Home
Blog
Spidertech™ Integrated System
History
In 2005 Alberto Fiorenzi, owner of the Fiorenzi Marine Group, founded the company which was to change the rules of sail-making then in use: with the strength of over twenty years of working with sails behind him, he developed the “Spidertech Integrated System”, with the intention of supplying highly personalized material and tools to designers wanting to use the materials now known as string sails, membrane or skins, in their projects.
The Spidertech technology won many clients and gave everyone the opportunity of putting themselves to the test using highly advanced software for sail design: Many sail-makers have gained experience and produced sails with exceptional performance. And numerous boat-owners have won over and over again by equipping themselves with this “extra drive engine” which before Spidertech they could only dream of having. Incredibly stable, light sails able to transform the strength of the wind into pure propulsive energy. Sails which have proven to have longevity and superior performance in comparison to the conventional materials used in TRIRADIAL cutting of that time. All of this, thanks to the winning combination of clients in the position to make the most of our computer technology made available to them together with the technological excellence in the manufacturing of the products in our factory in Numana, Italy. Having generated everything that could be needed to reach clearly set objectives, Alberto Fiorenzi’s team focused on superior software, production machinery for the material and new solutions to make it more and more reliable. All in all it was a long “surf” which lasted five years, aiming at satisfying the demands of the market and giving clients what they most needed.
“Thanks to Spidertech Integrated System we have produced sails that are lighter or able to work in a wider range, perfect for those wanting to contain the size of their sail wardrobe.”
Spidertech™, present and future
Today Spidertech, in the hands of Sailmaker International SPA, is working hard at developing its production plant aiming for even greater reliability and a superior production capacity. With ‘Spidertech’ every sail-maker can attain what he feels most suits his style of work: using a wide range of services, described in the area reserved for sail-makers, it is enough to fill-in a few details to register and enter.
The key to our production
We have a number of patents covering the design process. In fact, first and foremost we developed a three-dimensional design system based on a parametric software able to develop a structure made up of virtual yarns layered on a mathematic mould. The mathematical flattening of each and every yarn onto a plane allows us to laminate the macro-sections on flat surfaces with pressure. Such macro-sections, once assembled, take on the originally designed three-dimensional shape, therefore guaranteeing the continuation of the yarns right up to the connecting joins.
We were first to prove the strength of straight yarns, our first sails were made this way, not so sexy perhaps – but very stable. We ended up inventing the use of a primary structure, designed to help the sail remain stable over time; then we learned to utilize a mix of straight and curved yarns, the first used to absorb the load where it is at its greatest and the second to fill the area where the curved yarns give the optimal distribution of fibre.
Each yarn is individually controlled: which means that our system does not use the “ribbon” structures (parallel yarns). Ribbons make for a more economical manufacturing but create mechanical hinges and shape discontinuities, furthermore, they create obligatory load paths, ending up with premature fazing. Using ribbon, furthermore, the restrictions in creating detailed reinforcements are very limiting and lead to find a narrow scale of structural solutions. On the contrary, our structures are homogeneous, permitting a gradual variation in the fibre density, which is the best thing one can do to guarantee stability of the laminate over time.
A summary of advantages of the Spidertech™ system
- better shape control
- completely three-dimensional design
- better structure homogeneity
- the Spidertech™ team is the only sail manufacturer with its own software, freely available to any sail-maker
- the designer sends the file which we then transform into a completely personalized sail
- years of experience and thousands of sails produced
Every Spidertech™ sail is therefore a unique product, conceived and interpreted by the sail designer alone.
Spider Tools
Spider Tools are the software instruments used to create a design, from the first line-drawings through to the final product, using ever more refined and complex analysis to satisfy the requirements of even the most demanding Team.
Spidertools Software
The programs are available at no cost to sailmakers and yacht designers. The Spidertech Team reserves the right to allow the download of only some of the programs available.At the moment of request, the Spidertech team will provide the necessary support to the installation. Each program is combined to its manual and the user should self train himself.
The Spidertech Team might provide further support to the customer who might need further help in the apprenticeship period.
These are software's system requirements: Dual Core 2.0GHz CPU, 2GB RAM, dedicated Video Card with at least 256MB RAM.
SpiderPlan
Everything starts from the sail plan: which is realized by either the boat designer or sail-maker, this needs to be a 3D instrument, thus giving the correct positioning of the sail on the boat, taking the rigging and deck gear in to account.
SpiderMould
We came up with this programme to perfectly adapt to the spirit of the individual designer. It is used to create the three-dimensional shape for every sail and is applied in an intuitive graphic and scientific numerical way.
SpiderFibre
The main instrument for designing the structure of the Spidertech sail is the string-laying program, where the sail-maker has complete freedom of arranging each singular yarn in the required position on the three-dimensional surface of the sail, whilst at the same time deciding on the type of yarn to be used and the number of yarns to give the right density (Dpi) to the laminate.The parametric nature of the geometric motor consents easy scaling of similar designs, favouring the creation and maintenance of a flexible database of structures. An integrated function of denier count permits the visualization in DPI terms of the quantity of fibres present in the various groups of yarns which make up the structural lay-out, a quick first check out of the structure fairness.
All of the data from the design of the model is sent to the Spidertech Team and used to guide the CNC machine, thus permitting the exact construction of even the most complex designs.
SpiderView
This program is used to visualize photos of your own sails and to read shape profiles in numeric form. A simple, but excellent way of verifying the shape of the flying sail shape.Additional services:
Analysis
We can supply the most highly advanced service of aerolastic analysis. Some software houses offer pretty images in colour, but when it comes to CFD, few can complete with our robust models. Developed by the best specialists in their field by realistically calculating the shape that the sail would take once flying, for a given structure. Our software is the state of art in the field of simulation.
