Fandango flies her new Checkmate Carbon Medium No.1 Genoa on the way to winning Class 1 at the Easter Challenge


Carbon sails update

Since carbon sails were made legal for IR 2000 and IMS racing in January 2001 much work has been carried out in an attempt to translate the theoretical benefits of this wonder material into sails that perform well on the race track. The main advantages of carbon are that is has a very high modulus (resistance to stretch) and unlike other aramids it does not breakdown with exposure to ultra violet.

The carbon fibers themselves however can be susceptible to damage by flexing and during the early stages of sail development for the 2000 America's Cup carbon sails were only lasting about 75 tacks. Since then however things have moved on a long way. By varying the way the fibers are treated in the production process it has been possible to trade off some of the fibers' modulus for an increase in flexibility.

During 2001 we produced carbon sails from both Bainbridge and Dimension Polyant fabric and were very pleased with the results. For 2002 we are producing our carbon sails from Dimension's Graphite Performance Laminate (GPL) range. This fabric features carbon in the warp with a technora base scrim and a Spectra X-ply. Dimension have developed and patented the inter-ply method of laminating carbon fiber directly to the warp direction of the fabric creating true fiber efficiency.

Earlier this year we produced two new carbon Genoas for the First 40.7 Fandango (see pic). These sails have proven themselves to be very fast on the race-course and were used to win the red-hot IRC 1 Class at the RORC Red Funnel Easter Challenge. Owner David Scanlan is so pleased with the performance of the Genoas that he has ordered a new carbon Mainsail for delivery prior to the England Team Commodores Cup Trials in June.

We are currently offering Carbon sails at just 10% more than those from Kevlar. To find out how you can benefit from the latest in fabric technology contact Hugh Myers at the loft.

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