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RFC 2008 Season Customer Success Stories To Date
August 2008 - Richard Faulkner Composite customers have been storming to success in regattas across Europe this season. TP52 RAN, which was refitted by RFC in January has been one of the most successful boats on the Solent this season winning the Easter Challenge, the Golden Roman Bowl for the overall winner of the JP Morgan Round the Island Race, the TP52 class at Cork and Class 0 at Skandia Cowes Week. RAN's next major event in the Voile de St Tropez in October. In July Kerr 46 Fair Do's were part of the victorious British Red Team at the Rolex Commodore's Cup. In August TP52 Aifos used her new RFC bowsprit to great effect to win class at the Copa del Rey in Palma while back in the UK Open 60 Pindar, which underwent a major RFC refit earlier in the year, won the Artemis Challenge at Skandia Cowes Week.
Bowsprits
August 2008 - In the last two years Richard Faulkner Composites has specialised in making retro-fit bowsprits to optimise IRC ratings and improving ease of sail handling. Bowsprits have been fitted to TP52s Red, Flash Glove, RAN, Stay Calm, Fiddessa Fastwave, Panthera, Aifos and Henri Lloyd Cutting Edge, Kerr 46 Fair Do's, a Grand Soleil 40 and several Farr 40s. With the rating gains from IRC optimisation including the new bowsprits Aifos has gone on to win the 2008 Copa del Rey and RAN won Class 0 at Cork Week and Skandia Cowes Week. As part of the ongoing development for this bowsprit project RFC has developed new tooling for the bowsprits which enables production of much lighter bowsprits. For example a TP52 bowsprit now weighs under 9kg.
New 7.3m RIB Launched.
 April 2008 - A new Compass Tenders 7.3m RIB is currently undergoing sea trials and final testing in preparation for delivery to a motor yacht managed by Blue Ocean Yacht Management later this month. Designed by Patrick Bamfield of Allseas Design with an outstanding specification including I-Pod docking station, hot shower, sumptuous upholstery, a concealed fold-down cuddy hood to provide shelter for guests in inclement conditions and an interface Raymarine to Yanmar engine monitoring system. The tender is powered by a Yanmar BY260 engine with Bravo 3 Mercruiser outdrive leg giving a top speed in excess of 40 knots and exeptional handling. Visit www.compasstenders.com for further information.
 Refit & Repaint For Farr 50 Chieftain
April 2008 - The Farr 50 Chieftain, winner of the 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race, has just compeleted an extensive winter refit and deck and superstructure repaint at our Hamble facility. The boat will be competing in the 2008 Round Ireland Race.
 Pindar Open 60 Undergoing Major Refit
April 2008 - RF Composites is currently undertaking a major refit to the Pindar Open 60 including fitting Carbon Nomex pre-preg strengthing knees, coachroof shelter extensions port and starboard. The work is being carried out at Endeavour Quay in Gosport and is due for completion at the end of April when the boat will commence work up for the Artemis Transat.
 Compass Tenders Ltd - New Division Launched
January 2008 - In response to customer demand RFC has created a new division dedicated to servicing our superyacht tender business. Compass Tenders Ltd offers a bespoke service building custom tenders up to 12m as well as semi-custom RIB tenders from 6.5m to 7.8m. To find out more about this new division please visit www.compasstenders.com.
More New Bowsprits For TP52s
 January 2008 - TP52s Stay Calm, Cutting Edge (Patches 1) and Ran (Patches 2) have all returned from the Mediterannean and in preparation for taking part in IRC racing during the 2008 season have all commissioned RFC to build and fit bowsprits to enable them to optimise their IRC ratings. All three bowsprits will be completed and fitted ready for the start of the Warsash Spring Series.
Fair Do's Refit and Repainting Underway
January 2008 - Kerr 46 Fair Do's is currently in the yard undergoing an extensive refit and repaint in parparation for the 2008 Commodore's Cup.
Refit on Werewolf Complete
December 2007 - Following serious fire damage the Farr 45 Werewolf has undergone a major refit. Work has just been completed and the boat will be relaunching in good time to prepare for the start of the 2008 season.
 Cockburn's Red Powers Past The Needles
August 07 - The RF Composites built TP52 Cockburn's Red owned by Charles Dunstone has been enjoying a busy and successful summer of competition. Here she is pictured in full flight during the 2007 J P Morgan Round The Island Race as she prepares for the big bearaway round the Needles.
Launched in spring 2006 Cockburn's Red has become on of the most recognised boats on the Solent and has raced in all the key Solent regattas during the 2007 season. RF has an ongoing involvement with the boat, undertaking regular optimisation and maintenance work, and Richie Faulkner is also a regular member of the Cockburn's Red crew.
 Superyacht RIB Tender Delivered To Client
August 07 - The 6.5m carbon composite RIB designed by Patrick Banfield of Allseas Design and built for the J Class Superyacht Ranger has now been completed and delivered to the vessel. Constructed in carbon composite to keep weight to a minimum without compromising on strength or performance the tender was fitted out to the highest standards.
 New Superyacht RIB Tender Under Construction
April 07 - A new carbon composite 6.5m RIB tender is being constructed for the owner of the J Class Superyacht Ranger. The RIB tender will be based with his motor yacht and will use be as a tender and for support of the J Class. The tender is due for delivery to the owner in June. This is one of several speciality carbon composite projects that RF Composites are working for the superyacht market.
 Unique New Look For Refitted Farr 45
April 07 - The Farr 45 Excel, sponsored by Fortis Bank, is shown here emerging from RF Composites workshop after an extensive winter refit which included repainting the decks. To give the boat a completely unique look the topsides have been covered in a chrome effect material supplied and applied by Grapefruit Graphics.
 New Carbon Bowsprit For TP52 Red
April 07 - Among a number of winter race preparation and optimisation jobs RF Composites were commissioned to build a new carbon bowsprit for Charles Dunstone's TP52 Red. The bowsprit has been fitted to optimise the boat's performance under IRC and has been designed and fitted so that it can easily be removed for One Design and IRM racing.
 Storm Damage Repair Contract On Farr 60 Rima
April 07 - In mid March the Farr 60 Rima, recently purchased by Derek Saunders of Windward Sailing, was knocked over by another boat during a storm in Florida. RF Composites have been awarded the repair and refit contract and the boat was immediately shipped to the UK, arriving mid April. Repairs and refit work are now underway for completion in June.
 Prototype TekKat Now Undergoing Trials
April 07 - The prototype TekKat 6.85m racing catamarans designed by Clive Everest and developed by RF Composites for Tek-Tanks Ltd was launched in mid April. The boat, which is finished to the highest specifications in clear coat carbon, is now undergoing sailing trials and first indications are that the boat is extremely fast.
 Fidessa Fastwave II Refit Complete
February 07 - The refit on TP52 Fidessa Fastwave II (formerly Christabella) has been completed and the boat was relaunched in February 2007. In addition to the essential repair work RFC also undertook work to upgrade the quality and appearance of the yacht's interior. The boat will be racing in a number of key UK regattas this summer.
 Fidessa Fastwave II Repairs and Refit Underway
When the TP52 Fidessa Fastwave II (formerly Cristabella) was badly damaged after she fell off her storage cradle only a handful of companies had the experience and expertise required to undertake the necessary repairs. The yacht's new owner selected RFC to handle the project based on their outstanding track record in this field and on his previous good working relationship with the company.
 The boat was shipped to RFC's Hamble base where repairs are currently ongoing. Throughout the project RFC has consulted closely with High Modulus on the specification and methods being employed. The client has also taken this opportunity to ask RFC to undertake some modifications to the boat to improve her offshore racing performance. The repairs and refit work are now nearing completion and Fidessa Fastwave II will be back in the water in October.
Tek-Kat Under Development
RF Composites is currently working with Tek-Tanks Ltd on the development of a new 6.85m high performance racing catamaran, similar in concept to the Tornado and F18. The Tek-Kat is designed by Clive Everest and will be built using the latest technology and incorporating Carbon and Nomex. RFC is producing the tooling and prototypes and will also asssist in trials and development of the boat through to production. The first prototype is due to launch in late 2006
 TP52 "Red" Launched
In January 2005 RFC was appointed the builder of a new TP52 designed by the then unknown Javier Jaudenes & Lieven Theys. Both designers had completed the Yacht Design course at Southampton Universit and founded their partnership in 2005 with this TP52 being their first major project. You can visit www.jaudenes-theys.com to find out more about them.
The build went ahead using RFC's new purpose built ovens and all the components of the boat where made using state of the art methods and the latest SP Technologies composite engineering for carbon fibre pre-pregs from SP Systems and Nomex core supplied by Marineware. The hull was female moulded to give increased accuracy and maximum weight saving and as a result "Red" is the lightest TP52 launched to date.
Unfortunately the project came to an abrupt halt in summer 2005 when the original owner pulled out, however, the opportunity to aquire this outstanding boat generated great interest and with the assistance of Peter Morton of Boat Sales Iinternational the boat became Charles Dunstone's new racing yacht for the 2006 season.
Designers Javier and Jandenes, Richard Faulkner and Diverse Yacht Systems' Lou Varney all sailed on TP52s during the 2005 Mediterannean season and construction continued using the latest technology and thoughts regarding decklayout and systems identified through that experience. . Diverse supplied the Harken deck gear and custom B&G instrumentation. The latest design of fabricated steel fin keel and lead bulb was supplied by Iron Brothers keel manufactures. The boat was painted with a new Awlgrip metallic paint whilst for the interiorand a clear coat finish was used to show off the carbon detailing and workmanship.
The project was completed and launched in May 2006 with the spars supplied by Hall Spars and the running rigging package supplied by Hamble Yacht Services. Sailing trials where completed and in her inaugural race, the classic Round the Island Race, she was first Mono hull to finish and took home her first race trophy!
 New Super Yacht Tender Delivered To Owner
In Dec 2005 Mark Tucker from Design Unlimited approached RFC to build a 5m tender for a client they were working with who was having the 152 foot yacht "Pink Gin" built at Baltic Yachts in Finland. Mark had worked with RFC on the styling of tenders for the motor yacht Coral island which RFC where involved in the build of. The hull and structural design where completed by Allsea's Patrick Banfield who had designed the Coral Island tenders. Construction started in January 2006 The hull was made from a special high TG epoxy resin to cope with the heat rigours of a dark green hull with E glass cloth and corecell foam. The interior structure was made from foam cored carbon epoxy laminated as was the deck which was produced using a 5 axis machined mould. The completed weight for the hull, deck & structure was an astonishing 226kg this with the provision of tough laminate for the outer skins.
In order to fit snugly into a recess in the yacht's deck and to reduce its length the tender's transom, complete with Evinrude 90-hp outboard folds forward. Features include a steering console with instrumentation package including speed, depth and VHF radio, while the steering is Hydraulic and there are intrigual fuel and trimming ballast tanks. The later is positioned in the bow to allow the helmsman to trim the vessel according to load. The finished dry weight of the tender including all equipment is 642kg. Other technical features include low profile nav lights with a fully retractable all round white light aft, a canvas covered foam filled all round fender, pop up cleats and a two part caron fibre swimming ladder. Teak was used for the cockpit floor and step treads to enhance the super luxury yacht quality of finish achieved by RFC.
During the build process RFC worked closely with "Pink Gin's" captain Henry Hawkins and Mark Tucker keeping them informed of progress during the build and providing photographs on a weekly basis. The project was deemed to be a great success by all parties involved after sea trials and an delivery on budget on time was achieved!
 Magic Glove Construction Completed By RFC
The new Kerr 50 Magic Glove arrived from her original build yard in South Africa in March 2006 in an unfinished state. The Irish owner approached RFC to help get the project back on track and in the water ready for his Commodore's Cup campaign. The team worked long hours to complete the final fit out including laminating and fitting of all the teak trim, installation of the deck gear and a host of other essential tasks.
 Traditional Boat Building Division
The company has completed two refits of X Boat one-designs and a total refit and re-decking of a classic Dragon. The services offered by RFC are not restricted to high-tech; indeed the team have experience in all construction methods and value the opportunity to work on traditional projects.
 Custom Components For Mega Yacht “Pelorus”
When Chelsea Football Club Director Roman Abramovitch’s 385’ yacht “Pelorus” required a custom build composite jet-ski platform, swim ladders and fender posts RFC was the natural choice. The components where highly stylised and specified in clear coat carbon with blow moulded posts and were required at short notice for installation in Costa Rica. RFC worked with High Modulus Europe on Engineering and Robert Wagulin of DEFI on design.
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