X-Yacht’s 12-strong in-house design and engineering team described using an AI method to create over 10,000 XR model variants. This model is intended as a serious return to X-Yachts’ racing DNA, following an unprecedented hiatus since the launch of the yard’s last pure race boat, the X-41, back in 2007.

The 41ft XR is being developed by X-Yacht’s 12-strong in-house design and engineering team, with additional input from top professional racers, including Bouwe Bekking and Danish match racer Jesper Radich, plus further technical help from North Sails and Pure Design & Engineering.

They have taken what the yard describes as an AI approach to developing the hull shape, with 10,000 variants modeled. Several families were then selected for further investigation. That’s a huge change from the IMX-40 of 2000, for instance, where a total of only 20 hull variants were considered. – Full story