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Glider Yachts Receives Expert Accreditation for Exceeding Yacht Design & Build Standards

Announcement posted by Sphere Public Relations 20 Aug 2015

HPi Verification Services & Wolfson Unit Give Expert Accreditation for Glider Yachts’ Design, Build Quality, Technical Standards, Stability and Scalability

Glider Yachts Limited, the quintessentially British luxury yacht manufacturer, has received the highest level of boating industry accreditation, having been assessed by both HPi Verification Services and the Wolfson Unit for Marine Technology and Industrial Aerodynamics during the design and build of its debut luxury yacht. The SS18 will be unveiled at Monaco Yacht Show in September.

Alasdair Reay, Managing Director, HPi Verification Services said: “Craft as innovative as Gliders were not in the minds of the various committees when they wrote the technical standards for the boat-building industry. HPi Verification Services has, therefore, worked closely with Glider Yachts to ensure their boats not only meet the regulatory requirements but exceed industry standards.”

HPi Verification Services is a Notified Body, which means it issues certificates on behalf of the European Commission according to the Recreational Craft Directive. All recreational craft, which need a ‘CE mark’ in order to access the European market must comply with this legislation. To earn Notified Body status, HPi Verification Services operates according to a code of conduct and quality system approved by the British Government, on behalf of the European Commission.

Alasdair Reay said: “Specifically, care has been given to ensure the continuity of the various structural elements to share and dissipate the loads and to provide subdivision. The craft’s systems have also been designed to provide a level of redundancy that goes beyond the highest levels of excellence in the yachting industry.”

British marine engineering company, Burgess Marine, was selected to be the build partner for Glider Yachts, and its debut Super Sports 18 luxury yacht is in the final stages of build at Burgess Marine’s Portchester facility in the UK. The build commenced in April after a £100 million deal was agreed between the two British firms and private funding was secured.

Mr Reay continued: “In selecting Burgess as its build team, Glider Yachts has ensured that the workmanship matches the company’s design ambitions. The quality of materials and the welding, in particular, show that Glider Yachts will be of the highest quality. As the leading verification company for the yachting sector, HPi Verification Services has no hesitation in commending Glider Yachts for its efforts in pushing back the boundaries in the boating industry.”

Prior to commencing its first build, Glider Yachts conducted extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with Next Limit Technologies’ X-Flow. Rigorous model testing, detailed simulation and analysis of Gliders’ performance in sea-way was conducted using Maxsurf and several other industry leading products. Structural analysis was conducted using Dassault Systemes’ Abaqus and cross checked with Ansys. Gliders’ unique hull form design was also verified as being able to achieve a higher level of comfort and stability at speed, by the Wolfson Unit for Marine Technology and Industrial Aerodynamics.

Dickon Buckland, Principal Research Engineer at Wolfson Unit for Marine Technology and Industrial Aerodynamics said: “The concept of travelling at speed in a sea way with a reasonable degree of comfort is best addressed with this kind of hull-form.”

“The research, design, development and testing of Gliders has been a significant challenge and a very expensive process spanning over seven years until build commenced in April. I am delighted that our unique design and high standards in building our yachts have been approved by the leading industry experts,” said Robert McCall, Managing Director of Glider Yachts.

About Glider Yachts

Glider Yachts is a new British luxury yacht manufacturer, headquartered in London with build partners in Southampton, England. The company has a clear mission to become the world’s leading supplier of high performance, luxury sports yachts, and to deliver a more cost-effective and ultimately more comfortable, efficient and sustainable way of navigating the world’s oceans. Please see www.glideryachts.com for more information. To download high resolution images please see here: http://bit.ly/GliderYachtsImages

About HPi Verification Services

HPi Verification Services is a Notified Body, which means it may issue certificates for products that need a CE mark. To earn this status, it operates to a code of conduct and quality system that is reviewed by the British Government. As part of this process, HPiVS is formally accredited as an Inspection Body by the UK Accreditation Service to ISO 17020. The result is that HPiVS has been issued with a Notified Body license by the EU Commission: number 1521.

About The Wolfson Unit

For the last 48 years the Wolfson Unit has offered model testing, consultancy and software services to a worldwide customer base in the fields of Naval Architecture, Industrial Aerodynamics and Marine Engineering. It conducts tests in model basins, towing tanks and wind tunnels as well as full scale trials. It also offers CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), FEA (Finite Element Analysis) and Marine Design Software. The Marine Technology and Industrial Aerodynamics department reviewed Glider Yachts’ design prior to build.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Glider Yachts

Europe – E: media@GliderYachts.com| Tel: UK on +44 (0)208 133 0654 

Middle East – E: glideryachts@brazenpr.com | Tel: UAE on +971 (0)4 428 0939

Asia Pacific – E: glideryachts@spherepr.com.au | Tel: Australia on +61 (0)2 8006 2960

USA/Americas – glideryachts@brazenpr.com | Tel: USA on +1 786 374 2429