TEAM 5 - High Performance Sailing Project (Team Design & Collaboration Space) by Joshua Hulks

Roles

2025-08-06 08:16:52 UTC

I can be the Troubleshooting Lead

I would like to be the Fluid Dynamicist

2025-08-06 08:17:20 UTC

Aman

Parasitic Drag

20086971 — 2025-08-06 08:18:17 UTC

Some laquer or waterproof clearcoat can be sprayed on the hull body to reduce parasitic drag.

Bow and stern shape

20086971 — 2025-08-06 08:22:18 UTC

The bow can be made to be sharp to cut throught the water, and the stern should be slightly rebated to avoid vortices and turbulence.

Pontoons

20086971 — 2025-08-06 08:28:30 UTC

Small pontoons can (potentially) be added on the two sides to stabillize the boat, but it could increase drag and cause instabilities when tilted.

Reynold's Number

20086971 — 2025-08-07 11:53:32 UTC

Re tells us if airflow/waterflow is laminar or turbulent. Useful for simulations and calculating lift.

Your Team's Weekly Planner

joshuah51 — 2025-08-13 02:39:15 UTC

Major concerns for the hull: stability and drag

2025-08-13 07:52:49 UTC

The primary way to achieve stability is to balance the force vectors from the sail and hull.

Summary:

The sail is an aerofoil. It produces two forces: a drag force parallel to the wind direction and proportional to: wind strength & angle of attack (which determines the surface area exposed to the wind and thus the drag force) and a lift force perpendicular to the chord line of the sail.

The hull produces a drag force parallel to the direction of motion and proportional to surface area exposed to water in that direction (thus why the hull must be pointed towards the direction of movement) and a lift force perpendicular to the direction of motion which opposes the leeward movement of the wind (undesirable component of the sails' lift)

Kinematic Viscosity

anothermax0530 — 2025-08-13 08:17:57 UTC

The kinematic viscosity of a fluid can help to estimate the reynolds number. The v of Air at 30 degrees is 1.5x10^-5 m/s

Materials

anothermax0530 — 2025-08-13 13:45:32 UTC

Possible choices:

Balsa wood
- Decent strength and lightweight
- Very susceptible to water damage
Carbon Fiber
- Strong, waterproof and very light
- Expensive and dangerous to work with
Fiberglass
- Smooth and lightweight, also waterproof
- Expensive and can irritate skin. Requires epoxy
3D Printing
- Adaptable, cheap, very easy to work with
- Not watertight, needs to be re-finished
Mylar
- Very lightweight and works well in airfoils
- Somewhat expensive and very fragile
Sheet Metal
- Tough and cheap
- Heavy and difficult to manufacture without tools
Acrylic
- Cheap, can be laser cut
- Heavy and not flexible

2025-08-18 06:47:46 UTC

Carbon fiber seems extremely expensive based on a cursory search (as already stated), but might work if parts aren't custom. Definitely not something to use in the prototyping stage. I struggle to see a use case for sheet metal, except potentially as a hull material if used in a single sheet, but as stated already, very difficult to work with. My guess is balsa + 3d printing will be the bulk of the boat, potentially with fiberglass or carbon fiber if we can find off the shelf parts. I wasn't able to find much information on shaping/working with mylar, but the costs do seem acceptable

Low Reynold Airfoil

2025-08-21 03:48:45 UTC

Most NACA airfoils like 4412 are designed for reynolds numbers of abve 200,000. In our boat, the reynolds number is less than 60,000. Therefoil, the 4412 would be insanely inefficient at low speeds.

Fin Keel

2025-08-21 03:51:43 UTC

The center of the keel can be extruded down to create a board that sticks out. This helps reduce side slip, acting as a vertical stabilizer.

Center of Lift

2025-08-21 03:54:05 UTC

The center of lift of an airfoil is approximately a quarter way down the chord line. This point should be inline with the center of mass to prevent unwanted turning.

Boat plan

2025-10-01 08:20:38 UTC

Will be made from wood

Barge-style

Flat sides, no camber

Will use a laser cutter