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Ford Completes Second AmericaOne Keel at Dearborn Plant

28 October 1999

Ford Completes Second AmericaOne Keel at Dearborn Plant

            Team gets off to a Fast Start in America's Cup Racing

    DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 27 -- The same plant that the sheet
metal for your Mustang or Taurus comes from is shipping out an unusual piece
of equipment today.
    Ford Motor Company finished machining a 2,000-pound stainless
steel sail boat racing keel today at the Rouge Tool & Die Plant.  The keel
will be shipped to New Zealand to the AmericaOne challenger for the 2000
America's Cup.  The team completed a successful opening week of racing in
Auckland by winning seven of eight races through Wednesday.
    The keel started as a 6,000-pound slab of stainless steel and was
meticulously whittled down to under 2,000 pounds with an advanced milling
tool.  The slab was first delivered to the plant in early September and was
then machined 24 hours a day for nearly 40 days.
    Ford is pushing the technical envelope by becoming the first auto maker to
take an America's Cup keel from concept to finished product.  Ford has been
instrumental in designing and testing the keel that is highly secretive
because of its important role in affecting racing speed.  Ford worked closely
with an AmericaOne to optimize the keel's hydrodynamic design with advanced
computer modeling applications.
    "We are fortunate to have the technical resources to assist AmericaOne in
so many ways," said Paul Stewart, senior technical specialist at Ford's
Scientific Research Laboratory.  "We are taking this opportunity to challenge
our engineering skills, and our technologies, in non-traditional ways through
the highly competitive world of sail boat racing."
    The keel will be fitted to the team's second boat which will then be
tested while the first boat competes in early racing matches.  The team
employs a two-boat strategy to keep the best performing yacht in top condition
for later rounds.  Each boat has a unique design suited for certain weather
conditions.
    "Stainless steel is an extremely complex metal to mill, we've certainly
learned a lot from machining the AmericaOne keel," said Ron Lavack, a machine
operator at Rouge Tool & Die.  "This project has really generated excitement
around the plant, people are always stopping by and asking about the team.  I
stamped my name inside one of the holes so the team knows they have our
support back here in Detroit."
    Twelve teams from around the world entered qualifying competition to vie
for the opportunity to challenge Team New Zealand which will attempt to defend
its 1995 cup championship in February 2000.  Please go to
http://media.ford.com for more information on how Ford is adapting and
improving these technologies in America's Cup racing.