A NEW 'smart mast' developed by British Aerospace engineers in Lancashire is helping yachtsman Richard Stenhouse's bid for Olympic glory.
Made of carbon fibre composites, the mast was designed using lessons learned from the development of aircraft, including the Eurofighter.
The special mast was designed at BAe's Warton and Farnborough sites, where a supercomputer was used to carry out thousands of simultaneous calculations.
"This leading technology is just what I need to give me the confidence to go for Olympic gold," said Richard Stenhouse, currently practising with the British sailing team in America.
As well as helping a British bid for gold, the project has had benefits for BAe.
"The smart mast technology is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of our computer design, engineering and modelling skills," said Peter Hodgkinson, project manager.
"The use of carbon fibre composites has a huge market potential and is an area in which BAe is recognised as one of the world's leaders."
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