JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #84 - October 2013 - 26

high-performance

Future Fibres broadens its horizons

Market leader Future Fibres is known for having revolutionized
the rigging industry: composite rigging can now be used on
every area of the boat. The company is the world's largest composite rigging manufacturer, with more experience and sea miles
than the rest of the competition put together. But Future Fibres
is now setting its sights on new sectors, hoping to spread the
benefits of its expertise.

reated in 1997 in the South of
England, Future Fibres is now
established on the Mediterranean
coast in Valencia, Spain. The company
has 15,000 m² of well-equipped covered
facilities there, where 140 employees
work in design and production. In 2007,
founder Tom Hutchinson decided to
move to Valencia, that year's America's
Cup city, to be closer to his customers.

Recognized know-how
Future Fibres is the undisputed world
leader in the sector. A bit more than
15 years ago, Tom Hutchinson pioneered the use of continuously wound,

interview

unidirectional composite fibre for yacht
rigging. Continuously wound fibre
construction offers strength, safety
and an ability to maintain a long-term
performance advantage. Continuously
wound fibre provides the best fibre alignment and load sharing of any composite cable production technology, providing the highest cable performance. The
production process has been developed
and refined to control the placement of
the fibre, ensuring equal load sharing
and maximizing cable life.
This tried and tested technology is
improving continuously. It is now
standard for grand prix race campaigns
and the majority of new superyachts are
now launched with composite rigging.
Recently, the factory was expanded

to cater for the ever-increasing cable
sizes. The company invested in specialized equipment and installed four
new production lines (winding, taping,
curing and finishing). The infrastructure
is now in place for the production of
carbon cables up to dash 1500. It has
unquestionably been a technical and
commercial success, and now the need
to expand is being felt.

JEC Composites Magazine: Future Fibres
has made a name for itself worldwide in
offshore racing and high-end yachting.
What are the company's strong points in
these areas?

industry to form an experienced team
with in-depth knowledge of the design,
materials and processes required to

From rigging to masts
In 2010, Future Fibre created its mast
division with the clear objective to lead
the next wave of spar development. The
success of this venture was built on a
world-class team, an integrated design
and build process, and a high-technology partner - Persico Spa, an Italian

Tom Hutchinson : Innovation,

Tom Hutchinson
Founder
Future Fibres

quality and customer service are at
the heart of everything we do and we
are working every day to update and
advance our understanding of the
composite sector. Future Fibres has
brought together the best people in the

26 jec composites magazine / No84 October 2013

Fig. 1: Gamesa rig designed and built by Future
Fibres

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #84 - October 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #84 - October 2013