This year Emirates Team NZ came within three races of winning the 2007 Americas Cup. This was an amazing turn around for a team that had been decimated by gear failure in the 2003 defence. ETNZ relied exclusively on Donaghys to supply them with high performance cordage and to quote Grant Dalton “Reliability is key to not losing; never in all our races have Donaghys Southern Ocean products let us down”.
Surprising as it may seem, many of the cordage products used on these two state of the art IACC race yachts are available at chandleries and riggers that carry Donaghys Southern Ocean products. There are some top secret items that cannot be divulged as ETNZ do not want their opposition to know about them, however, some of these lines could well filter down into general race boat applications as the specialised raw materials involved become more available and cost effective to manufacture.
Below is a list what ETNZ use for their standard running rigging:
Genoa Halyards: Challenge Braid 10mm with locks
Main Halyard: Ocean 12, 6mm with masthead lock
Spinnaker Halyards: Superbraid 10mm
Spinnaker Sheets: Superbraid 8mm with high performance jacket
Control Lines: Ocean 12 and Spectraspeed
For more information on our Leisure Marine product range, click here.
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| Spectraspeed™ |
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Used everywhere, a light weight low stretch soft handling line is required. Uses a Spectra® core and generally a polyester jacket.
For more information on this product, click here |
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| SuperBraid |
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Stronger with less creep than Spectraspeed™, SuperBraid has a Dyneema SK75® or 78 core and is used in more critical areas such as halyards and spinnaker sheets often with a high performance cover added for improved performance.
For more information on this product, click here |
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| Challenge Braid |
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Stronger again with almost no creep due to its Vectran® core, Challenge Braid is used were minimal creep is required. Foreguys are a common application often with a high performance cover added.
For more information on this product, click here |
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| Ocean 12 |
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Super strong and light weight made from Dyneema SK75® or 78. Used wear strength is paramount and in areas were a cover braid is not required such as strops and lashings and under deck control lines.
Also used for high load sheets such as the mainsheet or genoa sheets but with a high performance PBO cover added for protection.
For more information on this product, click here |
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| PBO (Zylon®) |
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Cores made from this fibre are used where maximum strength and absolute zero stretch are mandatory. Usually with a high performance cover added, After Guys are the most common application.
For more information on this product, click here |
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| High Performance Covers |
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Dyneema, Vectran®, Kevlar® and PBO are all used on their own or blended together to form highly wear and heat resistant jackets over either Dyneema, Vectran® or PBO cores. Runner tails and After Guys are typical applications for these materials.
For more information on this range of covers, click here |
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