ACADEMIA

Powerful vector computer delivers boatbuilding and weather data -- The United Internet Team Germany gets support by the powerful computers of the Japanese NEC group. The computers are used in designing the new America’s Cup yacht and in calculating local weather data during regattas. The United Internet Team Germany and NEC as the first official supplier of the first German challenger in the 32nd America’s Cup have confirmed their cooperation in these two fields, while there are also plans for further joint projects. "Super brain" NEC SX-8 in the High Performance Computing Center in Stuttgart, Germany. The heart of this partnership is the “super brain“ NEC SX-8, a vector computer, that sits in the High Performance Computing Center in Stuttgart, Germany. For the design of the new yacht that is currently under construction at the Knierim Yachtbau shipyard in Kiel, the computer simulates the boat’s drag in various wind and water conditions (computational fluid dynamics CFD) and thus helps to optimize the design. The computer’s high capacity allows for a high speed of complex calculations, so that the time gained can be used for analyses and the improvement of the boat’s performance potential. Gaining time is also a key factor when it comes to calculating weather data during the regattas. The computer’s job is to evaluate the current local forecast out of the various weather models available to provide the skipper and afterguard of the United Internet Team Germany with fast results to enable their strategic planning of the day’s races. “Thanks to the NEC IT equipment, our preparations for the America’s Cup will reach a new quality level,“ say syndicate head Michael Scheeren and Eberhard Magg, the team’s Technical Director, unanimously, “we get the best possible support in terms of technology and technological know-how, that we could wish for in this area.“ On top of that, United Internet Team Germany and NEC plan to further expand their cooperation. NEC could provide the team with modern safety, telecommunications and monitor technology, for example.