War speeds up technology-so does the America’s Cup

by Helen Hopcroft on 28 Jul 2007 The current wrangling over the ground rules of the next America’s Cup can seem far removed from the concerns of ordinary boat owners. With warring billionaires, feisty press conferences, court challenges and the clash of world famous yacht clubs (and recently constituted ones) it could be mistaken for a high budget nautical soap opera. But take heart: you, the average boat owner, stands to make a long term gain from this bitter conflict.

It’s a cliché but it’s often true: war speeds up technology. If we take the principle away from the global war zones, and apply it to marine industry, it remains true. All the time, money and effort spent fighting over the next America’s cup, and all the time, money and effort that went into contesting the last campaign, will eventually trickle down to your boat in the form of improved marine technology.

Navtec is a company that has been closely involved with the America’s Cup over a number of years. In the last campaign the company provided hydraulic systems, rod rigging and PBO fiber rigging to Emirates NZ and Luna Rossa. Peter O’Connell, the Navtec/Lewmar CEO, wouldn’t comment on the specific technical requirements of each syndicate. But he did say that:

‘Both syndicates are demanding, valued and long-standing customers of Navtec…The fact is we have supply agreements of one form or another with every Americas Cup syndicate.’

O’Connell is a strong supporter of the ‘trickle down’ technology effect: what is revolutionary and cutting edge now is likely to be found in the family cruiser of the future. He drives his company’s involvement in elite level racing because he believes that this type of intense pressure forces a surge in invention and new technologies.

‘I believe in technology trickle down – solutions demanded at the highest level of the sport drive the whole company.’

Everyone loves to win, and if you have the budget to employ the world’s best specialist engineers, boat builders, sailors, tacticians, designers and sail makers then you expect to do so.

‘The racing elite push suppliers hard. You can’t win if you don’t take some risks and the challenge is balancing risk with reward. Customers depend on key suppliers to scour the world for 'best practices' and then deliver the appropriate version of that to them.’

However this desire to push technology and materials to their limits sometimes results in spectacular failure, with One Australia sinking in San Diego being a case in point.

‘We work hard to meet customer expectations for 'leading edge' technology without subjecting them to the 'bleeding edge'. It’s a hard balance to achieve: every customers risk profile is different.’


On the 1st of July of this year Lewmar and Navtec joined forces and O’Connell is now the CEO of both companies.

‘I ran Navtec for years and led them into a market leading position. Now I am also responsible for Lewmar and am driving them back into the performance sailing side of the market.’

Lewmar is well known as a supplier of quality winches, steering and anchoring systems, hatches, hardware and bow thrusters. Although the two companies had been under common ownership for two decades their R & D had remained separate. O’Connell plans to change this:

‘It will be natural to see an alignment of R&D efforts… There will certainly be more cross pollination.’

Despite the current furore over the terms of the next race, he is already planning the next generation of products for the 33rd America’s Cup.

‘I guarantee that the next Americas Cup will have both Lewmar and Navtec well represented. We have already started working on products for the new 90-foot class of Americas Cup yachts.’

‘But who knows, by the time this article is released (in 48 hours) the boat spec may have changed again’ said O’Connell with a laugh.

PBO Rigging is a good example of a product that Navtec supplies that started at the top end of the sport and which has gradually moved into the reach of the average boat owner. The rigging is prized because of its light weight, low-stretch, flexibility and durability. It’s made from unidirectional synthetic PBO fibers which are then sheathed in polyurethane for UV protection and abrasion resistance.

It’s commonly used in place of rod rigging in order to save weight, and initially only the top end of the market could afford it. Then in 1997 Navtec asked engineers in their Connecticut plant to work out the best way to build reasonably priced production PBO rigging.

‘Over time, we see fiber rigging taking over from rod rigging,’ explained O'Connell, ‘and we want to keep our market share.’

One of the challenges faced by the Navtec engineers was creating end pieces that were as tough as the actual PBO fibers. Initially they were putting each bundle of fibers into an end fitting and securing it with epoxy. The solution they eventually came up with is continuously looping strands of the synthetic fiber around thimbles at opposite ends of the stay. Its clear thinking on a complex problem: any join in a single structure is a weakness, so why not eliminate joins altogether?

Navtec continued to refine its PBO rigging technology. Part of their research included obtaining new and used PBO cables from their competitors and then analyzing any inefficiencies or weaknesses they could identify. They then used this data to optimize their own product by making a number of small but crucial design changes.

These changes included tighter packing of the core fibers to reduce cable diameter, and therefore minimize windage; improved cable sealing to guard against the degrading effects of UV and moisture; development of a unique braid material to increase chafe resistance; and use of carbon covers and thimbles to keep any foreign material out of the PBO fibers, because foreign material would fatigue the cable.

The end result is the lightest PBO cable available for a given stretch or strength specification.

Navtec’s current research includes testing and evaluation of used PBO cables from the Open 60 class. In some cases they work within Open 60 racing programs, and this has resulted in developments in fitting design and mast/deck connections.

In addition to PBO fiber, another high tech synthetic material that Lewmar/Navtec could use to develop products for elite racing of the future is Magellan’s M5. Apparently it’s a fiber that is lighter and stronger than Kevlar and Spectra, impervious to UV and has very good heat and flame resistance. It’s made from raw materials that aren’t currently commercially available, so if it does trickle down, it will be some years before it turns up on the family cruiser.


As well as their commitment to elite racing, another factor that is likely to drive R &D forward is the number of high profile sailors employed by Lewmar and Navtec. There’s a very strong sailing culture in both companies. O’Connell himself is an avid boater; Katie Spithill (sister of Luna Rossa’s James Spithill and herself a top five ranked world champion match racer) works for Lewmar, as does Carl Crafoord.

Crafoord will be completing his 22nd Sydney to Hobart race this year. His mandate is that all of his Australian team must race sailing boats competitively to be able to stay in tune with the industry and sport.

‘We employee a number of sailing professionals who’s experience spans from the America’s Cup to Arctic exploration and everything in between…’ noted O’Connell.

‘It’s a balancing act of recruiting the right level of yachties with business or technology professionals.’

With the joining of the companies, this wealth of experience will combine and make Lewmar/Navtec a force to be reckoned with in America’s cup campaigns of the future. And ultima