Wally Yachts to build Aeroyacht 110

Aeroyacht 110 from above

If there is one company that stands out among all others for the distinguishing super-luxury performance power and sailing yachts that it has built, it’s Wally.  Wally recently committed to build the Aeroyacht 110 at the new Wally yard in Acona.  The super luxury catamaran will be built in Wallys 300-meter long by 40-meter wide shed.

The Aeroyacht 110 is Wally’s first multihull. Wally President Luca Bassani’s reasons for selecting the Aeroyacht are “the nice concept of the project and the skill of the naval architects”.  He credits his decision to “the team first of all and the style too”.

Morrelli & Melvin was able to translate Gregor Tarjan’s concept into engineering plans and designs.  Luca Bassani and Wally are eager to help the Aeroyacht team in designing and building the best catamaran of this size ever built.  Fast, beautiful, comfortable and glamorous.

To read more about the Aeroyacht 110 at Morrelli & Melvin’s website, click here.

Pete Speaks at Yacht Racing Design & Technology Symposium in Monaco

Yacht Racing Design & Technology Symposium Monaco

Morrelli & Melvin co-founder Pete Melvin will join Andy Claughton, Dr. Rodrigo Azcueta, Yann Roux and Juan Kouyoumdjian as a panelist at the opening session of the Yacht Racing Design & Technology Symposium in Monaco on December 9th.  The panelists will discuss and debate a host of issues on race boat design and hydrodynamic testing.  As industry experts, they’ll lead the talk on tank testing, canting keels, water ballast, rudder and keel design, hull shape and hydrodynamic forces.

Pete is looking forward to the entire symposium, which is coincident with the World Yacht Racing Forum at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on December 9-10.  The highlight of the combined forum is the December 10th session entitled “What is the Future of Multihull Racing?” As the only yacht design firm involved in the design efforts of the 1988 Stars & Stripes catamaran that successfully defended America’s Cup and this America’s Cup challenger, the BMW Oracle’s trimaran, Morrelli & Melvin is sure to contribute to the conversation about multihulls, wings and the future of fast, fun and spectator-friendly events.

Program available at http://yrdts.com/program.php

Pete Speaks at Ullman Sails Winter Sailing Seminar

1988 America's Cup catamaran with wing sail

December 2, 2009 (Newport Beach, CA) – Pete Melvin, who has been leading Morrelli & Melvin’s consulting efforts with BMW Oracle Racing, made a presentation about wing sails to a large group that gathered at Ullman Sails offices in nearby Santa Ana, CA.  Morrelli & Melvin is the only yacht designer that has been involved in the 1988 multihull America’s Cup defense and the 33rd America’s Cup design efforts.  Both Stars & Stripes and the BMW Oracle trimaran are fitted with wings.

Although Morrelli & Melvin have contributed a lot to the BMW Oracle efforts and feel privileged to have collaborated with top designers and engineers in many facets of aerodynamic and hydrodynamic design, Pete refrained from revealing BMW Oracle secrets about the powerful and efficient combination of multihulls and wings.  The talk took place on December 2, 2009.  It’s yet another way that Morrelli & Melvin is contributing to the local and international sailing community.

Ullman Sails Seminar info at http://ullmansailsnewportbeach.blogspot.com/

M&M-designed Sunsail 384 Survives 100-Knot Winds and 30-Meter Seas

The Sunsail 384 Catamaran survived typhoon Mirinae during delivery

Johann Spies, Thomas Donaldson and Mike Allan lived to tell the story of surviving typhoon Mirinae on a Morrelli & Melvin-designed Sunsail 384 in the middle of the South China Sea.  The South Africans were making one of the initial deliveries of a Sunsail 384 when they were caught in a typhoon.  They remained aboard the stable cruising platform rather than abandon ship with their survival gear and life raft.

Following the ordeal, Donaldson wrote, “We were on the verge of abandoning ship.  I was just waiting for the boat to go over but for some reason it seemed to defy the laws of physics. We had only 29 horsepower to push a nine-ton boat with two more tons of water and fuel, and I honestly can’t believe that it saved us.  I really thought we were done for.”

Donaldson continued, “All you could hear besides the howling wind and rain was the prop coming out of the water, and then smashing back in again as the pontoons jumped up and down.  At full power we were doing less than half a knot against the swells, if not backwards, and more than 16 down the other side.  Which is pretty fast when you consider that the boat can only do six knots in flat water with both engines running.”

After making minor repairs, the delivery team persevered with their delivery.

Mirinae claimed at least 57 lives, 20 of them in the Philippines and even more in Vietnam.  It left thousands homeless.

See more on the Sunsail 384 / Leopard 38

Gino Sea Trials Sunsail 384 with Media

Gino Morrelli and the Sunsail, Moorings team in Nice France

Gino Morrelli joined executives of Moorings and Sunsail in taking international media and clients on six seatrials over a two-day period from the Moorings and Sunsail base in Nice, France. Gino was an incredibly valuable asset to have on board.  He could field questions and trim the sheets and halyards while at the helm of the Sunsail 384.

Gino Morrelli sea trials Sunsail 384 at Nice France boat show

The cruising catamaran debuts in the Caribbean this season.  The catamaran can be operated by one person at the starboard-side helm station. See link in above story for more information.

Learn more about the Sunsail 384 / Leopard 38

Gino at Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS)

From Nice, Gino traveled to Amsterdam to METS, the Marine Equipment Trade Show. He introduced the latest Morrelli & Melvin designs to prospects and spread the word about Morrelli & Melvin’s worldwide sail and powerboat consulting projects.

Leopard 38/ Sunsail 384 named SAIL Magazines 2010 Best Boat – Cruising Multihull Category

SAIL Magazine Best Boats

This year, the Leopard 38 and Sunsail 384 top SAIL Magazine’s list of multihull designs under 40 feet.  Say the magazine editors of the design that was developed for the cruising market,” It exhibits a level of refinement that cements Robertson & Caine’s place in the top rank of production multihull builders. Designers Morrelli & Melvin, paired with in-house designer Anthony Key, came up with a build plan that utilizes fewer but larger and stronger moldings.  That has had a subtle but beneficial effect on the way the interior styling flows.”

Gino Morrelli set himself the task of stirring some more sailing spice into the cruising-cat mix, and says he’s achieved that, “by tinkering with the hull planforms and keel profiles.  Combine that with the choice of accommodation layouts that perfectly balance the opposing needs of maximum volume for crews and long-term comfort for liveaboard couples, and you have a boat for all reasons.”

All in all, the Leopard 38 is a fine entry-level catamaran, well built, well designed and well suited to both short-term and long-term cruising.

Click here to read more about the Leopard 38 (private owner customized yacht) and Sunsail 384

About Leopard Catamarans

Leopard Catamarans are built by Robertson and Caine. Founded in 1991, Robertson and Caine, were initially custom yacht builders. Over the years they built various different types and sizes from basic 36 foot fiberglass monohulls to state of the art carbon fiber racing boats up to 70 foot in size.

Leopard 38 Catamaran wins SAIL Magazine Boat of the Year 2010

Over the last 7 years they have been manufacturing 38 to 62 foot catamarans. In 1995, Robertson and Caine entered into a relationship with The Moorings, and more recently with Sunsail, to provide catamarans specially designed by Morrelli and Melvin for their worldwide fleets of bareboat and crewed yachts.

YCO signs Wally Yachts to build Aeroyacht 110

Morrelli & Melvin is excited to announce that Aeroyacht and YCO have signed Wally Yachts as the official shipyard for the new Aeroyacht 110.

Aeroyacht 110

Says Gregor Tarjan, the founder of Aeroyacht, “Wally is renowned for its groundbreaking designs, which constantly reinvent and reinterpret the traditional approach.  Wally yachts are world class and stand alone both in performance and style.  Given what we set out to achieve with the Aeroyacht 110, I don’t think there is a yard which could be better matched to us”.

Morrelli & Melvin look forward to working closely with Aeroyacht, Wally, and YCO  in bringing life to this spectacular design.

Read more about this at

http://www.superyachttimes.com/editorial/8/article/id/3689.

Sunsail 384 Shines in the Cruising Market

Sunsail put Morrelli & Melvin and Robertson and Caine to the test to design the first of a new generation of simple-to-operate high performance cruising catamarans exclusively for its cruising market. We developed an entry-level catamaran that appeals to first timers and has a generous sail plan that will also excite the more experienced sailor. The Sunsail 384 has something for everyone, and it’s less than 40 feet in length.

This catamaran was designed for the Mediterranean cruising market and kicking back and relaxing in idyllic coves and bays of the Mediterranean.  In no time, it has proven to be so popular that Sunsail has made them available in the Bahamas, Caribbean, South Pacific and Indian Ocean too.

There’s fun in numbers and we planned the interior so that there are four double cabins and two forepeak berths.  Those forepeak berths are great for kids or additional storage. Performance, comfort, tons of outdoor space and generous sail area are packaged in this roomy sailing catamaran.

We’re proud of the eco-friendly features that we’ve packed into this smooth riding, high capacity cruising boat. The Sunsail 384 is the first cruising fleet equipped with solar cells.  The solar panels are installed on the bimini hardtop and will save an estimated 20 per cent on engine hours, increasing the lifespan of the onboard batteries by up to five years.

It was critical that the team used durable materials to withstand long seasons in popular cruising markets.  The tooling was built in China and shipped to South Africa, and we used GRP construction with balsa core for strength, stiffness and insulation in the hulls.

Gino is going to be in Nice, France on November 13 -14 to help introduce the Sunsail 384 to cruising brokers and the media.  Will he do a sea trial while he is there?  Bien sur.

Always game to sail something new and different, our friend, Lynn Fitzpatrick, has promised us that she will check out one of the first boats to arrive in the Caribbean.  Check back before the holidays for her update.

Getting Up to Speed on Foils

By Lynn Fitzpatrick and Gino Morrelli

Chances are if you have spent most of your life cruising around on a sailboat, you know a bit about what makes sails work.  Foils, canards and wings, however, may mystify you.

Imagine this daggerboard suspended from the leeward hull. The bottom hook provides upward lift and the more vertical section (the transition toward the hook in the other direction) provides lateral lift/resistance.

We’ve tried to simplify the principals for those of you who have a phobia for math, physics and applied sciences. What follows is enough to make you dangerous.  Leave the applications of these principals to experts such as Morrelli & Melvin, who have rocket scientists, naval architects and engineers on staff.

Power Lifting with Bernouilli’s Theorem

 

Bernouilli’s Theorem is also known as the longer path explanation.  A sail is an airfoil.  Viewed in cross section, one side of the foil/sail is longer than the other.   As the foil moves through air, the air splits at the leading edge (mast or headstay) of the curved airfoil. The air taking a longer path by passing along the backside/leeward side moves faster than the air passing across the front/weather side.  The particles moving across the backside/leeward side of the sail are traveling farther in the same amount of time and they have a higher velocity, or speed, than the particles on the front side/weather side of the sail. They also have more room to spread out, forming a low-pressure area.

On the front side/weather side of the sail, the slower air particles are packed together more densely, creating a higher-pressure area. This difference in the pressure on either side of the sail creates a suction force, producing lift/power that makes the boat move forward… therefore sailing sucks!

 

Rudders, Keels or Daggerboards Create Side Force

All boats have rudders and keels or daggerboards that are essentially vertical airfoils underwater. The symmetric rudder creates lift by turning slightly relative to the flow, also called “angle of attack”. This slight rotation creates just enough difference in the distance the water has to travel around one side of the foil as compared to the other that it creates the same effect as air passing around a sail. The more we turn the rudder, or increase angle of attack, the greater differential in distance that water has to travel around one side versus the other, the more power we get and the faster we turn.

The primary job of a keel or daggerboard is to create enough equal and opposite side force or lift to counteract the forces created by the sails aloft. Sails push one way and the keels/daggerboards push the other way, and essentially spitting the boat forward like a watermelon seed pinched between your fingers!

In a traditional monohull the keel has to do the other equally important job of providing stability by suspending a ballast down low to counteract the heeling/tipping forces caused by the sails aloft. Rather than rely on deep and/or heavy keels, cats’ and tris’ stability comes from placing the hulls far apart.

Lifting Hydrofoils Push Boats Up

The same basic principles that apply to airfoils/sails, apply to all underwater hydrofoils. Rudders are symmetric vertical hydrofoils that turn the boat. Lifting hydrofoils are mounted horizontally and try to lift the boat. A typical asymmetric lifting hydrofoil on a boat is positioned similar to a wing on an airplane with the shorter/flatter side down and the curved side up. Because hydrofoils are much thicker than sails and the density of water is about 800 times the density of air, they are way more powerful for the same surface area.

Hydrofoil assisted boats float on the water while at rest.  At low speeds they are not necessarily any faster than boats without hydrofoils.  As speed increases, the hydrofoils generate more and more lift and push the hulls higher and higher out of the water.  The hull is sometimes completely supported above the water surface by a strut.  Free of the drag caused by the hull, a hydrofoil boat can skim over the surface of the water at over two times the speed of boats without hydrofoils.

Alinghi, Le Bouveret, Lake Geneva - 20/07/2009

Curved Lifting Hydrofoils do Both

Both the BMW ORACLE trimaran and Alinghi catamaran use curved daggerboards (hydrofoils) to provide necessary lateral lift/resistance and they also lift the leeward hull up.  The same board is used to reduce sliding to leeward or leeway and also provide vertical lift. The current variations that are being experimented with by both teams, tradeoff more vertical lift for less lateral lift or vice versa. Upwind these boats still need a fair amount of lateral lift/resistance to prevent excess leeway due to their enormous sail plans and the fact that they essentially are always going upwind!  These boats sail at apparent wind angles downwind that are only about 10 degrees more than upwind!  Downwind the sails are never really eased and the apparent wind never goes very far aft… the wind is always in your face on these boats!  The apparent wind is so far forward on these boats that you always feel as if you are going upwind.

Combining both jobs, lateral resistance and lifting the boat into one board simplifies the boat but complicates the parts. Both teams are playing with variations of “J” or “L” boards, constant arc boards or even crazy looking “S” boards. Each shape has its slight advantages and disadvantages. They are also playing with different foil section shapes, which can produce better results at different speeds.

Racing sailors are always looking for the optimum combination of maximum lift for minimum drag.  Both America’s Cup teams can raise and lower the boards to vary the surface area.   They can seek more advantage by jibing them (changing angle of attack relative to the boat) and also rocking them fore and aft.  Doing this, however, requires complex hull and board casing construction.

The buildup for the America’s Cup is a time for research and development, design and testing.  Each team will have a matrix of foil combinations optimized for forecast wind and sea conditions.  Their racing arsenal is much larger than that needed for cruising and performance/cruising multihulls to sail fast, comfortably and safely across a range of conditions.

The Morrelli & Melvin team is currently including curved lifting hydrofoils on our new Nacra F20 Carbon design and curved lifting hydrofoils will be appearing shortly on other new and exciting toys we are working on.  We’re participating in BMW ORACLE’s America’s Cup developments and conscientiously incorporating design enhancements into our recreational and commercial power and sailboat designs.

Hands-On innovation at Morrelli & Melvin

A common attribute among designers and engineers at Morrelli & Melvin is the ability to build what they design. We believe that the hands-on experience enables our team to not only design products that can be built efficiently and economically, but also leads to innovation in materials and construction methods.

Gino Morrelli started out working on racing cars and boats in his family’s back yard as a teenager. He built his first boat with his dad and brother, a 33-foot Crowther trimaran in high school. Soon after he started his first company, Climax Catamarans, designing and building 18-square meter cats. He has been entrenched in onshore and offshore race-boat construction efforts since the early 80’s, managing and participating in the construction of 60’ ocean racing catamarans, Formula 40’s, the 1988 Stars & Stripes America’s Cup catamaran and many racing beach catamarans. Today he manages the Product Development side of our business where he helps bridge the gap between design engineering and our customers’ production lines. His many years of experience in racing, design, as well as on the shop floor, help us design boats that are beautiful, perform well, and are practical and economical to construct.

Pete Melvin has been creating innovative vehicles since his youth.  Not discouraged when the boat he built as a 6-year old did not float, he rebounded and built a fast motorized skateboard by the time he was 10. Pete and his father designed and built several Optimist dinghies and then formed a company to build them. They used Nomex honeycomb and carbon fiber long before these materials gained acceptance in the marine industry. Pete has always designed, built, rigged, and prepared his own race boats, creating many innovations along the way and gaining valuable hands-on experience. He recently designed and built an innovative electric motorcycle that goes 50 miles on a single charge at up to 60 mph. His motorcycle is a test bed for lithium battery and electric propulsion systems that are increasingly finding their way onto M&M’s commercial, military, and pleasure boat designs.

Read more (click here)