Tactair and Artemis Racing for the Win
With the end of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in sight, the collaboration between Tactair Fluid Controls and Artemis Racing is soon to be put to the test. Tactair has been assisting Artemis in developing the hydraulic control systems for their 2017 America’s Cup AC50 Foiling Catamaran.
Tactair specializes in hydraulic and pneumatic controls for the aerospace industry, and looked forward to putting their decades of experience to use on a new application.
“The science behind all these modern foiling catamarans and modern aircraft is very similar,” said Tactair President Mike Yates. “What’s been exciting for us is we’ve been able to take the technology that we’ve put into making our products lighter and hydraulically more efficient, and incorporated that into the designs that we worked with and developed with Artemis.”
The sailing hydrofoil and wingsail used in the AC50 Foiling Catamaran are relatively new technologies to sailing, and are currently only used in racing applications. As the catamaran gains speed, the hydrofoils lift the boat up to sail above the water, almost like it is flying. This cuts back on drag as well as gives the vessel more speed.
In order to develop the controls for the AC50, Artemis upgraded two existing foiling AC45 to incorporate features of the new AC Class. The first AC45 Turbo was launched in February 2015, and the second in January of 2016. Tactair assisted in the development of the hydraulic control systems for the AC45 Turbo, and will be supplying hydraulic controls for the larger AC50.
The team at Tactair was excited to take on this new challenge. “Working on the Artemis project is an opportunity to take everything we do here at Tactair and apply it to a completely different industry,” said Design Engineer Jeff Swanson. “Tactair engineering is a perfect fit for Artemis Racing, because of the fact we’re dealing with very similar requirements across the board. We’re able to take our expertise and our experience in designing and analyzing small, compact, lightweight valves, and apply it directly to Artemis Racing.”
The 35th America’s Cup begins June 17th, 2017 on the Great Sound of Bermuda. Artemis Racing is one of five teams looking to take down defending champion Oracle Team USA. The final around of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series, which is the first stage of competition for the 2017 America’s Cup, will take place November 18th – 20th in Fukuoka, Japan.
Tactair Fluid Controls Inc., of Liverpool, NY, is a leading designer and manufacturer of hydraulic and pneumatic control products for brake, landing gear, nose wheel steering, flight control, engine/nacelle control and utility systems for fixed and rotary winged aircraft, naval service vehicles and land combat vehicles.
