Etienne Gauvain

After his studies he went to the Yacht Research Unit – Twisted Flow Wind Tunnel in Auckland (New Zealand) as a Research Assistant, performing wind tunnel tests and full-scale measurements on sails. He then worked two years as a Project Engineer at MARIN (the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands), contributing to numerous projects spanning a diverse range of vessel types and hydrodynamic aspects. Outside the maritime field, while still a student, Etienne worked as a Wind Tunnel Technician at Williams F1.

His primary areas of interest involve sailing yachts & power crafts performance evaluation and prediction, aero & hydrodynamics, seakeeping & manoeuvring, experimental techniques and general naval architecture. This has involved conducting, analysing and managing test programmes in towing tanks, ocean basins and wind tunnels, across a wide range of vessel and rig types; as well as desk-based consultancy, such as yacht VPP studies and other performance prediction calculations.

His experience encompasses the ever-increasing complexity and size of sailing yachts. And with his expertise in aero-hydrodynamics, performance prediction and model testing of both sailing yachts and motor vessels, he is particularly well placed to embrace the challenges of wind assisted vessels.

Etienne is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects.