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Archived Marine Sector News - Pre-2007
Editors - please refer to the Notes to Editors for background information on Umeco plc and its operating divisions.
Convincing Win with Two Legs to Go
Volvo Extreme 40 Class Launched
Team Shosholoza Launch Americas Cup V5 Yacht
ACG Partner - Trend Marine - in Carbon Fibre Development for Princess Motor Yachts
Power and Elegance Feature in C-Quip Equipment
Alinghi Defender of the 32nd America's Cup
Masts for Finn World Championship
Bol dOr Rolex Race Decision 35s lead
ABN AMRO Second Volvo 70 Hull Build Begins
Volvo 70 Mast Tool Success Without Autoclave
Formula Yacht Spars Success in Sydney to Hobart Race
PVC Foam Compatibility Proven with VTM®260
Danish Coxless Four Win World Championship
Solar Powered Electric Passenger Ferry
Revenge 35 Sports Fishing Boat
Rondar 505 Dinghy Wins World Championship
Official Supplier to Team Alinghi
Lloyds Register Approves VTM®260 Series Prepregs
ACG Exhibits at IBEX Ft. Lauderdale
Rondar Raceboats Adopt New Crystic Gelcoat
Scott Bader and ACG Join Forces for Gelcoat
Atlantic Crossing for Atlantic Row
VTM260 Series Prepregs Chosen for the Conser 47
MTM®28-1 Spar Prepreg - Nordic Masts
| Other News | 2009 |
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Convincing Win with Two Legs to Go
Once ABN-AMRO One had won leg 7 (New York to Portsmouth) of the Volvo Ocean Race, it meant the Team had finally secured enough points to win the 2005/2006 Race...with 2 stages still to complete. The performance of the Juan Kououmdjian designed boats throughout the race has been outstanding and it is widely accepted that, with nearly all the other teams suffering from serious structural breakages at some point, Killian Bushe has built one of the best performing offshore racing yachts ever seen.
ACG's involvement in the project began long before the race had started with discussions and testing on optimum fibre selection, resin content and processing techniques. As a result of this early ground-work, both ACG and Killian were sure from the outset that the ABN-AMRO boats were well set to withstand the harsh conditions always encountered in the world's toughest yacht race. VTM®260 series prepregs were chosen for there ability to reliably and repeatedly provide low voidage -high performance structures from the widest range of possible cure cycle and process options.
During the build of the ABN-AMRO boats ACG's Applied Technology Engineers regularly visited the Schaap Shipcare yard in Holland, frequently taking samples back to the ACG's Technical Centre for further evaluation and testing. The close working relationship between ACG and Killian Bushe's team, will certainly have contributed to the boats' outstanding reliability in the most testing of environments.
Post Script: ACG is now in the unrivalled position of supplying materials to both the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race Winners and current Americas Cup holder Team Alinghi, proving that ACG really is at "the centre of marine composites technology."
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Volvo Extreme 40 Class Launched
The new Volvo Extreme 40 Class catamaran has been launched to fill a gap in exciting Grand Prix sailboat racing. This new class of boat is designed to thrill - 40ft long and with an estimated top speed of 40 knots!
Swedish boat builders Marstrom (who have built the Olympic Tornado Class catamaran with much success over the last 20 years) have been selected to build these high performance machines. The structural prepreg system of choice for Marstrom is ACG's MTM®57. MTM®57 is a tough and extremely versatile epoxy resin system particularly suitable for the manufacture of 'heavy tow' carbon prepregs, designed to keep material and manufacturing costs to a minimum. Although MTM®57 provides good laminate properties under vacuum only consolidation, the Extreme 40's are to be manufactured in an autoclave for added security and consistency. Marstrom's impressive facilities mean that the Extreme 40s are the largest ever boats to be made in an autoclave.
The first Extreme 40 hit the water at the beginning of August and is yet another example of a high performance application where ACG materials have provided the customer with both a technical and a commercial advantage.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Team Shosholoza Launch Americas Cup V5 Yacht
The South African Team Shosholoza has become the first team to launch a new generation America's Cup Class boat, built to Version 5 of the class rule. Shosholoza RSA 83 was built in Cape Town, using Advanced Composites Group (ACG) VTM®260 series prepreg resin system. The VTM®260 prepreg resin system is the system of choice for the America's Cup Teams with its wide range of curing capabilities. Low voidage levels are easily achieved due to the VTM®260's excellent fibre wet out properties. Help was provided on site by ACG's dedicated marine team with samples also being sent back to ACG during the build for evaluation. ACG's experience in the Formula One industry has allowed the America's Cup Teams to work along similar principals ensuring that the materials are processed for ultimate optimisation.
At a ceremony in Valencia, Spain, RSA 83 was christened 'Shosholoza' by Rita Barberá, the Mayor of Valencia. The new boat appears strikingly narrow, but principal designer Jason Ker says he doesn't expect it to be extremely different from the other boats it will be competing against. In fact, Ker says he looked to many of them for inspiration.
Team founder and leader Captain Salvatore Sarno was beside the Mayor as she broke the traditional bottle of champagne over the shiny bow of the glistening new boat. For Captain Sarno, this is the latest step on a long journey towards the America's Cup that has captured the hearts of sailing fans around the world, so much so that his team is being called 'the soul of sailing'.
Team Shosholoza sailed in all three Louis Vuitton Acts in 2004, using an older generation boat than the rest of the fleet, and as a completely new team, they struggled at times to keep pace with the bigger, more experienced squads. Now, with RSA-83, they will be the only team competing with a new boat in 2005, and that should help the South Africans compete on a more equal footing with the mid-fleet teams. Shosholoza RSA 83 will sail its first race on the 16th of June when the 2005 America's Cup season begins with the Louis Vuitton Act 4 in Valencia.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
ACG Partner - Trend Marine - in Carbon Fibre Development for Princess Motor Yachts
Over the last 30 years Trend Marine Products (TMP) (Great Yarmouth, UK) have been Europe's largest manufacturer of glazing systems for recreational boats and are the principal supplier to, or partner with, many of the world's most prestigious boat builders.
While undertaking a motorised sunroof development project for Princess Motor Yachts, TMP were confronted with an increasingly common problem. As boats become bigger, requirements to keep the weight of individual structures to a minimum increase. The need for weight reduction being driven not only by marine architects' desire for lower hull and deck-top mass, but as in the case of TMP and the Princess sunroof, the increasing demands placed on motorised systems when the structures they move become larger. TMP needed to save weight on a motorized sunroof or else incur unacceptable cost increases for the system to function effectively.
Advanced composite materials were an obvious option for TMP and they turned to ACG for assistance. Working in close collaboration with TMP, ACG engineers reviewed an existing wet lay up design and provided a new laminate construction based on carbon fibre prepreg. The new construction not only met all structural performance requirements (quite severe as part of the deck structure), but also reduced weight by 40% and made the switch to carbon fibre economically viable.
In addition to the structural design, ACG developed a total manufacturing process solution utilizing ACG prepreg and ZPREG® technology. Training of TMP staff was undertaken at ACG's Heanor facility and then a turn-key package delivered to their Great Yarmouth facility.
The sunroof panels are constructed with ACG's VTM®260 series prepreg and ZPREG variants. Importantly, the panels are surfaced with GC260 gel coat, produced in a colour to accurately match the rest of the boat. GC260 is a unique product developed in collaboration with Scott Bader Co Ltd and is the only polyester gel coat on the market formulated to mould directly with epoxy prepreg systems without the need for a tie coat.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Alinghi America’s Cup Boat - April 2007
ACG is proud to announce that, for the second consecutive challenge, it will be the official composite materials supplier to Alinghi in their defence of the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia, Spain 2007. In 2003 Alinghi became the first European Team in 150 years history to win the America's Cup.
Taking advantage of ACG's vast experience in the highly competitive and technical world of Formula One, Alinghi have continually approached the development of their material and process specifications in a similar fashion to that of the leading edge of the automotive industry - thorough and detailed, continually seeking that optimum performance from structures that will ultimately provide the technical edge over the competition.
ACG first collaborated with Alinghi in 2001, working on an extensive programme of data generation and test panel production prior to the ultimate manufacture of the SUI 64 and SUI 75 boats. Since the success of the last challenge back in 2003, ACG and Alinghi have continued to develop innovative ideas for both tooling and structures on the new Version 5 Rule of the America's Cup Class yachts.
ACG's team of Applied Technologies engineers, and dedicated marine specialists, will continue to work alongside the design and build team at Alinghi, right through the 2007 defence.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Without a doubt the most talked about area of sailing so far this year has been the International Moth Class, and the recent breakthrough in the foiling technology that is now allowing these boats to fly!! The upcoming World Championship to be held this summer in Denmark will feature no less than 10 boats built by Fastacraft of Perth, Australia, all using the VTM®264 resin system from Advanced Composites Group. Among these will be the current World Champion, as well as John Ilett (Managing Director of Fastacraft) in an ACG and Lavender CE sponsored boat. Lavender is the Australian distributor for ACG and has been actively involved in supporting Fastacraft in the use of ACG's materials.
The hulls, made from a simple carbon laminate over a PVC foam core, are cured between 80°C and 90°C under vacuum in a regular oven. The typical bare hull weight for these 3.3m (11ft) dinghies is just 4.7kg (around 9.3kg finished with paint) and the fully rigged boat, ready to sail, is just 30kg!
The VTM®260 system was chosen for its good tack and fast cure cycles. ACG's experience in producing high quality prepreg materials ensures that boats can be produced within the tightest of tolerances required, even when making such lightweight structures.
The International Moth Class is now seeing boats sailing around 20% faster than the previous non-foiling boats, now affectionately known as 'sea-huggers', with speeds hitting up to 25 knots!
Fastacraft are not stopping development, having several boats at this year's World Championship showcasing their all new fully moulded deck, higher aspect ratio foil and new trimming mechanism. They have also scaled up several foils for trials on the International 14 class and the 18ft Skiffs.
The VTM®260 series, with its 65°C to 120°C cure range, is now being widely used on projects ranging from America's Cup to the International Moth. ACG, with its own dedicated marine technical support team, really is the centre of composites technology.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
C&B Consultants are based in Poole (UK) and traditionally serve the Motorsport market, so when they were asked to manufacture special composite marine bucket seat units by Aeroform Ltd. they took a manufacturing approach that is generally more akin to the Motorsport industry.
Aeroform Ltd assembles the bucket seat into a shock absorbing suspended assembly, seven of which are fitted to each of the new RNLI Tamar class lifeboat. Autoclave processing of MTM®28 ensures a very high quality product that is extremely tough and capable of withstanding the rigours that the lifeboats endure.
The seat is constructed using MTM®28 woven and unidirectional carbon from ACG and incorporates a little known product in the ACG range called FS201, which is a low density prepreg epoxy filler that co-cures with the rest of the prepreg matrix.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Power and Elegance Feature in C-Quip Equipment
C-Quip International Ltd (Auckland, New Zealand) continues to design and manufacture sophisticated carbon luxury-yacht hardware exploiting the benefits of composite materials supplied by ACG. Their product range includes carbon cranes, passerelles and side-boarding stairs.
Traditional aluminium cranes have been replaced with stylish and robust carbon cranes. With the help of ACG, C-Quip has made the most of the obvious advantages of composites for their unique line of marine equipment. Corrosion resistance, reduced weight and more attractive and structurally efficient shapes all contributing to powerful yet elegant systems that seamlessly blend into the overall style of the superyacht. C-Quip affirm that one of the great advantages of using ACG composite prepreg materials is the diversity of fibre and resin systems available which have allowed their engineers to design marine products that function to their optimum.
With ACG's ongoing support, C-Quip continues to push the boundaries of application for composites in the marine market, such as their latest development - the C-Quip carbon hydraulic cylinder.
Images courtesy C-Quip International Ltd.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Team ABN AMRO's second Volvo 70 boat was launched in the middle of August. As with the first, the second boat was built by Killian Bushe and his team; however there was one major difference in the manufacturing route. The second hull was laminated into a female carbon fibre mould tool as opposed to the more 'traditional' approach adopted on hull No 1, which was moulded directly off a male tool constructed from ply wood, sheathed in glass.
By using a female tool for the second hull, Bushe was able to realise significant weight savings as a result of the dramatically reduced amount of filling and fairing required on the hull's outer surface. This weight saving was then put to good use by ABN AMRO's designer, Juan Kouyoumdjian, who re-distributed some weight to the keel in order to further improve the yacht's stability and performance. Not only did this approach save weight, but also valuable construction time - an important consideration for an offshore race boat team.
The mould, manufactured out-of-autoclave, was constructed to a lay-up recommended by ACG technical staff employing both ZPREG® technology and LTF®318 surfacing material. The mould area of the ABN AMRO 2's hull is around 150m² and Killian Bushe's team were able to lay up and de bulk the complete hull tool comfortably within 3 days. A similar sized tool manufactured using liquid infusion technology could realistically be expected to take twice as long to build and even then not guaranteed to produce the same consistent level of low void laminate quality, or surface finish, as seen with the ZPREG® and LTF®318.
Following a cure at 65°C for 16 hours the tool was stable and ready for de-moulding and post cure. The surface finish of the completed tool was pit free and ready for the lay up of the second Volvo 70, which was built using VTM®260 series prepregs as was the first boat.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
ACG had a stand in the composites pavilion, which seems to be growing each year, with ACG being one of major prepreg suppliers exhibiting at the show.
The overall stand was well received with the new corporate branding catching a lot of attention and the stand managers were busy each day with visits from new leads and existing customers.
The industry's take-up of composites for hulls, decks, masts and spars is steadily increasing each year and ACG's range of Lloyd's Register approved marine preprepgs, with proven performance for all marine applications, are the choice of many boat designers and architects for marine structures. In fact ACG is in an unrivalled position in its supply of materials to 2006 Volvo Ocean Race Winner Team ABN-AMRO and is Official Supplier, for the Second Challenge, to Team Alinghi - 2003 America's Cup Winner and Defender of the cup in 2007.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Review of SEATEC Exhibition - February 2006
The SEATEC exhibition held at Marina di Carrara in Italy on the 2/3/4 February 2006 was very well attended and provided a busy event for ACG's Sales managers Federico Pettenello and Rob Wilder. ACG had recently issued a press release about their Alinghi Official Supplier agreement and on the stand were showing a presentation demonstrating the company's support of the Volvo Race competitors Team ABN AMRO who have put up such a good fight in the first two stages racing their two Volvo 70 boats.
One of the exhibits displayed was a demonstrator panel for a sunroof made by Trend Marine Products (Gt Yarmouth, UK) for a Princess V70, built by Princess International Yachts plc. By using ACG's VTM®260 series prepreg and ZPREG® variants, TMP were able to make a weight saving of 40% in the structure. See our news item from October 2005 describing this development more fully.
Another exhibit was of two model hulls made using VTM®260 carbon prepreg that demonstrated the superb finish that can be achieved when using ACG's low temperature curing prepreg materials and the Crystic® GC260 gelcoat.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Alinghi Defender of the 32nd America's Cup - January 2006
ACG is proud to announce that, for the second consecutive challenge, it will continue its role as official composite materials supplier to Alinghi in their defence of the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia, Spain in 2007.
In 2003, Alinghi became the first European Team to win the America's Cup in 150 years history in Auckland, New Zealand. ACG has worked with Alinghi since 2001 collaborating closely in an extensive programme of data generation and test panel production prior to manufacture of the SUI 64 and SUI 75 boats.
Taking advantage of ACG's 30 years experience in the Formula One industry, Alinghi have approached development of materials and processing in a similar fashion to the leading edge of the automotive industry. Since the success of the last challenge back in 2003, ACG and Alinghi have continued to develop innovative ideas for both tooling and structural areas on the new Version 5 rules America's Cup yachts. ACG's team of Applied Technologies engineers and dedicated marine specialists will continue to work closely with the design and build team at Alinghi during the 2007 defence, ensuring that the new generation of Alinghi boats continue to be strong, stiff, reliable and just as successful as the last generation boats.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Masts for Finn World Championship - October 2005
Ceilidh Composites ( Holland ) recently completed a production run of over 100 HIT masts for charter boats to be raced at the latest Finn Gold Cup held in Moscow . Ceilidh Composites have used ACG's MTM®28 for many years and for these new Finn masts this resin system was combined with an intermediate modulus fibre and manufactured to a closely controlled volume fraction.
As a result of the tight tolerances placed both on ACG's prepreg manufacture and Ceilidh's own production process, the 100 plus masts provided for the Finn World Championship were all of the highest quality and consistent performance - ensuring an even playing field for all competitors.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Bol dOr Rolex Race Decision 35s Lead - June 2005
The annual Bol d'Or Rolex Race held on Lake Geneva (13/14 June) attracts some of the world's best sailors with over 200 entries. This year the first 3 places were taken by the Decision 35 Class boats all built using Advanced Composite Group (ACG) materials.
In a great performance given the conditions, French multihull racing star Loïck Peyron at the helm of Nicolas Grange's orange catamaran Okalys took line honours in the 67th Bol d'Or Rolex.
Grange's Decision 35 took the lead off Lausanne en route to the turning mark and halfway point of the course at Bouveret and clung on to it to take line honours by a comfortable 55 minutes from Philippe Cardis' earlier leader Ferrier Lullin.
Decision Boatyard in Vevey, Switzerland built the Decision 35 One Design Catamaran. Eight of these impressive Sebastian Schmidt designed catamarans have so far been built to sail on the lakes of Switzerland.
Decision, builders of the 2003 America's Cup Winner Alinghi, decided to work with ACG again on this project for advice and help on saving production time in the hulls and decks. The carbon hull/deck tools, made from the VTM®260 prepreg system combined with a ZPREG® surfacing ply to eliminate the need for a tooling gelcoat, gave a stable, reliable tool for the one shot processing system used in the hull/deck build.
The boats were also built using the VTM®260 prepreg system and VTA®260 adhesive film was used for the bonding of the nomex cores. All of the moulds for one boat were placed in one large oven and the boats were cured in a one shot process for 5 hours at 80°C (176°F). One of the project's key parameters was that the Decision 35 had to be a light, high performance sailing catamaran but built to a cost that would make the boats affordable. By looking at suggestions from ACG for the improvement of manufacturing techniques, Decision saved huge amounts of labour time and considerable costs generally associated with building boats in Switzerland where the labour rates are especially high.
The beams for the catamarans were produced by Ventilo, another Swiss builder some 20km away from Decision, using ACG's MTM®28 prepreg system cured at 100°C (212°F). Spars for these wild lake sailing machines have been produced by French spar builders Lorima in their autoclave, again using the ACG MTM®28 prepreg system. With eight boats on the water already and huge amounts of interest from the global yachting press more boats are expected to be built, all to the strict One Design rules of the Decision 35. ACG's excellent history of producing consistently high quality materials will ensure that all boats produced will be identical, keeping to the spirit of this new and exciting racing catamaran.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
ABN AMRO Second Volvo 70 Hull Build Begins - April 2005
ACG's surfacing ply system for out of autoclave, pit-free tools.
The first of the new Volvo 70's Round the World racing yachts was launched in January. This new class of ocean race boats is designed to meet the toughest of conditions and withstand months at sea.
ABN AMRO 1, built using the VTM®260 series prepreg system and the more traditional boat building approach, i.e. tooling over a male mould produced from ply wood and glass sheathed, has so far been highly successful in sea trials since her launch.
For the second of the ABN AMRO Volvo 70's a different approach was taken after builder Killian Bushe agreed, in discussions with ACG's marine team, that a carbon female tool would be built for ABN AMRO 2 for the advantages that could be gained for the yacht designer Juan Kouyoumdjian. The weight savings that could be achieved using a female mould were huge since less filling and fairing would be required; thus not only would the build team save weight they would also save valuable build time - all important considerations for an offshore race boat.
The tooling system used was LTM318 carbon surfacing system, VTS syntactic core and ZPREG®260 carbon bulk ply. The tool lay up suggested by the team at the ACG Technical Centre was both quick and easy to use; with the surface area of these boats being around 150sq.m. Killian Bushe's Team at ABN AMRO managed to lay up and debulk the whole tool in just 3 days. Following a cure at 65°C for 16 hours the tool was stable and ready for de-moulding and then post cure. The surface finish of the completed tool was pit free and ready for the lay up of the second Volvo 70, which is currently under construction using VTM260 prepreg.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Volvo 70 Mast Tool Success Without Autoclave - April 2005
High quality composite tooling - No longer the domain of the autoclave. Advanced Composites Group's (ACG) new generation vacuum-only processing tooling systems now offer rapid turn round, affordable, high surface-quality composite tooling without having to resort to high pressure curing.
Just what was needed when Lymington based Formula Yacht Spars, tasked with building masts for the Volvo Round-the-World-Race, needed a 35metre tool at short notice from a master not able to take either high temperature or autoclave pressure.
LTF318B, ACG's ZPREG® partial impregnation surfacing technology combined with LTM®317 prepregs gave Formula Yacht Spars the balance of rapid lay-up, low temperature (65°C) and pressure (vacuum bag) initial cure and final service temperature of 120°C they needed.
The tool, laminated with support from the ACG Technical department, required no refinishing yet it was trimmed, bolted up, post cured and ready for action in a matter of days!
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Formula Yacht Spars Success in Sydney to Hobart Race - March 2005
The annual Sydney to Hobart race, which starts on Boxing Day, is probably one of the most grueling offshore races and the 600 mile course often tests yachts and crews to the limits.
This year's race was won overall by 'Aera', a Ker55ft, only the third British yacht to win the prestigious race; the last British yacht to win was Edward Heath's 'Morning Cloud' back in 1969.
Aera's mast was supplied by Formula Yacht Spars in Lymington, UK. Formula Yacht Spars have been using ACG materials for 3 years now and since the installation of their 39 metre autoclave, they have been working closely with ACG at reducing void content and optimising fibre volume to reduce overall tube weight.
Formula Yacht Spars are using the MTM®57 resin system, chosen for its improved compressive properties. With recent work between ACG's Applied Technology engineers and Formula Yacht Spars engineers, laminate void levels have been reduced to less than 0.05% and the overall weight of the tubes reduced significantly, with no compromise on the overall strength of the mast ... which is so important for yachts racing in extreme offshore conditions.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Rob Wilder and John Nixon spent a busy three days at the METS 2004 (Marine Equipment and Trade Show).
As always, this show provided an ideal platform for seeing all the key suppliers to the marine market and the level of progress in technology advances that have been made so far in the marine industry.
The Composites Pavilion is now an established feature of the show helping the visitor to quickly locate those companies with composite products or services. Composite prepregs supplied by ACG are Lloyd's Register approved and have been supplied to many world class boats. They are specified for the manufacture of hulls, decks, masts and spars, added to which designers are continuously looking to improve the style and performance of other structures for which composite prepreg materials add ease of lay-up without compromising performance.
Our DVD Boat in a Box demonstration showed just how easy it is to produce high quality structures. More boat builders are using our marine prepregs, and can therefore use the most up-to-date manufacturing routes and ACG's design support to maintain their technical advantage.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Rob Wilder, Jon Grigson and other regional sales managers based in USA had a very busy three days at IBEX 2004 Show, Miami Conference Centre.
Besides our indoor stand we also had a booth in the Outdoor Demonstration area giving viewers an opportunity to see our Boat in a Box demonstration.
More boat builders than ever are using prepregs from ACG, utilising the most up-to-date manufacturing routes and ACG's design support, thus maintaining their technical advantage.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
PVC Foam Compatibility Proven with VTM®260 - March 2004
Already proven in the highest echelons of the marine sporting arena, ACG continues to further develop and refine its versatile variable temperature moulding (VTM®) technology, making cost effective prepreg construction a reality for the boat building industry.
VTM®260 prepregs and film adhesives, ZPREG® rapid laminating systems and epoxy-compatible gelcoats have been specifically developed to provide an optimised balance between high structural performance and ease of processing.
The application of foam sandwich laminate constructions is one key route to successfully exploiting the advantages of advanced composite materials. However over recent years the compatibility of epoxy prepregs with PVC foams commonly used in the marine industry has often been brought into question thus limiting the exploitation of one particularly cost effective manufacturing route.
Working alongside major PVC foam manufacturers ACG has now successfully demonstrated that the combined low, and rapid high, temperature cure capability of the VTM®260 series offers a high level of core compatibility. As a result boat builders can now have the confidence that VTM® prepreg PVC foam sandwich structures will provide trouble free processing and service.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Danish Coxless Four Win World Championship - March 2004
Lola Aylings, Huntingdon, UK have developed the XST range of racing skulls using Advanced Composites Group's lightweight MTM® prepregs. Lola Aylings have combined the latest ideas in boat design with ACG's proven technology to produce a world beating boat.
At the World Championships, held in Milan at the end of August 2003, the Danish Lightweight Mens Pair won the Gold Medal rowing a new Lola-Ay lings XST. The pair won their heat, which put them straight through to the final. The race is rowed over 2,000 metres and with 500 metres to go it was neck and neck between the Danes and the Germans for the Gold Medal. With 200 metres to go the Danes upped their rate and pulled away from the other crew to win by half a length, racing to an emphatic win over the rest of the world.
The Danish Lightweight Mens Coxless Four also won Gold in their event, but they were using a 2002 model boat. They have now taken delivery of their new Lola-Aylings XST in time for their Olympic bid at Athens in 2004. In addition, the Great Britain Coxed Four also won a Silver Medal using an Aylings AX2.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Solar Powered Electric Passenger Ferry - October 2003
The Decision Boatyard (Switzerland) is currently completing the second of three solar powered electric passenger ferry hulls - completely manufactured using Advanced Composites Group Ltd's revolutionary ZPREG® Technology.
ZPREG® was selected ahead of other composite technologies as the most cost effective manufacturing route, but also because of the security offered by the recently granted Lloyds Register approval.
The hulls were moulded at 65°C from a wooden plug employing ACG's ZPREG®264 system. Total reinforcement weights ranged from 300g/m² to 1600/m² and provided an extremely clean and quick production process. Without the necessity for highly trained laminators, Decision were able to reduce their total lay-up time by about 30% compared to that which would have been achieved using traditional wet lay-up and prepreg approaches. Finishing times were also significantly reduced because of the low surface porosity produced with ZPREG®.
In addition to the obvious Health and Safety and cost benefits of choosing ZPREG®, Decision are also taking advantage of significantly improved and reproducible laminate quality. Microanalysis of laminate sections taken from the bulkheads (cured in a single shot process) showed an average porosity of 0.18% - this being comparable with levels usually achieved in autoclave cured aerospace components.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Revenge 35 Sports Fishing Boat - October 2003
Revenge LT (Florida, USA) wanted to produce their Revenge LT 35 Sports Fishing Boat with new technology to give them a competitive edge over their market rivals.
Their new boat is now being manufactured from Advanced Composites Group's VTM®260 series prepregs (65°C - 120°C cure) and the new ACG Crystic® TC260 Tiecoat System. The LT 35 is moulded with a high quality gelcoat finish, which is 'tied' to the VTM® epoxy prepreg. This process uses no wet resin other than the gelcoat and tiecoat and therefore the generation of VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) is reduced to approximately 10% of what is currently produced using standard open contact moulding techniques.
VTM®260 prepregs were also selected to optimise the boat's survivability in the severe service of the offshore tournament sport fishing market. VTM®260 prepregs are the only Lloyd's Register approved prepregs, which have formally demonstrated long-term resistance to the effects of rigorous service in a marine environment.
VTM®260 combined with multi-axial hybrid reinforcements and rigid-elastic foam core, are vacuum bagged and then cured to produce a structure that is 30% lighter and 80% stiffer than competitive craft. Prepreg technology is usually associated with high-end applications such as Americas Cup yacht racing and Formula 1 motor racing, however ACG are proving that it can also be cost effective, giving high quality and consistent products for the production boat-building environment.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
METS (Marine Equipment and Trade Show) is one of the key events in the Marine Show Calendar.
Due to growing interest in the use of composite materials for high performance structures within the Marine Industry, the METS show now has a Composites Pavilion offering visitors a convenient view of many of the applications that use this technology. With their background firmly placed in the Formula One motorsport industry, and as an Official Supplier to Team McLaren Mercedes, ACG recently had the opportunity to work with Team Alinghi, also as an Official Supplier, on their America's Cup Entry. The rest, as they say, is history!
ACG has the experience that ensures their maximum support of boat builders wishing to progress to this advanced carbon fibre prepreg technology having also supplied to the aerospace, automotive, wind energy and sport & leisure industries over many years.
Recent product developments at ACG have made a significant step forward in the use of prepreg technology for marine structures, in particular their VTM®260 series prepregs, which have been awarded a Shipping Certificate by Lloyd's Register. As a result ACG's VTM®260 resins, in prepreg and ZPREG® formats, have become the Marine industry's first pre-impregnated products to achieve this level of quality approval.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
The International BoatBuilders' Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) takes place October 27-29, 2003. Advanced Composites Group exhibited in Hall D on stand 484 and in the Outdoor Demo area.
After many successful years at Ft. Lauderdale in February each year the show has a new ownership, a new venue and new dates. Make a date to visit us at this prestigious Marine event and meet our team; Jon Grigson, Hal Coleman and Bruce Beatty from our Tulsa based US manufacturing facility Advanced Composites Group, Inc. and UK based Marine Sector Manager, Rob Wilder.
Recent product developments at ACG have made a significant step forward in the use of prepreg technology for marine structures, in particular the ACG VTM®260 series prepregs, ACG Crystic® GC260 gelcoat and ACG Crystic® TC260 tiecoat. VTM®260 prepregs have been approved by Lloyd's Register making them the Marine industry's first pre-impregnated products to achieve this level of quality approval.
Selecting VTM®260 series prepreg and adopting the ZPREG® technology is a viable alternative to traditional build methods due to the affordable processing technique and low cost equipment required. Call in at our Outdoor Demo booth to see us how prepreg construction using ACG materials and technology can give you the technical advantage. Our demonstrations will happen periodically throughout the show period and you are welcome to view and discuss with experienced engineers how this technology can assist your projects.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Rondar 505 Dinghy Wins World Championship - August 2003
Rondar Boats continues its domination of the 505 Fleet with 7 of the top 10 finishers selecting their boats for the 48th 505 World Championship held in Malmo, Sweden. The competition attracted 85 boats from 14 countries and was won by Wolfgang Hunger and Holger Jess of Germany sailing their new 505 built by Rondar Boats using Advanced Composite Group's (ACG) VTM®260 series prepreg system.
Rondar's decision to switch construction methods to Lloyd's Register approved VTM®260 prepreg was made for a number of reasons - one being the improved health and safety for Rondar's employees achieved by using prepreg materials. VTM®260 prepregs have excellent wet out properties making them ideal for use in high performance weight critical applications. Rondar have recently commissioned a custom built oven for curing VTM®260, which requires 65°C for 16 hours.
Advanced Composites Group Ltd supports Rondar as a materials supplier capable of supplying consistent quality materials to tight resin tolerances that ensure the weight of all their prepreg-produced boats is kept to a minimum. With their background in Formula 1 and being an official supplier to Team Alinghi, winner of the America's Cup Race 2003, ACG continues to lead the way at 'the Centre of Composite Technology'.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Official Supplier to Team Alinghi - April 2003
ACG are proud to announce their role as official supplier of composite materials to Team Alinghi - The first European winners of the America's Cup competition.
It was evident from the very outset that Team Alinghi intended to approach their challenge for the Cup in a manner more akin to an established Formula One Team than had ever been seen before. The best yachting talent and technology was targeted from around the globe and it was natural therefore that ACG should be approached as the established leader in supply of high performance composite materials to the Motorsport and Automotive industries.
ACG, the Decision Boatyard in Switzerland and Alinghi collaborated closely over a 2 year period during the build-up to the opening Louis Vuitton Cup races, completing an extensive programme of data generation and test panel production, prior to embarking on full scale manufacture.
Alinghi's initial approach to ACG had coincided with the launch of the ground breaking VTM®260 resin series and it was variants of this series that provided the basic resin matrices for the main hull and deck structures. VTM®260 series resins offer a range of viscosity profiles and cure characteristics, that ultimately ensure reproducible fibre reinforcement wet-out, and low void content laminates, under vacuum only consolidation. This in turn guarantees the optimum structural performance from composite structures that, in the case of unpredictable America's Cup races, are certainly pushed to their very limits.
ACG, like Team Alinghi, are not resting on their laurels and thoughts have already turned to the next round of the historic competition. As in the world of Formula One, research and development designed to push the technological boundaries of performance never stop and work is already underway at ACG's Technology Centre to provide an even greater Technical Advantage.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Lloyds Register Approves VTM®260 Series Prepregs - April 2003
Advanced Composites Group is proud to announce that its VTM®260 series resin systems have received a Lloyds Register of Shipping Certification. As a result ACG's VTM®260 resins, in prepreg and ZPREG formats, have become the Marine industry's first pre-impregnated products to achieve this level of quality approval.
Seeing an increase in the applications for VTM®260 and ZPREG® materials on larger pleasure and commercial vessels such as ferries and coastguard craft, ACG has worked with Lloyds over the last 12 months on an exhaustive materials test programme. The outcome of this programme is the award of the certificate and the confidence it gives ACG's customers in the performance of VTM® and ZPREG® materials for the manufacture of large vacuum bag processed marine structures.
VTM®260 resins, in the prepreg or ZPREG® formats, can be cured initially anywhere in the range of 65-120°C and have been especially developed to provide full resin "wet-out" of heavyweight fibre reinforcements and high quality low void content laminates.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Rondar Raceboats Adopt New Crystic Gelcoat - March 2003
Rondar Raceboats' Championship winning 505 dinghies have a reputation for excellence, having won numerous national titles and seven out of the last eight World titles. To maintain their competitive edge, Rondar have recently made the decision to switch from wet lay-up epoxy resins to ACG's VTM®260 materials, in order to reduce weight and increase the strength and stiffness of their boats, employing a mixture of Carbon, E-Glass and Aramid prepreg formats.
Built using female moulds, Rondar also needed to combine the VTM®260 prepregs with a gelcoat in order to eliminate the need for painting. ACG's new Crystic® Gelcoat GC260, exclusively manufactured for them by Scott Bader Limited, is ideal for this purpose being specifically developed to adhere to VTM®260 resins, without the need for an additional tiecoat.
Rondar hope that the new VTM®260/GC260 International 505 will win this year's forthcoming World Championship being held in Malmo, Sweden at the end of July 2003.
Advanced Composites Group is delighted to congratulate Farboud Cars on the successful launch of their GTS at Autosport International 2003 and to be sourced as composite material supplier to Farboud Cars. The GTS utilises ZPREG® body panel system material for the whole exterior body and all closures and ZPREG® structural material for other assemblies and interior trim. Farboud Cars has also made extensive use of carbon composite tooling.
By introducing improved design integration opportunities, flexibility of styling and integrated body systems that would traditionally have been separate components, ZPREG® has given Farboud Cars the opportunity to drastically reduce the weight, manufacturing time and cost of their GTS.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
Scott Bader and ACG Join Forces for Gelcoat - January 2003
At last . . . an epoxy prepreg compatible gelcoat from Advanced Composites Group Limited and Scott Bader Company Limited.
ACG Crystic® GC260 is a co-branded product exclusively manufactured for the Advanced Composites Group by Scott Bader Company Limited. Crystic GC260 is a new gelcoat system developed by Scott Bader, in partnership with ACG, to be fully compatible with ACG VTM®260 series epoxy prepreg systems and associated ZPREG® formats.
Advanced Composites Group (ACG) is a leading global supplier of composite materials to the motorsport, aerospace and sports goods markets, amongst many others. ACG has now established a growing reputation in the marine industry for innovation and quality, based on its leading edge materials development, technical expertise and reactive customer support.
Over the last 40 years Scott Bader has established an unrivalled worldwide reputation for outstanding gelcoat products, setting industry standards for quality and performance. Crystic gelcoats have shown proven durability in many demanding applications and conditions around the world.
Crystic GC260 is a pre-accelerated gelcoat specifically formulated by Scott Bader for use with all VTM®260 series prepregs and associated ZPREG® formats. Currently formulated for brush application, Crystic GC260 will bond to VTM®260 series prepregs without the use of a tiecoat. Tests have shown that the Crystic® GC260 gelcoat gives a robust and reliable bond with VTM®260 epoxy prepregs across a wide range of cure cycles between 65°C to 120°C (140°F to 248°F).
Application is simple; Crystic GC260 gelcoat is applied to the mould in the same way as any other gelcoat system, to a controlled thickness of 0.4mm-0.5mm (0.015-0.020 inch) wet film thickness. Then a minimum period of two hours is required before laminating can begin using the VTM®260 prepreg or ZPREG® formats.
To those Moulders wishing to adopt prepreg lamination, but not wishing to replace an existing polyester gelcoat system, ACG/Scott Bader offer Crystic® TC260, a tiecoat formulated to give a robust and reliable interlayer between VTM®260 series prepregs (and ZPREG formats) and a range of standard gelcoats.
Boat builders reluctant to explore the possibilities of prepreg construction, perhaps because of the perceived additional expense and equipment required for pressure consolidation and elevated temperature cure, can now realise the outstanding mechanical and physical property benefits of the VTM®260 series prepregs. VTM®260 offers an extended 30-day workshop life, vacuum only consolidation and low temperature 65°C (149°F) cure. Now, combined with the in-mould coating possibilities afforded by these new gelcoat and tiecoat developments, and the low cost tooling options available, prepreg is a viable and practical closed mould processing option for the boat building industry.
Considerable additional savings in tooling material choice are possible since the 65°C (149°F) cure temperature allows the use of less expensive process materials such as vacuum consumables. Processing can also use simpler and cheaper ovens than those required for traditional prepreg processing.
Crystic® is a registered trademark of Scott Bader Company Limited.
Scott Bader Company Limited exclusively manufactures ACG Crystic® GC260 and ACG Crystic® TC260 for Advanced Composites Group Limited.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
ACG Exhibits at METS2002 - August 2002
This will be ACG's first time at this prestigious exhibition that has earned the respect of the Marine industry as one of the best exhibitions in the world for seeing innovations as they come through. With 14 National Pavilions, and now a new Marine Equipment Pavilion, METS has world wide appeal.
Marine Sales Engineer Rob Wilder and Export Sales Manager Bernard Twist will be pleased to welcome visitors on the booth.
Atlantic Crossing for Atlantic Row - July 2002
The Ocean Row attempt has unfortunately been abandoned despite making extremely good progress. Due to severe storm damage on Sunday the rudder was broken and although the crew made a repair, this too gave way, and all were picked up. Ocean Row has been in constant satellite communication with their HQ for the journey, and ACG has been following their progress with keen interest and support. It is good news that the crew and boat are safe - hopefully enabling another attempt to be launched in the future.
ACG's VTM® prepregs were used to build the Ocean Row high performance rowing boat, which was launched at Teesside Barrier on 1 March 2002. Team Leader Mark Stubbs and the rest of the 4-man crew, set off from St John's, Newfoundland in Canada on 11 June to row the Atlantic to the Isles of Scilly. Their aim being to complete the crossing in just 32 days and thus shatter the existing record.
ACG's VTM®266 prepregs were cured at 65°C, using low cost masters and vacuum pressure only consolidation. The resulting laminates being of high quality and consistently low void content, wet laminated constructions. Significant weight savings were also achieved; the boat's unladen weight being just 190kg, approximately half the weight of the crew, a saving of 50% weight on previous designs.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
VTM®260 Series Prepregs Chosen for the Conser 47 - July 2002
John Conser, the highly rated designer/builder of state of the art catamarans has selected ACG's innovative Variable Temperature Moulding (VTM®) prepregs to build a number of 47ft ocean-going craft. This is an adventurous departure from the more traditional wet laminating techniques used in the past. Some initial deck components have already been constructed and performed admirably, especially when used in conjunction with ACG's formulated polyester gelcoat systems.
Components cured at 65°C (149°F) for 16 hours have resulted in excellent laminate performance. Indeed VTM® has been found to be a very robust all-round prepreg system for this application. Maximum flexibility with the system is provided by the 30 days of RT outlife, matched to a cure capability anywhere between 65°C and 120°C (149°F and 248°F). Industry trends towards closed moulding, weight savings and process control make prepregs a reality in the marine industry. ACG is proud to be associated with John Conser and VTM® prepregs will provide his team with the flexibility they need to produce excellent products in the future.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
MTM®28-1 Spar Prepreg - Nordic Masts - May 2002
With the cost of composite materials becoming more affordable over the last five years, one substantial growth area for the Advanced Composites Group has been the use of its materials in the yachting sector for Spars (Masts and Booms).
The advantages of carbon over the conventional aluminium sections used for the last 30 years are so great that carbon masts are now also sold into the cruising yacht market; and not just the 'high tech' Americas Cup boats, as previously seen back in the 1990's. A well-designed and engineered carbon mast gives superb stiffness to weight ratio and fatigue resistance, while having virtually no corrosion problems. The obvious advantage is the huge weight saving which directly translates to more speed on the water when racing or cruising.
ACG is now into the second year of supply of materials to Nordic Masts who have a reputation for building quality spars for both the yacht racing and cruising markets. The MTM®28-1 spar prepreg system has the quick curing and excellent handling characteristics that make it ideal for spar production. At the higher end of the scale ACG has used its knowledge gained from the Formula One industry to develop the MTM®49 prepreg range. These systems produce excellent compressive properties which are very desirable in high performance rigs.
For further details contact ACG Sales Department.
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