An autonomous catamaran, based on a modified Prindle-19 day-sailing catamaran and fitted with several sensors and actuators was built to test the viability of GPS-based system identification for precision control. Using an electric trolling motor for propulsion, and lead ballast to match all-up weight, several system identification passes were performed to excite system modes and model the dyna...

The steady and unsteady aerodynamic behaviour of a sailing yacht is investigated in this work by using full-scale testing on a Stewart 34. The aerodynamic forces developed by the yacht in real time are derived from knowledge of the differential pressures across the sails and the sail shape. Experimental results are compared with numerical computation and good agreement was found.