Cardwell said

 

We have brought a new junior boat, so this league has grown from four boats to five.

The BPBA also introduced a cash prize incentive for the top three adult teams in each race for the first-time last season.

The post Bright Bermuda Future appeared first on Powerboat Racing World.

BPBA Commodore Robert Cardwell posted on social media:

We have today announced to our membership that due to the COVID-19 pandemic we are forced to cancel the 2020 Annual Round the Island Power Boat race.

As Commodore and in consultation with the Executive Team in the BPBA we have to make this very difficult decision but feel it is the right decision.

The Round the Island Power Boat race has consistently been held and scheduled for the first Sunday after Cup Match since 1955. It has never been cancelled.

As it the case with all other sporting bodies we remain dormant for the 2020 Power Boat Race Season and our teams are both disappointed but understand the position we are in as a responsible body.

The BPBA applaud the Government for their transparency and open communication as collectively we navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic in the safest possible way and we wish everyone well.

Photo: Andrew Osborne

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He has been employed on occasion to analyse what has happened in high speed craft incidents and accidents, both racing and non-racing.

Lorne Campbell designs

His job is to look at the physical evidence, try to work out the truth and to give an opinion as to which side, if any, is closest to it.

I asked Lorne to share his views on the dramatic double flip of Team Allen Lawn Care and LPC at Key West.

My training has all been in the area of hydrodynamics rather than aerodynamics, but I have had five projects wind tunnel tested over the years and have picked up some idea of the underlying factors.

These are my thoughts:

The two cats were running very quickly and so close together that they were virtually touching each other – so, aerodynamically they were running as one, very wide, quadramaran!

The situation would need checking in a wind tunnel or by CFD but, basically we have gone from two cats of 32 feet to a single craft of the same length, double the weight and double the width.

Aerodynamically a cat is a wing and this means the aerodynamic aspect ratio – wing width (or ‘span’) divided by wing length (or ‘chord’) – has doubled.

Broadly, an increase in aspect ratio gives an increase in aero lift coefficient and, in this case that increase could be around 70% (in very approximate terms).

So, suddenly the boats are feeling a 70% increase in aero lift.

The two cats did open a gap between them during the flip, but they had gone past the point of no return by then.

Another way of looking at possible reasons for the double flip is that – just looking at the ram pressure in the tunnel alone – when a cat runs at normal attitude in contact with calm water, there is a range of angles of attack where it is stable – i.e. up to around, say, 8 degrees (very approximately – and craft will vary).

As the bow rises, within this range, a gap forward beneath the hulls opens up and air from the tunnel escapes, thus reducing the tunnel pressure and allowing the bow to drop again.

With two boats close together, the air escape gaps beneath the hulls on the sides next to each other, are sealed off – so you have the same air escape gap (i.e. the left side of one boat and the right side of the other) but there is double the amount of air (from the single, ‘double width’ hull) that needs to escape.

Again, this increases the lift under the ‘double width’ craft.

In practice, it is probably a combination of both of the above systems, and there may well be other factors, which I haven’t thought of.

The centre of aero lift acts forward of the centre of gravity, which is why there is the tendency for craft to back flip, and it is possible that with the ‘double width’ hull this aero lift centre moves further forward, thus increasing the ‘back flip’ leverage in addition to the above lift increases.

This double flip scenario has been seen before with circuit racing tunnel hulls (and, I believe with Unlimited Hydros), but it is the first time I’ve heard of it with offshore boats.

That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before, of course.

The post Campbell analyses the double flip appeared first on Powerboat Racing World.

Kerry Bobin who rigged the hull in England earlier this year, said this evening:

Errin and Shaki have mastered the hull perfectly.
To add this prestigious win to the Motorvated Racing trophy cabinet is a real honour.
I will be raising a glass of Dark ‘N’ Stormy to the boys tonight.

Kim McCallan, Commodore of the Bermuda Power Boat Association said:

Some of the competitors were unhappy that the race was run due to the conditions of the seas on South Shore.
I will only cancel a race due to a hurricane, it certainly tested the crews!

Photo: Andrew Osborne

Bermuda Powerboat Association 2017 Rubis Around the Island Race Results

A Class

A26 Errin Butterfield and Shaki Easton – 1 hour 06 minutes
A16 Ryan Davidge and Brian Hayne – 1 hour and 12 minutes
A9 Cleveland Maybury and Joshua Usher – 1 hour and 20 minutes

B Class

B17 Ryan Resendes and Josh Allen – 1 hour 22 mins
B04 Makai Hodsoll and Darren Hodsoll – 1 hour and 27 minutes
B100 Rodrae Wilson and Rickai Raynor – 1 hour and 29 minutes

D Class

D007 Andrew Cottingham and Henry Talbot – 1 hour and 6 minutes
D69 Shawn Butterfield and Jamal Woolridge – 1 hour and 26 minutes

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