THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY
At Powerplast we think that not going forward means going backwards.
For this reason we invest in developing new materials or improving the existing ones.
We use the best material available on the market, without compromise, reliability is our first goal, and we know that reliability is what our customers are looking for.
Thousands of sails made so far have received complete satisfaction, from those sails that have rounded Cape Horn to those that regularly sail on the weekend. We put the same care into the production of sails for large catamarans and those for small boat such as Meteor, every sail is important for us and the same underlying technology is used to give to all our customers the same outstanding result, customised to their needs.
Powerplast raw materials have been carefully tested and used exclusively in the nautical industry. Quality and reliability of material are essential features, so we choose the best materials available without worrying about their cost.
Filmless technology has been conceived, developed and tested by Powerplast team.
It is a taffeta outskin without any mylar film, given an outstanding adhesion strength of the composite.
Shape stability and durability of the Filmless membrane are so impressive that we can gurantee the material for 3 years about delamination.
20000sqm of Filmless product have been made so far, the great results achieved make this product our forte.
Filmless taffeta is treated with a UV blocking resin and an sanitazed to reduce mildew attack; its weight is about 88 g/sqm, that is lower than “classical” taffeta. It is available in White, Black, Grey and Dark grey
New development of Filmless technology is FUSION. This product id mainly design for light wind sails and Code0. It is made melting a special thin layer on a filmless taffeta skin, giving a really light a soft material, almost impossible to delaminate.
TFT (Thin Film Taffeta) . New material for high level racing sails, it is made of a light taffeta (20g/sqm), used in the aeronautical market, glued on a 0.25mil film. It creates a materoial with the same weight of 1 mil mylar film but with more stability and durability.
The material available for the outer skin follows
- Film
- UV blocking film
- Taffeta
- Internal taffeta
- Filmless taffeta
Film thickness can be chosen among 12 19 and 23 micron, (0,5 0,75 ans 1 mil) according to boat size, wind range and weight.
Where UV rays are stronger and cause degradation, UV blocking film is the right choice. We have produced many sets of sails for Farr30 boats racing in the Tour d’Arabie, facing the desert weather without any problem.
Taffeta is available in grey or white, light or heavy weight. They are all anti-mould treated and coated with titanium oxide to make fibres resilient against UV rays. The lightweight version has 60g/sqm including a small net rip-stop, while the heavyweight version has 100g/sqm.
Internal taffeta is one of our products since our founding. The sails made of this material can be glued instead of sewed, they do not gain weight when water falls on them and they have a cooler appearance comparing to regular taffeta sails.
Our membranes, used for Marco Nannini’s Open40 Akilaria completed 60000 nautical miles including one Route du Rhum, One Global Ocean Race and several off-shore regattas such as Fastnet Rolex regatta or Middle sea Race Regatta.
The latest material we have developed is the filmless taffeta.
Designed for cruise and club race regattas, the filmless taffeta is characterized by the absence of the film layer. We reached an outstanding shape stability and durability, with a lighter weight and a lower cost compared to regular taffeta.
The range of fibres used as reinforcement is as follows
- Polyester
- Gold and Black Aramid
- Carbon
- UHMPE (Dyneema®)
More information on the fibre are available on our datasheet, please contact us to download it.
Canvas Crasftsmanship for the Next Millennium: Sails, Canopies, and Research