The Yacht Research Unit has undertaken the most wind tunnel sail investigations of any organisation in the world, and it has to continually improve its capabilities to undertake this work.
In the past, we have made some semi-rigid sails by hand using fibre-glass. Sometimes the pressure tubes have been sandwiched between the layers of fibre glass. We need to upgrade our technology and use 3D printing, and hopefully avoid the necessity of using tubes by actually printing them within the "thick" sail skin.
Undergraduate
A method for making 3D printed sails with embedded pressure tubes within the sail itself.
Aerohydrodynamics
It would be very helpful if at least one of the pair was an excellent sailor.
Aerodynamics Lab (Newmarket 901 Lvl5, Lab)