Marine News

CST has responded to requests from many dinghy classes for adjustable spreaders. The new all-carbon adjustable spreaders can be used on Cherubs, Contenders, F11s, 16ft skiffs and I14s.

Adjustable spreaders allow sailors to attain the required rig angle for their boat. Apart from being able to more finely tune the dinghy, there’s the added advantage of being able to tune for different wind conditions.

These spreaders feature an innovative composite moulded collar section for light weight and strength, whilst providing low windage with an efficient aero section spreader arm. The spreaders are designed with a 10° adjustment range, with angles suitable for a range of dinghy classes.

And of course the carbon construction means the spreaders are durable and lightweight.

For inquiries, contact [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard enough to sail a moth without being bashed in the head with the boom. Wouldn’t it be nice to have more space to get under that boom? Now CST Composites is making it even easier to tack and gybe.

Following on from the release earlier this year of a 10° bent boom, CST has now developed the 15° bent boom, giving more opportunity to rake the mast back, making you faster and the boat easier to handle.

Apart from raking the mast back, many sailors have been cutting down their mast stumps to lower the rig, reducing wind resistance and lowering the centre of effort and centre of gravity. But these advantages have had a downside of bringing the boom closer to the deck, making those tacks and gybes even more difficult.

Last year, CST developed a bent boom with expert input from members of its Sailing Team. This impressive team includes two-times Moth world champion Nathan Outteridge, who’s also an Olympic Gold medallist, and 49er World champion. Also on the team is the Oracle Sailing Team, led by Tom Slingsby (Laser OIympic Gold medallist, and multiple Laser World Champion). Tom has been racing moths for the past few years.

The original bent boom featured a 10° angle change at the critical point where the skipper moves under the boom, creating more space and making the boat easier to sail. To complement the bent boom, the vang is offset by the attached lever, increasing the purchase on the vang whilst reducing the amount of potentially destructive compression load on the boat and spars.

The new development is to take account of the trend to rake the mast back even further.

The bent boom is sold as a ready-made spar.

If you have a current CST straight boom, you can buy a DIY kit to upgrade your boom from straight to bent.

For inquiries and questions, contact [email protected]

 

Nathan Outteridge has won the 2014 Moth World Championship held at Hayling Island, UK, while Mike Lennon won the UK Moth Nationals as part of the pre Worlds regatta.

Both Nathan and Mike were using off- the-shelf CST HM Elite carbon fibre masts and booms.

CST has consistently worked together with the top sailors, sail designers and boat builders to refine their product which has led to their spars winning six of the last seven Moth World Championships. The key to producing these high performance products is CSTs manufacturing process which includes finite element analysis and 100 per cent machine laid filament winding.

Following sailor feedback, a mast can be modelled, wound, cured, assembled and tested all within a 24 hour period, allowing for rapid development and matching of spar bend to suit sails and conditions. The manufacturing technique assures precision replication, lighter weight and stronger products.

For more information on our marine and moth products, visit our marine site or contact us.

Since the idea was conceived, the Contender Class has always been the pinnacle in sailing. Drawn up by one of sailings most famed designers, Ben Lexcen, the International Contender was just that: a possible successor to the Finn dinghy for the Olympics.

Designed by a world class naval architect for a world class competition, the International Contender is still very much a world class boat. This will be proven once again during the 2014 CST Composites Contender World Championships.

The Belmont location just north of Sydney, has held National and World championships from nearly every class over the years, and now, one more will be added to the list. Running from January 19^th to 25^th, the regatta will present the cream of the international crop and include a large number of entrants sporting the latest CST Composites gear.

Over the years, CST Composites has been dedicated to providing the highest quality products to the contender class. Our rectangular booms are made from continuous winding of a single piece of carbon fibre which eliminates any seams or messy overlaps, whilst keeping the stiffness uniform and compliant to the design specifications. Not to mention giving the spars our iconic and unique look.

The same process is applied to our one-piece Contender masts. With no joins or sleeves, the mast leaves the factory with the exact bend and stiffness characteristics as designed. Not to mention being lighter than the two piece alternative.

With the 2014 World Championships just around the corner, CST Composites is proud to be a major sponsor and wishes the best of luck to all competitors.

One of the sailing worlds most famous boats is in the limelight again with the first race of the 18’ Skiff Australian Championships done and dusted. In a light and fickle SE breeze, a battle royale lasted the whole race between Asko Appliances and Panasonic Lumix. Asko eventually claimed the victory but with both boats being a part of the CST Composites team, it was a great start to the year and a great start to the Australian Championships.

CST Composites has been a staple of the 18’ skiff recipe for many years, providing masts, booms, spinnaker poles, wings and even structural tubes to the fleet, assisting them in their constant quest for the ultimate racing machine. For the 2013-2014 season, CST Composites has supplied the Australian boats with 8 new rigs which includes 5 different variations of stiffness and layout.

In keeping with the unspoken 18’ Skiff credo, innovation is the name of the game which is why there have been and always will be variation between rigs in all areas. Whilst there is no major game changing differences like the groundbreaking rotating wing-mast we developed last year, the performance differentials between the latest spars and slightly older designs can still be measured.

In most cases, CST Composites works directly with the sailors to ascertain exactly what each team is looking for from their new gear and we tailor the design to suit their preferences and maximise their performance. It is this attention to detail that CST has become renowned for and this focus compliments our desire and passion for innovation. We believe that this is a winning combination and that belief is echoed with the sheer quantity of winning boats around the world who use and recommend CST Composites for their gear.

With the J.J. Giltinan 18’ Skiff World Championships just around the corner and 30 of the world’s best teams from six countries about to descend on Double Bay, CST Composites are gearing up for what will most likely be the most hotly contested world title in history!

CST Composites continue to ratchet up the victories in the I14 class with Brad Devine and Ian Furlong recently taking out the 2013-2014 Australian National Championships with our spars. This makes it 5 wins for Brad and Ian in the National Championships and a further 4 World Titles in a row. It seems that an International 14’ Skiff powered by CST Composites is almost untouchable!

In this year’s Australian Nationals, not only did CST Composites help the winning boat achieve the ultimate victory, but of the top 10 boats in the fleet, 7 of them sported gear from CST Composites.

So why is our gear so popular? Why does our gear keep winning? CST Composites exerts every effort when designing and innovating in order to conceive a spar that can be married to a suit of sails with maximum efficiency.

This fastidious approach to every step of a project from start to finish is what sets CST Composites apart from the rest. It means that we can produce spars that are stiffer, more durable, lighter and optimised to provide the best profile to design a sail to.

Our latest rectangular booms have been adopted by the fleet faster than almost any other class. Already the stiffest booms in the market, our latest model sports laminated vang attachments and glue-on fittings has eliminated the need to drill holes or bolt anything to our booms, thus keeping them even stiffer! With no room for compromise in such a highly competitive fleet, the innovative spirit that has kept the I14 such a strong class links perfectly to the enthusiasm and passion that keeps CST Composites at the forefront of design.