Sea, Sails and Foils: Using a CFD-based Dynamic VPP to Assess Racing Sailing Yachts’ Performance in Waves

In this paper, we present new developments and improvements made to a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based Dynamic Velocity Prediction Program (DVPP) for predicting sailing yacht performance in waves. The DVPP and its use for computing equilibrium states and predicting the optimal speed of a yacht design were detailed in a previous paper. The enhancements introduced here aim to help naval architects evaluate their designs in more realistic offshore racing conditions. First, waves modelling has been improved and a PID-controlled rudder enabling six degrees of freedom (DoF) simulations can now be used for course control. The computation of aerodynamic forces has been refined to include the effects of added mass. Finally, the sock-mesh approach has been expanded to simulate a fully appended yacht, incorporating foil fluid-structure interaction through a pragmatic method.