Speed Dream 27 Prototype

Speed Dream "flyover"

Video from Speed Dream:
http://www.youtube.com/v/UmzLGEU4dzI


Picture: Vlad and Tatiana at launch--click-

 

Speed Dream

More on the boat from the Lyman-Morse website:

SpeedDream, the 27' all carbon prototype under construction here at Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, is just weeks away from her first test sail. Here she is on the trailer on her way to the Maine Boats Homes and Harbors Show this past weekend. Clear coat goes on next week.

Built initially as a prototype for the record setter SpeedDream100, the boat is now available as a commercially produced high performance yacht for those who crave speed and innovation.

The design, a scaled down prototype of the record setter will be, quite simply, the fastest sailboat of its size anywhere on the planet. From its narrow, wave piercing hull to the lifting wings and extreme canting keel, SpeedDream27 relies on efficiency rather than raw power to achieve speeds that will reach, and often exceed, 30 knots. Now you can share the extreme sailing experience that SpeedDream27 offers. What was originally conceived as a one-off prototype strictly to test a radical idea is going to become a one-design class for a new generation of thrill seekers.

The SpeedDream27 is one of the most advanced and innovative yacht design concepts in sailing today. Some of the main characteristics of the boat are:
1. A delta-shaped hull, almost triangular in plan view, with a very narrow, wave-piercing bow to reduce resistance and improve seaworthiness.
2. A moderately wide beam for enhanced planing ability at high speeds.
3. Reduced hull volume and buoyancy to lower drag and save weight.
4. Very high stability and sail carrying capacity due to an innovative Flying Keel that ultimately comes out of the water to provide maximum righting moment while completely eliminating drag.
5. The use of a telescoping keel that retracts to reduce draft while in harbor, and extends while sailing to maximize righting moment and sail carrying capability.
6. An innovative Stepped Hull that separates speed robbing drag into two smaller regions.
7. The resulting stability is far superior to current keel boats while requiring only fraction of the ballast thereby significantly reducing the total boat displacement.
8. The use of high-aspect, high-performance sails that allow SpeedDream27 to sail at very close wind angles and through a broad range of wind conditions.

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Be interesting to see how it works. It appears that he doesn't intend that much of the RM come from crew placement

 

Is this an external doubler screwed to the hull? Does it stand proud of the hull? If so, how hydrodynamic is that? Was this required due to an oversight in the original laminate schedule?

 

The aft edge of that is right at the step. I assumed they made that plate removable so they could swap them out as they try different board shapes

 

Speed Dream

Some interesting pictures:

Pictures, L to R -- 1)& 2) show the position of the daggerboard-quite far forward, 3)&4) showing the MX-Next dinghy plug/mold, 5) MX Next rendering:

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SpeedDream Sailing!

Congratulations to Vlad and the Team! From the blog:

So how was it to finally sail the boat? In my sailing career, one that spans 30 plus years, I have had a handful of highlights. The first time I rounded Cape Horn in a full gale stands up there as an amazing experience. Watching a fleet of Class 40’s cross the start line of the Portimão Global Ocean Race, an event that I co-founded, was equally incredible. The day we first sailed SpeedDream stands there alongside the very best days of my life. It was cold and dreary, very little wind and no prospect of things clearing for a while. We sailed away from the dock like a pure thoroughbred ought to, but did take a tow to get us into deeper water where we had more space to sail. Finally with the sails up and dripping, we sat going nowhere. It seemed like an unfair hand to be dealt after all the work and planning. But then a tiny breeze picked up, it’s dark patch working it’s way toward us over a glassy surface. SpeedDream felt the puff and heeled slightly. The boat moved effortlessly forward leaving barely a trickle as a wake. Then more wind came and as it increased we hit the button that would activate the keel canting mechanism. The rest was pure magic. SpeedDream sailed one and a half times the speed of the wind perfectly on its lines, and the keel, the one first sketched on a napkin two years earlier, was right there flying alongside in close formation. It was almost as if we were sailing in one of our own renderings. Indeed we were sailing in a dream, but rather than one of those elusive nightly visits, this was a tangible dream; a SpeedDream.

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It seems like the step was a late addition to the concept, yes? What was the reasoning behind it, Vlad? I've done some work for Harry Schoell and have followed stepped hull developments, so I see your step, in that context, as following some trends while at the same time suggesting directions in which you could take future development. One of those directions, being pursued by powerboat designer Michael Peters, is to create a recess in the bottom toward the stern making the boat catamaran-like behind the step. Others are suggested by the work of Eugene Clements: http://www.foils.org/02_Papers dnloads/Clement dynaplane.PDF

Paul Bieker and the people who sail his I-14s have found it beneficial to move weight aft on some points of sail (I think downwind) and support that weight using a rudder mounted hydrofoil, which has the effect of suppressing the stern wave. One could do that consistent with Clement's "Dynaplane" ideas, supporting the stern with a hydrofoil without lifting the hull entirely. Do you see that as a direction future development might take?

With respect to the way helm balance changes or doesn't as the boat heels, I've experienced very wedge-shaped boats that are both very bad and just fine. The methods I've seen to predict this are metacentric shelf and LCF shift (calculated without free-trimming), and trim change (allowing free-trimming), but these methods were developed for boats with narrower, more traditional sterns. Of course the dual rudders will help - but in my experience and that of others hull shape change as the boat heels is the critical variable for any monohull. How have you sought to deal with this issue? Do you have an initial sense whether weather helm / rudder angle req'd changes markedly as your boat heels?

The boat has a DSS-type foil that deploys to leeward, yes? We can't see the leeward side of boat in the photos, but judging from the heel angle I'd guess it's not deployed. Am I right? Were you just leaving that experiment for another day? Or perhaps the photos show the boat close hauled and you are only deploying the DSS foil when reaching? Or perhaps you're heeling deliberately to get the ballast keel out of the water?

 

Photo #3 looks pretty messy in what is a very flat surface state.

 

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Geez Chris, is that the best you can do?!

 

Speed Dream

Many pictures and an article here: http://me.usharbors.com/image-gallery/exclusive-first-tests-world-s-fastest-sailboat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itQMXpynsm8&feature=player_embedded

 

There's not much question the step hurts its low speed performance. A VPP comparison (scaled for size) with a SKOD 35 would be interesting. Has anyone calculated its Portsmouth, IRC, or IMS rating?

 

Weird thing is that since this is just a scale model test for the 100ft Speed Dream that it doesn't have to be the fastest or best 27ft boat but rather show that the concept would work well when scaled up to 100ft

 

SpeedDream

Here is some more sailing video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3q0RA_8S8o&feature=player_embedded

 

I wonder how you account for the two or three crew semi-hiking on the 27 when you extrapolate to 100 feet?

Nice fluff piece written about the project in this month's SW.