Composite engineering company Solico has engineered the new Aeolos Performance 30 in collaboration with Aeolos Composites.
The Aeolos Performance 30 (P30) is a 30ft lightweight carbon racing yacht, optimised for single and double handed sailing that was conceived by Aeolos Composites’ founder Hans Genthe during the Covid-19 lockdown and built in the Middle East. Due to the pandemic, the project was completed remotely.
“The P30 has been a great project to work on,” commented Matej Prevc, lead engineer, Solico. “The P30 was a fantastic opportunity for the team - many of whom are sailors themselves - to really push the boundaries and develop a fully weight optimised carbon structure, maximising performance on the water.”
Solico was commissioned to review and optimise the existing structural design, define laminate lay-ups, and perform the structural verification (according to ISO 12215) of the P30 hull, deck, coach roof, bowsprit, keel, and rudder.
Light and fast
Carbon fibre materials were a key part of the P30 design concept, minimising weight to produce a simple, light, and fast yacht.
Solico worked with the ISO 12215-5 material properties, along with preferred carbon fibre formats available to Aeolos, to conduct a FEA analysis of the components and reduce structural weight to a minimum.
One of the novel features of the P30 is a hinged carbon fibre bowsprit that can pivot upwards after sailing.
The slender tapered composite sprit provided many challenges for the engineers with several iterations required to define the final structure that could support gennaker luff loads and satisfy the critical buckling load cases without adding additional weight at the bow of the yacht.
Other features include the use of a full composite construction for the keel.
Solico Engineering will be on stand EF.315 at METSTRADE.
