If, like Yann Guichard, you started your sailing in the Optimist, you may remember the rudder and the centreboard. They always seemed to be heavy and cumbersome, especially in the winter chill, yet without them, you could not go where you wanted to. If that was a long time ago for Guichard, the skipper of the Spindrift racing's team, and if the scale of his new boat is much changed, the appendages are more essential for performance than ever and require as much attention in the effort to handle them. This week in "40 metres solo", the skipper explains how they work. The maxi trimaran Spindrift 2 has six 'appendages', the generic term that includes the three rudders, the two foils and the centreboard. Designed by hydrodynamic experts and manufactured by specialists in carbon parts, these appendages are in direct contact with the water and undergo serious strain. To reduce their size and optimise their form in order to decrease drag and weight, without any compromise in reliability: that is the equation that the design office of the Spindrift racing must solve. Read more: http://www.spindrift-racing.com/2014/03/spindrift-racing-series-40-metres-solo-episode-8-the-appendages/

• published: 25 Mar 2014
• views: 2636