France, August 2024 – Advanced Navigation, a global leader in robotics and navigation technology, has been selected by the Orient Express Racing Team as its navigation provider for the prestigious 37th America’s Cup.
Set to take place from August 22nd in Barcelona, Spain, the America’s Cup will gather sailing teams from New Zealand, France, the UK, Switzerland, Italy and USA in an adrenaline-fueled, first-to-seven-wins race series. Orient Express, led by Stephan Kandler and Bruno Dubois, co-partners of K-Challenge, will represent France.
Advanced Navigation’s rugged inertial navigation systems (INS), Spatial FOG Dual and Certus – will support the team’s AC40 and AC75 yachts with precision navigation, as they sail across open waters at speeds up to 55 knots (102 km/h), battling Barcelona winds averaging 12 knots (22 km/h).
Formula One of the Seas with High Stakes
The America’s Cup, often described as the “Formula One of the Seas,” is renowned for its elite competition, cutting-edge technology, high stakes, and team endurance.
“To dominate in the America’s Cup, our AC75 needs a navigation system that can handle the unpredictable and chaotic conditions of open water —where wind, currents, and weather can shift unexpectedly. Advanced Navigation will be critical in helping the crew during its training to make lightning-quick manoeuvres on course direction and sail adjustments, giving us a competitive edge in preparation for races.
Their solutions provide us with the technological edge we need to improve. With precise measurements of orientation, speed, and acceleration, our team can make split-second decisions in real time, ensuring we stay on the fastest path to success.
Orient Express Racing Team’s Head of Electronics & Mechatronics, David Gautier shares
Orient Express Racing Team AC75, the official 37th America’s Cup boat
Championing High-Performance Engineering with Data
In a tight series, where champions are crowned by mere seconds, a high-performance navigation system can be the difference between glory or loss.
An INS uses sensors to detect and measure the change in an object’s motion. Specifically, Advanced Navigation’s Spatial FOG Dual employs accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure a yacht’s speed, roll, pitch, heave and heading in real time, ensuring boat stability and optimised guidance when performing difficult manoeuvres, such as tacks and gybes.
During a tack, the Spatial FOG Dual continuously monitors roll to maintain speed and balance. Pitch data helps adjust the trim and sail position for a smooth transition. Heave measurements allow the crew to anticipate and react to vertical movements, minimising wave impact. For heading, the system provides accurate directional data for precise course adjustments. It delivers this information at a high-frequency output rate of 1000 Hz, outperforming similar INS units.
In gybes, where the wind shifts from one side to the other, the system manages rapid changes in roll, pitch, heave, and heading, ensuring stability and speed of the yacht.
All boats entered into this year’s America’s Cup will feature standardised controls, sails, foils and mechanisms. This means the real competitive edge comes down to having accurate real-time data and intel to pull off complex manoeuvres with razor-sharp precision and maximum efficiency.
Orient Express Navigational data provided by Advanced Navigation Spatial FOG Dual system
Enhancing Competitive Edge on the World Stage
The AC75, the official 37th America’s Cup boat, is a foiling monohull measuring 20.7 metres in length. Created for the 36th edition, this boat is second generation and can foil above the water at over 100km/h. The boat will be leveraging Advanced Navigation’s Spatial FOG Dual INS.
New for the 37th America’s Cup, the AC40 is a multi-use one-design foiling monohull. Smaller but no less powerful than its big sister the AC75, the AC40 utilises Advanced Navigation’s Certus INS. Sailed by a crew of four, it is the official boat for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup events.
Lastly, the team’s chaser boat, which follows the AC75 and AC40 to enhance the safety and efficiency during training, is equipped with an Advanced Navigation GNSS Compass.
“A huge part of what makes the America’s Cup so competitive and exciting to watch is the technology involved. In the high-stakes open water race where every split-second counts, real-time data recording and analysis is the ultimate advantage. This makes it the perfect stadium to demonstrate the capabilities of our high-grade navigation technology.
Our partnership with Orient Express underscores our dedication to innovate solutions to withstand complex and challenging environments where performance and precision are non-negotiable. We look forward to seeing our technology support Orient Express in their race to victory.”
Advanced Navigation CEO, Chris Shaw
Advanced Navigation ultimately provides the Orient Express Racing Team with a comprehensive suite of marine navigation solutions, ensuring unmatched precision and performance across their fleet of boats.
Key Dates & Timeline
- The official Opening Ceremony will be held in Barcelona on 22 August 2024
- The Challenger Selection Series will be held between that date and the end of September 2024
- The America’s Cup Match between the winning Challenger and the Defender Team New Zealand will start on October 12, 2024
For more information, visit the America’s Cup official website.
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About Advanced Navigation
Advanced Navigation was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2012 to commercialise academic research on AI-based inertial navigation. Since 2012, the company has experienced great success and progressed into several deep technology fields, including underwater acoustics, GNSS antennas and receivers, radio frequency systems, inertial sensors, photonics, robotics and quantum-enhanced inertial navigation.
Today, Advanced Navigation is a supplier to some of the largest companies in the world, including Airbus, Boeing, Google, NASA, and General Motors. Advanced Navigation is headquartered in Sydney, Australia with multiple research facilities throughout the country and offices around the world. Advanced Navigation is an Australian manufacturer exporting globally while maintaining carbon-neutral operations. #JoinTheAutonomyRevolution
About Orient Express Racing Team
Orient Express Racing Team is the official French Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup, led by Stephan Kandler and Bruno Dubois and supported by the Accor Group and its Orient Express and ALL.COM brands. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
About Orient Express, a brand of the Accor Group
An expert in travel since 1883, Orient Express celebrates the Art of Travel with its luxury trains, unique experiences and collections of rare objects. It will further celebrate this heritage with two new establishments due to open in 2024: the Orient Express La Minerva in Rome and the Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovanelli in Venice. A project has also been announced in Riyadh, which will become the first city in the Middle East to host an Orient Express hotel. The Orient Express luxury travel experience will continue with the launch of Orient Express La Dolce Vita and the return of the legendary Orient Express train. www.orient-express.com
About K-Challenge
K-Challenge, founded in 2001 by Stephan Kandler, and joined by Bruno Dubois in 2021, is the world’s leading sport-tech company. It brings together the best French athletes, engineers, technicians and experts with the objective of winning the most prestigious international sailing competitions, including the America’s Cup, the oldest sporting trophy in the world.
Mastering this ultra-competitive environment is the drive behind the company’s creativity and capacity for innovation. The Sport-Tech K-Challenge is a talent incubator and host for the development of major innovations. Supported by the French Sailing Federation and the Ministry of the Sea, a multi-year programme and elite sport-tech package, including revolutionary French technology, has been put in place to win these trophies and develop major innovations in the field of mobility and ecological transition. A genuine marketing booster, our 360° platform enables our sponsors to showcase their brands worldwide and unite their employees around the intrinsic values of our sport: excellence, team spirit, environmental protection and innovation. K-Challenge offers stakeholders a return on investment strengthened by diversified revenues: movable and fixed assets, sponsorship, intellectual property, elite training, software, patents, sports franchising and new technologies. For more information, please visit www.k-challenge.fr.
