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Modelling multiple yacht sailing interactions between upwind sailing yachts

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Abstract

An approach for enhancing the realism of yacht fleet race simulations based on a lifting line method is developed. The wake of an upwind sailing yacht is represented as a single heeled horseshoe vortex and image system. At each time step, changes in vortex strength are convected into the wake as a pair of vortex line elements. These subsequently move in accordance with the local wind, the self-induced velocity and the velocity induced by the presence of the wakes of other yachts. In addition, the lifting line model has a model for the viscous wake due to the drag associated with the yacht and its sails superimposed on it. A synthesis of sail yacht wake representations based on detailed 3D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics calculations with wind tunnel test results is used to capture the initial strength of the combined main-jib vortex system and its vertical height. The implementation of the lifting line algorithm within Robo-Race, a real-time yacht race strategy analysis tool, is described. Two upwind race interaction case studies are presented, and these show that the newly implemented wake model makes an important contribution to enhancing the realism of the sailing simulation.

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Abbreviations

ACC:

America’s Cup class

AI:

Artificial intelligence

AoA:

Angle of attack

AWA:

Apparent wind angle

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

C L, C D :

Lift and drag coefficient

D :

Displacement vector

L :

Sail rig and yacht length

LLM:

Lifting line method

NB, NBI:

Real and image bottom nodes

NT, NTI:

Real and image top nodes

NWM:

New wake model

PM:

Philpott’s model

q :

Variance of the random wind components

Q :

Induced velocity vector

r :

Radial distance

RANS:

Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes

S :

Sail area

SST:

Shear stress transport

TWA:

True wind angle

TWS:

True wind speed

u, v, w :

Induced velocities in the x-, y-, z-directions

U AW :

Apparent wind velocity

U o :

Freestream velocity

U θ :

Tangential velocity

U viscous :

Viscous velocity

YL:

Yacht lengths

Γ i :

Vortex strength of element i

λ :

Distance along vortex element

ρ air :

Density of air

σ i :

Vortex core size

Θ:

Momentum thickness

θ :

Interval boundary angle

ω :

Vorticity

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Thomas Spenkuch, Stephen R. Turnock & R. Ajit Shenoi

  2. Wolfson Unit MTIA, Building 15/A, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Matteo Scarponi

Authors
  1. Thomas Spenkuch
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  2. Stephen R. Turnock
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  3. Matteo Scarponi
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  4. R. Ajit Shenoi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Spenkuch.

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Spenkuch, T., Turnock, S.R., Scarponi, M. et al. Modelling multiple yacht sailing interactions between upwind sailing yachts. J Mar Sci Technol 16, 115–128 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-010-0115-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-010-0115-9

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