Future Fibres debuts continuous FlexC lateral rigging tool

Continuous solid carbon will always offer the ultimate in terms of performance (minimum weight and windage) versus other composite technologies. However this does come at a price in terms of practical handling of the product both on and off the water. Following issues in the early stages of the last Volvo Ocean Race, Future Fibres temporarily discontinued the supply of continuous solid carbon due to concerns about the robustness of the bonded vertical/diagonal junction.

Still believing it to be the ultimate composite performance solution and a viable product, we undertook a full product redesign and revalidation. The result was the launch of an all-new continuous solid carbon system on the mini-maxi Caol Ila R in May 2013. This boat has been heavily campaigned throughout the summer Med season. The product was put through its paces by a professional crew and has been performing extremely well.

In response to the transportation and general handling issues associated with a fully continuous solid carbon lateral set, Future Fibres Removable Diagonal System (RDS) offers an exciting alternative. A full length solid carbon vertical cap shroud with separate diagonals creates a system that has the same optimised cable diameters but the ability to easily and safely store the cap along the length of the mast tube when the rig is on the ground, while the diagonals can be taken away and stored safely.

This system was thoroughly proven in the last Volvo and the set installed on Abu Dhabi in Cape Town completed over 30,000 miles during the race and is still on the boat today being used for training for the next edition.

Following its success in the Volvo, Future Fibres RDS has been installed on a range of performace boats (e.g. the superyachts Swan 112 Anemos and RP45m Visione, the mini-maxi RP72 Shockwave and TP52 Provezza).

A full set was installed on the Supermaxi Leopard 3 in winter 2011/12 and skipper Chris Sherlock commented: “We recently took the rig out of Leopard to install a new bulb and whilst doing so, we serviced the Future Fibres RDS rigging and I must say it is the same as it was when we fitted it a year and a half ago ……and that’s 26,000 miles later! We have not touched it other than doing regular rig checks. It looks great on the boat, handles well and we have had no problems – why would you want anything else?”

Continuous FlexC now offers a performance carbon package which, due to its excellent ease of handling, is ideally suited to race boats racing a busy regatta circuit, requiring frequent de-stepping & transportation of the rig by road or ship.

The launch of this product is the result of our vast Volvo experience and the subsequent redevelopment of our continuous solid carbon product. Incorporating the latest developments to our core FlexC carbon technology, it is what our customers have been asking for and we believe Continuous FlexC lateral rigging offers the perfect combination of performance, aesthetics, handling and durability.

Future Fibres