Harwell, Oxfordshire, UK. 16 November 2001. CFX, a division of AEA Technology plc (LSE: AAT), has been appointed as the official supplier of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to Team New Zealand in respect of the 31st America’s Cup, which is due to start on 15th February 2003.

As defending champions, having won the America’s Cup in 1995 and 2000, Team New Zealand hopes that CFX CFD software will enable them to achieve a third consecutive win – ensuring the team a place in the record books.

In order to improve the yacht’s performance in the race, Team New Zealand is using CFX software for multiphase modelling of wave patterns and drag around the hull in order to achieve maximum speeds. In particular, CFX is being used to calculate the drag on the keel bulb, experimenting with different keel bulb shapes in order to establish a design that offers the lowest possible centre of gravity, while providing minimum drag and maximum stability. In addition, the team are studying induce drag on the appendages and are using CFX to model sail aerodynamics.

Nick Holroyd, Design Engineer for Team New Zealand, says: “CFX’s strength is in multiphase physics, which is exactly what was required for this particular application. In addition, by allowing our design team direct access to the software developers, CFX provides the best support in the industry. With CFX’s new coupled solver technology and generous hardware support from SGI we are in a position to really push the state of the art.”

With a reputation for being an accessible, flexible and robust research tool, CFX software has been used extensively throughout the world to improve yacht performance.

WS Atkins, one of the world’s leading providers of technologically-based consultancy and support services, recently used CFX software to analyse the performance of Ellen MacArthur’s Kingfisher, while the Department of Marine Technology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne has also employed the software to model flow around ship hulls.