High strength fibre rope, from
strongRope Australia
Custom Tapered 300 ton
break 68mm Dynex mooring line
This rope is part of an ocean mooring system for
an Australian customer, a break strain of 300 ton was required,
meaning a 68mm rope, the rope needed to be spliced either end.
When a rope is spliced the diameter in the area of the splice
doubles, in this instance the rope also needed to pass through a
ships rollers that were a fixed gap of only 72mm.
The solution?, Hampidjan Iceland devised a special computer program when making
the rope and machine tapered each of the 12 strands in the rope,
down from 68mm, to 27mm for the final 20m on one end of the
rope, then spliced.
Stronger than steel and still light enough
to float, something clearly shown in the photo below.
For more information on Dynex mooring, towing and
marine, contact strongRope
A Tale of Two Boats
The following two yachts could not
be more different, one is a restored 100 yr old gaff
cutter the other an ultra light weight modern fast
cruiser. What they share in common is two owners who are
both sailing professionals and whose opinions can be
regarded as very objective.
Acrospire has had all her standing
rigging replaced with strongRope Dux cables. All were
terminated to standard marine turnbuckles, in all 20
pieces. Her owner, respected Melbourne sailmaker Col
Anderson takes up the story....
"First
race yesterday and 35 minutes late for start, as no
motor to get there. We were super quick and still
finished 10 minutes in front of Mercedes 111 to take
line honours. Boat is much stiffer with the lighter
rigging so very happy."
strongRope
Calibrated Cables
(from a recent press release)
Rigging a fast cruising Monohull with Dynex Dux standing
rigging and Colligo Marine hardware.
A recent launch of a beautiful Xavi Cardell designed 38’ light
displacement sloop with Dynex Dux standing rigging in Argentina
has caught some attention. The boat, built by the Astilleros
Aries yard in Buenos Aries, is owned by Mr Nacho Postigo.
Nacho is the current director of the Audi Med Cup, navigator for
the Italian AC team Luna Rossa and closely involved in the Wally
yacht race scene and is well qualified to make an objective
judgement. His comments?,
" I have had to hear a lot of people
telling me for the last two years not to go this way and
suggesting me to stay with convention and I have to say with a
few miles under the keel I am very pleased with the product and
some of the sceptical have had to eat their words.
Pushing the boat to the limit of loosing the steering (90º TWA
with around 10 kts) with plenty of canvas up and some backstay
tension did not leave our leeward shrouds loose and they were
fully tight under these conditions, proving there was no stretch
on the windward rigging at all, so far the impression has been
very, very positive."
The rigging resulted in a weight savings total of 79.2 lbs (36
kgs) with 66 lbs (30 kgs) of that above the deck. The cost of
the rigging was essentially the same as the estimate for rigging
with steel wire rope and turnbuckles. It was also stronger,
lighter and a fraction of the cost of other synthetic
alternatives. The shrouds and backstay were supplied calibrated
and ready to install by Mike Strong of Strongrope in
Australia. Comprised of overbraided Dynex Dux in 9 mm
with Colligo Line Terminators, the rigging uses lashings instead
of turnbuckles (although rigging screws could also have been
used) thru a double spreader rig, two sets of uppers and a set
of lowers.
After a year Nacho has this to
say about his rig....
"neither the south hemisphere sun, nor the
sailing has affected the rigging and so far I do not feel like I
have to re-tune or re-tighten the rigging, so all in all I am
still a very happy customer!
Changing a heavy rig to
strongRope light weight Dux cables is the most effective change,
both in terms of cost and performance, that can be made to a
yacht, contact strongRope for further information
TECHNICAL & OPERATION
Locking Mechanisms - An Old Problem, a New
Approach
Traditional locking winch handles employed the use of a rotating
square plate operated by a small thumb lever. With use, the
edges of this square plate typically “ping” over, resulting in a
handle that either would not lock, or would become completely
inoperative. In addition, the thumb lever was difficult to
reach, often requiring the use of two hands to activate the
handle. This was especially true for people with smaller hands,
typically women and children. Having to use two hands to release
a winch handle is far from desirable, especially so when sailing
in an active seaway.
The OneTouch design does away with the square plate entirely.
Instead, two transverse locking pins located within the
Octagonal (see below) ensure positive lock and operation. Gone,
too, is the troublesome thumb lever. In its place is a Grab Bar
that runs the full length of the top surface of the handle.
Grabbing this bar causes the pins to retract (moving to the
unlock position). Releasing the bar automatically sets the pins
into the lock position. Only one hand is required to operate the
handle.
Grab the handle — insert into
winch — let go.
The handle is locked in place.
Grab the handle — lift. The handle is out.
Have you ever
tried to unlock a thumb lever handle when it was facing away
from you?
To do so, you either
have to twist your wrist 180 degrees (try it), or re-trim
the handle so that you can get sufficient leverage to push
the thumb release. In any case, it is not an easy operation.
With the Dax OneTouch all you have to do is
reach over, grab the handle, and lift it out of the winch!!
It’s that simple!!
Construction:
The Dax OneTouch incorporates many new and technically advanced
design elements.
The grab bar (grey) and the main handle body (black), are
produced via high pressure injection molding. The material is
glass-filled nylon which, while being very lightweight, is
extremely strong. The process is particularly adept at
incorporating the use of other, purpose-built, components which
results in a material diverse, yet constructively coherent,
finished unit.
A specific example of how this was used to great advantage can
be seen in the resolution of stresses related to the hand grip.
The hand grip rod does not simply terminate in the nylon of the
handle body. Instead, it's mated to a 3-inch aluminum insert
specifically designed to both manage, and transfer, the torque
loads forward to the main body sections.
This insert is cast as part of the injection process and becomes
fully integrated into the strength network. It is entirely
encased in nylon. You can’t see it, but it’s there. It’s just
anther example of the “build for strength” approach used
throughout the design and build of the Dax OneTouch. See the
illustration below for further details.
ABS, a
high-performance engineering polymer, is used to form the
hand grip.
Races for the dual set of
grade-one Acetel ball bearings are formed into the grip
during the injection process.
The result is a
maintenance-free unit impervious to the harsh marine
environment.
The Octogonal
(the main drive gear inserted into the top of the winch) is
made from 6061 T6 high-strength aluminum.
The Locking Pins, which secure the handle into the winch,
are of 316 marine grade stainless steel.
The octagonal is fully anodized to protect
against corrosion and has been subjected to extensive salt tank
testing. A two-step process, this test equipment first sprays
the part with highly-concentrated salt water for a 24-hour
period. It then bakes the part under heat lamps, again for 24
hours. The entire process is repeated over and over again. The
equivalent of years of exposure to the salt-water environment is
achieved in a fraction of the time as a result of this testing.
Similar to the grip rod and its base, the
Octagonal is part of the main body casting process. It is
secured within the handle by a series of machined groves around
which the nylon flows, ensuring full-strength integration with
the main handle body. Lastly, a lateral steel rod provides
additional force transfer. See illustration below for further
detail.
Finally, the main body and the grab bar sections
are fully cross-ribbed and braced to ensure full structural
integrity along the entire length of the handle. This cross
ribbing (again a CAD-derived design), not only provides
sectional rigidity, but is the key to the extremely high weight
to strength ratio of the handle.
Ease of Operation · Designed for Strength
Great discounts apply to some models in
the Facnor range.
Discounts apply to COD purchases or orders with
deposits.
* limited stock available.
strongRope Fibre
Rigging
Landfall, 1936 Hobart, Tasmania, the first
Sparkman and Stephens yacht built outside of the USA, a yacht
with a real history and one of Olin Stephens favourites.
Winner of many of the toughest ocean races,
Landfall is now not so much restored, as revitalised, electric engine
installed plus removable wind turbine, new interior, new sail
handling systems (Facnor) and best of all strongRope Calibrated
Dux standing rigging. This new strongRope Fibre Rigging
resulted in a 40% increase in strength over the old stainless
dyform wire and is 85% lighter, in terms of stretch these ropes
perform to similar parameters as stainless dyform. The new
standing rigging has now been exposed to a wide variety of
sailing, sea and temperature conditions and adjustment has been
minimal. The rigging is UV and abrasion proof and
terminated to standard marine turnbuckles. Lifespan is
expected to exceed wire and the ropes are Lloyds certified and
approved by marine insurers.
