Dear team, I have watched your fantastic video on making a new car bonnet in carbon fibre and this has given me the idea that I could do something similar with my very heavy centre boards on my Hobie 18 catamaran. The centre boards are about 1.2m in length and 35cm wide with a large handle and small flange at the top. The foil section is symmetrical (like an airfoil basically). The existing foils are very heavy and cumbersome to use. I am thinking that 2 moulds could be made that would basically create the new foil in 2 halves (length ways). Making the moulds and the 2 halves would be the straight forward part, it's the joining to create something stiff, strong and water tight is more tricky to visualise. Alternatively I could be barking up the wrong tree. I have attached a rough sketch of the foil and your advice would be welcome. Mike Cook

What is UD Carbon? 

UD Carbon is unidirectional carbon. Its a fabric that has its carbon fibers oriented in only one direction. It uses tracers (I think that is what they are called) to hold the fabric together.

Its great for adding strength to an area that is stressed along the axis of the fibers's orientation. Imagine trying to bend a long tube or pipe, where the fibers are running down the length of the tube. When you try to bend the pipe, you are trying to stretch and elongate the carbon fibers along the one side of the pipe. Because carbon fiber has a high tensile strength, it resists the stretching, thus making the part stiff and more resistant to bending or deflecting.

This is why you often see UD carbon fiber being used on bike frames, tubing, or in this case, the foils that Cookie is talking about. Its a really good fabric to become familiar with using.

Sorry for the long winded answer.