An improved procedure for strongly coupled prediction of sailing yacht performance

Paper in proceeding, 2020

In this paper, an improved procedure for strongly coupled prediction of sailing yacht performance is
developed. The procedure uses 3D RANS CFD to compute the hydrodynamic forces. When coupled to a
rigid body motion solver and a sail force model, along with a rudder control algorithm, this allows sailing
yacht performance to be predicted within CFD software. The procedure provides faster convergence
when compared to previously published methods. The grid motion scheme, partially using overset grid
techniques, means that correct alignment between the free surface and the background grid is ensured even
at large heel angles. The capabilities are demonstrated with performance predictions for the SYRF 14 m
yacht, at one true wind speed, over a range of true wind angles, with one up- and one downwind sailset.
The results are compared to predictions from the ORC-VPP for a yacht with similar main particulars.