WFSV-PL -an hybrid carbon composite wind farm supply vessel

The construction of Wind Farm Support Vessels (WFSV) can be considered as one of the most dynamic industrial sector of the last 10 years in Europe and U.S.; at the time being it can count more than 400 vessels working in the only European sea fields. WFSV-PL is a 25m catamaran prototype completely designed by a Polish-Italian team, built with an hybrid carbon composite material, in order to reduce construction cost and time with respect to a traditional metal hull. In this paper, after a brief description of basic design steps of the WFSV-PL, particular emphasis has been devoted by the authors to illustrate the material choice, carried out by comprehensive laboratory tests on carbon fiber specimens, and the comparison between advanced CFD calculations and towing tank tests carried out for a wide range of operating conditions.