Opening the Door to Science

As part of its mission to develop and catalog the science underlying sailboat performance, the Sailing Yacht Research Foundation aims to serve and educate the larger sailing community about the science and technology that plays such a significant role in the sailing experience.

With design and handicapping communities eschewing the traditional wind tunnel and tow tank for the more cost and time efficient computer simulation world, SYRF’s recent research has focused on the accuracy of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software.

Traditionally, the high cost of CFD software and the computational power necessary to operate it have been barriers of entry into the CFD field. With the use of CFD becoming more mainstream throughout the design and yacht handicapping communities, it is important that sailors understand the general principles underlying CFD technology.

To help, a seminar on May 10-12 in Newport, RI seeks to provide sailors with an opportunity to learn not only how CFD has revolutionized the sport but also the impact that CFD has and will continue to have on yacht design and handicapping. The itinerary extends from the basics to more in-depth CFD training with hands-on instruction. Additional details here.