America’s Cup Competitor Relies on Composites for Speed and Strength
Symmetrix Composite Tooling is a Supplier/Technical Partner with New York Yacht Club American Magic, the U.S. Challenger for the 36th America’s Cup.
To provide the necessary patterns and molds for American Magic’s two AC75 foiling monohulls and for the 26-meter tall mast, Symmetrix used its large format CMS Poseidon 5-Axis CNC machine, measuring 26 meters long by 6.2 meters wide. The vast size of the machine allowed Symmetrix to produce the patterns and molds within sub-millimeter accuracy. The patterns were used in a unique process to create high-temperature carbon fiber molds used to build the hulls of American Magic’s two boats.
Symmetrix Composite Tooling and American Magic have been partners since 2017 when Symmetrix helped create a mast for The Mule, the team’s testing platform. Symmetrix also provided molds for DEFIANT, the first hull, that launched in Rhode Island in September 2019, and for PATRIOT, the final hull, which recently launched in New Zealand, host of America’s Cup in March 2021.
“The American Magic boatbuilders are clearly some of the best ‘out of autoclave’ composite processers in the world and being tasked to build the carbon tooling for DEFIANT and PATRIOT was very special for us,” said John Barnitt, president of Symmetrix Composite Tooling and a three-time winner of the America’s Cup. “The program checked all of the boxes for Symmetrix – the size and shape of the hull, geometry verification, tight tolerances, matching thermal expansion and, of course, the tight timeline. This is a fantastic, results-proven partnership for Symmetrix Composite Tooling.”
“We are proud to officially partner with Symmetrix, who participated in creating all three of American Magic’s boats,” said Rob Ouellette, Chief Operating Officer for American Magic. “Having Symmetrix located just down the street from our production facility in Bristol made this a natural partnership, but in truth we could not have found a better tooling supplier anywhere in the world. With the help of Symmetrix, we have been able to add another chapter to the long and proud history of America’s Cup boatbuilding in Rhode Island.”
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