Into its second edition, the Barcelona World Race starts from this historic Catalan city on New Year’s Eve. With 25,000 miles of racing ahead, 10 of the 15 yachts have, once again, placed their trust in Future Fibres’ rigging for this demanding event.

Future Fibres is supplying an incredible 2 kilometers of rigging for the competing boats, ranging from full lateral sets to code cables and aft rigging. Through our long association with the IMOCA fleet, we have been developing and testing our latest range of products over a number of years, always searching for the most durable, optimised solution. This race is no different. Hugo Boss, Aviva, Veolia and Groupe Bel have been instrumental in the development of our brand new FlexC and TSC (thermoset) carbon products over the last 10 months in the lead up to the race.  They experienced the performance benefits and above all, in conjunction with our testing, built confidence in this technologically advanced product for use in a non-stop round the world event.

Andy Meiklejohn, co-Skipper of Hugo Boss explains: ‘The performance of FlexC is quite staggering. Its flexible nature makes it almost indistinguishable from a dry fibre cable (PBO, Dyneema, etc.). This is ideal for our type of yacht where boom and batten impact in the case of a crash jibe are always a real risk. Yet, FlexC is still stiffer than any other suitable product for aft rigging when comparing size and weight.’

Reliability is the buzz word of the IMOCA scene. Future Fibres does not only evoke that in our product but also in our customer’s experience when dealing with our team. We were the natural choice for Central Lechera Asturiana to manage and supply a full set of rigging, after cruelly breaking their mast on delivery to Barcelona, 28 days before the start. Future Fibres´ technical team, lead by David Barnaby, was instrumental in sourcing a suitable replacement rig whilst interfacing with our Valencia based production facility to build the new rigging. David comments: ‘Bringing a mast and rigging package together, in the most literal sense, within 2 weeks was no mean feat. From a technical perspective, finding a suitable rig, adapting it to suit the boat, engineering and building the rigging and then delivering it to the team within such a short timeframe has been a major challenge. The guys in the factory did an amazing job pulling this off, working day and night while still maintaining our high quality standards.’

Supplying Carbon, Dyneema, Kevlar and PBO stays in an array of applications to the competitors of the Barcelona World Race, once again, reinforces our “Right Fibre for the Right Application” approach to composite rigging. Each of these fibres has their own specific strength making them the right choice for their given task. Having the ability to supply unbiased recommendations on fibre choice, makes us the natural partner for teams that seek to push the boundaries of rigging technology. In turn, the IMOCA 60 fleet presents the ideal test bed for Future Fibres and a corner stone for our ongoing search for the rigging solutions of tomorrow.

Follow the BWR @ www.barcelonaworldrace.com and keep in touch with the FF rigged boats @ Future Fibres FACEBOOK.

Into its second edition, the Barcelona World Race starts from this historic Catalan city on New Year’s Eve. With 25,000 miles of racing ahead, 10 of the 15 yachts have, once again, placed their trust in Future Fibres’ rigging for this demanding event.

Future Fibres is supplying an incredible 2 kilometers of rigging for the competing boats, ranging from full lateral sets to code cables and aft rigging. Through our long association with the IMOCA fleet, we have been developing and testing our latest range of products over a number of years, always searching for the most durable, optimised solution. This race is no different. Hugo Boss, Aviva, Veolia and Groupe Bel have been instrumental in the development of our brand new FlexC™ and TSC (thermoset) carbon products over the last 10 months in the lead up to the race.  They experienced the performance benefits and above all, in conjunction with our testing, built confidence in this technologically advanced product for use in a non-stop round the world event.

As composite rigging continues to infiltrate every area of the marine industry, the push for increased customisation and flexibility also continues to rise. With these attributes at the core of Future Fibres' R&D ethos, the company has developed a system capable of accurately specifying the torsional requirements of its code cables.

Originally developed for the Volvo fleet, code cables, or torsional luff cables, have now been widely adopted for furling free-flying headsails and staysails. Suitable for boats up to 40 metres, they are designed to make handling code zero sails, gennakers and staysails far easier.

Specially engineered to transfer torque from the furling unit at the base, through the end fitting and along the length of the cable, the result can be likened to a thirty metre long propeller shaft, which can be coiled up and stored in a bag when not in use!

Through extensive in-house testing, Future Fibres has identified the specific cable characteristics required for durability, flexibility and torsional stiffness. Using a variety of materials and construction methods, the R&D team has adapted the manufacturing process to enable the precise requirements of the client or team to be met. The new range

"For a long time, Future Fibres code cables have been considered the best available, especially in the race market, where we definitely have the commanding share. However, in comparison to our current cables, and those still being sold by the competition, the new system is years ahead and means we can offer a range of options based on a boat's specific requirements." comments Alex Runciman, Head of Future Fibres' Project Management Team.

Future Fibres continues to work closely with sailmakers and furler manufacturers, which has enabled it to develop the first model capable of accurately calculating torsional requirements, based on sail size, loads and wind speeds. This in turn has enabled standards to be created for specifying cable torque and flexibility. A test regime for durability has also been developed which involves furling, interspersed with simulated 'packing' abuse, to identify fatigue issues and reduce their impact.

Alex continues: "By adjusting the way we construct the cables we can accurately build in the required characteristics to give optimum performance. The choices come down to torque, longevity and weight, and we can adjust the production variables in a number of different ways to achieve the perfect balance. We can't really go into a lot of detail about how we do it – it's a significant lead over of the competition and we want to keep that way!"