NERD'S CORNER

LOVE YOUR SAIL

The mast is the backbone of the sail and, just as in a human body, is the core of its proper functioning. Any body, even the most trained, cannot express itself in any athletic gesture if its spine is not functioning properly!

Choosing a mast with superior mechanical characteristics is the most important step to obtain the best performance from your sail.

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L’ALBERO

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CONCLUSIONS

In the past, different brands actually had very dissimilar curves between their sails, now it's different. Sails that mount constant masts, even with the relative differences, are the majority. The thing that can enhance the efficiency of a sail today is therefore not only the percentage of carbon in the mast, nor even the "perfect" curve. The latter, as we have seen, comes from a test involving a load, not corresponding to reality, of just 30 kilos (when instead peak loads of a few hundred kilos are involved) and from obligatory tolerances that deviate the values ​​from to the expected result.

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The difference, sometimes a true quantum leap from a technical point of view, between one mast and another, basically comes from the construction process, starting with the way the fibers are impregnated with resin, to the type and quantity of resin used. Finally by the times and methods with which the mast passes through the various and numerous construction phases. Two identical masts produced by two different companies will have different mechanical and qualitative responses. The technology and know-how of a company that has been producing composite for over 30 years such as Reglass, translates into advanced technology and very high mast performance. A mast's main task is to maintain the most efficient profile of the sail under load, to return it to its maximum aerodynamic efficiency position when it moves away from it and to distribute the efforts in the most harmonious way possible along its entire profile.

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In the abused metaphor of the vertebral column, this has not only the task of supporting the muscles but, and above all, the one of giving precise, fast and coordinated signals to make the movement perform as efficiently as possible.

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A mast built by Reglass is all of this.