Steve Fossett Challenges

THE BOAT

Design (Morrelli & Melvin) and Build (Cookson Boats)

Designed by famed multi-hull architects Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin in Newport Beach, California, Cheyenne (formerly PlayStation) is constructed entirely out of aerospace technology carbon fibre and was the first of a brand new class of 100 foot-plus, very large multi-hulls, designed to attack major ocean records.

The brief for the design of the boat was as simple as it could be, Steve Fossett wanted "the best boat for racing fully crewed, non-stop, around the world, as fast as possible"

Morrelli & Melvin used a catamaran 'Velocity Prediction Program' (VPP) developed by Gino Morrelli and Clay Oliver during the 1988 America's Cup Campaign. This powerful computer program enables the designers to input hundreds of variables to describe a boat - such as length, weight, hull sizes and so on.

Also taken into account were the different possible weather conditions and wind variables, and the demands and limitations of round the world yacht racing with the minimum number of crew. After the computer models had produced a set of specs, Morrelli Melvin drew their first tentative boat and brought in Steve Fossett and his two permanent crew Brian Thompson and Ben Wright to discuss the detailed requirements for the boat.

Once a preliminary package of agreed drawings was developed, Fossett appointed Cookson Boats of New Zealand to build the (originally) 105-foot catamaran. Pete Wilson, a veteran of America's Cup campaigns was brought in as project manager. Wilson spent much time working, with marine design engineer Kurt Jordan, to test the putative performance on a computer structural design program Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This was used to test different materials, and to predict the stresses and strains on each sample of the boat.

Mast And Boom (Southern Spars)

The mast and boom have been constructed by Southern Spars New Zealand and the sails by North Sails, in Southern California. The winch and deck hardware have been built by Lewmar Marine in England. The design and original construction (1996 - 1998) was a truly world-wide operation, spread over two years, two hemispheres and three continents.

Cheyenne's advanced composite mast, which was produced by Southern Spars, towers over 148 feet above the water and is supported by an intricate configuration of rigging. Numerous models were run utilising Southern's in-house rig programs before the final geometry was decided upon. The result is a lightweight pre-preg carbon tube supported by aramid and nitronic stays, and engineered to endure the extreme conditions of intense record attempts and a non-stop race around the world.

Custom halyard locks have been designed for the mainsail, which reduces the necessity for a halyard, thereby minimising stretch and mast compression. The mast base features integral halyard sheaves, meaning there are no cut-outs for halyard exits.

The mainsail is supported by an 18m carbon boom, which has a unique sliding mainsheet system, ensuring constant sheet load. This system is hydraulic and has a dump valve for safety. The gooseneck allows the boom to rotate axially. With such an immense mainsail, the boom has wings to support the sail when it is dropped.

Hull Extension Programme

It was announced in August 2000 that PlayStation was to have her hulls lengthened from 105' (32m) to 125' (38.1m). Work began at Green Marine, Southampton under the direction of Kiwi master boat builder Sean Regan in late September and was completed by the end of November in time for the crew to head to the Mediterranean in time for the start of The Race (Barcelona, December 2000).

Extensions were made to the bows and transoms, in order to address the tendency towards pitch poling - PlayStation was basically overpowered and the handling needed to be improved.

Communications / Electronics

INMARSAT-C
Iridium fixed mount
Sat Com Mini-m
Sail mail via ICOM single side band
B&G instruments
KVH gyro
Furuno radar
multiple VHF radios
Sony Vaio laptop PC's (x2)
PACTOR-II modem
auto-direction finder and personal EPIRBS
Charts software by NOBELTEC
Routing software by SAILMATH

TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS

Cheyenne

Length overall 125 feet (38.1m)
Beam overall 60 feet (18.3m)
Mast height above water 147.5 feet (45m)
Draught (daggerboards down) 14.7 feet (4.5m)
Displacement 25 met. tonnes
Berths 8 total (4 per hull)
Sail area upwind 7,244 sq ft 673 sq m
Sail area downwind 11,631 sq ft 1,081 sq m

Sails: Spectra, Cuben, Kevlar manufactured by Halsey Lidgard (Mystic Conn), North Sails
Sails carried onboard:

Main
Storm trysail
Storm jib
Staysail
Solent
Blast reacher
Reacher
Code Zero
Spinnaker

Deck gear - Lewmar; Harken
Winches - Lewmar
Clutches - Spinlock
Electronics - B&G

Materials

Hulls and beams: Prepreg carbon fibre with aluminium honeycomb cores
Construction at Cookson Boats
Spars: Prepreg carbon fibre
Construction by Southern Spars

Technological Features

Non-linear finite element structural analysis Enables designers to optimise the structural configuration. Saves weight and avoids structural hot spots.

NASA composite technology - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's database of materials testing data and experience was consulted for certain composite materials incorporated into the vessel.

VPP (Velocity Prediction Program) - Software which simulates round the world yacht racing. Weather and sea state information is input to analyse the boat's performance under hundreds of configuration options.

LED lights - Energy-saving, which reduced the size and weight of the electrical charging system. Less diesel fuel required to run the generator.