Six of the current eight Olympic classes are “single manufacturer one-designs”, in practice monopolies of their rightsholders. Only two classes, the Finn and the 470 are measurement controlled one-designs, open for anyone to build and sell, as long as they comply with the rules.
In part 1, we looked at the two different one-design approaches, single manufacturer one-design SMOD and the measurement controlled MCOD. In this part 2 we look at how the opening of single manufacturer classes could be conducted, with benefits to the sailors in mind.
We were asked about research on an old web site of ours… there’s material that could be of interest still today. This is from wind tunnel tests we did some 25 years ago.
2017 ORCi European Champion Xini Freedom had new WB sails for the season. Read below what Xini’s tactician Sten Mohr thought about them and he shares here some other points on sails in such a project as well. Sten is a professional sailor, who is one of the best matchracing sailors in the world and an…
Our way of making sails is primarily based in the philosophy that we have had since the beginning: Quality starts with design. This captures the long term investment into the research and development that WB has made from the beginning. This philosophy guarantees long lasting quality sails for both a competitive and a leisure sailor.
For London 2012, WB-Sails made a big research & development effort, mostly centered on Star sails. With the Star out of the Olympics, our R&D focus between 2012-2016 has been much on the Finn, but also on the 470. These two are the only Olympic classes left for which independent sailmakers are still allowed to design sails.
The four year Olympic cycle is turning towards its end: Rio is only two months away.
General care and handling recommendations for sails of woven sailcloth Dear Sailor, We thank you for letting DIMENSION-POLYANT deliver the sailcloth for your new sails. You have chosen a sailcloth which is produced with the latest materials, technology and ideas. In order to prolong the life of your new sail, we recommend attention to the…
Not in the music business, and not in sailmaking at the top level, either.