Latest from Mackay Boats- New 470 Moulds, 49er and FX Production, 420
by Mackay Boats on 25 Jul 2013
Winning New Zealand crew - Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie - Delta Lloyd Regatta - 2012 Olympic Gold medalists in their new Mackay boat Delta Lloyd Regatta - Sander van der Borch
http://www.sandervanderborch.com
Mackay Boats congratulates all sailors who achieved great results this season. We look forward to following your performances at the World Championships.
Our mission to make our boats better and faster never ends at Mackay Boats. Below is some news on the 470, 49er, FX & 420.
New 470 Moulds:
The highlight of the year so far has been seeing the first boats from our new moulds racing in Europe.
If you are competing at the Worlds take time to check out a few of the new boats. The bright blue deck of the NZL women’s Olympic Gold medal team is easy to spot. Also look for Men’s Olympic Bronze medallists in ARG-7 and the new USA-1712 boat in the Women’s fleet.
The initial feedback from sailors & coaches is that they are something special!
To learn about the design and build process of the new moulds follow this link http://www.mackayboats.com/index.cfm/news/new-470-moulds-for-the-ultimate-470/!click_here
New 470 Centreboard Detail: One of the surprise benefits of the new moulds has been the extra amount we have been able to lower the centreboard due to centercase configuration.
To make the most of this benefit we have extended the head of the centerboard so that it can be raked further forward if required. This will be especially important as crews prepare for the lighter conditions expected in Rio de Janeiro.
New 470 Rudder Design: A new mould is underway for the rudder also. The profile has been refined to give less drag in lighter airs while also retaining better attached flow when loaded on reaches to prevent stalling. This will be available later this year.
Dave Mackay will be at the Worlds in La Rochelle for a week, so please take the time to come and talk about your 470.
All the development work over the last year with hull and foils has been very refreshing. As builders we want to stay right on the leading edge and as sailors we get great satisfaction from developing something fast.
Our apologies to crews who we could not deliver boats to in time for the World Championships. We are working hard to minimise the backlog.
It's important when planning forward to 2014 to order your boat well in advance.
We are already planning our production schedule to build boats for shipment to Europe in time for the spring World Cup regattas.
49er & FX production:
The Europeans earlier this month were the first major regattas and were a fantastic success. Our guys in the factory loved watching every minute of the racing on the live webcasts (it was night time here in NZ). The skill and athleticism shown in both the 49er and the FX will rate sailing amongst the most challenging of all sports.
FX First Birthday! Very soon will be the one year anniversary of the first FX rigs being shipped worldwide.
260 FX rigs have been shipped to sailors around the world to date. This is a great start for the new class and we look forward to viewing some great competition at the Worlds in Marseille.
Many thanks to all the women sailing the FX. You have all helped tremendously with the establishment of the class and with the fine tuning of the quality of the rigs. There have been a few teething issues but generally it has proven to be a very successful start for a new Olympic class.
Quality Processes. We have recently implemented a revised system of quality assurance procedures for all products that we make and also those we get from various suppliers.
Our goal is hassle free sailing for our athletes and we want to know about it if that hasn't been your experience.
49er and FX hull production is the most enjoyable we have ever had.
Because of the extra demand this year, we have been able to keep up continuous production with a regular team. Our 49er team is consistently building very high quality boats. Our guys are totally on top of their game and the boats coming through are the best we have ever built.
Again, it's important to order early to be sure we can meet your schedule.
John Clinton will be at the Worlds in Marseille for a week, so please take the time to come and talk about your 49er or FX.
Mackay 420.
The new Mackay 420 continues to top regatta scoreboards with recent wins in the GBR Youth nationals and Kiel Week.
This follows the GRE team winning the 2012 World championships which was the first Worlds our boats had competed in.
This boat was designed and the moulds produced using the same process as the new 470 moulds. The process was so successful for the 420 that we decided to undertake the new 470 moulds project.
We hope you all achieve your goals for the season and wish you good sailing!
To find out more about Mackay boats visit www.mackayboats.com
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