Brief History of the Virtual Sailing Simulator
The idea for the development of a physical ride on sailing simulator came about in the late 1980s at The University of Southampton during discussions between Norman and one of his PhD students John Harrison who was interested in better ways to study the physiology of dinghy sailors.
Rather than trying to miniaturise and waterproof analytical instruments in order to be able to record sailors while out on the water, it was thought a better and more convenient approach would be to develop a physical simulator that could be sailed inside the laboratory. Some preliminary design work and modelling was commenced in Southampton before Norman moved in the early 1990s to The University of Tasmania.
Once in Australia, the development of the sailing simulator gathered momentum with local engineering and computing expertise recruited and culminating in the production of the world’s first computer controlled full size ride-on sailing simulator. This comprised of a complete Laser dinghy suspended within a frame with heeling motion provided by a computer-controlled pneumatic ram. The sailor would use the normal controls of the boat (mainsheet rope, tiller and body position) to sail around an on-screen virtual course projected onto a screen at the front of the simulator with sensors relaying real time information from the heel angle, tiller angle and mainsheet to feed into and adjust the sailing program.
VS1 Laser simulator, Earls Court Boat Show January 2001.
Left: Ben Ainslie Gold medallist 2000 Olympics, Sydney Australia. Robbie, UK Laser Junior Champion tried hard to beet Ben’s time round a triangular course, but couldn’t.
To further improve the realism and fidelity of the simulator, one of the world’s leading small sail boat designers Frank Bethwaite, the original designer of the TASAR and many other sail boats, was recruited to the project along with Jon Binns at the Australian Maritime College. Together, with some advice from the Canadian Ian Bruce, they refined the control software and miniaturised the hardware to produce the highly realistic and compact simulator the company manufactures today. These simulators were originally manufactured and tested in Sydney based at Bethwaite Design.
Frank (left) and Julian (middle) Bethwaite sail the prototype at Bethwaite Design. One of Frank’s proteges competes against a desktop simulation. At Bethwaite Design in Woollahra, Sydney.
Production of the simulators was moved to Melbourne in 2006. Mark Habgood redesigned the method of construction with all metal parts laser cut and welded; pneumatic controls are now sources as a unit from a local company. Research continued as collaboration between Virtual Sailing, The Australian Maritime College (University of Tasmania) and Mechanical Engineering (University of Melbourne).
Simulators have been supplied to several national and international sailing centres for incorporation into their sail training programs. The design was modified so that a seat on a frame could be placed in the cockpit and the tiller replaced with a joystick. This allowed for a simulation of the Hansa (formerly Access) Liberty dinghy. Details of the locations of VS Sailing Simulators are on our website.
Sailing for people with disabilities
Physical activity is known to be associated with improved health outcomes, but this is something that is very difficult to achieve for people that have significant physical, cognitive and psychological disabilities. Being keen sailors and with a research background in spinal cord injury, the Virtual Sailing team realised that sailing was an activity that could deliver several aspects of physical and psychological rehabilitation programs for disabled people in an enjoyable manner that is not only engaging, particularly for young patients, but also a recreational activity that could be maintained for many years after they have left the hospital. A simulator specially adapted for disabled sailors was donated and installed at The Royal Talbot for use by in-patients and out-patients during rehabilitation sessions.
The key advantages the simulator provides for disabled and able-bodied novice sailors are the ability to isolate and learn individual components of sailing technique (e.g. helm control, sail control) separately and to trial different adaptive controls to determine which best suits the physical capabilities of the sailor. This allows non-sailors to acquire the required skills at their own pace and develop confidence in the safe environment of their hospital rehabilitation centres before venturing out on water. The disabled sailing program has expanded to several spinal rehabilitation centres (Royal Talbot Melbourne, Auckland Spinal Unit, Kennedy Krieger Institute Baltimore and The National Paraplegic Hospital in Toledo, Spain).
Auckland Spinal Unit
Jan Alpen learned to sail on the simulator in the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit and then represented New Zealand in the Skud 18 Class in the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Paralympics in Weymouth. UK.
To date, over 100 people in Auckland and over 50 in Baltimore with a range of disabilities including spinal injuries and cerebral palsy have learnt to sail using simulators and progressed to regular on water sailing. One disabled novice sailor from New Zealand went on to represent New Zealand at the 2012 Paralympics, less than two years after her first simulator experience. Around 12 people in the Melbourne trial with disabilities ranging from paraplegia to quadriplegia have learnt to sail and progressed to on-water at the Docklands Community Sailing Club.
Simulator trial for people with spinal injuries at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, then sailing at the Downtown Yacht Club. Participants described their on-water experience as “exhilarating and great fun”.
Participating in a sports activity with their respective family members and leaving their wheelchair unoccupied gave a sense of optimism about their future.
The aspects of sailing that disabled sailors report as most appealing are; the feeling of accomplishment at achieving something they had previously considered was out of reach for them, the ability to participate in a joint social physical activity with their partners and children and improvements in self-esteem and confidence. We are now focussed on expanding the use of simulators into rehabilitation programs for people with other disabilities and with social disadvantage.
Some disability-related simulator links
A young girl with cerebral palsy experiencing the Auckland sailing simulator for the first time
Simulator program at Kennedy Krieger Institute
BBC interview with Brendan Tourelle about the Auckland simulator