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Design Team Report
John Cutler, V.P. of Design & Technology, reports that the design team headed by David Pedrick (Pedrick Yacht Designs) has been making steady progress.
"The top priority now is to complete the first series of tank model tests at the David Taylor Model Basin, a U.S. Navy testing facility in Maryland, by the end of February," says Cutler, who confirmed that designs of the models for Team Caribbean's new America's Cup boats are well underway.
Yacht Design Terminology
Tank Model
A one-fourth scale model of an IACC boat measuring about 20 feet long. A number of models are built and tested in a tank to determine differences in drag through water. The fastest model design is selected for further development.
Tank Testing
The process in which a scale model is attached via the dymamometer to a special carriage that is driven through a water-filled tank. Conditions can be changed to simulate various boat speeds, smooth or rough seas, as well as upwind or downwind sailing.
Dynamometer
A multi-axis instrument (load cell) that measures the forces and resistance created by a tank model as it is towed through the tank.
Model Appendages
To improve the accuracy of tank or wind-tunnel testing, scaled-down models include keel, bulb and rudder.
CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Designers use a powerful computer program to simulate the flow of fluid (water or air) around a particular shape (hull, appendage, or sail) and predict its lift, drag and wave-making dynamics. A greater number of designs can be compared using CFD, than by testing physical models in a water tank or wind tunnel. | 
