Making the unfamiliar familiar
The performance-enhancing benefits of Carbo-Link’s solid carbon rigging are becoming more widely known, with a broad variety of high- performance racing yachts – Ultime trimarans, Imoca 60s, AC50s and AC72s, leading contenders in the Maxi 72 and Wallycento classes, plus some of the world’s fastest superyachts – achieving substantial reductions in both weight and wind resistance. But for many owners and skippers one key question remains: what’s it like to live with?
It’s actually a lot easier than most people think. You don’t hear much about service and maintenance of Carbo-Link rigging because it’s inherently durable, very reliable and surprisingly simple to repair. A specially developed, toughened resin system – which is unique to Carbo-Link –accounts for much of the durability. Stepping up to solid carbon means fewer hassles and, after the initial investment, a lower cost of ownership going forward. Most types of rigging must be replaced or repaired periodically, often after four or five years, but Carbo-Link’s solid carbon rigging can last as long as the mast and the rest of the boat’s structure. For this
66 SEAHORSE
Not long ago, solid carbon rigging was only seen on the edgiest of grand prix racers... Carbo-Link has helped transform the sector. Now this most advanced of racing products is used on many large, high-end superyachts Above:
reason, Carbo-Link rigging can substantially increase a yacht’s resale value whilst contributing to a reduced cost of ownership. An obvious advantage of Carbo- Link’s solid carbon rigging is that it’s easy for the crew to check without any special equipment or training. There’s no cover to remove for a visual inspection and any damage that could lead to failure can be seen on the surface, where it’s easily spotted by a crewman sent aloft in a bosun’s chair. Chafe and impact damage are rarely found – solid carbon rigging has a super-tough, inherently smooth resin surface with a very low friction coefficient, which is therefore highly resistant to chafe – but most racing teams tend to visually inspect their rigging before, during and after each regatta for peace of mind.
Annual inspections are also straightforward and relatively inexpensive. The mast is left standing but often jacked down to unload the cables to allow a thorough visual check of the end fittings and spreader interfaces by a competent rigger, marine surveyor or Carbo-Link technician. Some racing teams who regularly push their rig close to its
Carbo-Link’s solid carbon cables have become a common
sight aboard a wide variety of large, high- performance yachts. Once fitted, Carbo- Link rigging cables can substantially lower the costs of
maintaining and servicing the rig, thus reducing the yacht’s over- all cost of ownership
working load limits may have it professionally inspected more frequently. But even for the most demanding users, there is never any need to pull the mast out for a rigging inspection alone. A common myth about solid carbon rigging is that it’s fragile in compression and prone to damage if the sails start flogging violently or, on those occasions, leeward rigging slackens. Absolutely not, according to Carbo-Link, whose cable terminations are designed to handle large bending moments and off-axis loads, and fatigue-tested by oscillating between buckling compression and full working load. For example, the 58m superyacht Ngoni’s solid carbon diagonal stays are designed to buckle out of line at 26kg (D2) and 19kg (D3); it would take a compression force of more than 45 tonnes for the D2 to fail and 40 tonnes for the D3.
Unlike some other types of rigging, solid carbon lends itself well to non- destructive testing procedures (NDT), which can be done on site with the mast fully rigged and even when it’s jacked up tight. Due to the rigging cables’ 100 per cent consolidation, an ultrasound NDT
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