EXTRA STRONG, STIFF AND LIGHTWEIGHT LEADING EDGE & STRUT
Unmatched durability, lightweight and responsiveness. Ho’okipa is a unique composite built with a reliable woven structure, supercharged through Ultra-PE fibres, which are 32x stronger than polyester at the same weight.
Developed in conjunction with Challenge Sailcloth, this unique woven composite is the result of exhaustive development and testing, to find the optimum balance between responsiveness, lightweight and long-term performance.
Traditional Ultra PE materials relied on a high percentage of films, coatings or glues to stabilize the material. The outcome of this was that these materials were strong, but either needed complicated seam constructions, had a limited amount of structural ber (for their given weight) or had inconsistent strength and distribution throughout the fabric.
Ho’okipa Ultra PE takes a reliable woven structure and supercharges the material through the use of Ultra PE instead of traditional polyester fabric.
The high amount of material in the composite that is structural, has allowed us to optimize all areas of the construction resulting in that beautiful blend of responsiveness, lightweight and durability.
Incredibly, this high-performance fabric we have developed, comes with a reduced environmental impact beacuse Ho’okipa Ultra PE is made up of 48% recycled content by weight.
Key Benefits:
▸ High-pressure loading
▸ Abrasion and cut resistance
▸ Ease of repair
Application: Leading Edge & Strut
Ho'okipa is super-charged through the use of Ultra PE
Understanding Ultra PE
Ultra PE Fiber is a super-strong ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMwPE) ber that offers maximum strength with minimum weight.
Ultra PE has extremely long molecular chains that transfer load more effectively. So it‘s stronger at the same weight or lighter at the same strength than alternatives.
In a direct comparison to polyester, it is up to 32x Stronger.
Ultra PE fiber is 15x stronger than steel at the same weight and 2x lighter than Carbon Fiber.
As well as its extraordinary strength, Ultra PE excels in cut and abrasion resistance and has a high resistance to UV.
Ultra PE fiber is so light that it floats on water.
Stiff does not mean fragile, Ultra PE also has very high ductility – It can absorb a lot of energy before it breaks.
Understanding the characteristics of this material is the key to the responsiveness of the next-gen wing designs, whereby the process of inflation places a higher tension on the fabric and you feel that rigidity and reflex immediately.
FreeWing plants 1 mangrove tree with Worldview International Foundation. Each Mighty Mangrove sinks down 673kg of VCS-certified CO2 during its first 25 years.
Offsetting the wing’s Carbon Emissions more than 10 X over while also funding livelihood projects in Myanmar.
We also collect 1.1 kg of beach / ocean plastic trash – equivalentto the amount of plastic trash entering the ocean, per person,per year. Starboard balances this amount for our customers.
