Syroco Uses ESTECO Technology to Design Fast Sailboat

The French innovation lab start-up Syroco has its sights set on shattering the world sailing speed record, the company says. Through a multi-year partnership ESTECO will support Syroco’s quest to design the fastest speedcraft ever, by providing modeFRONTIER, a solution for process automation and optimization in the engineering design process. 

Co-founded by the two-time holder of the world sailing speed record, Alex Caizergues, Syroco is making choices to optimize the energy efficiency of the craft so that it can perform most effectively on water and reach the targeted speed of 80 knots (150 km/h), powered only by the wind. 

For this endeavor, they chose to rely on modeFRONTIER platform for multidisciplinary design optimization, already used for designing America’s Cup AC75 foiling yachts known to be able to sail at a speed of up to 50 knots (92.6 km/h). Luna Rossa PRADA Pirelli, American Magic, Groupama team France and Land Rover BAR all used modeFRONTIER to design their America’s Cup boats in recent editions of the contest.

Like the recently concluded America’s Cup, Syroco’s endeavor is at the intersection of extreme sports and technology innovation. 

“At Syroco, we describe our quest to shatter the World Sailing Speed Record as a Moonshot Challenge: an extreme and daring endeavor, which requires intense innovation and precise execution,” says Alex Caizergues, CEO and co-founder of Syroco. “Our research and engineering teams need to use the best numerical simulation software, and we are extremely excited to be supported by ESTECO. With modeFRONTIER, we are able to optimize every aspect of our speed craft design, ensuring we get the highest energy efficiency and reach the best possible performance.”

“ESTECO Technology is all about supporting engineering companies in pushing the limits of innovation. Syroco perfectly embodies this vision and we’re excited to see how they will leverage the power of modeFRONTIER to design the world’s fastest sailboat,” says Carlo Poloni, president of ESTECO. 

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.

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