Technical


How so?


Bigger yachts, greater loads, fewer crew yet easier sailing. One reason that in 2022 such a bizarre and seemingly conflicting combination of features is possible can simply be described as ‘Reckmann’


There is a long-term trend in sailing and especially in cruising. Boats are getting bigger and crews are getting smaller. It’s now quite common for a novice sailor’s first yacht to be more than 50ft or even 65ft long. Most new cruising boats in that size bracket are designed to be sailed by a couple who may not have a lot of experience, without any other crew on board. Even with the full benefit of today’s technologies, this style of short-handed, push-button sailing can be extremely dangerous if you don’t have totally reliable, guaranteed failsafe sail-handling hardware and systems. And that’s where Reckmann comes in. ‘When you sail offshore in a large


yacht with a shorthanded crew, your life quite literally depends on a complex, integrated systemof mechanical, electric, hydraulic and electronic components,’ says Marcus Schuldt, chief executive of Reckmann. ‘For previous generations of sailors that would have been unthinkable but the solutions we offermake it feasible today.’ Reckmann’s headsail furlers are


widely regarded as the best on the market and renowned for their rock- solid reliability. But they are just one part of a broad and versatile suite of sail-handling and rigging hardware – hydraulic cylinders, electric pumps and valves, MCUs, boom drives and more. Each of these is designed and manufactured to Reckmann’s


66 SEAHORSE


exacting standards and can be relied upon to deliver extremely high levels of performance and reliability. Hydraulic cylinders have an


essential role onmany large cruising yachts. ‘Our cylinders aremade to work with pressure up to 440bar to achieve very compact and lightweight products,’ Schuldt explains. ‘All other brands go up to 350barmaximum. We also produce customcylinders to meet special requests in addition to our standard range.’ Reckmann has developed a range


of electric pumps specifically for its cylinders and drives, withmanual pumps for backup. ‘The HPS is very quiet, very fast and compact,’ Schuldt says. ‘The good thing is that it ismade in amodular design. Thismeans you can add an HPS200 to an existing HPS200 and you have a HPS400 with double the performance. You can evenmake a HPS600 to operate bigger boomvangs.’ Boomfurl drive units for in-boom


mainsail furling are an important part of Reckmann’s product suite. ‘The new front drive motor has many advantages over drives that are mounted in the outboard end of the boom,’ Schuldt says. ‘Our drive units were designed to achieve four main goals: reliability, better weight balance, a weight reduction within the structure of the boom and a reliable, high-load clutch integrated in the furling unit. Some of the leading brands of furling booms


Above: Reckmann’s highly esteemed headsail furlers are just one part of a broad and versatile suite of sail- handling and rigging equipment that includes hydraulic cylinders, pumps and valves, boom drives, MCUs and more


have already installed our drives and they are happy with the performance and service.’ A front-drivemotor canmake the


boomeffectively stronger. Themost common cause of boomdamage is an accidental gybe, when all of the boom’s kinetic energy is transferred as a shock load to the gooseneck. By relocating a significant weight from the outboard end to the inboard end of the boom, the torsional force on the gooseneck during an uncontrolled gybe is reduced. Mounting the drive at the inboard


end also allows the construction of the boom itself to be lighter and less complex. There is no need for oil supply tubes to run all the way through the boom, for example, which saves weight and reduces the risk of oil leakage inside the boom. The integrated clutch again saves weight, and the boom does not have to withstand torque loads at the shelf. Removing weight from the boom – and especially at its outboard end – can also improve the set of the mainsail in the often troublesome combination of light wind and ocean swell. Assembly andmaintenance costs


are reduced because both the aft bearing and the front drive are easy to fit and service. A further benefit is that the forward end of the boomcan be left open, allowing the crew to visuallymonitor the furl as it happens. Reckmann boomdrives also have


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