by Rich Wilson | Dec 14, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk6
Dear David, Generally we use True Wind Angle for sailing downwind, and Apparent Wind Angle for when sailing upwind. For the autopilot, these two options involve rapid calculations from the wind instruments, plus if there are waves, and the mast is moving a lot, it can...
by Rich Wilson | Dec 14, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk6
Dear Cassie: Before the start of the race, I packed 15 weeks worth of food. It’s all packed in garbage bags, for easy distribution inside the boat. This system works well, since then, after a week of eating, I can put all the plastic or metal containers back...
by Rich Wilson | Dec 12, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk6
Dear Sarah, Romina, and Iker: No, we do not drink water from the sea, since it contains too much salt for our bodies. There is a famous stanza from the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner that goes: “Water, water everywhere, and all the boards did shrink,...
by Joff Brown | Dec 12, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A ExpertJoff wk6
Hi Jennifer, Thanks for your question. The boat weighs around 8800Kg (19,400lbs). Because it is a racing boat the aim is to carry as little weight as possible, as opposed to a commercial ship which wants to carry as much as possible. The lighter the boat is, the...
by Joff Brown | Dec 12, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A ExpertJoff wk6
Hi Bob, Thanks for your question. We try to double up or carry spares for most of the systems on board. Read this answer Rich wrote, describing the four methods by which we can charge the batteries. Further down the system we have three batteries on board which can...
by Joff Brown | Dec 12, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A ExpertJoff wk6
Hi Jim, Thanks for your question. I believe SAFRAN did trial a system at some point in one of the previous races but I don’t think it worked and I’ve not heard of anyone trying since. You can imagine some form of thermo imaging or sonar working in theory but I guess...
