Image credit - 11th Hour Racing/The Ocean Race
Why will your standing rigging benefit greatly from replacing the steel wire with composite fibre stays? I have been thinking of the advantages of composite rigging while following the different races and yachts challenges circumnavigating the world. With so many people chasing the dream of crossing oceans and sailing around the world, the importance of fitting your boat with the right material is paramount.
Winterizing the boat is a common task for many boat owners, regardless of where your boat is located. For some, in milder winter conditions, it means keeping everything dry and tidy, but for many, with more severe winters where it snows and even freezes, the need for packing up the boat for winter is a necessity. This article from our blogger Dave Proctor will guide you through the preparation for the winter to avoid some unpleasant surprises next spring.
The world of modern sailing ropes is bright and bountiful. But from the plethora of brands, colours, materials and styles, Gottifredi Maffioli’s Superswift perpetually stands out. The family run Italian firm pioneered the ‘Swift’ style of lines more than 2 decades ago which have since been imitated by so many other manufacturers. Superswift features that iconic grippy, durable cover with a compact braid DSK78 Dyneema core. In this blog we explore why this material lends itself so well to light weight spinnaker sheets.
Regardless of material choice (wire, rod or composite), there are two main types of lateral rigging configurations, referred to as Discontinuous or Continuous rigging. In this blog we outline the differences between them, their relative pro’s and cons, and finally the impact of different standing rigging materials.
©Future Fibres
Upffront.com is all about performance sailing hardware and rigging systems. The heart, and driving force, of any sailing yacht is its mast and standing rigging which support the sails. If you are interested in optimising / upgrading your sailing systems it is important for us to have a common language, so we can share performance improvement ideas and options. In this blog we outline the key terminology of modern masts and rigging.
Having established the significant advantages of reducing rigging weight aloft (view previous blog here), next we would like to look at the composite rigging options available on the market. However, before we get to that point, we need to take a little diversion into basic material properties to provide some background context.
