Modern day ocean voyaging in private sailing vessels dates back to the turn of the century. Despite this, the present thesis is the first academic study of ocean cruising to be completed. Of the thousands of people who make ocean voyages only a few hundred are committed to the lifestyle of cruising, that is, see cruising as a whole way of life that they will pursue indefinitely. The thesis first presents an ethnography of the lifestyle of cruising with particular attention to (1) what activities constitute the lifestyle, (2) why people cruise, and (3) what values, attitudes, and characteristics attach to the participants. Second, the thesis relates this ethnography to several theories in sociology and psychology. In sociology, subculture and deviance theories are used to place cruising in the context of the wider scholastic study of society. Pearson (1979) and others are drawn upon in placing cruising in the context of subcultures while the work of Walter Buckley (1967) is used to modify deviance theory to account for the apparently positive nature of the deviance inherent in the cruising lifestyle. In psychology, theories of autotelic rewards, enjoyment, and human satisfaction are used to understand the experience of and motivation to cruise. In addition, theories of personal growth developed by Hampden-Turner (1970) and others are applied to cruisers and their way of life. The thesis concludes that cruisers, as cultural 'heroes', can be seen as affirmative deviants. That is to say, given an humanistic and western individualistic value system their deviance can be seen as contributing to their individual health and growth, and to positive social evolution.

Modern day ocean voyaging in private sailing vessels dates back to the turn of the century. Despite this, the present thesis is the first academic study of ocean cruising to be completed. Of the thousands of people who make ocean voyages only a few hundred are committed to the lifestyle of cruising, that is, see cruising as a whole way of life that they will pursue indefinitely. The thesis first presents an ethnography of the lifestyle of cruising with particular attention to (1) what activities constitute the lifestyle, (2) why people cruise, and (3) what values, attitudes, and characteristics attach to the participants. Second, the thesis relates this ethnography to several theories in sociology and psychology. In sociology, subculture and deviance theories are used to place cruising in the context of the wider scholastic study of society. Pearson (1979) and others are drawn upon in placing cruising in the context of subcultures while the work of Walter Buckley (1967) is used to modify deviance theory to account for the apparently positive nature of the deviance inherent in the cruising lifestyle. In psychology, theories of autotelic rewards, enjoyment, and human satisfaction are used to understand the experience of and motivation to cruise. In addition, theories of personal growth developed by Hampden-Turner (1970) and others are applied to cruisers and their way of life. The thesis concludes that cruisers, as cultural 'heroes', can be seen as affirmative deviants. That is to say, given an humanistic and western individualistic value system their deviance can be seen as contributing to their individual health and growth, and to positive social evolution.

Grinding set-up in America's Cup sailing provides the power behind tacking and gybing, where the yacht crosses the wind to change direction. Grinding is also used for trimming the sails, which changes the angle on which the yacht is headed. This study provided a descriptive biomechanical overview of grinding on an America's Cup class yacht, and experimentally evaluated the influence of technique instruction on backward grinding performance. Inter-subject differences in body position (technique) throughout the grinding cycle, the ability to alter grinding technique within an eight-day technique intervention period, and the effect of technique on grinding performance as determined by power output were assessed. The quasi-experimental design, in which each of eleven Team New Zealand America's Cup grinders served as their own control, assessed four trials of backward grinding at baseline and post-biomechanical technique intervention testing sessions. Each trial was a maximal effort performed against a high load (250 W) and sustained over a period of eight seconds. Sagittal plane video was used to analyse joint kinematics (elbow, shoulder, trunk, hip, knee, ankle angles and joint centre positions) and to calculate the centre of body mass relative to the grinder pedestal. Height, weight, and limb lengths were obtained from each grinder using the ISAK protocol. Current backward grinding technique employed by the majority of grinders did not optimally use biomechanical principles. Recommendations for improvement were specific to each individual but focused on lowering trunk position and distancing the trunk from the grinding pedestal. Real-time visual feedback was provided to the grinder operators with the main focus being the position of their hip joint (viewed in the sagittal plane), and lowering the shoulder to be vertically level with the apex of the grinding handle cycle. During the intervention the grinders were given added correctional instruction relating to their body position according to perceived technique requirements. Recommendations were based on biomechanical principles regarding body position, and how body position could be altered to optimise the contribution of body weight and force production by the muscles of the upper limb in order to improve the torque applied to the handles. Altering grinding technique according to biomechanical principles produced 4.7% (p = 0.012) greater power during five seconds of grinding performance. Muscular strength, when measured using a 1RM bench pull (116.4 ± 9.8 to 117.3 ± 10.3), was unaffected by the intervention program, thus not contributing to the increased power output observed during grinding. Moderate changes to body position were observed after the eight-day intervention. Forward lean of the trunk decreased from 25° to 17° (p = 0.028) due to a lower hipy position (-0.09 m to -0.16 m below hub, p = 0.019). The more vertical trunk alignment resulted in the shoulderx position being further from the hub (0.33 m to 0.41 m, p = 0.013), producing a greater line of pull due to a more efficient shoulder vector angle (47° to 36°, p = 0.009). Variability (standard deviation and confidence intervals) decreased in all but four kinematic measures (which exhibited no change) indicating improved consistency in grinding technique. Regression analysis indicated the best predictors for high-load backward grinding performance were COMx position relative to the grinding pedestal and maximal strength. Changes in COMx position explained 40% (p = 0.166) of the variation in grinding performance, while maximal strength showed a relationship of 0.23% (p = 0.144) increase in performance per kilogram of bench pull 1RM. A one standard deviation difference in maximal strength altered the effect of COMx position by 0.26% per centimetre (p = 0.008). Weaker predictive factors were body weight, standing height, and pull angle, while brachial index did not appear to have any substantial influence on backward grinding performance. For future research greater subject numbers should enable more conclusive findings, especially in terms of the technique mechanisms and their relative levels of influence on performance.

Grinding set-up in America's Cup sailing provides the power behind tacking and gybing, where the yacht crosses the wind to change direction. Grinding is also used for trimming the sails, which changes the angle on which the yacht is headed. This study provided a descriptive biomechanical overview of grinding on an America's Cup class yacht, and experimentally evaluated the influence of technique instruction on backward grinding performance. Inter-subject differences in body position (technique) throughout the grinding cycle, the ability to alter grinding technique within an eight-day technique intervention period, and the effect of technique on grinding performance as determined by power output were assessed. The quasi-experimental design, in which each of eleven Team New Zealand America's Cup grinders served as their own control, assessed four trials of backward grinding at baseline and post-biomechanical technique intervention testing sessions. Each trial was a maximal effort performed against a high load (250 W) and sustained over a period of eight seconds. Sagittal plane video was used to analyse joint kinematics (elbow, shoulder, trunk, hip, knee, ankle angles and joint centre positions) and to calculate the centre of body mass relative to the grinder pedestal. Height, weight, and limb lengths were obtained from each grinder using the ISAK protocol. Current backward grinding technique employed by the majority of grinders did not optimally use biomechanical principles. Recommendations for improvement were specific to each individual but focused on lowering trunk position and distancing the trunk from the grinding pedestal. Real-time visual feedback was provided to the grinder operators with the main focus being the position of their hip joint (viewed in the sagittal plane), and lowering the shoulder to be vertically level with the apex of the grinding handle cycle. During the intervention the grinders were given added correctional instruction relating to their body position according to perceived technique requirements. Recommendations were based on biomechanical principles regarding body position, and how body position could be altered to optimise the contribution of body weight and force production by the muscles of the upper limb in order to improve the torque applied to the handles. Altering grinding technique according to biomechanical principles produced 4.7% (p = 0.012) greater power during five seconds of grinding performance. Muscular strength, when measured using a 1RM bench pull (116.4 ± 9.8 to 117.3 ± 10.3), was unaffected by the intervention program, thus not contributing to the increased power output observed during grinding. Moderate changes to body position were observed after the eight-day intervention. Forward lean of the trunk decreased from 25° to 17° (p = 0.028) due to a lower hipy position (-0.09 m to -0.16 m below hub, p = 0.019). The more vertical trunk alignment resulted in the shoulderx position being further from the hub (0.33 m to 0.41 m, p = 0.013), producing a greater line of pull due to a more efficient shoulder vector angle (47° to 36°, p = 0.009). Variability (standard deviation and confidence intervals) decreased in all but four kinematic measures (which exhibited no change) indicating improved consistency in grinding technique. Regression analysis indicated the best predictors for high-load backward grinding performance were COMx position relative to the grinding pedestal and maximal strength. Changes in COMx position explained 40% (p = 0.166) of the variation in grinding performance, while maximal strength showed a relationship of 0.23% (p = 0.144) increase in performance per kilogram of bench pull 1RM. A one standard deviation difference in maximal strength altered the effect of COMx position by 0.26% per centimetre (p = 0.008). Weaker predictive factors were body weight, standing height, and pull angle, while brachial index did not appear to have any substantial influence on backward grinding performance. For future research greater subject numbers should enable more conclusive findings, especially in terms of the technique mechanisms and their relative levels of influence on performance.

No description available.

Yacht races are won by good sailors racing fast boats. A good skipper takes decisions at key moments of the race based on the anticipated wind behaviour and on his position on the racing area and with respect to the competitors. His aim is generally to complete the race before all his opponents, or, when this is not possible, to perform better than some of them. In the past two decades some methods have been proposed to compute optimal strategies for a yacht race. Those strategies are aimed at minimizing the expected time needed to complete the race and are based on the assumption that the faster a yacht, the higher the number of races that it will win (and opponents that it will defeat). In a match race, however, only two yachts are competing. A skipper’s aim is therefore to complete the race before his opponent rather than completing the race in the shortest possible time. This means that being on average faster may not necessarily mean winning the majority of races. This thesis sets out to investigate the possibility of computing a sailing strategy for a match race that can defeat an opponent who is following a fixed strategy that minimises the expected time of completion of the race. The proposed method includes two novel aspects in the strategy computation: A short-term wind forecast, based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model, is performed in real time during the race using the wind measurements collected on board. Depending on the relative position with respect to the opponent, decisions with different levels of risk aversion are computed. The risk attitude is modeled using Coherent Risk Measures. The proposed algorithm is implemented in a computer program and is tested by simulating match races between identical boats following progressively refined strategies. Results presented in this thesis show how the intuitive idea of taking more risk when losing and having a conservative attitude when winning is confirmed in the risk model used. The performance of ANN for short-term wind forecasting is tested both on wind speed and wind direction. It is shown that for time steps of the order of seconds and adequate computational power ANN perform better than linear models (persistence models, ARMA) and other nonlinear models (Support Vector Machines). The outcome of the simulated races confirms that maximising the probability of winning a match race does not necessarily correspond to minimising the expected time needed to complete the race.

Theme of this diploma thesis is design of residental yacht, focused on applying of modern technologies with aim to make the work flow more efective. I would like to achieve better results in question of fuel saving and ecology, by using hybrid engine systém and solar power. My next aim was interlacing of construction and ergonomic parameters in the way to achieve comfort and save enviroment for the travelers.

Master of Science

The Kennecott Yacht Club and Sailing School is a series of boathouses placed along the water's edge of the Chesapeake Bay. The yacht club includes marina facilities, a clubhouse and a sailing school. The program is divided among five structures placed along the dock, culminating in a lookout tower. The structures are variations of each other. The boathouses provide dry storage and natural ventilation for dinghies, keelboats and other small craft boats. A glass curtain wall encloses the structure of the final boathouse to provide a conditioned space for clubhouse activities. The design of the boathouses is developed from the structure of the various buildings. The pavilion structures are based on a common repeated geometrical order, which triangulates and equalizes the forces. The structure acts as a determinant of form for each boathouse. The columns, trusses and walls are separate elements of the structure meeting at pin connections and ball joints. The rigid frame within the layered roof is the essential element which ties together all the parts and provides stability to the structure. / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture