America's Cup tank testing by illbruck Challenge

by Jane Eagleson on 23 Feb 2001 The illbruck Challenge America's Cup Design
Team this week began testing models in the towing tank at the Hamburg Ship Model
Basin, marking a fundamental step in the design of Germany's first America's Cup racing
yacht.
'This is a major milestone in the design our first America's Cup boat,' said Michael
Richelsen, design director for the illbruck Challenge. 'The towing tank is a reality check
as to where we are in the design process. By testing our ideas on one-third scale
models, we can validate our computer fin-dings. The Hamburg Ship Model Basin is a
leading edge facility where we have the benefit of German's top scientists and experts.'
In addition to the research being conducted at the Hamburg facility, the design team is
also testing the same model but in a smaller scale of 1:20 at FH Kiel. Design concepts
for both hull shape and appendages such as keels will be tested in the towing tank on
one-third scale models of actual International America's Cup Class (IACC) yachts. Tank
test results will be used to refine and validate design ideas that are developed with both
Velocity Prediction Programs (VPP) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) computer
codes.

The tank tests allow the design team to measure the effects of speed and wave
variations on a range of design configurations, recording drag and side force on the
models. The one-third scale models are towed at a variety of speeds, heel angles and
leeway angles through the tow basin.

Richelsen heads the design and technology program, drawing on his expe-rience as
Director of Design Systems at North Sails and his deep involve-ment in various
America's Cup campaigns since 1983, most recently with AmericaOne. The team
includes yacht designers Friedrich Judel and Tors-ten Conradi as well as scientists and
experts in VPP, CFD and structural composites. Scientists associated with Germany's
leading research and development facilities including Germanischer Lloyd, FH Kiel, and
Deut-sches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the German national cen-ter for air
and aerospace research, are working exclusively for the illbruck Challenge. Tank testing
and CFD work will be done both at FH Kiel, a technical university, and HSVA. The
illbruck Challenge design office is lo-cated in Hamburg, Germany, centrally located to
the team's tank testing facilities and research partners. The America's Cup race boat will
be built in Germany.

The illbruck Challenge is a competitive international sailing program that over the past 30
years has earned success at many of the world's top re-gattas. The illbruck Challenge is
now pursuing the world's two pinnacle sailing events: the Volvo Ocean Race, the world's
premier ocean race, and the America's Cup, the world's top match racing event. The
illbruck Chal-lenge is representing the Dusseldorfer Yacht Club in Germany's first-ever
Challenge for the America's Cup, the competition for the oldest internatio-nal trophy in
sport. The illbruck Challenge will first compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger
Races, the selection series for the America's Cup. The Louis Vuitton Cup begins in
October 2002 in Auckland, New Zealand. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will face
Defender Team New Zealand in the America's Cup Match in February 2003.

illbruck GmbH is a privately held international company with autonomous business units
including Automotive, Sealant Systems, Sanitary Technolo-gy, Architectural Surfaces,
and Filtration Systems/Insulation Systems. Founded in 1952, illbruck has 35 locations
in15 countries worldwide and is headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany. The illbruck
Challenge embo-dies the philosophy of the illbruck company: success through
motivation, flexibility and team spirit. The illbruck Challenge is the image medium and
primary vehicle for illbruck's global and internal corporate identification.