Thursday, May 21, 2020

Smart Tune/ Smart Link Update

J/Boats inspired technology flying on foils(Southampton, England)- Cyclops Marine and the Smart Tune/ Smart Link range of products have continued to evolve since its introduction in 2018 by innovative J/Sailors with backgrounds in engineering from the famous colleges in England- Cambridge and Oxford. The wireless rig sensor replaces your current forestay/ shroud turnbuckle fittings. They have been fitted already on J/99s, J/109s, J/111s and J/122s across the United Kingdom, Europe, and North America.

Peter Gustafsson, owner of the famous J/111 BLUR.SE, explained his experiences with the Smart Tune fitting and Smart Link for his B&G instruments system.

"In August, we installed a Smart Tune to measure forestay tension. The initial impressions were great; installation was super simple and having the tension on the mast display made communication much easier.

J/111 forestay pressure to sail trim
After sailing the Rolex Middle Sea Race and also the Coastal Race in Malta (we had a very shifty upwind leg) we also had some data to work with. Above is the forestay tension (in kg) as a function of TWS (in knots). So, in 12 knots of wind, 1400 kg is a good starting point with the J2 jib on our J/111.

This is just the first iteration, and we need more data before this becomes a cheat-sheet in the cockpit. But, it felt great to be able to convert our experience, and prior references on the backstay, to hard numbers.  Also, communication with our crew/ trimmers worked very well, and it felt we could be more proactive with backstay tension when we have the numbers in view rather than flying blind behind us…"   Read more here.

J/111 video of Smart Tune setup
Video of the Smart Tune and Smart Link system at work

In a recent development, Cyclops Marine is supporting Sir Ben Ainslie and INEOS TEAM UK in their bid to bring the America’s Cup back home to Great Britain (last time it was there was in 1851)! The INEOS TEAM will be using both Smart Tune and Smart Link state-of-the-art wireless load-sensing products.

Cyclops Marine Smart Tune setup
“Cyclops is proud to have our expertise contribute to the British America’s Cup challenge”, explained Ian Howarth, Cyclops Marine’s CEO. “And, it's fantastic that INEOS TEAM UK chose to utilize our leading-edge technology to help them with their data requirements".  Read more here about INEOS TEAM UK data.

The NEW Sports Boat Smart Tune is due to be introduced to the market by June 2020, just in time to go sailing again! This new smaller size will be well-suited for J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, and J/80s. You can use them to "dial-in" repeatable, fast settings on your boat just using your mobile phone and the Smart Tune app.  Learn more about Smart Tune and Smart Link here Add to Flipboard Magazine.