Ocean Race

Design of Volvo Ocean Yacht Race Winner Aided by Hyperworks

Altair Engineering's HyperWorks CAE platform aided in design by Italy's [AB]structures of Volvo Ocean Race winner Altair's CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) suite was used by Italian designers [AB]structures to structurally design the Groupama Sailing Team yacht Groupama 4, winner of the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race. The yacht, skippered by Franck Cammas, claimed victory in the Volvo Ocean Race on July 9 in Galway, Ireland, after nine months and more than 37,000 nautical miles sailed around the world under the harshest conditions. It has been a busy year for [AB]structures, taking on the structural design of three of the six yachts in the 2011-2012 edition of the race. The design engineers employed several HyperWorks tools in the development of the successful yachts. They used HyperMesh, the meshing tool of the suite, to create finite element models, OptiStruct for optimization, the RADIOSS solver for linear and non-linear analysis, and HyperView to post-process the results. These tools were used extensively to design and optimize the carbon structures of all three Volvo Open 70 yachts and to help again achieve fundamental structural improvements over older-generation race competitors. [AB]structures say they intend to continue working with Altair and HyperWorks on current and future projects, for example the Artemis Racing AC72 catamaran and wings for the 34th America's Cup 2013.

Kelvin Hughes, Supplier for World Yacht Race

Kelvin Hughes has become the official supplier of electronic and paper charts for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. During the race, ten identical stripped down ocean racing yachts will battle it out over 35,000 miles. Kelvin Hughes will be supplying Admiralty electronic and paper charts and their Chart Correction Team is busy updating the Clipper chart outfits, providing ten folios ahead of the race start from the Humber on 13 September.

Inmarsat 3Q Results

Inmarsat Holdings Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT), provider of global mobile satellite communications services, reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the 3 months ended 30 September 2008. Q3 2008 Highlights •    Revenue up 16.4% to $162.5m (2007: $139.6m) •    EBITDA up 15.4% to $112.3m (2007: $97.3m) •    Profit after tax up 58.6% to $37.6m (2007: $23.7m)

Deskbound Sailors Crew Clipper Race Yacht

Office staff of asset management company De Lage Landen make up crew for 'De Lage Landen Clipper' in Round the World Race With 37,000 nautical miles of a unique corporate adventure under their belts, the corporate staff of De Lage Landen, a global provider of asset-based financial products, is about to set off on the final New York to Southampton, England leg of the Clipper Round the World Race.  DLL staff members from U.S. headquarters in Wayne, and from offices in Duluth, Ga

Naples, Italy, Venue for 2013 America's Cup World Series

The best yacht sailors in the world will return to Naples, Italy from April 16-21 for the first America’s Cup World Series event of 2013. Naples originally hosted the America’s Cup World Series in April 2012, drawing over 500,000 spectators on site, with the racing on the water highlighted by a spectacular debut from the Italian Luna Rossa Challenge team, who won the fleet racing and finished in second place in the match racing.

Vendee Globe Race Victim Limps Off to Brazil

Armel Le Cléac’h still leads the race while Vincent Riou aboard 'PRB' becomes the 7th boat to retire in 15 days of racing. Vincent Riou, onboard his boat PRB, has retired from the race. Two days ago he collided with a large floating metal buoy and damaged his hull. After 48hrs of assessing whether a repair was possible, he reluctantly decided to retire from the race. He is the 7th  to retire in the race in 15 days and there are now 13 boats remaining

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Entries Surge

This year's fleet for the 68th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in December reaches 60 already. 'Wild Oats Xl' the boat to beat. The boat to beat for line honours this year will be Bob Oatley‘s super maxi Wild Oats XI, skippered by Mark Richards. It was beaten into second place last year by Anthony Bell’s Investec Loyal, which won by a margin of only three minutes and eight seconds, the fourth closest finish in the history of the race.

Naval Architecture: The Future is Now Forget Gas & Diesel ... Break Out the Limbs!

The David Taylor Model Basin was homeport for some curious looking contraptions recently, human powered submarines, which were designed and built by perhaps the next generation of naval architects and marine engineers. John Hussey reports. High-tech met low-tech, and college engineers competed against standout high school students in the seventh running of the International Submarine Races, the biennial human-powered engineering design competition completed at the world's largest indoor

Viking Goes Blue Water

Viking Cruises launch Viking Ocean Cruises, the first new cruise line in nearly a decade. Developed from the ground up to return the focus of cruising to the destination, Viking Ocean Cruises will begin sailing in May 2015 with its first vessel—Viking Star—embarking on maiden voyages in Scandinavia and the Baltic; and the Western and Eastern Mediterranean. The company says it  has aggressive expansion plans in both the ocean and river cruise categories

Vendée Globe Challenge Leader Through the Doldrums?

Is leading yacht 'Armel Le Cléac’h' (Banque Populaire) through the Doldrums already? You might think so looking at the speeds. Latest single-handed round-the-world race news of leading yachts on the ninth day: Earlier Le Cléac’h was making just 1.8 knots but now he’s flying along at 9.1 knots and has headed south-west. In the only change since the last ranking at 1600hrs (French time)