Congratulations to Wild Oats XI for another

Sydney Hobart Line Honors Win!

 

Wild Oats XI successfully repeated her 2012 Sydney Hobart Line Honors performance in this years edition of the race against a formidable group of contenders.  Wild Oats XI was sporting the Bieker engineered daggerfoils, forward daggerboard  and ballast bulb fins from last year as well as a new Bieker Engineered side foil.   Wild Oats XI is now a veritable swiss army knife of appendage options but this package allows her to adapt to a broad range of sailing conditions - a crucial capability in this years race.

 

 

STUDY PLANS READY FOR THE 32' PROA

It has been a long gestation process, but we have finally finished the majority of the design and lofting work for the Jester class proa.  Attached is the Sailplan and Arrangements for the boat.  We also have the construction drawings for the Hull, Ama and Beams completed.  The foil and composite part drawings will be done soon.

!!HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Bieker Boats!

 

A rare Seattle snow this morning, viewed from the office deck

32' Proa Parts Lofted

It took a while but we have found time to carefully work through the lofting of the new proa.  The picture above shows the 3D solid model of the lofted boat. This includes details such as puzzle jointed butt joints between parts (rather than scarffs) and tabs on the frames with matching slots in the hull shells to help make the boat self-jigging.  The following image shows the nested parts:

The total nested materials are: (15) sheets 6mm ply, (11) sheets 9mm ply, (10) sheets 1/2" 80kg/cubic m cross-linked PVC foam, (2) sheets 1/4" foam, (1) sheet 1" foam, mdf sheets for mold frames and some carbon cplate.

The appendages (daggerboard and rudders) have also been engineered and partially lofted.  Now we are on to producing the construction drawings for the boat!

! ORACLE TEAM USA WINS THE AMERICAS CUP !

RIDING BIEKER BOATS ENGINEERED / CORE BUILDERS BUILT FOILS

It was an epic battle on San Francisco Bay - ending in an eight race Oracle Team USA winning streak to win the Cup after being down 8-1 in a first to 9 event.  It was a hard won regatta - both on the water and in the shop.

The experience of being in a team that "gutted" its way through from almost sure failure to success was a great learning experience.  The Team improved the speed of the boat enough to achieve dominance through changes in sailing technique, wing trim, and hull/appendage modifications.  It is a lesson in the strengths of a diverse team that stays loose and is willing to make changes and take risks. The AC72 foils that we engineered for Oracle Team USA are the most highly stressed parts that Bieker Boats has designed.

 

A few of our projects:

Interceptor ramps on the hull sterns to increase lift on the aft section of the boat during maneuvers and upwind "skimming":

Rudder/hydrofoil intersection cavitation fairings to reduce total rudder drag by approximately 30kgf at higher speeds:

The Guys who didn't give up:

MY FAVORITE CHAMPAGNE MUG:

LINK TO ORACLE TEAM USA WEBSITE

CHECK OUT OUR FAVORITE BUILDERS:

LINK TO CORE BUILDERS COMPOSITES

Progress on the Commuter Cat

Progress continues on pace in Seattle on the 26-foot plywood commuter cat being built by Gordy and Judy Cole.

A Successful Debut for the new Riptide 35 and 41 at the 2013 Southern Straits Classic Race!

In an atypical repeat of sailing conditions, this years Southern Straits Classic out of Vancouver British Columbia was a similar race to last years event, with predominately light air for the first half of the race and moderate wind for the second half.  It was the first race for the new Riptide 35 and 41 designs launched earlier this Spring.  Both boats showed great speed on the race course, easily pacing with much larger boats.  In the end both boats won their classes with the 35 taking 1st overall on corrected time and the 41 taking 3rd overall on corrected time.

Riptide 41 launched and in seatrials

The Riptide 41 "Blue" had a successful initial sea trial this weekend, easily hitting 22.8 kts on her first spinnaker reach.  No breakages, perfect balance, rock solid steering......a good day on the water.

Boatbuilders Jim Betts (right) and Geoff Thilo (left) completing a few last tasks before sailing. The cassette style twin rudders allow the rudder area to be adjusted and the windward rudder to be lifted to reduce wetted  surface.

A shot from the bow.  The Riptide 41 is a bit fuller forward than our previous designs

An effort has been made to combine a powerful hull shape with low wetted surface

Shilshole 27 Rig Details

Rig details for the Shilshole 27 that is under construction across the Sound in Poulsbo are coming along.  We've worked out the running back arrangement and designed the composite shroud chainplates. You can also see the pop-top in action in this view.  See the Shilshole 27 build blog here.

Eric

Riptide 41 approaches launch

The new Riptide 41 sees daylight!

The new Riptide 41 left James Betts Enterprises and was delivered to Cap Sante Marine for bottom painting. keel installation, and the stepping of her Southern Spars rig (with carbon standing rigging).  We are excited to get her in the water!

ORACLE FLIES AGAIN!

After 3.5 months of hard work following their crash and burn on the Bay, Oracle Team USA is back on the water with their AC72.  USA 17 is shown here sporting a new Bieker engineered daggerfoil (supporting the boat in this photo).  AC72s present the biggest structural design challenges in the sailing world and Bieker Boats is proud and excited to be working the edge in this class.....

Here are a few pictures of Longboard, Peter Salusbury's new Riptide 35 MKII under sail.  We hope to have more soon.

The new Riptide 41 Approaches Completion
The Riptide 41 waterballasted racer is approaching completion at Jim Betts Enterprises in Anacortes Washington.  Target launch is in late February.