January 2014

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.

2014 CST Composites Contender World Championships

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.

Great start to 18’ Skiff Australian National 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.

2014 International 14’ Skiff Nationals

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.

The 2014 Australian 16’ Skiff National Championship was a regatta of contrasts! Not only was the weather wild in both extremes of sunny vs. cloudy and windy vs. calm, but the recent changes in the class rules allowing for composite spars is still in the process of being accepted fleet-wide.

However, following this regatta, the case for composite spars now appears adamant as the Brydens 16’ Skiff repeated history, cementing the advantages of carbon fibre firmly in the class. The trio of Peter Mackie, Lee Knapton and Ricky Bridge won the last nationals hands down using CST Composites masts for their #1 and #2 rigs, as well as a boom and spinnaker pole.

16′ Skiff Australian National Championships

Using the same masts in this year’s Nationals, the Brydens team won every single race, notching up their 3rd National Title. Our masts are made as a single section, which mean that there is no sleeving and as such, no additional weight and no compromise to the bend profile. Our masts are not the longest in the fleet, but as the saying goes, it does not matter how much horsepower you have, it is how much of the horsepower can be effectively used.

At CST Composites, much research has been undertaken in developing our 16’ skiff range of gear and we have managed to create a rig layout that is shorter but faster than any other in the fleet. The additional speed not only comes from our meticulous approach to design, but also, using a smaller yet more efficient rig reduces drag, windage and weight, all of which are key ingredients in a regatta-winning recipe.

Since finalising our 16’ skiff range of spars, we have opened up the market by selling the exact same rigs and spars as used on the 3 X National Champion boat, Brydens Compensation Lawyers. CST Composites masts have won 4 out of the last 5 National Championships, so turbo charge your boat and contact us today!