First Mast, First Race, First Win, First Record

First Mast, First Race, First Win, First Record

This year's Rolex Fastnet Race was the first time Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's new VO70 Azzam was tested in race conditions against its future Volvo rivals ... and what a result!

After a grueling 608 mile race they took one hour and 39 minutes off the race's previous monohull record and finished first out of the three Volvo 70s in the race.

Future Fibres supplied the full mast and rigging package for Azzam, in July, and skipper Ian Walker was justifiably happy with its performance.

"I think the rig's awesome. It's every bit as clean and neat as I could have hoped. The locks and fittings are working really well. It's early days of course, but thus far I would say this is the best rig I've ever seen", said Walker.

"The design phase went really well and communication has been very good. Future Fibres has been working hard with us on reducing the drag of our aerodynamic package on the VO70. Their TSC carbon rigging product, for example, provides the lowest-drag lateral rigging that we've seen."

Luke Shingledecker from the yacht's designers, Farr Yacht Design, speaking just before the start of the Fastnet Race, commented: "I'm really impressed with Azzam's rig. The design team was great to work with and the mast came in bang on minimum weight and C of G. Volvo 70s have complex rigs, but the Future Fibres mast sets up really easily and performs extremely well. I think this rig, boat and team are in a good position to win the Volvo Ocean Race."

Just one week after launching their boat after an extensive hull refit, Chinese Volvo entry Team Sanya achieved a very respectable Fastnet finish just one hour behind Azzam and Groupama 4. Team Sanya will be another yacht to cross the Volvo start line carrying a full Future Fibres mast and rigging package. Skipper Mike Sanderson explains the reasons for his choice:

"The Future Fibres team have a great depth of experience with no shortage of Volvo, Open 60 and AC rigs under their belts. As a new team, with state-of-the-art facilities, they are bringing together all their ideas on fittings and detailing design to create some really fantastic custom components. I have no doubt it will be an excellent, fast and reliable mast."

Team Sanya's new mast is planned to go into the boat in late September. "That doesn't give us much time until the start on 29 October, but this doesn't concern me," explains Mike. "Knowing the Future Fibres team, I have no doubt the mast and rigging will be great and it won't take long to tune up. I'm sure it will be a significant improvement on what we have at the moment and will help to further reduce any potential performance gap on our newer rivals."

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