With KZ3, KZ5 and KZ7 the Kiwi romance with the America's Cup begen; and a voyage of discovert began for High Modulus when the company developed the first fibreglass 12-metre yachts, and won Lloyds register approval for them. GILBERT PETERSON explores the research and development base of their achievement. THE LIST OF PROJECTS High Modulus has been involved in - over 3,000 of them - reads like a roll of honour. It includes the world's largest ever sailing sloop, the 75.2-metre Mirabella V; the fastest circumnavigator under sail, the 38-metre catamaran PlayStation, and its nearest rival, Club Med; a string of winners in the Volvo/ Whitbread Round-the-World races; and of course Team New Zealand's successful America's Cup defender, Black Magic. The company's story is synonymous with the global development of building with composites for marine purposes. It's a story that began with the company's late founder, Bob Rimmer, taking on new graduates Brian Jones and Richard Downs-Honey, who is now the company's managing director. Mr Downs-Honey FIPENZ, earned his BE (Hons) and ME degrees in mechanical engineering from Auckland University in the early 1980s. The papers he presented for his masters laid down the founding principles for boat-building with fibre-reinforced plastics.
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