BUSINESS PARTNERS
THE YACHT
Under the bonnet of a world-class Maxi yacht
Our current YuuZoo yacht was built in 2004. She is 90 foot, all-carbon fibre and is the formula one of yachting. With a full rig, her sail area covers nearly five tennis courts. On a good downwind run, she easily breaks 30 knots.
This year, she returns to the Rolex Sydney Hobart with a new crew as the launch platform for Australia’s return to America's Cup competition. The team has fitted with a longer bow sprit to carry larger, more powerful spinnakers and a longer boom to carry a larger mainsail. Today's racing yachts are miracles of modern technology. But ultimately, they still use the power of the wind as the only source of propulsion.
Carbon Construction
YuuZoo is built using a carbon fibre sandwich construction, where a carbon fibre skin has been laminated on each side of a 25 to 40 mm Nomex or foam core. The carbon fibres are impregnated in with epoxy resin which also binds them to the core. The structures are packed in a plastic film and 'cooked' under vacuum to eliminate air voids and consolidate the laminate. The entire boat has been 'baked' in an oven to allow complete curing of the epoxy matrix. Carbon fibre provides the right combination of low weight and strength she needs for ocean racing. This is why she weighs only 20 tons – and 10 tons of that is in the keel. An advanced technology yacht of similar size to YuuZoo, but built 10 years ago would have weighed over 30 tons, as do most of our competitors. The bow is a bit stronger than the aft section because it has to take greater loads in big waves. It also contains some Kevlar to provide greater impact resistance in case YuuZoo hits an object in the water. And the bow is also built as a sacrificial impact area.
Canting Keel
Ever since the Australian America's Cup Challenger Team won the Cup in 1983 on Australia II, keel design has been widely known to be crucial to a yacht's speed and efficiency. In October 2004, YuuZoo was built with a canting (or swing) keel. Canting keels are not new technology, however, the rules for offshore racing yachts have only recently started to allow canting keels. A canting keel can be 'swung' to windward using powerful hydraulic rams to give a yacht more stability (righting moment) in stronger winds.
Stability is crucial for efficient racing. Two powerful hydraulic rams inside the yacht control the angle of the keel to counter the heeling force by the wind in the sails. Each is capable of applying 120 tons of push or pull to swing the keel into its optimal angle. To put it another way, they are capable of lifting 240 tons, a weight 12 times that of the yacht. Racing yachts are designed to be at their most efficient when slightly 'heeled' over. YuuZoo's most efficient range of heel is around 21 degrees. As the wind becomes stronger, YuuZoo's canting keel is adjusted to keep her within that efficient range before having to reduce sail area. The keel is 5 metres long and its sole function is to position the lead ballast bulb to windward. Lateral resistance or 'lift' is provided by an innovative rotating forward centreboard which can be retracted when sailing downwind.
The Canard
Because the keel is canted and the boat is heeling the keel blade almost horizontal and therefore not effective as a lifting foil to provide the lateral resistance required to balance the side force generated by the massive sails. YuuZoo can therefore deploy a canard, or a centreboard which is located forward of the mast and the keel. The canard also rotates to allow it to generate further lift as the with zero or even negative leeway. The canard is only used to the extent required for upwind sailing. While sailing with the wind, the YuuZoo crew lift it up to decrease resistance in the water and increase speed.
Sails
YuuZoo's sail ʻwardrobe' will depend on the expected race conditions. A typical wardrobe for the Sydney to Hobart could be one racing mainsail; up to seven jibs or foresails; two staysails, which go between the mainsail and the foresail or spinnaker and seven spinnakers (the large colourful parachute like sails used when the wind is blowing from the aft, or rear, of the yacht). Another innovation found on the YuuZoo is the use of inflatable batten technology in the reaching (sailing across the wind) forward sails. In certain conditions, YuuZoo could have enough sail area hoisted to cover more than four tennis courts put together – Well over 1000 square metres of sail at one time. Rather than weaving the sail material, individual strands of Kevlar and Carbon fibre, both extremely strong materials, are laid according to computer calculations to counter precisely the forces which the sail will encounter. The strands are glued between films of mylar (transparent plastic). Fully rigged, she has one of the largest sail-to-weight ratio of any racing monohull yacht on the water today, making her astonishingly fast downwind.
Bow Sprit
The Bow Sprit is a pole projecting from the front of the bow. On the YuuZoo we can attach spinnakers to the end of the bowsprit in order to get larger separation (gap) between the mainsail and the spinnaker. The rather mean looking bowsprit adds well deserved respect from competitors as in the case of a collision the 'swordlike' bowsprit would be the first part of impact. With a strong wind filling the largest, 800 square metre spinnaker, forces of many tons are transmitted through the halyard to the top of the mast, and through the spinnaker sheet and bowsprit to the hull, giving it massive forward thrust allowing the YuuZoo to surf at speeds over 30 knots.
Technical specifications
Length: 27.5 metres or 90 feet (30 m or 100 feet including Bow Sprit)
Width: 4.4 metres
Depth: 4.7 metres
Displacement: 21 tons
Mast height: 39 metres
Mainsail: 283 sq. m
Jib: 220 sq. m
Under the bonnet of a world-class Maxi yacht
Our current YuuZoo yacht was built in 2004. She is 90 foot, all-carbon fibre and is the formula one of yachting. With a full rig, her sail area covers nearly five tennis courts. On a good downwind run, she easily breaks 30 knots.
This year, she returns to the Rolex Sydney Hobart with a new crew as the launch platform for Australia’s return to America's Cup competition. The team has fitted with a longer bow sprit to carry larger, more powerful spinnakers and a longer boom to carry a larger mainsail. Today's racing yachts are miracles of modern technology. But ultimately, they still use the power of the wind as the only source of propulsion.
Carbon Construction
YuuZoo is built using a carbon fibre sandwich construction, where a carbon fibre skin has been laminated on each side of a 25 to 40 mm Nomex or foam core. The carbon fibres are impregnated in with epoxy resin which also binds them to the core. The structures are packed in a plastic film and 'cooked' under vacuum to eliminate air voids and consolidate the laminate. The entire boat has been 'baked' in an oven to allow complete curing of the epoxy matrix. Carbon fibre provides the right combination of low weight and strength she needs for ocean racing. This is why she weighs only 20 tons – and 10 tons of that is in the keel. An advanced technology yacht of similar size to YuuZoo, but built 10 years ago would have weighed over 30 tons, as do most of our competitors. The bow is a bit stronger than the aft section because it has to take greater loads in big waves. It also contains some Kevlar to provide greater impact resistance in case YuuZoo hits an object in the water. And the bow is also built as a sacrificial impact area.
Canting Keel
Ever since the Australian America's Cup Challenger Team won the Cup in 1983 on Australia II, keel design has been widely known to be crucial to a yacht's speed and efficiency. In October 2004, YuuZoo was built with a canting (or swing) keel. Canting keels are not new technology, however, the rules for offshore racing yachts have only recently started to allow canting keels. A canting keel can be 'swung' to windward using powerful hydraulic rams to give a yacht more stability (righting moment) in stronger winds.
Stability is crucial for efficient racing. Two powerful hydraulic rams inside the yacht control the angle of the keel to counter the heeling force by the wind in the sails. Each is capable of applying 120 tons of push or pull to swing the keel into its optimal angle. To put it another way, they are capable of lifting 240 tons, a weight 12 times that of the yacht. Racing yachts are designed to be at their most efficient when slightly 'heeled' over. YuuZoo's most efficient range of heel is around 21 degrees. As the wind becomes stronger, YuuZoo's canting keel is adjusted to keep her within that efficient range before having to reduce sail area. The keel is 5 metres long and its sole function is to position the lead ballast bulb to windward. Lateral resistance or 'lift' is provided by an innovative rotating forward centreboard which can be retracted when sailing downwind.
The Canard
Because the keel is canted and the boat is heeling the keel blade almost horizontal and therefore not effective as a lifting foil to provide the lateral resistance required to balance the side force generated by the massive sails. YuuZoo can therefore deploy a canard, or a centreboard which is located forward of the mast and the keel. The canard also rotates to allow it to generate further lift as the with zero or even negative leeway. The canard is only used to the extent required for upwind sailing. While sailing with the wind, the YuuZoo crew lift it up to decrease resistance in the water and increase speed.
Sails
YuuZoo's sail ʻwardrobe' will depend on the expected race conditions. A typical wardrobe for the Sydney to Hobart could be one racing mainsail; up to seven jibs or foresails; two staysails, which go between the mainsail and the foresail or spinnaker and seven spinnakers (the large colourful parachute like sails used when the wind is blowing from the aft, or rear, of the yacht). Another innovation found on the YuuZoo is the use of inflatable batten technology in the reaching (sailing across the wind) forward sails. In certain conditions, YuuZoo could have enough sail area hoisted to cover more than four tennis courts put together – Well over 1000 square metres of sail at one time. Rather than weaving the sail material, individual strands of Kevlar and Carbon fibre, both extremely strong materials, are laid according to computer calculations to counter precisely the forces which the sail will encounter. The strands are glued between films of mylar (transparent plastic). Fully rigged, she has one of the largest sail-to-weight ratio of any racing monohull yacht on the water today, making her astonishingly fast downwind.
Bow Sprit
The Bow Sprit is a pole projecting from the front of the bow. On the YuuZoo we can attach spinnakers to the end of the bowsprit in order to get larger separation (gap) between the mainsail and the spinnaker. The rather mean looking bowsprit adds well deserved respect from competitors as in the case of a collision the 'swordlike' bowsprit would be the first part of impact. With a strong wind filling the largest, 800 square metre spinnaker, forces of many tons are transmitted through the halyard to the top of the mast, and through the spinnaker sheet and bowsprit to the hull, giving it massive forward thrust allowing the YuuZoo to surf at speeds over 30 knots.
Technical specifications
Length: 27.5 metres or 90 feet (30 m or 100 feet including Bow Sprit)
Width: 4.4 metres
Depth: 4.7 metres
Displacement: 21 tons
Mast height: 39 metres
Mainsail: 283 sq. m
Jib: 220 sq. m