Global engineering company Renishaw is supporting Sir Ben Ainslie and INEOS TEAM UK in their bid to bring the America’s Cup home to Britain. As the team’s official precision measurement and additive manufacturing (AM) partner, Renishaw will contribute its engineering expertise to aid and fast track the build process as they bid to win the 36th America’s Cup in 2021.
Renishaw is a world-leading engineering business with core expertise in precision measurement and position encoding. The company is also the only UK manufacturer of metal additive manufacturing machines, which it produces at its plant in Miskin, South Wales.
The America’s Cup is the oldest international trophy in world sport and one that Britain has never won. First won by America in 1851, the competition was turned into a challenge trophy, open to sailing clubs from around the world. INEOS TEAM UK was formed to challenge for America’s Cup in 2021, with petrochemical and manufacturing company INEOS making the biggest ever investment in the competition. British sailing legend and INEOS TEAM UK Principal, Sir Ben Ainslie, will skipper the yacht.
The AC75 boat will be a 75-foot foiling mono-hull built and equipped with some of the best of British technology. To aid the team in building the technologically advanced boat, Renishaw is supplying its products and expertise in the fields of metal additive manufacturing, position encoders, manufacturing process control and Raman spectroscopy. This will include contributing to the design optimisation and manufacture of 3D printed metal parts, for example, structural components; digital position feedback to improve the boat’s performance, including monitoring control surfaces; and material analysis.
Above: The T5 test boat is a foiling mono-hull, the first of its kind in the world/Image credit: Harry KH/INEOS TEAM UK)
“Renishaw is proud to again contribute our expertise to British America’s Cup challenge, having supported Sir Ben’s team for the 2017 challenge in Bermuda,” explained Chris Pockett, Renishaw’s Head of Communications. “It means a great deal to us that our past contributions have been recognised and that we will be a key partner for INEOS TEAM UK, providing a range of innovative solutions and becoming an integral part of its engineering team.”
“Leading manufacturing technologies are crucial to the performance of the boat,” added Pockett. “From giving real-time position feedback during racing, to the use of metal additive manufacturing for lightweight, highly complex components, we are very excited about the contribution that we can make to the performance of the boat.”
Above: The T5 Mast Ball transmits power from the rig into the foiling hull and was built lighter and stronger by Renishaw using its AM technology/Image credit: Harry KH/INEOS TEAM UK)
Sir Ben Ainslie, Team Principal and Skipper of INEOS TEAM UK, said, “We’re really excited to be working with Renishaw. They’ve been a fantastic partner to us and we’re really looking forward to the challenge to bring the Cup home in 2021 with their support.”
“We chose to work with Renishaw because they have such a breadth of world-class engineering and scientific design knowledge,” added Mark Chisnell, Technology Coordinator at INEOS TEAM UK. “They are a fantastically resourced company with great facilities and people.”
