The Super Sports 18 (SS18) luxury yacht is 18 meters long, reaches speeds up to 56 knots, is powered by four, 270 horsepower supercharged engines, and will cost just over $1 million. What makes it particularity unique is a raised hull that allows it to glide over the waves.
The unique vessel was developed by a team made up of aero and hydro dynamists, Formula 1 automotive engineers, aerospace engineers, and naval architects at Glider Yachts, a new British yacht manufacturer headquartered in London.
“Traditional vessels run on the surface and have a large amount of buoyancy forward so they move up and down with the waves,” explains Robert McCall, managing director, Glider Yachts. The Glider yacht, which has reduced forward buoyancy, moves straight through the waves with drag coefficients and wave response figures far below that of conventional vessels. This is in part due to the lack of subsurface appendages and their associated drag.
Dickon Buckland, principal research engineer at Wolfson Unit Marine Technology and Industrial Aerodynamics, the organization in charge of verifying the Glider’s unique hull design, explains, “The concept of traveling at speed in a seaway, with a reasonable degree of comfort, is best addressed with this kind of hull-form.”
The Glider yacht was initially sketched in 2007, when the idea was just a concept. A year later, the company began developing and analyzing the concept, in addition to studying its fluid dynamics and mechanics by conducting extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
In 2014, after years of testing, the company began developing the SS18’s aesthetics, as well as assembling a team to begin construction. This year, after receiving a second round of investment, they began building.
Exoskeleton Build Kit
British marine engineering company Burgess Marine is currently in the final stages of building the SS18 at its Portchester facility in the U.K. The completed vessel will be unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show this month, which begins September 23rd, 2015. The Glider set to debut has an aluminum hull and superstructure, with a honeycomb composite sandwich for the main body, tail, and nose cone.
“All of the components were cut to a very high precision on 30 foot by 10 foot sheets of aluminum,” explains McCall. The process essentially provides a build kit that, when assembled, forms the hull and superstructure. “The hull is truly an exoskeleton,” he adds. “It’s incredibly strong and very light.”
Unlike building a conventional boat, which can take up to two years to build, constructing the SS18 demonstrator model took about five months to complete. More or less an assembly, McCall describes the process as akin to that of building an aircraft.
The final production vessels will take an additional month or two to complete, and will feature a honeycomb composite sandwich layup, via various composites, including Kevlar, carbon, and GRP/FRP (fiberglass). Titanium and ceramics will also be used for specific components.
According to McCall, the process for constructing the production vessels will be exactly the same as manufacturing a Formula 1 Monocoque – the exoskeleton will be heated in giant ovens to reach maximum hardness.
Waterjet Propulsion
The propulsion, steerage, stability systems, and associated engineering that will enable the yacht’s unique capabilities were developed specifically for the vessel. According to McCall, the resulting comfort, efficiencies, and performance are unmatched.
These new systems are the most complex pieces of engineering aboard the vessel; however, like with most projects, the team didn’t start from scratch. The propulsion system, which is waterjet propelled, uses existing technologies, but “in a slightly more advanced way,” says McCall.
The propulsion system works in conjunction with the zero drag steerage system (ZDSS), which, according to McCall was the biggest engineering challenge. Both of these systems work together with the Stability Control System, or SCS.
“This system actually tunes to the sea’s conditions,” explains McCall. Essentially, the SCS adapts the boat to reduce its response to wave motions, in direct proportion to wave height and frequency, as well as wave direction. “It doesn’t matter what way the waves are coming at you in relation to your course, the vessel adapts to provide a stable ride,” adds McCall.
The vessel’s systems have also been designed to provide the redundancy needed to make it suitable for the CE mark. To receive this mark, a product must meet specific quality standards set by the British Government.
“Craft as innovative as Gliders were not in the minds of the various committees when they wrote the technical standards for the boat-building industry,” explains Alasdair Reay, managing director, HPi Verification Services, a Notified Body that issues certificates on behalf of the European Commission according to the Recreational Craft Directive. To make sure the yacht would meet regulatory requirements, the company worked closely with the verification company.
“Specifically, care has been given to ensure the continuity of the various structural elements to share and dissipate the loads and to provide subdivision,” adds Reay.
Step Two
“The SS18 is a strategic stepping stone for us to unequivocally prove to a discerning audience that something radical in design will actually do what it says,” explains McCall. “Once the naysayers have experienced that the vessel does what it says it will, it allows us to go to our step two.”
Step two for the Glider yacht is twofold. First, the company will offer two versions of its 24-meter Sports Limousines, the SL24, which is powered by four high speed marine diesel engines, and the SLX24, which will have two high speed marine diesels and two RR turbines to reach up to 70 knots. These will be quickly followed by the Sports Superyachts, which will range in size from 35 to 80 meters, and will reach max speeds of 43 knots (Grand Touring Range) and 60 knots (SX-E range).
The Superyachts’ starting cost will be around $5.4 million. But, with regard to cost, McCall says, “Asking the price of a yacht is like asking a lady her age.” With its radical design, and anticipated steep price, McCall understands that the Glider Yacht won’t be met without its critics. However, he is looking forward to unveiling the SS18 at Monaco, with another event scheduled for later this year in Fort Lauderdale.
“Glider Yachts are unlike any other yacht seen in the world to date,” adds McCall. “We’re sure she is going to be a real gamechanger in the superyacht market.”
This article originally appeared in the September 2015 print edition of PD&D.
