Written by 
AC NEWS – What do you do when you need to launch a new boat in style but can’t risk breaking a bottle on the bow?
Pouring the bubbles over the boat is not quite the same, especially when the public is turning up and they’ll be expecting to see some action.
The trouble is that the bottle – a jeroboam weighing 6kg – if swung with sufficient force to break could also damage the boat.
The Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 is built from carbon fibre over a honeycomb core. The boat is strong and light and engineered to withstand massive forces when sailing. The impact of a large bottle would be like a blow from a sledgehammer and carbon fibre structures are not designed for that.
Emirates Team New Zealand design engineer Jamie France was presented with a brief to build a device for the public naming of the AC72 on Saturday. It must allow the bottle to break without taking out the boat, it must capture the broken glass and the public must be able to see the action from on shore.
It also had to be rugged enough not to be pulled off the boat by the combined strength of the 1000 people on the launch crew pulling on a rope to position the bottle for the big moment.
So what’s the solution? Build a trebuchet, of course. That’s what the French call a catapult. This is a catapult in reverse. Rather than flinging the bottle into the air it will arc down.
Today version 3 of the trebuchet was painted for Saturday night. It works perfectly. The bubbles will splash beautifully, the broken glass won’t pollute Viaduct Harbour and at 3m high, it will be seen from afar.
The details
Where: Viaduct Harbour Auckland.
When: Saturday July 21.
Time: 5.30pm.
The AC72 will be moored outside the Viaduct Events Centre and Halsey Street wharf. Best viewing on the wharf, in front of the events centre and the area around the lifting bridge.
The first few hundred to Arrive will have a chance to be part of the launch crew. The event will be streamed live on the ETNZ blog – www.etnzblog.com
Follow Us!