Renishaw brings 3D printing expertise to Land Rover BAR Technical Innovation Group

The America's Cup is the oldest international trophy in world sport, pre-dating the modern Olympics, the Ryder Cup and the World Cup – and Britain has never won it. It's the world's premier sailboat racing contest, and the 35th edition will be held in Bermuda in 2017, in foiling multi-hulls. Land Rover BAR is the British challenger, and Ben Ainslie, winner of four Olympic gold sailing medals, is the Team Principal and skipper.

The Land Rover BAR Technical Innovation Group was formed to bring together the best of British talent and industry. The goal is to find advanced technologies and develop them to give the team a competitive edge. The TIG complements the existing Land Rover BAR design team and allows it to rapidly develop, test and prove these technologies.

The TIG has already engaged a number of key partners and suppliers from British industry, including Land Rover, BT and BAE Systems. The TIG is governed by a steering group, chaired by PA Consulting's Dr. Phil White with the BAR team represented by Andy Claughton, Land Rover BAR's Chief Technology Officer.

Renishaw is one of the world's leading engineering and scientific technology companies, with expertise in precision measurement and healthcare. The company supplies products and services used in applications as diverse as jet engine and wind turbine manufacture, through to metal 3D printing, dentistry and brain surgery. The Renishaw Group currently has over 4,000 employees, of which 2,700 people are employed within the UK.

“As a British engineering company with core skills in precision and performance, combined with expertise in position encoding and metal 3D printing, we are delighted to have the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the TIG and help Land Rover BAR bring the America's Cup back to Britain”, explained Robin Weston, Marketing Manager of Renishaw.

Renishaw's contribution will be through its expert metal additive manufacturing knowledge, helping to optimize the design and construction of critical, 3D printed metal parts of the team's race boat. It is also contributing by providing ongoing expert advice on position encoder technology.

Ben Ainslie commented, “We don't underestimate the challenge ahead of us. We are a first time challenger for the America's Cup, and only one challenger has ever won it at the first attempt. We want to leave no stone unturned in our search for new technologies that will help us to bring the Cup home. That's why we have developed the Technical Innovation Group and are pleased to have the support of Renishaw with its heritage of over 40 years of breakthrough innovation.”