Welcome to new-age sailing

by Event media on 8 Jul 2005 An Australian defence scientist has created a revolutionary new sail craft design which is set to sail at more than twice the wind speed and challenge the world sailing speed record.

Designed by Stephen Bourn, the sailing craft is based on a wing-borne hydrofoil concept, which Bourn believes will break the world sailing speed record. He will give a presentation of the craft next week and the public are invited.

This craft will carry one or two people and can sail in all directions on open unsheltered waters, in all weather conditions, making it suitable for racing or recreational sailing, as well as extreme sport.

The patented design is self-righting and inherently stable, powered and supported by an offset inclined wing that lifts the whole craft, leaving only a submerged hydrofoil slicing through the water.

Of a lightweight and resilient structure, the wing collapses easily for transport, and the craft can be launched off any beach.

Inspired after a fresh look at basic principles and absolute limits to performance, the design revealed a new fundamental law of motion applicable to all sail craft.

The design has been proven on a series of radio-controlled models and by computer simulation. Construction has commenced on a full size craft with an eight-metre wingspan, carrying a pilot who will control the craft via two joysticks.

About the designer:

Stephen Bourn studied physics and mathematics at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1978 with an honours degree in Pure Mathematics.

He spent the next four years as a PhD student working in finite geometry and combinatorics, including a year spent at the University of Bologna in Italy.

From there, Bourn entered the workforce, teaching mathematics, then worked in a number of Government Departments, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics, before joining the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in 1988. During that year, he also completed a Graduate Diploma in Computer Science.

At DSTO, Bourn has been involved with operations research in a number of divisions, generally using war gaming, modelling and simulation tools. His most notable achievement at DSTO has been the development of a methodology to optimise the deployment of surface-to-air missiles, which has been adopted by the Army in its Air Defence Command Post Automation (ADCPA) software.

Bourn is currently the Discipline Leader Combat Evaluation in Land Operations Division. He is also a keen sailor with over 30 years experience, including membership of the Macquarie Innovation speed sailing team which held the world record from 1993 until 2004.

Bourn will give a presentation on Tuesday July 12, at Engineering House in North Adelaide.

There is no charge for admission or refreshments, but the organisers would like some indication of likely numbers attending, by email to Alan Hicks: mailto:ahhicks@adam.com.au, or Stephen Bourn: mailto:sbourn@senet.com.au,

The WBHF team:

Stephen Bourn - designer

Trevor Bourn - prototype construction

Eric de Bué - webpage design, graphics, 3D modelling and animation

Fletcher Kennedy - boat builder, composites

Thanks to sponsors:

Lavender CE Australia and Advanced Composites Group UK - composite
Materials: www.lavender-ce.com and www.advanced-composites.com

J. S. Machining - precision engineering

www.yellowpages.com.au/onlineSolution_moreInfo.do?z=100005&iblName=J.S.+Mach

Jigsaw Group - business advice
www.bluepie.com.au/jigsaw/main.htm

Sail-world.com - web hosting

Alex Aukner, Øyvind Heiene, Roberto Senosiain - business plan

More support welcome, including:

Major sponsor; Aeronautical engineering design; Structural/mechanical engineering design; CAD drafting; Hydraulic control system; Carbon fibre tubing; Fabric wing construction; Instrumentation and telemetry; Support craft.

For further information about the Wing borne hydrofoil (WBHF) sail craft project go to: www.wingbornehydrofoil.cjb.net. The site will soon be upgraded and moved to a new host being provided by Sail-world.com.