Development of a sailing-specific pose capture method to measure dynamic sailor loadings

Research into the dynamics of sailing vessels, most notably yachts, has led to the development of sophisticated models including the unsteady aero and hydrodynamics and even sailor's tactics. However, the time-varying loadings caused by a sailor’s motions have typically been neglected in velocity prediction programs (VPPs). When applied to the assessment of sailing dinghy performance, the position and motions of the crew are significant but impractical to measure mechanically. A sailing-specific pose capture method to determine the sailor loadings using orientation sensors and a model of the sailor’s mass distribution is presented. The accuracy of the hiking moment estimate was evaluated using laboratory-based measurements. The estimated hiking moment exhibits excellent dynamic tracking of the measured moment. The method is used to measure on-water hiking moment for the first time and the results are discussed. The proposed method provides a platform to analyze and model how sailor-generated forces interact with the sailboat to affect boat speed. This can be used alongside realistic modelling of the wind and wave loadings to extend existing time-domain dynamic velocity prediction programs (DVPPs). This opens a new area of sailing research as the human can now be modelled to respond to force perturbations.