will be for spectators. There may be times when the wing is loaded up and the angle of attack can’t be changed quickly or radically enough because of interference from the shrouds.
Video of HarborWing Technologies X1 Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle http://www.harborwingtech.com/
Keep your eyes peeled for wings. They are coming soon at America’s Cup practice venues.
Rendering courtesy of Morrelli and Melvin Design and Engineering
Concept Demonstration of the Harbor Wing AUSV (Flash Video). Produced By Southside Entertainment, Inc. and Aloura Charles. Courtesy of HarborWing Technologies.
Aeroyacht’s New Line of Luxury Catamarans
June 8, 2009
Newest innovations in performance yachts
Huntington Beach, CA, January 4, 2009 – It’s the New Year and Morrelli and Melvin have teamed up with Aeroyacht to introduce a new line of luxury super catamarans. The Aeroyacht 110 is the first of the Aeroyacht range to fly from the design to the production phase. A sign of the changing times, it sports an optional 2-seater Icon A5 amphibian sports plane and pod to house it.
Referred to by many as today’s most innovative American luxury yacht, the Aeroyacht 110 is a high-performance luxury catamaran. Gregor Tarjan, founder and president of Aeroyacht, collaborated with Morrelli and Melvin on the high-performance luxury catamaran to introduce the latest amenities, style, speed and stability to his visionary yacht. In addition to spacious and comfortable teak decks, a large galley and saloon, a 1,250 square foot social and entertainment platform, a low semi-fly and twin helm stations, this performance cruiser has three private, split-level suites.
Not only is the Aeroyacht spacious, it is fast. Speeds of 35 knots can be attained in comfort. Speed, size and carefully calculated weight distribution deliver minimal sea-induced motion for the entire range of Aeroyachts – the Aeroyacht 95, 110 and 125.
“We are applying technology, engineering and material improvements to all of our designs. Performance cruising designs are getting stronger, lighter and faster just like the America’s Cup and ocean racing multihulls. Aeroyacht has taken advantage of these breakthroughs to introduce optional equipment and more spacious private suites. The hull speeds that it can reach may seem fast for a monohull but are not even approaching the extreme speeds that some multihulls are achieving,” said Pete Melvin, co-founder of Morrelli and Melvin. “It’s not surprising that our recent designs for Aeroyacht and HarborWing Technologies can accommodate the launching of unmanned vehicles and small planes.
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- Newest innovations in performance yachts
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- Stability and comfort in a performance yacht
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- Stability and comfort in a performance yacht
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- Stability and comfort in a performance yacht
About MORRELLI and MELVIN
Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering, Inc. is one of the world’s foremost designers of multihull sail and powerboats for private, charter and commercial uses. In business for over 16 years, Morrelli & Melvin has won numerous industry design and innovation awards, the America’s Cup, World and Continental Championships and broken dozens of World records.
Morrelli & Melvin has been designing sailing and cruising catamaran and trimaran yachts in collaboration with boat builders Robertson and Caine, GUNBOAT and HarborWing Technologies. We have introduced such innovations as the forward cockpit to performance cruisers. Morrelli & Melvin also designs custom multihulls and works with builders and designers throughout the world.
Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering, Inc. – www.morrellimelvin.com – (714) 861-1320
Delivery captain, Piet Schepers, can’t get enough of a good thing. Schepers and two crewmates have been putting the new Leopard 37’s to the test delivering the Morrelli & Melvin-designed recreational power catamarans from Robertson & Caine’s Capetown, South Africa production facility to the Moorings Village in Tortola, BVI, on their own bottoms.
Leopard 37 Power Catamaran
Loaded with 633 gallons of fuel, 32 gallons of water and additional gear, the crew left Cape Town in early in December. On its maiden transatlantic crossing, the Leopard 37 traveled 1,740 nautical miles (2002 miles), before stopping to refuel at the remote island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic. The Leopard 37 sprinted another 2,559 miles to make landfall in Fortaleza, Brazil. Rested and reprovisioned, Schepers and the Leopard 37 crew headed 2,335 miles north and to celebrated the New Year in Tortola, BVI.
The Leopard 37 encountered winds from 0 to 35 miles per hour and seas from every direction during the crossing. Waves broke over the boat and showered Schepers on the bridge deck, but that did not stop him from going back for more. No sooner had delivered the Leopard 37 to the Moorings vacation fleet than did Schepers return to South Africa to repeat the performance. He reported, “The fact that I am sitting on another Leopard 37 on my way to Tortola, speaks for itself. This is a lot more boat than meets the eye.“
Schepers and his crew also found the Leopard 37 to be very fuel-efficient. At the outset of their voyage, they encountered winds of 35 miles per hour across the beam and 12 to 15-foot waves. With one motor averaging 2,200 rpm, they cruised along at 8 miles per hour and consumed 0.3 gallons of diesel per mile. The pleased captain reported topping 17 miles per hour at times when the Leopard 37 surfed down waves.
Eventually, they settled into their groove with their engine revving at 1,800 rpm, and the boat clipping along at 7 miles per hour and consuming a quart per hour. Late in their transatlantic crossing they encountered more pacific conditions and found “motoring in flat water with the wind from the stern to be comfortable and a breeze!”
Comfortable with the seaworthiness of these cruising powercats, Robertson & Caine has two other Leopard 37’s en route from South Africa to Tortola in time for the peak Caribbean vacation season.
Leopard 37 Specifications
Yacht Characteristics
| Length Overall | 36 ft 6 in / 11.13 m |
| Length at Waterline | 35 ft 11 in / 10.95 m |
| Beam | 14 ft 8 in / 4.47 m |
| Draft | 3 ft 2 in / 0.97 m |
| Engines | 2 – Yanmar Diesel 110 HP each |
| Fuel | 253 US gal / 958 ltr |
| Water | 113 US gal / 428 ltr |
Accommodation
| Berths | 2 |
| Heads | 2 |
| Showers | 3 |
| Cabins | 2 |
About MORRELLI & MELVIN
MORRELLI & MELVIN DESIGN & ENGINEERING INC. is one of the world’s foremost designers of multihull sail and powerboats for private, cruising and commercial uses. In business for over 16 years, MORRELLI & MELVIN (“M&M”) have won numerous industry design and innovation awards, the America’s Cup, World and Continental Championships and broken dozens of World records.
M&M has been designing power and sail cruising boats in collaboration with boat builders Robertson & Caine. M&M also participates in the product development process at Robertson & Caine – contributing to factory optimization, tooling development and construction process development.
The Moorings series has the yacht layouts. The private layout is the Leopard series. M&M’s Moorings 4000 cruising catamaran was awarded Cruising World Magazine’s Best Imported Cruising Boat and Best Multihull Under 40’ and the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association’s (NMNA’s) Innovation Award in 2005.
HarborWing Receives Security Industry Award
June 3, 2009
Communications, Disaster Preparedness and Maritime Category
On May 21, 2009 HarborWing Technologies was awarded first place by the Security Network’s 6th Annual Security Summit panel of judges. This experienced panel determined that the HarborWing AUSV (Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle) was the most innovative and timely product at the show in the Communications, Disaster Preparedness and Maritime categories. There were over 40 companies participating in the Security Summit event this year.
This award represents the first industry recognition of the innovation that is the HarborWing AUSV. HarborWing Technologies is very happy to have been recognized and to be able to share this accomplishment with Morrelli & Melvin Design and Engineering.
Announcement made by
Ken Childress
Vice President, Business Development
HarborWing Technologies, Inc.
Morrelli & Melvin is part of a team that provided engineering and consultation on an innovative, unmanned wing-sail vessel that is used to monitor open ocean and shallow waters. The vessel was originally designed for military use and has become attractive to law enforcement and commercial maritime markets. Morrelli & Melvin design a wide range of racing, cruising, and commercial yachts. Their designs have won the America’s Cup, numerous World and Continental championships, Round the World and Transatlantic records, and multiple industry awards.
For more information see
Harbor Wing Technologies
http://www.harborwingtech.com/
Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle for patrolling harbors
The Security Network
http://www.thesecuritynetwork.org/
Center for Maritime Systems and Security
http://www.cfmss.org/
