3Di RACE FEATURED IN SEAHORSE TECHNICAL REVIEW

The latest iteration of the Swiss technology that first made headlines with Alinghi’s legendary ‘black sails’ at the 2007 America’s Cup brings cutting edge sails within reach of a wider audience.

Following its success with 3Di across the grand prix, offshore and superyacht fleets globally, North Sails have launched a new variant tailored specifically for the club racing market.

Originally born of development work carried out for Alinghi’s successful defence of the America’s Cup in 2007, in name 3Di may sound like 3DL but is an entirely different technology. 3DL is a lattice of load path fibres laminated between two layers of Mylar (aka ‘string’ sails). 3Di is a composite sail structure, closer in technology terms to carbon boatbuilding, involving the moulding of multiple featherweight ‘tapes’ of spread fibre filaments (from carbon, aramid or Dyneema) preimpregnated with adhesive.

The layout of the 3Di tapes in a multiplicity of orientations and layers enables a sail to be engineered with ultra-high precision, but without the weight of the films required for a string sail. The only similarity between 3DL and 3Di is that both achieve their shape through being manufactured on North’s proprietary articulating, three-dimensional moulds, where sails are built with their flying shapes moulded in. The end result is 3Di being capable of creating super-light sails with maximum shape retention, displaying previously unheard of shape stability over a wide wind range…. Read the full article on North Sails 3Di RACE in the December issue of Seahorse, or online at seahorsemagazine.com