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One Sails announces «revolutionary sail material»

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On the eve of 45th Barcolana regatta One Sails company presented a new material for making sails - 4T Forte, writes vsali.info.

According to One Sails, the new material will last three times longer than competitors in the same price category. It is 5-10% lighter than its racing counterparts and 30% lighter than its cruising counterparts. The 4T Forte took 18 months to develop. The 4T Forte is based on ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) which is the backbone of the fabric and takes the brunt of the pressure during use. «One Sails has rejected carbon fiber, mylar and glue - in their opinion» are the weak links in sailing materials.

Dede de Luca, CEO of One Sails, and Piercarlo Molta of Flexon Composites presented the new material. They dubbed 4T FORTE «a revolutionary leap in sailmaking». Its manufacturing techniques are taken from the military sector, the company claims.

OneSD technology was also unveiled at a press conference in Trieste . «It's a chip with RFID, which» is implanted into the material and collects data over the lifetime of the sail. The owner brings a smartphone with a branded app installed to the chip, and the device reads the latest data.

Engineers are now working on the ability to send data to onboard systems. «Thus, it will be possible to track all the activity of the sail in real time» - how many hours it was exposed to ultraviolet light, how many and what turns were made, etc.


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