Sail optimization for upwind sailing: application in a Tornado, the Olympic class catamaran

A study of a boat's motion is carried out in order to analyze the aerodynamic properties of the optimal sail for obtaining the maximum velocity when sailing to windward. The mechanics study shows the optimal C _L and C _D for a given sail and how the shape of the aerodynamic polar of the sail should be. A parametrical analysis of the aerodynamics of a sail is then carried out varying the maximum camber, position of the maximum camber in the chord direction and position of the maximum camber in the mast direction. The parametric analysis is done numerically with a vortex lattice method (VLM) and experimentally in a wind tunnel. The results show that the influence of the relevant parameters studied can be reduced to the variation of two parameters, A and B, defining the polar of the sail, C _D = B + A ² C _L ²; and the influence of parameters A and B on the maximum VMG obtainable are calculated.     

基于模糊综合评价的帆船行驶最优路径规划方法

路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的重要环节。综合栅格法和模糊概念,提出了基于模糊综合评价的帆船行驶最优路径规划方法。该方法采用栅格法建立帆船航行的二维平面信息,以模糊逻辑为基础,结合帆船的运动信息建立帆船在运动平面上的二维隶属函数模型,并采用模糊综合评价思想,综合考虑行驶速度和接近目标2个因素建立综合评价函数,进行行驶方向决策。利用宽度优先搜索算法实现全局最优路径搜索。仿真结果证明,该路径规划方法能够取得较好的规划结果,对指导帆船运动员进行科学训练有很好的应用价值。