Roberto Westerman, sailmaker and skipper of the Open 40 “Spinning Wheel” finishes his Ostar in third place. The boat is equipped with sails that he designed and built using Spidertech™ Technology and skins.

For the Spidertech™ Team, Roberto’s personal achievement is a source of great satisfaction. The Ostar was a tough trial for both the boat and its equipment. The sails were subjected to demanding conditions yet proved to be extremely reliable and took Roberto all the way to the podium. Our congratulations go to this courageous man who proved that he has a place in the world of offshore racing, together with Spidertech™.

Contacted by our team whilst still in USA he gave us a first short story.

I have spoken at length with Roberto over the phone about the race and the sails.

As far as the race is concerned, Roberto has been quite unfortunate, during the very first days he experienced a problem with the auto pilot which forced him to spend long sleepless hours at the helm. On top of that, he had a major problem with the rudders: the windward rudder was getting badly punished by the waves so that quickly the bearings and the attachments were being put at risk. He slowed down severely and at this point the winner opened up a lead of 250 miles, that he carried with him until the end of the race. Even once he managed to set up a patched up repair (a machine box with spectra cabling to keep one rudder close to the hull and the windward one lifted) he was never in the position to use all the power he had at his disposal, to avoid accidental broaches or tacking which would have certainly destroyed the rudders.

He is very happy with his third place although the race left him with a slightly bitter taste. Talking about the sails he was very satisfied. Before the start, many other skippers told him that he was crazy to take the start with such light sails, but in fact they held very well despite the tough conditions and the fact that the sails raced reefed all the time.

Spinning Wheel - the arrival

The mainsail is badly crunched half the way up on the leech, not because of the material, but because he made a mistake building the leech line which could have been tightened only from the third reef up. The consequence was that the leech was vibrating throughout the race. Obviously the vibration slightly cut the leech. The good thing was that the cut did not propagate, so a bit of grey tape did the repair needed.

He made cuts in the lower part of the sail. (but with a knife!) to let the water out when the sail was reefed so as to avoid excessive heel and excessive load on the rudder. These cuts never spread or started any sort of de-lamination.

The code zero though was the sail that impressed Roberto most. He called it “a real powerful tool”, “the force of Nature”. No problem even with this sail, always furled on an anti-torsion cable, folded with little angles and very often left on the deck with waves and anti skid working to destroy it.
He talked about the sails of some other competitors, string fibred too. He reckons that they were very heavy, badly and excessively fibred up. They all had severe breakages not so much in the laminates, but for lack of local fibre reinforcements, (only Spidertech™ allows a higher level of detailed structure), as a result none of those sailors were happy with their sails.

On arrival Billy Black took some pictures. Two pictures are shown here: one was taken at the start and one at the end. The picture taken at the end is taken in 3 knots of True Wind. The boat is sailing at 6 knots under his Ciccio’s Code (Ciccio Manzoli, the solo sailor, intimate friend of Roberto, suggested that sail…)

A more detailed report will follow once Roberto has had the chance to grab some sleep…

Spinning Wheel - racing

The Spidertech™ team would like to congratulate Nico Brabers and his team Lenco on their overall victory in class ORC2 of the North Sea Regatta. The sails for their Salona 37 was designed by UK Halsey/De Vries and the skins constructed with Spidertech™ technology.

The sails were tested in all conditions as the North Sea Regatta consists of two offshore races and 9 inshore races and performed vey well.

Team Lenco also came second in the very first Lenco Regatta in April this year at Flevo Marina Lelystad in Class ORC2

Vuurschepenrace

The first offshore race is from Scheveningen in Holland to Woolverstone in the UK. The race is approximately 110 nautical miles. The second offshore race is back from the UK to Scheveningen. This race at 200 nautical miles is significantly longer as the course is routed to the north, direction Lowestoft, and then to the east in the direction of Ijmuiden before returning south towards Scheveningen.

Tuesday 19 th of May

Crew: Pieter Muus, Jeroen and Nico Brabers, Dennis de Ruiter, Jeroen Werkhoven, Ad Kamsma, Naut Biegel, and Balthasar Heesters .

Team Lenco had a very good start and rounded the windwardmark in first position. They lost some time during the night as they had some difficulty trimming the sails at night. In spite of this they were 2nd over the line in class after about 20 hours at sea.

Team Lenco ended in 3d position on handicap, Redan was 2nd and Elenoire that arrived 1.5 hours later was in 1st.

Not a bad start to the campaign and time to rest before the next race.

Friday 22 nd of May.

Once again an excellent start and Team Lenco was 5th around the mark, breathing down the necks of the other boats. Around the mark they hoisted the spinnaker and started gaining ground. Afterwards back on the wind and due to excellent tactics also using the tide they rounded the next mark in 1st place.

Now Team Lenco were really in the groove and not only were they increasing their lead to the rest of their class, but they were starting to catch some of the boats in ORC1 and IRC1 that started 10 minutes before them! Their excellent preparation of the boat and the sail wardrobe, meant they could concentrate 100% on the sailing without dealing with any problems.

Until the early evening Team Lenco were steaming away, but then mother nature stepped in. Around 21:00 the wind died and Team Lenco started drifting slowly towards the Smith Knol, a mark they had to round after about a further 20 miles. Slowly other boats behind them came into sight again and close to Smith Knol the pack were all together again.

Moshulu lay directly behind and rounded the mark a few seconds behind Team Lenco. The race practically had a new start and Team Lenco had lost their hard won advantage. The wind started fillng again and once again Team Lenco started increasing their lead, but they couldn’t shake off Moshulu although they were becoming “smaller” in the distance.

A few hours later and once again the wind died and Team Lenco were drifting on the tide in the direction of Ijmuiden. They had to resign themselves to drifting for a while with Moshulu in sight once again.

Team Lenco felt a slight gust and a windshift and decided to gamble and hoist their Spinnaker. The gamble paid off and they were the first to get going again. As they looked behind them they could see Spinnakers being hoisted on all the other boats.

Team Lenco won line honours in ORC2 at 23:00 after 35 hours at sea. Moshulu arrived 15 minutes afterwards, winning on handicap, with Team Lenco 2nd on handicap.

Overall Team Lenco now lay in 1st position due to their consistent performance in both races. Not a bad position to be in before the inshore races of the next weekend.

North Sea Regatta INSHORE RACES

Crew: Nico and Jeroen Brabers, Naut Biegel, Pieter Dibbits, Pieter Muus, Balthasar Heesters, Ad Kamsma, Jeroen Werkhoven and Jelle de Wit

The North Sea Regatta was blessed with fantastic weather, sun and wind for all of the races. The first three days consisted of short upwind and downwind legs. So that meant hardwork for the teams with a lot of spinnaker hoists, drops and all of that on the North Sea with variable tides, so quite a complicated affair. Team Lenco was competing in a very competitive field of around 36 boats.

Day 1: HOUTRUST CUP

Race 1: Line honours for Team Lenco, but as it was a very tightly fought race, on handicap only 7th
Race 2: Once again line honours for Team Lenco, but this time a much beter 2nd on handicap.

Overall Team Lenco came 3d and on the podium for the Houtrust Cup.

Day 2 & 3: YEOMAN CUP

Race 1: Line honours for Team Lenco, but again only 7th on handicap.
Race 2: A terrible start, a penalty round for touching a mark, but thanks to good boatspeed, still a 9th place finish.
Race 3: A good recovery and a 3d place finish.

The next day:

Race 1: An average start, once again line honours, but thanks to the handicap only 7th place.
Race 2: A very bad start, starting in the 2nd row, at the very last place. Time for some serious boatspeed and in the end a hard fought 9th place!
Race 3: Perfect start, off the line in first place, but choosing the coastal side proved a mistake and the boats going on the seaward side proved to have a significant advantage. The seaward boats came to the windward mark far ahead of Team Lenco. On top of this a mishap with the spinnaker resulted in a dissapointing 14th place

Overall Team Lenco finished in 5th place for the Yeoman Cup

Day 4: FJELLSTO CUP

Day 4 saw a much longer race and Team Lenco decided not to take any risks and to sail a defensive race marking the competition. After a perfect start Team Lenco was at the head of the field and stayed there which resulted in a satisfying 2nd place.

Thanks to the excellent offshore performance of Team Lenco they won the North Sea regatta overall in class ORC2 and the team can look back on a hard fought campaign with a lot of pride in their performance.

Team Lenco have had quite a season so far. They came second in the inaugral Lenco regatta in ORC2 in a competiitve field of 11 boats in their class.

Lenco Regatta:
http://www.lenco.eu/regatta/
For more news on Team Lenco visit their website at:
http://www.lenco-sailingteam.com/

Laurent Fieschi has become a Spidertech™ Authorised Designer. Laurent started sailmaking in the early 80’s at North Sails Italy. He then moved on to creating his own loft in Lavagna together with Roberto Westerman, Di-Tech Sails. Laurent took the decision to become an independent sail designer in the mid 90’s. Since then he has been solely working “behind the scenes” for a very large number of sail lofts in Europe.
Laurent is fluent in Italian, French and English and he is a real technical resource. With a degree in maths and the capacity to write software, he is one of the most scientific sail designers available on the market today. He is well known for his reliability, punctuality and discretion. His design services are honestly quoted.
To Laurent, a very warm welcome from the Spidertech™ team. The suite of programs we have provided to Laurent are very complete and he is enchanted by them. He certainly will create demand and a real technical contribution to our technical development. Any sail loft who wishes to get in touch with Laurent for state of the art sail-membrane design should write to him at sea1@luna.it

Spidertech™ is continually being enriched by new ideas accepting the needs and the requests coming directly from sailmakers and from sailors in order to implement the software and to optimize costs and performance.

It would be impossible to list all the successes of our established sailmaking customers. For all of them, and also for us, the 2008 results bound to the Spidertech™ technology is rich on medals coming from all the various nations where we have established our presence: Italy, Great Britain, Spain, France, Croatia, Norway, Turkey: ORC INTERNATIONAL World and Italian Championship, Rolex Giraglia, King Sturge Triangle Race in the UK, Spi Ouest France, Spanish Cup RN.

The Spidertech™ Team wishes all of you a prosperous 2009 and may you have fair winds and following seas.

Spidertech™ Team would like to thank all of you who visited us at Mets and made our Spidertech™ exhibition an utmost successful event.
Our commitment to offering highest standards of performance and quality, our perseverance in the development of innovative new products has allowed Spidertech™ Integrated System to conquer ever greater parts of the european market, with the introduction of the “multiple” custom made concept of Blue Line and One Design.
Twenty years of experience in the field of sail cloth has led us to gain the credibility and trust of our demanding sailmakers and widen our technological offer – Spidertech™ Blue Line and Spidertech™ One Design have been highly appreciated during these days, especially amongst those looking for innovative design tools able to speed up the sail production.

Spidertech™ Team would like to thank all of you who visited our stand at Barcelona Boat Show and made our Spidertech™ exhibition an utmost successful event.
Our attention to top quality of materials and our continuous technological research, in both cruising and racing sails, has been highly appreciated by the public during these days. The new Spidertech™ offer, which will be officially launched at Mets tomorrow, will cover our three branded Spidertech™ products - Integrated System, Blue Line, One Design – confirming the independence products give to sailmakers. The sailmaker who uses Spidertech™ is indeed a structuralist who, whilst creating a tight ‘net’ of high mechanic-resistant fibers, also determines the shape and the long-term duration of the sail. Meet us at Mets on stand 05.451

“The essence of sailmaking is to produce a durable sail that will perform to the highest degree but be as light as possible”. Roberto Vencato of Ullman Sails Trieste has chosen Spidertech™ technology as his preferred partner in the most competitive Italian and international races.
During the last edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, Vencato was very satisfied with the excellent performance achieved by his sails, “which proved to be very stable in all wind conditions. The mainsail and genoa performed very well despite the difficulties due to the changing conditions of the race”.
All boats supplied by Ullman Sails Trieste achieved excellent boatspeed in all conditions and as there was no damage to the sails, they also proved to be extremely durable despite the variable conditions.

Spidertech™ Integrated System the revolutionary production and design method for string sails, from cutting edge racing sails to performance cruising sails will be exhibiting and distributing new Software programs at Mets, Amsterdam RAI from Tuesday 18 to 20 November 2008, on stand 05.451. This year Spidertech™ ONE DESIGN and Spidertech™ BLUE LINE will be on display at the show – innovative technical tools to speed up sail design - along with the new range of FMG sailcloth and the new sailmaking hardware line, specifically engineered products to offer high quality and performance to every specialist in the marine market.

Meet us at Mets on stand 05.451, please ask to receive a free invitation!

Spidertech™ Integrated System the revolutionary way for string sails, from cutting edge racing sails to strong cruising sails will be exhibiting at Barcelona International Boat Show 2008 taking place at Gran Via exhibition center and at Port Vell from Saturday 8th October till 16th.
New software for Spidertech™ Integrated System will be shown and distributed to our visitors. Spidertech™ ONE DESIGN and Spidertech™ BLUE LINE complete the range. SP One Design is designed for boats up to 28 feet with a standard fiber layout able to reduce the production process, SP Blue Line is a standard membrane sail, available from stock, and has an innovatory string layout allowing sail-makers to cut the sail to their desired dimensions.

We are pleased to welcome you at our stand, pad. 2 Stand B264

Malta - The Rolex Middle Sea Race (18th - 25th October 2008) is a highly rated offshore classic, a true challenge to skippers and crews who have to be at their very best to cope with the often changeable conditions. For the 40th edition 78 yachts were at the start line at Marsamxett Harbour in Malta. The Race course is 606 nautical miles long and is sailed in an anti-clockwise direction. Starting from Marsamxett Harbour, Valletta, beneath the RMYC premises in Fort Manoel, the fleet head north along the eastern coast of Sicily up towards the Straits of Messina. Mt Etna is usually visible on the fleet’s port side, billowing ashes and lava throughout the night. Once through the Straits, the course leads north to the Aeolian Islands and the active volcano of Stromboli where the yachts turn west to the Egadi Islands. Passing between Marettimo and Favignana the crews head south towards the island of Lampedusa leaving Pantelleria to port. Once past Lampedusa the fleet turn northeast on the final leg towards the South Comino Channel and the finish at Marsamxett Harbour. En route the crews take in an amazing diversity of landscape and sea conditions, all of which combine to create the attraction and challenge of the race.

The start

Three Italian boats sailed with Spidertech™ technology for one of the most beautiful races in the Mediterranean: Wanderlust Amplifon, the Comet 45 S by Furio Gelletti with sails by Ullman Trieste, Vento di Sardegna, the Open 50 by Andrea Mura and Guido Maisto with sails made by Andrea Mura Sail Design, Nautilus QQ7 the Vismara 42 by Alberto Piazza with sails made by 3FL Sails and Vikesha, the Maltese X41 by Tim Camilleri.

Good performance was achieved by all the yachts in a race that had not been without its ups and downs, highs and lows, yachts and sails proved to be very fast in all weather conditions: a good start for Vento di Sardegna that was racing ahead, then disaster struck when five carbon battens broke, Vikesha’s crew were awarded the Italian Ambassador’s Cup for acts of Seamanship for standing by and assisting another competitor in distress. Opportunities missed and opportunities taken this is the spirit of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, yachts with Spidertech™ technology recorded good positions.

Trieste, Italy. Meteorologists forecasted light winds for the 40th edition of the Barcolana, the annual international sailing event eagerly awaited by everyone. In deed they were right! This year 1912 participant boats have sailed 16 miles in very light wind conditions but those taking part in the race came with the right spirit. Despite the fluky conditions all the top participants were met up for winning. Among the many boats with sails made out of Spidertech™ technology, there was a group of girls which made of winning in Sports a reason of life: ten Olympic athletes from Friuli Region sailing on Magic, the Solaris 36 had Larissa Nevierov at the helm and sails were made by Ullman Sails designed and built with Spidertech™ technology.

“Sailing at the Barcolana is always exciting, this year the weather was not on our side, however the sails proved to be very fast during training” said Larissa. Spidertech™ Team was amused and honored to have such a group of Olympic champions trusting their technology, this young team of very expert sport women were winner of the recent edition of “Bernetti Trophy ”. “We had an excellent race, I’m really satisfied and we were having a lot of fun” concluded Larissa. “We’ve made light membrane sails for the genoas and mainsail using 30% black kevlar and 70 % carbon and as usual the Spidertech™ Team has delivered the ideal product” added Roberto Vencato of Ullman Sails Trieste.

The Magic team includes ten athletes that took part at the recent Beijing Olympic Games: Margherita Granbassi, fencing bronze medal, Chiara Cainero target shooting gold, Larissa Nevierov, Giulia Pignolo, Chiara Calligaris and Francesca Scogmamillo sailors, Valentina Turisini target shooting silver medal at Athens Games, Francesca Benolli and Federica Macrì gymnasts, and Noemi Batki a swimmer. The Spidertech™ team wish great results to the new team and offers their support in terms of technology and sail project design.

Spidertech™ sails continue to win! In the last two competitive Italian races – The International Sailing Week in Trieste and Regata del Conero in Ancona – Spidertech™ took overall victory.
The first regatta organized by Yacht Club Adriaco, opened to Classes ORC International, IRC and “One design”, concluded last 28th September where the Imx 40, Takefive by Saccardo Francesca won in Class 2 Cruise with main, genoa light, genoa medium F/F in Carbon/Kevlar made by Zadro Sails with Spidertech™ technology. The winning boat at the Regata del Conero organized by SEF Stamura again carries Spidertech™ brand: the maxi Idrusa-Salento d’Amare, at the helm Paolo Montefusco managed to climb on the podium after an exciting final match racing with the maxi TP52 Orlanda owned by Sammarini brothers who came second.

TAKEFIVE AT THE INTERNATIONAL SAILING WEEK

The overall Italian titles have been decided at XV Campionato Italiano Assoluto Vela di Altura organized by Yacht Club Punta Ala under the auspice of UVAI. Thanks to the perfect weather and local conditions of the Maremma region, to an excellent regatta field and a good effort by the Race Committee presided over by Giuseppe Pinetti Masini with the collaboration of the Yacht Club Punta Ala’s members. The 60 participant boats, all winners from the various Italian championships, have sailed 8 exciting races over the duration of five days (24th - 30th August). The Regatta field was guaranteed a regular execution of the races of 10-15 miles with constant winds coming from 290°-295°-300° of 12-15-20 knots. The fleet divided into two different divisions (Classes 0-1-2 and Classes 3-4-5) has had separate starts: first start for Classes 3-4-5 who have sailed in line on 4 sides for 10 miles and a second start for Classes 0-1-2 who have sailed in line on 6 sides for 15 miles in total.

After a combat-hardened competition, three boats have crossed the line with the same points in Classes 3-4-5 and an exciting race led those in Classes 0-1-2 to score similar results. Title of Absolute Italian Champion 2008 was awarded to the following boats:
- LIBERTINE by Maurizio Biscardi for Class 0 Race and overall, winner of the last edition of ORCi 2008 World Championship in Athens with Lorenzo Bodini at the helm and Tiziano Nava calling tactics with sails by Banks Sails Italy designed with Spidertech™ technology
- FRAL 2 by Alessandro Nespega for Class 1 Cruise/Race and Class helmsman/owner, winner of the last edition of 2008 Mediterranean Championship held in Punta Ala, with Daniele De Tullio calling tactics and with sails by Banks Sails Italy designed with Spidertech™ technology.
- ALVAROSKY by Francesco Siculiana for the Class 2 Cruise/Race, with a partial set of sails by Montefusco Sails designed with Spidertech™ technology.
- LOW NOISE by Giuseppe Giufrè for the Class 3 Race.
- L’OTTAVO PECCATO by Giuseppe Tesorone for the Class 3 Cruise/Race.

LIBERTINE

Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia – after 40 hours of navigation last 9th August concluded the Tenth Edition of Carthago Dilecta Est, the historic regatta “Rome-Carthage” which is a long distance race on the Mediterranean. Competitors start from Rome Fiumicino racing to Ventotene in the Tirrenian then down to the finish line at Sidi Bou Said.
In the second part of the regatta, Ventotene-Sidi Bou Said, quite long and sailed with weak winds had forced the participant boats to various restarts, Grifone III took top honours repeating the success of the past edition. Second place in IRC and ORC the Comet 45S Dakar 2008-Libertine skippered by Sergio Papagni with sails made by Banks Sails Italy and designed with Spidertech™ Integrated System. The Comet had won the first part of the regatta, Fiumicino-Ventotene both in IRC and ORC Class, sailing a tactically brilliant race under light and instable wind conditions.

Here the final results:

ORC Class Ventotene - Sidi Bou Said

1 Grifone III P. Spanò
2 Libertine S. Papagni
3 Aorangi J. Koehler
4 Bellamia F. Balassone
5 LSD E. Mignoni
5 Flyngfish G. Meschini
5 Lady Canvass G. Arcobello, D. Cutispoto

IRC Class Ventotene - Sidi Bou Said

1 Grifone III P. Spanò
2 Libertine S. Papagni
3 Oxygene V. Cerulli Irelli, T.P. Cerulli Irelli
4 Aorangi J. Koehler
5 Anouschka New Energy M. Barbetti
6 Bellamia F. Balassone

The essence of sailmaking is to produce a durable sail that will perform to the highest degree but be as light as possible.

Conventional sailmaking, by which I mean sails that are built up from a series of panels, are relatively heavy. The stronger the winds, and the more extreme the weather to be encountered, the heavier they get. In order to mitigate this, panel layouts were changed to a radial style and, with suitable fabrics, better able to manage the loads in the sail. This panel configuration also enabled different weights of fabric to be used, keeping the heaviest in the high load areas. This also had the benefit of reducing the overall weight but did mean that the sails were overbuilt in some places or under in others. A compromise that is not very scientific, particularly when you consider the level of sophistication used in the design and production of the modern sail. The alternative and more scientific approach is the membrane or string sail. These are sails built from a matrix of fibres laid out in a pattern to carry the loads in the sail and sandwiched between layers of Mylar film or taffeta. The individual fibres can be varied in their weight and density to match the loads in any part of the sail. This produces a very much lighter sail that is also much better at withstanding the loads imposed on the sail when in use.

Since the ending of the various patents preventing the manufacture of load path sails there has been an “explosion” in the number and variety of such sails. Until recently these sails have been the preserve of the large multinational sail lofts due to the expense involved in the development of the systems required to produce this type of sail.

Now however that has all changed. During the last five years, the Italian company FMG has pioneered a new breed of membrane called Spidertech™ which is available to your local sailmaker anywhere. Incorporating special bonding techniques the problems of the earlier laminate sails have been virtually eliminated. No longer are these membrane sails the preserve of the large lofts.

It is no longer necessary to put up with the compromise in sail construction that has been the case until now. Both racing and cruiser sailors can benefit from the latest developments in sailmaking, taking advantage of a lighter better engineered product.

This sophisticated sailmaking technology is now available to all sailors in the UK and France through authorized service centers.

In the UK Automated Cutting Services is the authorised Spidertech™ Service center, designer and stockist of Spidertech™ Blueline and Onedesign, Please contact them or your local sailmaker for more details.

Automated Cutting Services Ltd
18 Mitchell Close
Segensworth East
Fareham
Hants, UK
PO15 5SE
Tel: +44 01489 579144
Fax: +44 01489 575325
Email: info@automatedcutting.co.uk

In France RCX Découpe is the authorised Spidertech™ Service center, designer and stockist of Spidertech™ Blueline and Onedesign, Please contact them or your local sailmaker for more details.

RCX Découpe
8, rue de la Scierie
B.P. 3055
17031 LA ROCHELLE Cedex 1
Tel. : +33 (0) 5 46 44 74 83
Fax : +33 (0) 5 46 44 75 23
Email: rcx@wanadoo.fr

The Spidertech™ Team proudly took part in their first Cork Week, the 2008 edition of Ireland’s largest international sailing regatta. A brand new Corby 33 called Blackadder took part in IRC2 racing with a new suite of sails designed and built with Spidertech™ technology. The sail shapes were designed by Denzil Williams of Stephen Ratsey Sailmakers and the fibre-layout and membrane structure was designed by our new Spidertech™ authorized designer Simon Verner from ACS in Fareham. The suite of membrane sails were built in the loft in Milfordhaven.

Athens – Greece, LIBERTINE is World Champion at “The ORC World Championships” (20-28 June) after seven races sailed. LIBERTINE, the Comet 45 R owned by Maurizio Biscardi had Lorenzo Bodini at the helm and Francesco De Angelis calling tactics. Sails were made by Banks Sails Italy and designed with Spidertech™ technology. LIBERTINE won by two points ahead of George Andreadis’s MELITI IV. Five races out of seven have been sailed in line, all with strong winds, like the long distance race of 148 miles, divided into parts, which had all participant boats in difficulties with winds in excess of 25 knots.

A good performance as well from FRA’DIAVOLO, the Comet 41 R owned by Vincenzo Addessi, with Luca Simeone at the helm. Sails were also from Banks Sails Italy and again designed with Spidertech™ technology. FRA’DIAVOLO came third in the Corinthian Class 1.

The World Championship protagonists, LIBERTINE & FRA’DIAVOLO, will meet again at the Italian ORC International Championships which will take place in Punta Ala from 24 - 30 August.

Dedicated to maximum performance, Spidertech™ sails won the MUMM30 World Championship last year but success did not stop there! During the current season Spidertech™ membranes have dominated the MUMM30 European Championship (Matrix, Montefusco Sails). Even in the ORC International Central European Championship held in Cres the winning yacht sailed with Spidertech™ technology (ShauaIII, Montefusco Sails). Recently, in the three most competitive Italian races like “Romax2” (Vento di Sardegna, Mura Sails), “Trofeo Gavitello” (in ORC FRAL 2, Banks Sails and in X35 Sberessa, Banks Sails) and “La Cinquecento” (Wanderlust, Ullman Sails) Spidertech™ sails have always reached the podium.

The winning secrets of Spidertech™ Integrated System are widely recognized abroad and the successes of our partners in France, UK, Spain & Sweden do confirm all the work carried out by the Research Team. In ORC at Giraglia Rolex Cup four yachts sailing with Spidertech™ were classified in the first three positions, also worth mentioning is the winning season of Spanish Xaloc (Banks Sails Spain), winner of the Barcelona Cup as well as Gilolo in France (Allard Voiles) that with a excellent Spidertech™ sail set has recently won the 120 miles d’Archachon. We are also proud of the exciting performance of A35 - Magic Roundabout (Kemp Sails) that won the King Sturge Triangle Race in IRCA.

Research and development are the key words that describe the work and the success of Spidertech™ Integrated System, created three years ago by the Italian company Fiorenzi Marine Group and now protected by a number of international patent. Spidertech™ Integrated System combines integrated sail design technology with production technology. A full Software package, called Spidertools, gives sailmakers a unique dedicated instrument helping them to make the best sail without renouncing their personal design experience. With Spidertech™ Integrated System in fact every sailmaker has the chance to use and enhance their experience, by adding new technical elements to a sail project.

The Spidertech™ Research Team follow sail designers on the entire path, from project design to production, by offering the most trustworthy laminate available on the market today.

Porto Santa Margherita di Caorle, Italy – First Overall in ‘La Cinquecento” crew division with Ullman Sails made with Spidertech™ technology the new Comet 45 by Furio Gelletti “Wanderlust” that took top honors in the 34th edition of the Italian IRC long distance race “La Cinquecento” last week, June 15-21, 2008. The race is a 500-mile course on the Adriatic Sea. Competitors start in Venice’s Porto San Margherita, racing to Sansego Island in Croatia, then to Tremiti Island in Italy before following the same course back to the finish line in Venice. Second place IRC overall and Class “Rosso di Sera” by La Ciurma-Gozo with a genoa designed by Baraonda Sailmakers with Spidertech™. First overall in Class 2 in 500 x 2 and second place IRC “Black Angel” with Paolo Striuli (boat owner) and Paolo Favaro aboard with a Spidertech™ sails set designed by Baraonda Sailmakers.
Here are the final results:

500X DUE

CLASS 1
1) Calipso IV (Paniccia/Capecci)
2) Città di Grisolera (Daniele/Bressan)
3) Confusa (Seno/Zanforlin)

CLASS 2
1) Black Angel (Striuli/Favaro)
2) Blucolombre (Juris/Rinaldo)
3) Chioggia Laguna d’Arte (Sambo/Tiengo)

CLASS 3
1) Tawhiri (Badiello/Pancino)

500 CREW DIVISION

1) Wanderlust (Furio Gelletti)
2) Rosso di Sera (La Ciurma/Gozo)
3) Raffica (Raffaele Massignani)

Porto San Rocco, Italy – The IRC International Trophy of the Adriatic has seen excellent weather conditions with a fresh Libeccio wind, ranging between 10 to 15 knots, during the entire regatta sailed over three days last weekend at Porto San Rocco. The event, organized by Yacht Club Porto San Rocco, in collaboration with Circolo della Vela Muggia, the Yacht Club Adriaco, the Società Triestina della Vela and the Società Velica Barcola Grignano, is scheduled in the fourth edition of the International week of the 3 Gulfs and intends to promote races under IRC, aimed at confronting different models of boat coming from different countries. The aim is to establish an international dimension to the competition.

Little “Vipera”, the Delta 84 owned by Diego Paoletti finished first, while “Sayonara” by Roberto Bertocchi came second and Yume 2 by Daniele Comboni third. Very pleased by the excellent results are Ullman Sails Trieste who again trusted in Spidertech™ Integrated System for this ambitious race.

Punta Ala, Italy – The Trofeo Gavitello d’Argento 2008 concluded last Sunday with an extended fleet including 40 ORC, 42 Irc, 17 X-35, 14 Este 24 and 14 Laser Sb3’s coming from 7 countries, competing for the Mediterranean IMS Championship and Italian Open Championship for Laser Sb3’s.
With constant winds between 10-12 knots lasting the entire week, the ORC fleet with 40 boats participating completed 5 races, of which one was a coastal race. The Comet 45 “FRAL 2” owned by Alessandro Nespega sailed a tactically brilliant race with Spidertech sails, designed by Banks Sails Italia and won in Class 1.
Exciting performance in the X-35 One Design Class with 17 boats, a class that is curently achieving excellent results with Spidertech™ Integrated System. Four boats in the top ten are designed by Spidertech™ technology, “Sberessa” Paolo Bonavolontà (Banks Sails Italia) claimed victory, “Dolcenera” by Pierluigi Schmid (Banks Sails Italia) came fourth, fifth place went to “Ave Maria” by Maria Balbo (3FL Sails), while seventh to “Oxs” by Romeo Piperno (3FL Sails).

Barcelona, Spain – Xaloc owned by Jaime Fullana is the winner of the RN Class for the sixteenth edition of REGATA BARCELONA, an ambitious trophy that is seen as the most prestigious event in Spain for those passionate to the RN. The regatta took place over three days during last weekend (30th May - 1st June) 20 miles of coast near Barcelona.
Xaloc managed to reach the podium with great technical skills and strength (1-2-2-1 partial results) for a prestigious trophy the Spanish Cup RN 2008 hosted by the Real Federación Española de Vela.

We congratulate Fullana and his crew on their excellent performance. A very pleased Juan Ignacio Merayo, sail designer with Spidertech™ technology and skipper said: “Our sails are made in Carbon/Kevlar and have proved to be the fasted under any conditions of wind and sea”. We hope for the Xaloc team to achieve further great results for the remaining scheduled events.

Fascinating regattas have characterized the sailing week that every year is hosted by Yacht Club Capri. In conditions which could only have been bettered, the first day with wind at 20/25 knots, the second with 15 knots, the third with 12 knots, the last day with 8/9 knots.
In the Comet class, the defending champion Libertine (Comet 45 R), owned by Maurizio Biscardi, with Francesco De Angelis helmsman, managed to prevail over the other Comets with excellent results (amongst the first three overall, six races out of seven), thanks to an immaculate sailing and a good sail plan designed with Spidertech™ technology. “We very much like this championship” commented Biscardi “because no one knew who the winner was going to be, due to the unstable weather conditions. Every boat was competitive and well prepared and every team was here to win. I am very pleased to win the Rolex Capri Sailing Week for the second time in a row” concluded Biscardi.

On the podium, with a fantastic performance, second position for Fra Diavolo (Comet 41 R) owned by Vincenzo Addessi, sailing with Spidertech™ technology (Banks Sails Sailmakers); third position for Agorà (Comet 45 S) owned by Marco Franco.
Ten boats in the Comet Class out of twelve sailed with Spidertech™ technology, confirming there is an increasing number of sailmakers in Italy and in Europe who recognize Spidertech™ as their valid partner.

Race ranking (after 7 races)

1. LIBERTINE - Maurizio Biscardi ITA, 1-3-1-3-1-5-1-15.00
2. FRA DIAVOLO - Vincenzo Addessi ITA, 4-2-4-1-4-3-4-22.00
3. AGORA’ - Marco Franco c/o Emmeffe Sail Srl ITA, 2-1-2-2-6-7-3-23.00

King Sturge Triangle Race
05 May 2008

Start

The Royal Western Yacht Club’s King Sturge - Plymouth to Falmouth to Fowey to Plymouth Triangle Race, sponsored by St Austell Brewery - began with a fresh easterly wind.

A 23 knot easterly wind at the start, together with a westerly flowing tide, ensured that all fifty three competitors in the King Sturge Falmouth - Fowey- Plymouth Triangle Race reached the finish line at Pendennis Point.

The second leg of the triangle, Falmouth to Fowey, met conditions which helped the first to be last and the last to be first as the breeze filled in from astern.

The start of the third leg, Fowey to Plymouth, began with a steady northerly breeze; the fleet quickly made progress towards Looe before the wind faded and many crews decided that they had enjoyed sufficient racing for the weekend. Seven competitors struggled on, amongst them “Magic Roundabout", and all seven managed to complete the course before the ebb prevented any more boats still sailing from finishing.

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Monaco, 7-10 February 2008

The traditional One Design appointment has successfully started the Mediteranean racing season. During the second regattas week-end, as protagonists resulted the M 30s and the brand new Melges 32s debuting in the European circuits. Good results for those boats with the Spidertech™ Technology sails: Diletta of Mauro Mocchegiani with Andrea Casale on board, and Compagnia della Vela Venezia of Francesco Rigon, ranked respectively 5° and 6° in the ranking where the Italian owner Serena won on Enfant Terrible.
International sailing characters as Paolo Cian, Tommaso Chieffi and Sebastian Còl have risen up the technical level of the races.

Diletta’s tactician Andrea Casale stated: “We didn’t start well, but at the end we ranked quite successfully: the 10th place in the first race was due to my mistake. Primo Cup is a fantastic event, however, tactical choices have been difficult to be taken because of closeness of regatta courses. During the first race we hit an other course, followed by the largest part of the fleet. However we successfully finished the later races (2-4-7-3-4). We have really appreciated the stability of the Spidertech™ membrane cloth. We didn’t use the latest main sail for the World Championship but the old one for the Circuito Italiano 2007. Despite it was an old sail, Diletta has the same windward performances and acceleration as the best boats of the fleet. This performance is another proof of the great products given by the cooperation between Spidertech ™ and Montefusco Sailloft regarding M 30. Don’t forget, we are speaking about World Champion sails!”

The Melges 32 class, to which all the best sailors in the world are already taking part, is giving more and more satisfactions to Spidertech ™. Here in Monaco, Parimor Thule of Rubbini, which ranked 2° having on board Sandro Montefusco, sailmaker of the Parimor Thule team, has good race results (1-2-1-6-4-3), showing great speed upwind, but not perfectly set up downwind.

Here follows what Alessandro Battistelli, tailer of Parimor said about the results: “Perfect the sails shapes and the upwind speed, considering that we have always started the downwind leg in the first two positions. We have not great downwind performances, we should be more confident in the boat particularly reaching.”

Giacomo Baldassari for Spidertech News

SpiderPlan is borne
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In this case though the software is out for sale at a real bargain price of 560 Euros and it’s the ideal tool for the designers of yachts, sails, masts, for the advanced rigger, for boatyards.

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