Step onto the 'Tech Deck' at Land Rover BAR
by Land Rover BAR 27 May 2016 17:19 BST
27 May 2016
The Duchess of Cambridge and young people from St Edmund Catholic school learns about the different structures and materials used by the team © Nick Dimbleby
Land Rover BAR, the British America's Cup team looking to bring sports oldest international trophy home to Britain are now welcoming the public to book sessions to come and experience the team's interactive 'Tech Deck' and Education Centre, after the successful opening last week by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge.
The 'Tech Deck' offers a unique behind-the-scenes experience with hands-on interactive exhibits, enabling young people to get close to the boats and technologies that will allow the team to fly faster and sail smarter and help to bring the America's Cup home. Through the 'Tech Deck' the team hopes this to inspire more young people into careers within the marine industry.
Visits to the 'Tech Deck' can be booked online at uk.bookingbug.com/home/49898-Land-Rover-BA....
Based on the second floor of Land Rover BAR's home on Portsmouth's waterfront, the 'Tech Deck' features sixteen exhibits and an education centre where lessons focussing on key stage 3 STEM subjects can take place from October 2016.
One of the first things that visitors will notice is the hull of T2 – a rare opportunity to get up close to modern America's Cup sailing technology. The rules that govern the America's Cup only allow the team to build one final 50 foot race boat, but allow shorter versions as test or development boats.
T2 was one of these test boats, the second that the team launched in their development of the final race boat for the 2017 America's Cup. T2 was built to test concepts and technology that could be used in the final race boat. Many of these ideas were drawn from the aerospace and automotive industries – T2 was the "fighter jet on water".
The other exhibits include The Boat that Flies, which demonstrates how the new America's Cup boats are remarkable for the way that they appear to fly across the water with a technique called foiling.
Working in collaboration with Land Rover, the team's Title and Exclusive Innovation Partner the team have brought to life Stable Flight and Control vs Speed. In Control vs Speed the user can explore the secret to speed in the new America's Cup – continuous, stable flight – learning about the trade-off between control vs speed, designing their own boat, from foil shape to wing size and testing it during a simulation run. In Stable Flight, Oculus Goggles create a virtual reality experience for the user to sail the boat, steering and adjusting the foils.
Data Analytics demonstrates how during training and racing hundreds of channels of boat and crew data are transmitted directly ashore to our 'Mission Control' room where sensor and video technology accurately communicate the performance of the boat for coaches, designers and engineers to analyse the performance in real time.
Battling the Elements provides an interactive insight into the communication's challenge onboard, and the innovative solution that BAE Systems has developed with the team, using bone conduction technology to turn helmets into loudspeakers and remove the need for intrusive earpieces.
The team has made sustainability part of its DNA and the exhibit Harnessing the Elements, supported by Official Supplier Low Carbon, demonstrates the powerful options available in renewable energy. The team's renewable energy supply at their Portsmouth home includes solar panels supplied by Low Carbon.
The new America's Cup boats are faster, more extreme and much more athletic. The foiling multihull now demands sailors with endurance sport capabilities; and with speeds up to five times quicker than the previous monohull designs the sailors need to be better protected from the extreme conditions. Body Armour demonstrates how the protective clothing and equipment used by the sailors has developed in the 165 years of the America's Cup; an exhibit put together with assistance from Henri Lloyd.
The preliminary public open session will run every Wednesday starting on June 8th from 1500 – 1800, and a public open day on 9th July from 10.00-16.00.
Public bookings can be made here.
Schools wishing to register interest in the digital education programme run in conjunction with the team's official charity The 1851 Trust visit here.