PEOPLERob joins Marlow Ropes07/03/2023Save articleRob Henderson has joined Marlow Ropes’ as UK Leisure Marine Sales Manager.SHOW FULLSCREENRob Henderson is the new UK Leisure Marine Sales Manager at Marlow RopesThe arrival of Rob comes after the announcement at the end of last year that the current UK Sales Manager David Mossman has moved over to pick up the Leisure Marine European Distribution business.Rob began his marine industry career at Lymington Yacht Haven and Lewmar before working at Harken for six years, and more recently, Stones Boatyard in Devon.“It is exciting to be here at Marlow Ropes,” said Rob. “There is a lot for me to get up to speed with, but the team have been fantastic.“As a passionate dinghy and keelboat sailor in my spare time, I’m looking forward to working with Megan and the wider team at Marlow, finding solutions for the water sports community here in the UK.”TopicsMarlow RopesPeoplesales managerStones Boatyard

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Wing sail nominated for innovation award14/02/2023Save articleAn automated, carbon fibre composite wing sail for yachts has been selected as a finalist for the 2023 JEC Innovation Awards.SHOW FULLSCREENRondal’s automated, carbon fibre composite wing sail has been selected as a finalist for the 2023 JEC Innovation AwardsDeveloped by superyacht spars and sailing systems company Rondal with project partners Curve Works and Artemis Technologies, the new wing sail concept aims to increase the market share of wind-propelled yachts.“Rondal’s passion for innovation, along with the design, simulation and manufacturing support of our partners Curve Works and Artemis Technologies has created an extremely exciting new sailing solution,” said Hermen de Jong, innovation manager, Rondal. “We can’t wait to continue leading the way in enabling a new generation of clean, silent and highly efficient yachts powered solely by the wind.”The wing sail has been created to be a highly efficient, automated, composite solid wing sail that can be ‘ready-to-sail’ in seconds.IndividualThe wing sail created is also thought to be the world’s first large structural composite wing produced using a single adaptive mould with integrated heating to manufacture individual curved wing skin panels from pre-preg materials which are then bonded together.Rondal and Artemis Technologies used simulation technologies to evaluate the wing design before the build of a 9m tall sailing prototype.A sailing test program also allowed the project team to validate the wing’s handling characteristics versus its predicted performance, providing data for the next stage optimisation of the wing control systems.For the construction, Curve Works integrated a new mould heating system within its adaptive tooling system.The JEC Innovation Awards winners will be announced at a ceremony in Paris on March 2nd.Rondal’s wing sail has been nominated in the category Maritime Transportation & Shipbuilding.TopicsArtermis Technologiescomposite wing sailCurve WorksInnovation AwardJEC GRoupMasts, spars, sails & riggingRondalSailingsparsSuperyachtWing sail

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15 years’ product R&D 09/01/2023 Save article Musto will launch an all new HPX collection in February 2023. SHOW FULLSCREEN Musto’s new HPX collection is the result of three years’ R&D The new ‘head-to-toe’ collection has taken three years of research and innovation, building on 15 years of product R&D. The recycled face fabric of the outer-layers features Bluesign approved fabric manufactured using approved chemicals, and produced in a resource-conserving way, with reduced impact on people and the environment. The range has been tested by Musto ambassadors including 11th Hour Racing Team, Sam Davies, Jérémie Beyou, Clarisse Crémer, and by the Clipper Race and developed using feedback from the sailors. The new fabrics have a slightly finer yarn than previously with a very dense weave. SHOW FULLSCREEN Musto has used Bluesign approved fabric in its new collection The tight weave means the little divots on the surface of the fabric, where water can sit, are much shallower than before and the fabrics now wet out more slowly and are less reliant on the DWR (durable water repellant) coating. There is also a new and more durable Gore-Tex breathable membrane that retains the high level of breathability and waterproofing of the previous version. The HPX Collection includes a base layer top and trouser, a mid-layer jacket and salopettes, an outer-layer smock, jacket and trouser (the latter in men and women’s styles), a drysuit, gloves, and waterproof socks. Cordura reinforcement on the knees and seat of trousers and drysuits together with the back of the smocks and jackets, provides added durability. Topics ClothingHPXMustosailing clothing

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AFTERMARKET Sustainable rigging for Clipper race 02/02/2023 Save article Marlow Ropes is to supply the forthcoming Clipper Round the World Yacht Race with its sustainably made and recyclable running rigging. SHOW FULLSCREEN Marlow’s BlueOcean Dockline was used in the last edition of the Clipper Race The agreement builds on a 20-year partnership between the two organisations and will be the first time the eleven-strong fleet has used this type of rigging. Throughout the relationship, Marlow Ropes has been able to research, develop and refine its products in the ultimate R&D setting – a 40,000-mile circumnavigation of the world’s oceans. During the last Clipper race each Clipper 70 yacht was rigged with a mainsheet made from a Bio-Dyneema core and a rPET polyester cover. The success of the product now means that the fleet can operate with additional sustainable running rigging in the next edition of the race. The ropes will now be made using a Bio-Dyneema core, and the majority of rope covers will be made from a blended Blue Ocean rPET (recycled polyester) yarn made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. The durability of the yarn was successfully trialled in the 2019-20 edition, with each yacht using Blue Ocean mooring lines used whilst docking in ports around the world. “The lines fared incredibly well in the last edition of the Clipper Race. We used a new sustainable cover on the mainsheets to test performance and found no difference in longevity between that and the products used previously.” Paul Honess, Marlow Ropes sales director added: “The development work and testing we’ve been able to do as a result of working with the Clipper Race over the years have played a significant role in bringing our sustainably manufactured yachting range to the cruising market.” Topics Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.Marlow RopesMasts, spars, sails & rigging

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INDUSTRY NEWS No sailing for LA28 Paralympics 31/01/2023 Save article Sailing will not be reinstated for the LA28 Paralympic Games. SHOW FULLSCREEN LA28 Paralympics will not include sailing, photo courtesy RYA The International Paralympic Committee’s governing board made the decision after assessing applications from International Federations wanting a place. The decision has been met with dismay from the RYA which has been working to reinstate the sport into the games. “We fully respect the verdict of the IPC and recognise the difficulty the IPC Board faced throughout this process,” said World Sailing CEO, David Graham. “However, we must also acknowledge that this is an extremely disappointing day for our whole sport and, in particular, for Para Sailors around the world.” But he added: “Despite this setback, our commitment to our Para Sailors, to the continued growth of Para Sailing, and to the wider Para Sport movement will only grow stronger.” And he explained that other events are including Paralympic sailing with the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships the first championship event. Sara Sutcliffe MBE, RYA chief executive added: “We welcome World Sailing’s commitment to inspire generations of Para Sailing athletes to discover sailing, as it is one of the few sports where men and women can compete alongside and against each other on a level playing field.” Topics Industry NewsLA28Para SportParalympic GamesParalympicsRYA

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NEWS RS Sailing switches identity for growth 11/01/2023 Save article RS Sailing has renamed itself as RS Marine Group to unify all of its brands under one umbrella and help drive growth going forward. SHOW FULLSCREEN Source: RS Marine Group The companies in RS Marine Group’s portfolio include RS Sailing, RS Electric Boats, Cheetah Marine and the all-new Ocean Play zoom inzoom out The companies in RS Marine Group’s portfolio include RS Sailing, RS Electric Boats, Cheetah Marine and the all-new Ocean Play, which will be making Picos and more with Jo Richards. “Each of the companies will retain its individual identity while functions such as finance, marketing, design and business growth will be shared. Common drivers such as sustainability will be brought to the fore as the group expands and utilises its significantly widened network base,” said Jon Partridge, CEO – Commercial, RS Marine Group. Unified approach All RS Marine Group’s current sales and production locations will continue to operate. Alex Newton-Southon, CEO Technical, RS Marine Group, said that a more unified new group will bring benefits to all of its brands and companies. “We have technical expertise across such a wide range of products; imagine the insight we can gain from sharing our experience and ideas. The collaboration benefits are endless as we push toward innovative, sustainable, accessible craft for our customers,” he said. The growth figures detail the need to move ahead in line with the group’s expansion. In 2014, RS Sailing was a £5 million operation, in 2023, the group’s total revenue is forecasted to be £25 million and the aim is to significantly grow this over the next five years. RS Marine Group’s companies share a common goal to improve handling, performance and user friendliness across the sailing and power boat sectors, including specific focus on ever greater sustainability and accessibility attributes. These will build on, for example, Cheetah’s heritage of creating boats for the Wet Wheels Foundation, RS Sailing’s RS21 and RS Electric Boats’ development of the all-electric Pulse 63 RIB.   Topics Industry NewsRS Sailing

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NEWS Multihull designer dies 03/01/2023 Save article Multihull designer and boat builder, Derek Kelsall, has died aged 89. SHOW FULLSCREEN Derek Kelsall with his wife Clare Derek is credited with creating the modern-day trimaran, introducing French sailing legend Eric Tabarly to multihulls and being one of the first to champion foam sandwich construction. Derek was born in North Wales in 1933, growing up in humble surroundings. He studied engineering at Bristol University but was unable to complete his degree when he ran out of money. After completing National Service in Kenya, he entered the oil exploration business working for BP in Libya. His career took him to Texas, at the time when his passion for boating was growing, along with an interest in multihulls, both sailing and building them in the Caribbean. This culminated in a decision to enter the second edition of the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) in 1964 racing Folatre, a 35ft plywood Arthur Piver-designed trimaran which Derek managed to prepare for the race in just two months. After the race, Derek’s interest in multihulls led to him attempting his own trimaran design. The 45ft Toria was one of the most influential multihulls ever, establishing the fundamental concept of what a racing trimaran should look like. SHOW FULLSCREEN Derek Kelsall’s trimaran Toria is believed to be the first boat in the UK to be built using foam sandwich construction The craft had twin crossbeams attaching the relatively high volume, fine bowed floats to the centre hull, their geometry such that at rest only two hulls ever touched the water. She is also said to be the first boat to be built in the UK using foam sandwich construction. Her success on the racecourse created great interest in offshore trimarans, including from French sailing legend Eric Tabarly who helped deliver the boat from Cornwall to the 1967 London Boat Show and who afterwards returned to France to work on his first trimaran with French naval architect André Allègre. Derek continued to enjoy further success with his small trimaran designs into the 1980s, including his Toria development Trifle. His greatest series of race boats were the various ‘Three Legs of Mann’ trimarans built and sailed by Isle of Mann-based Nick Keig. His use of foam sandwich construction attracted some of the top campaigns including Sir Thomas Lipson’s 1968 OSTAR victory which led to Derek building the 78ft long Alan Gurney-designed Great Britain II for Chay Blyth followed by two further large trimarans for the legendary sailor. From the mid-1980s for the rest of his career, Derek’s work as a yacht designer mainly focussed upon fast cruising catamarans, accompanied by further developmental steps in boat building techniques. KSS, the Kelsall Swiftsure Sandwich technique, used flat panels that could be laid up rapidly on a table, enabling construction time to be dramatically reduced, a process Derek first used in 1973 and constantly evolved over subsequent decades. He emigrated to New Zealand after the death of his wife Clare, from where he continued to design yachts and motorboats and promote the KSS. Derek is survived by his partner Paula, daughter Victoria Liepins and son Liam and Liam’s two children Elena and Libby. Meanwhile Derek’s designs, including many of his early work from the 1960s, thanks to their foam sandwich construction, have survived him and are still to be found in every corner of the globe. Topics BoatbuilderDerek KelsallIndustry Newstrimaran

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NEWSUp to £1.6m in damages for skipper03/01/2023Save articleA professional yacht skipper could receive up to £1.6m in damages after he was hit on the head by a 10kg steel pulley on a multi-millionaire’s superyacht.SHOW FULLSCREENAdam Prior was the skipper on board the Eleonora EAdam Prior says he had to give up a life at sea after he was struck in the face by the pulley during a race off the Isle of Wight in July 2015 on board the Eleonora E.The pulley first got stuck on some metal sheeting and then slipped free.Mr Prior, 40, sued Peras Ltd, the company which owns the boat, for £3.2m, claiming he suffered brain damage and blaming unsafe weather and lack of maintenance on the rigging for his accident.The company denied all blame and disputed the amount of compensation claimed – stating that Mr Prior was ‘the author of his own misfortune’.After a four-day trial at the High Court in London, Judge Richard Davison ruled that both Mr Prior and the ship’s owners were equally to blame. The amount of compensation is to be assessed but is set to be reduced by 50% due to Mr Prior’s own negligence.The judge said the yacht’s owners provided unsafe equipment in the shape of a metal rod attached to the 10kg pulley block.The metal sheeting was found to serve no practical purpose and was a cause of the accident as it could make the block stick in a way that was ‘foreseeably dangerous’.However, the judge also said Mr Prior was equally negligent as he crossed through the ‘danger triangle’, area of the ship – where there was extensive rigging and heavy blocks running free.The judge was told Mr Prior crossed by the shortest and most direct route, however there were safer routes that could have been taken.Mr Prior also failed to crouch or check the blocks were out of the way before moving across.The court was told that Mr Prior suffered brain damage causing long-term problems with fatigue and reduced concentration which meant he was no longer able to work on yachts.Mr Prior claimed the wind was gusting up to 30 knots on the day of the accident – a claim denied by the defence – and Eleonora E shouldn’t have been racing.However the judge stated the wind had played no part in the accident.Eleonora E was launched in 2000 and is a replica of the transatlantic schooner Westward.TopicsEleonora EIndustry NewsRegattaSchoonerSuperyacht

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NEWSOffshore racing assessment partnership15/12/2022Save articleMarineShift360, a marine industry specific lifecycle assessment tool and the International Monohull Open Class Association have agreed a formal partnership focused on understanding the environmental impacts of high-performance offshore racing.SHOW FULLSCREENMarineShift360 is to become an official sustainability partner to the IMOCA ClassAs part of the agreement, MarineShift360 will become an official sustainability partner to the IMOCA, facilitating the Class in analysing and understanding their full lifecycle impacts.The partnership follows on from the MarineShift360 development period, where IMOCA was a pilot partner.The Class will continue to run a lifecycle assessment involving all competing teams with the aim of the partnership being to understand the true environmental impact of building and campaigning the IMOCA Open 60.The organisations have already started collecting data from new IMOCA builds and compiling the results.Long-term the organisations hope to introduce rules and regulations that will reduce the environmental impacts of high-performance boat building and racing, not just within the IMOCA but across the wider offshore racing community.These could include specifying low impact construction process or using 100% recyclable moulds.A key benefit of the partnership will be to utilise learnings from IMOCA, which operate at the leading edge of marine technology development, to share across the wider marine industry, explained Imogen Dinham-Price, IMOCA Sustainability Manager.The tool is backed by MarineShift360’s founding sponsor, 11th Hour Racing and developed and managed by sustainability consultancy Anthesis.MarineShift360 won a DAME Category Award in 2022.

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NEWS New 40mm blocks 02/12/2022 Save article Ronstan has introduced a new 40mm block range, featuring 23 configurations for leading dynamic and static load ratings. SHOW FULLSCREEN Ronstan’s new Series 40 Block features 23 configurations The block is made of lightweight and strong toughened glass fibre reinforced nylon cheeks combined with a two-stage bearing system for better performance. The maximum working loads for the new Series 40 Orbit Blocks range from 400kg to 1000kg (HHL versions). The new blocks feature a wider sheave profile able to accommodate lines up to 10mm. The increased working loads in the range make the blocks suitable for applications on larger boats. The blocks are suitable for mainsheet systems and spinnaker sheets on dinghies, off-the-beach catamarans, and sportsboats to 8m (26ft); halyard, vang and backstay applications on boats to 9m (30ft) and control line applications on larger yachts. Multiple sheave configurations allow users to create up to a 12:1 purchase mainsheet system for performance multihulls. Topics BlockDeck Hardwaremainsheet systemRonstan

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