Renishaw INEOS TEAM UK progress into PRADA Cup final

11th February 2021

Renishaw plc

Alex Lynn

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Renishaw has announced that Sir Ben Ainslie and INEOS TEAM UK have succeeded in winning a place in the PRADA America’s Cup World Series Final which starts on February 13th, 2021. INEOS TEAM UK will compete against the Italian team, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, for the challenger spot in the America’s Cup event against the defending champions, Emirates Team New Zealand, in March.

INEOS TEAM UK is sailing its AC75 boat ‘BRITANNIA’, which has a 75-foot foiling mono-hull, built and equipped with some of Britain’s best technology. As the team’s official additive manufacturing (AM) and precision measurement partner, Renishaw has helped build the technologically advanced boat and has provided its engineering expertise throughout the project.

Renishaw’s additive manufacturing support included optimising structural components to create lightweight, yet robust solutions. It has also supplied equipment and expert advice in the fields of position sensing, manufacturing process control and Raman spectroscopy.

In the final race that confirmed INEOS TEAM UK’s place in the PRADA Cup final, Britannia had a problem with its ‘cunningham’ which allows the shape of the sail to be changed during racing and is a key setting for powering the boat.

“The guys just did an awesome job getting us around the track in one piece and getting the win. With the cunningham issues especially affecting us downwind Bleddyn [Mon] our Mainsail Trimmer did a great job trying to keep us powered up,” explained Sir Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Team Principal of INEOS TEAM UK.

“The Renishaw controller was really put through its paces when issues arose with the team’s cunningham,” added Finlay Evans, Technical Leader for Renishaw’s Encoder Products Division. “Bleddyn Mon’s hard work with the bespoke controller that we helped to design and manufacture really contributed to the team’s hard-fought victory to qualify for the PRADA Cup final.”