Land Rover BAR – Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Toulon Super Sunday. © Lloyd Images

Researchers from one of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science are helping Sir Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR sailing team in their bid to win the America’s Cup sailing competition for Britain.

The researchers are helping the Land Rover BAR meteorologists to use a complex weather prediction system to its full potential. The flexible and efficient computer model will provide accurate weather forecasts over the Bermuda venue for the America’s Cup challenge in summer 2017.

Director of NCAS, Professor Stephen Mobbs said: “Our researchers are experts at using this particular model, which means they know exactly how to tweak it so it’s as accurate as possible. We hope this collaboration allows the race team to maximise their chances in this year’s America’s Cup.”

Knowledge of a range of atmospheric variables is essential for the whole team out in Bermuda, and the tailored weather prediction system will give up-to-date and high resolution forecasts of wind direction, wind speed, storms and the state of the sea. They’ll know what to expect from the weather, and this information will be used to ensure they are fully prepared.

Land Rover BAR meteorologist Jessica Sweeney commented: “The expertise of NCAS has been key to our understanding the weather of Bermuda. Together we have conducted experiments on optimising a high-resolution atmospheric model for this small and isolated subtropical island.  The results gives us an excellent picture of the race course, that help us with critical decisions such as the daggerboard choice and our tactical strategy.”

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