Seldén wins Hamble Winter Series

Once again ‘Quokka’ (Corby 36) has come out on top with a well-deserved win in IRC Class 1 of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. At the Winter Series prize giving hosted by Hamble River Sailing Club Quokka also picked up the prize for ‘Garmin Yacht of the Year’. Earlier in the year Quokka was also part of Team Red, the winning Rolex Commodores Cup Team. Owner Peter Rutter was extremely pleased with the performance of the Seldén carbon mast, boom and spinnaker pole.

However Quokka’s triumph was not an easy victory as they had to fight off tough competition from ‘Premier Flair’ who finished in 2nd position, just a mere 4 points behind. ‘Premier Flair’ is an Elan 410, which sports a Seldén two spreader carbon mast in CC244 section and utilises a SC101mm carbon pole.

Jim Macgregor owner and skipper of Flair has been delighted with the added performance of having a Seldén carbon mast and commented “Our boat is faster than identical Elan 410 Yachts with alloy spars in spite of a 5-6 point IRC rating penalty. Whether on a Corporate Sailing Day or in top class competition we have the edge on the opposition. I feel that once in "pole position" the carbon rig also gives us a psychological advantage.”

The Seaquest 36 ‘Circus’ finished in 3rd position after a close battle with Turbulence II who ended the series just behind in 4th. ‘Circus’ has exactly the same sections as Quokka with a CC192 mast section, BC174 boom section and an SC88mm carbon pole.

Stephen Lee Seldén Masts Design Engineer remarked “Here at Seldén we have worked very hard to produce a range of Carbon spars which combines optimum stiffness with the highest weight savings and reliability. I am delighted to see our spars competing at the highest level of yacht racing and coming out on top. Their success in the 2008 Garmin Hamble Winter Series proves that Seldén Carbon Fibre spars are among the best in the world”

The Seldén team would like to congratulate all the crew members on board Quokka, Premier Flair and Circus and wish them all the best of luck for the 2009 season.

All Seldén’s carbon products are engineered and manufactured in the UK but with the influence of typical Swedish high quality. Seldén are now the only manufacture of Yacht spars in the UK with filament winding technology. The carbon product range has grown in size and popularity this year and to significantly reduce lead times a new second filament winding machine was installed at the end of the summer. The machine is now running at full capacity in the purpose built factory, with the carbon bay busier than ever before.

If you would like to receive a competitive quote for a carbon mast, boom, spinnaker pole or any other product please contact sales on 01329 504000. For the online catalogue please visit www.seldenmast.com