Carbo-Link is proud to have supplied the rigging to the world’s largest sloop M5

In the words of Ron Holland Design:"This world-famous project imposed more technical challenges and resulted in more innovation than, arguably, any other custom yacht of recent times. A 75m composite hull, 90m sloop rig (the world's largest), 150-ton lifting keel, luxury accommodation and outstanding performance under sail are just a few of the ingredients that add up to a very special yacht indeed”. M5 has some impressive rigging specifications. Mast length is 90 meters, the V1 has a break load of 700 tons, and The Reacher forestay is 88 meters.

M5 chose Carbo-Link as a partner to supply the rigging as they have the design and manufacturing expertise and many years producing very large composite cables for yachts and industrial applications.

Carbo-Link produced the state of the art carbon rigging package that incorporates technology developed for America’s Cup yachts and industrial products including massive crane cables.

The new Carbon rigging resulted in a staggering 14 tons weight saving over the Nitronic steel rigging that was replaced.

Some of the features incorporated that are new to Super Yacht rigging include:

• Head stay Surface Monitoring System - Sensors are built into the head stays. If damage occurs to the head stay within the head foil the sensor will display an alert. This feature reduces the requirement for internal checks and will give an early warning of a problem.
• Optical fiber load sensing – all the verticals, diagonal shrouds and head stays are fitted with optic fiber sensors that measure and record the loads.  
• The Carbon Furling Foils are manufactured with features allowing visual inspection of the bearings while the rigging is on the yacht.
• The rigging has been designed to allow the removal of any shroud for inspection without having to remove the mast from the yacht.

Carbo-Link

• Is a Swiss high-tech company founded in 2000. It is a spin-off from the Swiss Materials and Technology Institute (EMPA). Which has pioneered the industrial application of carbon fibres since 1978. Carbo-Link designs and manufactures all it’s products in its factory located in Zurich.
• Manufactures composite tensile elements incorporating optic fiber sensing since 1993. The largest cable produced has been a bridge cable with a 1200 Ton breaking strength.
• Holds an extensive range of Germanischer Lloyd Certifications.
• Supplied carbon rigging cables to the America’s Cup winning Yacht in 2003, 2007 and 2013.
• Manufactured thousands of crane cables with breaking strengths ranging from 180 – 360 Tons since 2003.
• Produces light weight intricate parts to projects such as The Solar Impulse plane, The Ariane Rocket, Helicopter rotors blades and Formula 1 cars.

Please visit Carbo-Link for further information