New range of fenders to make big impact on TP52 Super Series

by Sail-World.com: NZL on 29 Mar 2015 The two latest TP52’s to come out of Cookson Boats in February, Sled and Provezza, are both destined for the TP52 Super Series to be held the in Mediterranean later this year. Both teams have chosen a new type of fender to protect their vessels, created by Hauraki Fenders.

Known as the Hurricane Series, these new fenders are constructed from specially designed, heavy duty, closed cell foam that is encased in a hard wearing PVC fabric shell and knitted polyester fabric for topside protection. They are appropriately named as they are designed to withstand the toughest conditions to be experienced by a fender.

Brad Marsh is the Boat Captain for Sled. His name will most likely be familiar to you due to his involvement in a number of world class sailing programs over the past decade, including winning the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race onboard Groupama. Marsh knows the importance of having the best products for the job. “We need to be 100% confident in all of the products we use on the Sled. That goes for everything from the top of the rig to the bottom of the keel, including our fenders.”

Marsh continued “when mooring in parts of the Mediterranean they don’t have marinas as we know them here. You can be tied up to anything, from old wharfs to other boats, and sometimes you have no control over who or what that maybe. Combine that with some of the strong winds you can experience there and we need to know the boat will be safely protected at all times. Any damage, no matter how small, could have a serious impact on our ability to compete in the TP52 Super Series. So naturally we wanted the best fender system we could get, and Hauraki Fenders provided that for us.”

Hauraki Fenders Sales Manager Damon Jolliffe added “not only were we able to provide the right type of fender solution that Brad required for the Sled using a combination of Inflatable and Hurricane Series fenders, we also customized the size and colour to provide the best suited and best looking solution possible.” Jolliffe went on to explain “we took the same approach with Provezza. Because their yacht is a different design it required a different sized Hurricane Fenders, the Provezza ones are thicker. They also wanted a quilted finish on the exterior and ‘Provezza’ embroided on them which combined to create a very smart looking fender”.

When asked how the Hurricane Series fenders were developed Jolliffe replied “some of our customers started asking about large foam fenders. They had specific requirements for a foam fender that ‘off the shelf’ items just couldn’t do which was mostly related to physical size and hull paint protection. So we created a fender series that meet these needs.”

The Hurricane Series fenders are definitely more popular with launches, race yachts and superyachts where storage isn’t an issue.

Along with being tough, there are a number of other benefits to the Hurricane Series fenders. They can be manufactured to meet a wide range of custom requirements such as:
- Size (height, length and thickness), to fit in a specific space or storage area
- Colour
- Knitted polyester on one or both sides
- Double layered PVC for extra strength
- Quilted stitching
- Embroidery

For more information on Hauraki Fenders and their products, please visit their website www.haurakifenders.co.nz