Word has it that Technora (Aramid) will be allowed

thieuster

Active Member
A lot of people use lines made with Technora (Aramid) although it's not class-allowed. Even during championships, some participants use lines with Technora without knowing it's class-illegal.
Apparently, there was a debate about the use of this more modern material (and it's much stronger than the polyester cover on Dyneema) and it looks as if ILCA is willing to allow the use of Technora.

Discuss please.

Menno
 
That class rule will be deleted on 1 January. It was voted for earlier this year; I will post the links when I get home in an hour or so.

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Voting now open on ILCA Rule Changes
Voting Now Open for Proposed 2018 ILCA Rule Changes – International Laser Class Association

There is actually no news yet on the results of the vote, but I can't think why anyone would have anything against aramid ropes these days.

The aramid ban was originally a safety measure, as it is allegedly prone to snapping without warning. That's why its use was first banned in the cunningham, at a time when that line doubled as a mast retainer. The vang followed much later, while in the other systems it has been legal all the time. My own boat had a Kevlar traveller originally.

Things changed when Kevlar was replaced by Dyneema as the most popular load-bearing material in ropes; it and Technora are now used mostly for chafe resistance in rope covers. And as such, I don't think they have much use on a Laser. It's good though in principle to get rid of any and all rules that are not only anachronistic but unenforceable in practice.

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Thanks for that!

I'm busy working on the boat: attaching numbers on a new sail and I'm about to replace the control lines on my son's boat for next season (starts on Jan 2, btw). I contacted Max Hunt from South East Sailboats and he pointed me towards the possible rule change and if I would opt for Technora when allowed. On behalf of Maurice (my son), I opted for the 'normal' 2018 allowed lines. He's used to them, likes them and he has trouble determining the difference between dark colours like grey, black, blue and brown (colour blindness), so his control lines are brightly coloured Maffioli lines with a lot of contrast: orange, lime green and black. He never pulls the wrong line - and we'll keep it that way.
 
Which Technora rope is Max suggesting, and for which systems? There are very few dinghy-size options on the market, and I can't see any on his website.

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He's adding that as soon as the rule comes into action. I think he will not promote these before the rule is officially in writing.

After reading your post(s) on the subject and searching for a few other comments about Technora, I think that for the time being we'll stick to the more familiar type of lines. One of the things with (e.g.) Maffioli is the fact that these lines are very easy to handle: not 'stiff' and they go through the blocks very easily. Before buying, I would like to have an impression of how Technora lines feel.
I suppose that Premium Ropes Amsterdam will sell these lines asap as well. So it's off to Amsterdam, to the Amsterdam Boat Show early March, for a 'meet and greet' at the Premium Ropes stand where they - I hope- will show and sell Technora lines.
 
The "Lijnenspecialists" have some nice "street" views on Google Maps:D (Amsterdam Boat Show in March sounds good, too :cool: )

They seem to sell Alpha Ropes only, which isn't a bad thing in itself. My local dealer isn't very active, but I bought some AR ropes in Greece last summer at the VMG shop in Pireas. (My Lightning skipper got some :eek: 1000 € worth of the stuff... "well, it's always good to have spares")

The only Laser-relevant rope with Technora the Amsterdammers have is the 5 mm "TN Racing", which looks the same as "DCup 78 KMix TN" in the Alpha Ropes catalogue. Having different names on the same product has never made a consumer's life any easier. (They even feature in some ropes a core material they call "Stirotex" which isn't found anywhere else.)

Anyway, the bottom line (no pun intended :D ) is that Technora is no big deal in dinghies. Its characteristics make it good in big boats, in lines for which you need winches. The point of the rule change is not that you'd get any new advantage, but rather that you won't have to think of staying away from certain products at the chandlery.

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Anyway, the bottom line (no pun intended :D ) is that Technora is no big deal in dinghies. Its characteristics make it good in big boats, in lines for which you need winches. The point of the rule change is not that you'd get any new advantage, but rather that you won't have to think of staying away from certain products at the chandlery.

I think that this sums it up nicely.

The 'Lijnenspecialist' in Amsterdam is 'one of the good guys': a company that's always willing to co-operate with Dinghy owners. In the past, they organised workshops for 'dinghy parents' and sold ready-to-go sets at a discount during the winter months for most dinghy classes.

If you happen to make the trip to Amsterdam, just PM me for a coffee or lunch!

Menno
 
The reason why aramids were originally banned was because the needed a radius about 3 times the rope diameter to bend in otherwise the rope had a tendency to snap. A bowline only offered 1 times the diameter. So any knot had to put less tension on the fibres. Without seeing the data on the new Armidale fibre ropes, I have no way of understanding whether these new aramids are suitable for our applications and I doubt that the ILCA technical committee even considered the bend capability of the rope.

Personally, I think that on a laser, the advantages of some of these newer fibres don't offer much advantage over what else is available for the additional expense.
 

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