Tine Slabe SLO 6 about Carbontech masts
" to manufacture the masts as good as can be and as good as PWA competitors deserves them to be" Tine Slabe
The bending curve in these cases was pretty much decided by the sail type and sail brand the sailor used, his weight and last but not least the sailors specific preference of how the sail should react on the mast.
The quality of the mast itself strongly depends on the curing process of the epoxy resin with the base material, like carbon in most race mast cases, in an autoclave.
How is this done with windsurfing masts? LOCALSAILING.NL asked
Tine Slabe SLO 6, Marketing en sales manager and founder Sašo V. Jančigaj of Carbontech in Slovenia about the secrets of mast manufacturing. Tine is competing in the PWA slalom as well with sail nr. SLO 6.
LOCALSAILING: Hi Tine, Saso and you decided to manufacture windsurf masts and started Carbontech, what was the motivation of you two to do this and when did you start?
TINE: CTC is owned by Sašo V. Jančigaj , who is its founder and technical developer .He windsurfs from his early teen years and also has competitive experiences (national and international circuit, in season 2009 he competed on races organized by PWA).
TINE: When you are so good at WS, that you realize ,that the equipment is very important and makes all the differences, you start trying different sails , boards , fins …and of course masts. Trying to find the best combination of all that, Sašo finds out that mast is something, where are still a lot of possibilities to improve. That was the way, it all started.
He sold his (book store) business, and invests to R&D of masts made of 100% carbon
prepreg, which includes autoclave technology as well. At the beginning it was a lot of learning, than the construction of the tools and machines…and when first products were made … a lot of testing. Being a WS competitor and a developer of the WS masts in one is ultimate advantage.
When you develop a product and you can test it by yourself on the most demanding way (as the competitors do) you just know what should be technically done, so that the product will perform better, the best. And some day after years working Sašo was finally satisfied with results.
SASO; Tine Slabe is one of the best overall windsurfers today who is in last years trying to enter the top of the slalom scene. Being competed in freestyle, speed, waves and formula WS as well, gives him lot knowledge and experiences about how to get from equipment maximum of efficiency
As long time companions they start to working on testing level in 2008.
From the beginning of 2010 Tine is officially in charge as sales and marketing manager in CTC
LOCALSAILING: Can you tell something about yourself and how you got involved in windsurfing?
SASO: Well , I could say about me that I am very found of everything new,and I have this chess analytical and logical mind but most probaibly anyone could say something like this . as a matter )
My first step in windsurfing was in 1983 with a huge big board, most sure everything would be only summer vacation enyojment, if I in 1990 wouldn' t bought a small sinker board . Since that time my life became commited to this beautiful sport. It was the beginners passion and enthusiasm that never stopped and in the way it increased with every step further, the difference of circumstances , and abillity to control your equipment , your self and water and the wind . the marvelous feeling.
LOCALSAILING: What manufacturing process do you use to make these masts? I understand you use prepreg carbon as base material. Do you use an autoclave to harden the prepreg carbon?
SASO: In Carbon Tech company we produce masts exclusively with autoclave methode. This methode is today for sure the best among all the rest.
LOCALSAILING: How do you influence stiffness IMCS and bending curve in different parts (25, 50 & 75%) of the masts?
SASO: Masts IMCS and bending curve depends in generally from 3 factors : mould diameter and shape of mould ,( it took me almost 2 years until I found the right one) thickness and combination of different materials puted on a right place. It is also very important to change and increase the structure of finished mast due to expose to special heat treatment.
LOCALSAILING: Do you manufacture all the masts yourself or do you outsource this to a partner?
SASO: For highest level PWA competitors I always make masts myself.
LOCALSAILING: How can you guarantee consistency of quality in all the masts you manufacture? Are there differences in production batches?
SASO: This is all about procedure and manufacturing process. And to get as best as possible out of prepreg is also very important and necessary to use perfect and reliable own (autoclave), perfectly tuned wrap machine,right mould shape, best possible material , right place to produce in, high standards of choosing the right material, its storage , right temperature , and also some sweet secrets that makes masts outstanding and remarcable in performance, strenght and durabillity. Of course they are difference in mast production,(in our case mostely because of material layers, but this attache final product less then 5% which is really high standard). A really experienced competitor can feel that kind of difference between masts, but he can tune his sail so perfectly that the output would be the same.
LOCALSAILING: Do all Carbontech race masts have the same bending curve? Or do you vary this for different sails or riders with different weight?
SASO: CTC masts are based on the fundamental variation of flex top wich suits and increase the power of the sail , in other words , bottom part gives you unbeliaveble stability , while the top part makes your work done and change any even small gust to unbelievable speed potencial . Since end of 2008 CTC produce also constant curve mats , and similar to stiff top masts as well. So, that our customers can find a very huge specter of semi custom masts ,wich satisfy almost every sailor and also all sail brands.
LOCALSAILING: What is the production capacity at the moment of Carbontech? Can you tell us something about the biggest market for you?
TINE: We are very committed to stay on the same high quality of our products. In the future ... if our market stays, just the same, we achieved our goal: to manufacture the masts as good as can be and as good as PWA competitors deserves them to be...but if market expands we are already prepared!
" MARCO BEGALLI ITA-415, wins another tittle with the Carbon Tech Company masts!! After the slalom master World champion and the Italian slalom champion this time he become also the formula master European champion."
LOCALSAILING: What info do you collect from the team riders, like Ben van der Steen and Jesper Orth, which you use in the R&D for the new masts and how do you interpret these?
TINE: Well the infos are the most crucial part of beginning of making a prototype. Mostly it starts with testing our standard production masts in brand new sails.
The information that we need are generally very important testers personal feeling of stiffness and bending from a few different points of the sail & mast combination , stability of the sail, his power, draft, performance overall, handling, acceleration after the mark (jibe), reaching top end speed(GPS ), comfort….etc, etc. After we get all the necessary information I start to improve the best tested mast, take something here, incorporate something there. And then we test and improve further…..
LOCALSAILING: Do you use a computer design tool for R&D of the masts? If yes, what? Did you develop the tool yourselves?
SASO: Usually we use Autocad program. While for inventing parts, I use service of 3 experts, which works part time for CTC (in order of their titles: engineer of machinery, mag. of physic and dr. of chemistry). When I am in desire to start something new they are here to increase my knowledge und understanding about what may or will be a result.
LOCALSAILING: Why does a Carbontech mast perform better then a mast designed for the sail I use from the same sail maker? What is the secret?
TINE: Maybe because they are made with passion and understanding of windsurfing.
SASO: Every mast should be an outstanding product , like a beautifull poem ,wich go directly in your ears and you just know it will become a clasy evergreen.
LOCALSAILING: Where do you want Carbontech to be in about five years from now? We believe in our masts and the most demanding users (PWA competitors) too.
SASO: We are flattered every time we get approval response from them. This is our motivation to go on . We keep us up about possible new materials and technology which can be used to reach highest standards and best performance of our masts in the future too. So, I can truly say among the stars of course, hehehe.
PWA TEAM RIDER JESPER ORTH ABOUT CARBONTECH MASTS
I have been using the CTM for 2 years now and instantly felt the performance boost in my sails. To describe the masts in very short terms ,it has a curve / flex that allows the rig to "breath" excatly how you want it to. The lower part of the sail below the boom stays deep and powerfull and then the magic happends over the boom where the sail twist starts quite early and allows the rig to work just like you want it to.
So I would say it is the balance point between having this powerfull bottom section of the mast and then how it transfers into this more flexy part that allows the sail to open up and convert it into acceleration and control, - is the key behind the succes of CTM.
I'm sure Saso has some great formulas for this and even some secret stuff he want even tell me about.
CTM - Find your last 5% of performance
CTM- If you are serius about speed
Source and photo's: Carbontech