Following two and a half years of development,
INEOS Britannia has revealed its AC75 race boat, named Britannia, to the public for the first time as it launches its bid to win the 37th America’s Cup.
As part of the development of Britannia, technical partner
Renishaw, the global engineering technologies company, provided expertise in position measurement, manufacturing process control, metal additive manufacturing (AM) and Raman spectroscopy. It is supplying position encoders to provide digital position feedback and providing additive manufacturing (AM) support to optimise the design and manufacture of bespoke lightweight structural components for the boat.
Renishaw’s AM team has worked with INEOS Britannia to develop a variety of optimised 3-D printed parts, including an outhaul sheave box, flap fairings, the bowsprit end detail and a runner beam end-fitting. Each of these parts, built on Renishaw’s RenAM 500Q quad laser systems, were designed and produced to reduce the weight of the boat to help improve speed, efficiency and other performance factors.
Chay Allen, Renishaw customer applications manager, said: “Renishaw’s long-standing collaboration with INEOS Britannia makes our team incredibly proud. This year is particularly exciting as it has given us the opportunity to contribute to the manufacturing of the boat in the UK and provide support from our subsidiary in Spain. From our AM Solutions Centre in Barcelona, we can provide a rapid response should the team need additional support with AM components once racing has started.”
Sir Ben Ainslie, INEOS Britannia team principal and skipper, said: “We have been keeping Britannia under wraps for such a long time that it is almost surreal to see her out of the shed and in public view here in Barcelona. Thousands of hours of work have gone into this boat and so it is great to finally reveal her to the world. We are incredibly grateful to Renishaw for its support and the invaluable technology provided.”
INEOS Britannia will race Britannia at the Preliminary Regatta from 22 to 25 August in Barcelona, Spain. The five challenging teams will then battle it out in
The Louis Vuitton Cup — the Challenger Selections Series between 19 August and 7 October — to win the right to take on the defenders, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup match in October.