Facts

Length overall - 21.5m
Beam - 5.7m
Draft - 4.5m
Mainsail area - 175m²
Headsail area - 140m²
Maximum spinnaker area - 500m²
Mast height - 31.5m
Weight - 13,860kg to 14,000kg
Keel & fin bulb - 7,400 kg maximum
Sail inventory - 24 sails (plus storm sails)

A proving ground for the latest high-tech gear – is a long way off shore

Above board and below deck, every piece of the Ericsson Racing Team entry is pushing the boundaries in sailing innovation. What’s utilized on board today will soon create entirely new expectations and standards for the sport.

Rig

On Ericsson’s boats the side stays, which hold the mast in place and carries the sail, is made of carbon fiber. They are manufactured by Southern Composite Rigging. Steve Wilson from Southern Spars is the principal Rig designer. “The compressive load on the mast and the stay can 50 tonnes, and the sidestay loads can reach 20 tonnes” he says.

Winches

The nine Harken deck winches, four of which have below-deck gear boxes, have been specially modified to transfer the muscle of the crew into the highest level of performance possible. The gearing for each winch is determined by its location and purpose on board. To enable the open gear mechanisms to operate as maintenance-free as possible, custom-tailored lubricants are specified that have been tested to perform from -20º C up to +40º C – covering virtually any weather condition that the boat will encounter during the race.

Sails

A total of 24 sails are allowed to be used in the race – all designed by North Sails in close collaboration with the Ericsson Racing Team. On any single leg of the race, only 11 will be used. The inventory includes four downwind sails, four headsails, two reachers and a mainsail. For optimal performance, the whole suit of upwind sails is manufactured using North Sails’ proprietary Kevlar 3DL™ thermo-molding process. To provide the best durability-to-weight ratio, downwind sails have panels of nylon, reinforced with ‘Cuben Fiber’ to enhance strength and stability.

Hull

Because the overall weight of the boat must fall between 13,860 and 14,000 kilos – a difference of merely 140 kilos – the completed hull has to be just as rigid as the tough requirements specified by the Volvo Open 70 Rule. To do so, every possible gram of excess weight must be shaved from the largest single component of the boat, without sacrificing a single gram of strength. Based on previous race successes, Advanced Composites Group (ACG) – specialists in high performance pre-impregnated (prepreg) composites – has been selected to manufacture and supply the various hull materials.

Keel

Always below the surface, but at the very top of considerations that determine the overall design of the boat, the fin and bulb combined must weigh 7,400 kilos or less. The canting keel for the Ericsson entry, constructed by Caraboni in Italy, is designed to pivot to windward up to 40 degrees. In order to determine the optimal relationship of weight, size and shape for the keel, advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies were utilized.

-An Achilles’ heel?

In the previous competition, the keel seemed somewhat of an Achilles’ heel for Ericsson, but according to Juan K, this is not true. The canting keel is a relatively new advance within competitive sailing, and it is far from fully developed. The problem is with the hydraulic pistons that swing the keel and with the plates that keep the keel and the hull tight. Hydraulic problems caused Ericsson’s keel system to break during the last race, while leaks between the hull and the keel forced movistar to abandon ship in the same competition. “This time, the rules for the keel’s weight are stricter to deal with the problems,” Juan K says.