Abstract
Racing sailboats and in particular the America's Cup yacht are one of the most challenging subjects in the sports fluid dynamics. CFD plays an increasingly role in the design and analysis in the yacht racer, whereas the semi-empirical approach is also taken for the design of the yacht. In this study, the flow around a keel-bulb model of America's Cup yacht racer is simulated by 3-dimensional vortex method. The analysis is mainly focused on the flow structure behind the bulb at different leeway angle, which shows a complex flow pattern. Velocity profiles are compared with experimental data and time history of the side forces on the keel-bulb system are shown.
