Dirk “Cheese” de Ridder (NED) reports on the new aspects of his job as the wing trimmer. “Everything is push button now. I can adjust the twist profile and camber distribution by hitting a few buttons. It’s still about heel angle, rudder load and boat speed. In that regard, nothing’s changed. Sailing the boat just got easier.”
But for all the ease of this push button sailing, there is still plenty to learn about the new wing sail. “It’s mind-boggling. It’s so enormous and the power it generates at very low wind speeds is amazing.”
News Material …
Before dock out today, the team was joined by Katie Conner and Emily James, broadcast journalism students at San Diego’s Point Loma Nazarene University. The students chose our team as a topic for their news reporting assignment. Simeon Tienpont (NED) happily volunteered for the interview.
