Team Malizia has designed its racing boat in cooperation with PICO and VRtual X

Team Malizia's Ocean Race sailing crew (from left to right): Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper, Nico Lunven and Boris Herrmann © Yann Riou

The professional sailing team Malizia has designed and tested its racing boat "Malizia - Seaexplorer" completely in VR as a digital twin in cooperation with PICO and VRtual X.

Boris Herrmann is not only one of the best-known and best sailors in the world, but also a pioneer in sustainability and resource conservation.

In the design of his new racing yacht, the team of the "Hamburg Sportsman of the Year 2022" has consistently relied on virtual reality (VR) in order to be able to experience and understand every step of development at the shipyard in Brest (Normandy/France).

Boris Herrmann has thus succeeded in combining his passion for sports with his commitment to climate protection: The IMOCA60 racing boat "Malizia - Seaexplorer" was launched in July 2022 in Lorient (France) and is already taking part in the first competitions.

With his team Malizia, Boris Herrmann continues the "A Race We Must Win" campaign and will continue to collect valuable data about the oceans with his mini-laboratory on board his new racing yacht and transmit it to marine researchers in the upcoming toughest sailing races in the world, including the Ocean Race 2023 and the Vendée Globe 2024/2025 (around 24,000 nautical miles around the world in about 80 days).

PICO, as one of the world's leading manufacturers of VR headsets, is Team Malizia's technology partner and has supported the project from the initial design idea to the final racing boat.

Thanks to VR and digital twins, only one prototype required - significantly saving resources

The 60-foot IMOCA racing yachts are among the fastest monohulls in the world. They are built from composite materials to be as light as possible, yet strong enough to withstand the harshest ocean conditions.

The design and construction of these Formula 1 racers of the world's oceans is correspondingly complex, as every gram of weight is crucial and the teams must be able to operate the boat optimally. The cramped space conditions in particular meant that the traditional approach required the construction of five or more prototypes.

Thanks to VR, only one prototype had to be built. The skipper and his crew were able to use the PICO VR headsets to simulate in the 3D model of their racing boat in a realistic environment whether they could still reach certain levers and switching units, for example, when the boat was lying on its side at 20 degrees or more. The detailed virtual version of the cockpit interior also made it possible to test whether they could still see the sails and also competitors.

Every detail change could be tested immediately under realistic operational scenarios thanks to VR. Digital twins are the next natural step in product development. They see themselves as a virtual image of a product and provide valuable insights into their practical performance.

"In designing our brand new IMOCA60, we broke radical new ground in terms of both design and sustainability," explains Boris Herrmann. "Innovatively designing a racing yacht always harbors a high level of risk, which we were able to minimize with the help of PICO VR headsets. The first tests and races show that we didn't overdo it."

Working with Hamburg-based VR development studio VRtual X and PICO, Team Malizia not only designed and virtually tested a new racing boat as its digital twin, but also significantly reduced emissions and cut waste throughout the process. This includes reducing trips (thus saving time, energy, and limiting emissions), testing design changes extremely quickly, using less construction materials, and activating partners in a whole new way. Team Malizia plans to continue using VR technology to demonstrate these industrial applications.