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The BMW ORACLE America's Cup racing yacht features a state-of-the-art keel that accounts for 19 of the vessel's 24 legal tons.
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Designing
and manufacturing the keel posed an exceptional engineering challenge.
Engineers needed to balance strength with maximum hydrodynamic efficiency.
The
keel's bulb or "bomb" must be heavy enough to keep the yacht upright and
stable. At the same time the keelfin and bulb must have limited resistance
to water flow to maintain maximum boat speed. 
Further
complicating the design is the fact that the keel tends to vibrate as the
yacht increases speed. These vibrations transfer to the hull affecting the
yacht's structural integrity. To improve the yacht's stiffness, BMW
engineers have applied similar technology used in stiffening the companies
motor cars. They've also refined the shape and position of the keel wings to
increase boat speed.
