Southern Spars EC6 Hybrid has it covered from Foilers to J-class
by Brenna Pringle on 15 Oct 2009
EC6 Hybrid now covers the fleet from Foiling Moths to J-class and Superyachts Southern Spars
Dinghies, grand prix racing, performance yachts…and now a specialised superyacht system.
Southern Spars' Composite Rigging department has been hard at work developing an innovative EC6 superyacht rigging solution. Following a cautious and calculated process, an exhaustive R&D programme has been carried out including full sized fatigue testing.
The result? EC6 Hybrid. A proven and practical solution to the growing need for an innovative, stable, high performance rigging solution for superyachts.
With several superyacht projects coming up in excess of 150ft and two over 200ft, the working parameters of carbon standing rigging are changing. As such development of the EC6 rigging solution has been necessary, with a new system, EC6 Hybrid coming to fruition.
EC6 Hybrid, the new rigging solution, has largely been driven by the need to create a system that meets the increased working parameters of these supersized superyachts – a much needed combination of practicality and performance.
In essence this has meant addressing the concern of a single integrated harness, that if damaged would require replacement of the entire side of rigging. As such EC6 Hybrid has been developed, producing a solution that makes for easier manufacturing, handling and shipping while most importantly, keeping weight and windage to a minimum.
So what is the EC6 Hybrid system and how does it differ from EC6 Continuous rigging?
EC6 Hybrid is essentially a continuous vertical shroud with a separate diagonal that incorporates elegant attachment points for the spreader tips and diagonals.
For superyachts this gives a number of advantages over the race perfected EC6 Continuous system. Firstly, it divides the package into a number of more manageable cables facilitating installation, servicing and testing.
Additionally, the spreader attachment provides a positive mechanical connection between the rigging and spreader tip while keeping spreader size and weight to a minimum.
EC6 Hybrid achieves all of this with minimal weight and windage increase over EC6 Continuous.
The EC6 Hybrid system will be delivered to 5 major superyacht projects in 2010.
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