Modern racing yacht semi-planing hull forms provide a number of complex challenges for designers and other professionals involved in yacht rating. The SYRF Wide Light Project was initiated as a means of (1) providing data with which to assess a range of alternative computation methodologies to analyse sailing yacht hydrodynamic forces and moments, (2) making this data available to the entire sailing yacht research community and (3) demonstrating how this type of study can be used to inform the rating process. This paper presents a comprehensive set of tank test results in both canoe body only and appended configurations to be used as a benchmark for a defined geometry of a modern semi-planing hull. Five different CFD stakeholders carried out ‘blind’ CFD analysis on the same test matrix using a range of different computational codes and approaches. The results are presented here along with feedback detailing the software, methods and resources used to generate the results. This project offers a comprehensive set of public domain data which researchers may use to validate and develop their numerical tools as well as highlighting how successfully commercial CFD codes may be used to confidently predict the variation of the forces on a sailing yacht hull as speed, heel and leeway change. Finally, discussion will be made on how this first phase of the project may be used to inform handicap rule makers.

In order to make the structural junction in a sailing boat, for example between the shell and the bulkheads, many nautical builders use overlap joints. This technique is expensive and could be replaced by direct adhesive junction without overlap. Structural adhesive bonding has been tested on three boats prototypes : a motor boat of 5.75 m long, and two sailing boats one of 5.5 m long and one of 10 m long. The originality of those boats is the measurement device using strain gages included on some of the junctions during the boats construction. Gages and sensors have also been placed on the shell, the keel and the rigging: the stress state of the bonded junctions under sailing in different conditions can then be qualified. Therefore, testing has been managed on specimens. A coupled loads tests (bending + compression) on tee samples seems more pertinent to qualify tee junction for shipbuilding applications.