Competition Spec Equipment - Sea Sure's new RED Performance range
by Daniel Henderson, Sea Sure 22 Jan 2021 05:15 NZDT
Sea Sure RED Performance range - pintles and gudgeons © Sea Sure
As an equipment manufacturer we are always on the lookout for feedback and ideas from sailors so that we can make new products or changes to existing ones. As we find in most sports at the top level, products get pushed to their maximum and sometimes standard components can break as they are being used harder or in a different way to what they were originally intended. For this reason, we have started to put together a range of products that will now be known as the "competition range".
The first of our products that we chose to work on were our transom products.
Sea Sure transom fittings are regarded by dinghy sailors across the globe and at every level in the sport as the go to product when it comes to dinghy transom fittings. Our pintles and gudgeons are fitted by top dinghy builders such as, Ovington, Devoti, RS, Topper & Hartley to name a few as the standard fit out across many classes.
Our transom range has remained unchanged for over 20 years as we have had very few pintle failures. Unfortunately, there was one failure that spurred us on to enhance our offering in the transom product range. A British Olympian had a pintle failure at the Palma world cup that cost him a gold medal. After this incident the first thing that we needed to do was analyse the pintle to see where it broke and if there were any clues as to why it happened.
We analysed the pintle pin and footage of a Finn sailing downwind with Olympic coach Derek Clark and found that the steering and rocking motion that the sailor inputs into the boat/helm to sail the boat efficiently down wind was putting fore and aft, and side to side stress on the pintle pin, resulting in fatigue. For this reason, we have designed the "RED Performance Range".
The new RED Performance range is available with 8mm pins and holes and fits directly into the same hole patterns as the standard range, making it easy to upgrade. But what is the key difference other than the striking colour?
Each pintle has 2 grub screws that enables you to remove the pin from the aluminium extrusion. This allows you to check for cracks, bends or fatigue across the whole length of the pin so that you can be confident before going on the water that you won't suffer a failure.
Once you have checked the pin you can either reinstall it or replace the pin. This means that you can change a pintle without having to remove the aluminium component from the back of the boat or rudder which in some cases can be quite difficult and time consuming. If you travel with your boat and attach the lighting board to your transom fittings, then this range is definitely for you. The added vibration caused by the road surface can fatigue a pintle far quicker, so it is best to change the pin more frequently.
The red range is a great option for serious campaigners or club sailors that use their boats most weekends and do not want to suffer failures at events. A spare pintle pin is a low-cost addition to the toolbox at only £9.50 and enables you to change a pin within a couple of minutes.
We are currently offering up to 20% discount on our RED Performance range at www.sea-sure.co.uk