New Gear at Southampton

John Greenland looks at what's on offer, including an exclusive sneak preview of the latest additions to Harken's carbon range...

Tuesday September 11th 2001, Author: John Greenland, Location: United Kingdom
To see yesterday's preview to the new performance yachts at Southampton click here...

Many companies launched their 2001 ranges at the London Boat Show earlier this year, however there are still more treats in store for those heading to the Southampton Boat Show, which starts this Friday.

It's come round to the time of year when manufacturers such as Harken introduce extra gear to their product line ready for 2002, while clothing manufacturers push their Autumn and Winter ranges ready for the coming months. Keep your eyes open for the new Henri-Lloyd Yachting Collection 2002, which will include some of the foul weather gear some of the crews will be wearing in the Volvo Ocean Race, while Musto will be displaying the official range of Volvo Ocean Race clothing.

Harken

Several additions are to be made to the Harken range for 2002, madforsailing.com are first to preview that range...
The following will be available for viewing at the Southampton Boat Show, although their official launch will be in November at METS, and production to delivery is not expected to be until March next year at the earliest.

Additions to the Carbon Line:
The 29mm and 40mm carbo traveller blocks are small, compact and very strong. They are perfect for boats with bridle travellers. The 90 degree fixed head is used to align the sheave 90 degrees from a standard fixed head and eliminates shackles. These blocks are often used on the boom for dinghy mainsheets.

Carbon Ratchamatics
It's now possible to make carbon ratchet systems. These strong lightweight load-sensing ratchet blocks roll freely in both directions under low loads, and automatically engage the ratchet as loads increase. The ratchet can be adjusted to engage at higher or lower loads.

Deck Shoes
The newest generation of performance sailing shoes. These include features such as superior traction, comfortable support and quick drying uppers of their previous shoes but their style has been updated and they are made from improved materials.
Fresh from the America's Cup and the Ocean Racing arena...

Harken's pride and joy at the show will be the carbon furling units which proved both versatile and light aboard Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher, Catherine Chabaud's Open 60 Whirlpool, and Steve Fossett's Playstation.

These carbon furlers weigh half as much as conventional aluminium furlers. A huge benefit as it means less weight aloft and forward on the boat, reducing pitching and heeling. It also reduces the amount of lead you need in the keel. Compared with aluminium, a carbon furler will save as much as 11Kg on a typical 45 footer.

Carbon furlers have a smooth finish while remaining UV resistant. They are built of standard modulus carbon fibre and are extremely strong as the fibre is laid in the direction of the load with strength optimised for weight. Just like carbon masts, carbon furlers will be extremely important to have aboard if you want to significantly increase your boat's performance.

Also on Stand F25 they will be showing the new Code Zero furling units, straight out of the development arena of the America's Cup and the Volvo Round the World Race. By working closely with teams such as the all conquering Team New Zealand and illbruck Challenge, the Code Zero furler has been developed using alloy/stainless steel and carbon components for the high luff loads incurred on racing yachts above 45 feet.

Tacktick Micro Compass - £169.95 inc VAT

The Micro Compass proved a huge advantage over competitors using glass ball compasses. To win races you must react to even small wind shifts. Readable, precise and reliable heading information from you compass is critical. Although the new Microcompass was launched five months ago, but this is it's first appearance at an international boat show.

The Microcompass tactical scale gives you clear stable figures corresponding on port and starboard tack. The readings whilst tacking are always the same, meaning you never have to remember numbers. It is even submersible to 10m.

Proctor Masts

Seldon Masts will be pushing their new range of carbon spinnaker poles. Designed to make light work of spinnaker handling, the big advantage of carbon fibre is its low weight, which means the crew can handle the spinnaker faster and with less effort. What makes the Seldon poles slightly different is the computer controlled manufacturing method in which pre-impregnated tows are wound onto a cylinder prior to baking. This process adds an extra level of durability in the areas subject to the greatest loads and wear.

B&G - H1000 range

H1000 is a complete departure from the conventional dedicated display unit approach and is designed to enable the user to access any information from any display - displays that are restricted to specific data such as speed, depth or heading simply cannot do this. By utilising a single display head design the H1000 is able to access relevant information from a fast network between the components.
The latest FSTN dot-matrix technology gives the H1000 the ability to display data in numerous formats including composite data/graphics screens:

While the concept was launched at the London Boat Show the product is now finalised and on show in Southampton.

Page two for clothing...

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