Renishaw provides AM support to INEOS Britannia
Developing a variety of optimized AM parts for the AC75 race boat, including an outhaul sheave box, flap fairings, the bowsprit end detail, and a runner beam end-fitting
Renishaw, a global engineering technologies company, is supporting INEOS Britannia by providing them with innovative products and solutions to maximize the performance of their latest race boat. After two and a half years of development, INEOS Britannia has now revealed its AC75 race boat – Britannia – to the public for the first time in its bid to win the 37th America’s Cup.
As part of the development of Britannia, Renishaw offered its expertise in position measurement, manufacturing process control, metal additive manufacturing, and Raman spectroscopy. It is supplying position encoders to provide digital position feedback and is providing AM support to optimize the design and manufacturing of bespoke lightweight structural components for the boat.
Renishaw’s AM team has worked with INEOS Britannia to develop a variety of optimized AM parts, including an outhaul sheave box, flap fairings, the bowsprit end detail, and a runner beam end-fitting. Each of these parts, built on Renishaw’s RenAM 500Q quad laser systems, was designed and produced to reduce the weight of the boat to help improve speed, efficiency, and other performance factors.
“Renishaw’s long-standing collaboration with INEOS Britannia makes our team incredibly proud,” said Chay Allen, Customer Applications Manager at Renishaw. “This year is particularly exciting as it has given us the opportunity to contribute to the manufacturing of the boat in the UK and provide support from our subsidiary in Spain. From our AM Solutions Centre in Barcelona, we can provide a rapid response should the team need additional support with additively manufactured components once racing has started.”
“We have been keeping Britannia under wraps for such a long time that it’s almost surreal to see her out of the shed and in public view here in Barcelona,” said Sir Ben Ainslie, Team Principal and Skipper for INEOS Britannia. “Thousands of hours of work have gone into this boat and so it’s great to finally reveal her to the world. We’re incredibly grateful to Renishaw for their support and the invaluable technology they provide.”
