Concerning the exclusive rights to pentex cuban fibre, it is a lot more complex than press releases imply

This is not a case of having exclusive rights to something you just sew together.

The exclusive rights, is in exchange for developing a way to make a Tornado sail out of pentex cuban fibre. There is not a big market for polyester (pentex) cuban fibre. Most people go for the Spectra version. Only classes whose rules only allow polyester would buy it. And there has never been a big enough demand to develop a small cat sail around the unique characteristics of cuban fibre

The main is molded on a full size 3-d foam mold. I am not sure about the jib.

The 3 training partners split the cost of the mold and the development cost of the sails. The partners were chosen by "people we know, we can work with". Not everyone who was offered a share accepted.

This deal was expensive and there is no guarantee that you wall end up with a superior sail or that it will not be declared illegal. For example, There is also a cuban fibre spinnaker for the Tornado. While class rules allow laminated spinnakers, there is an ISAF rule that allows only woven material. The laminated spinnaker was declared illegal. The ISAF rule was not intended to prevent a class from choosing their sail materials. I think the ITA did not think the rule applied and did not word their rule to exclude it.

The sail cloth is not the only factor here. The sail is being shaped by Jay Glaser. 2 of the 3 best looking sails I have ever seen were Jay Glaser laminated sails. Also as Charlie once said, "the laminated sail is less forgiving than woven but once you learn to use it, it's faster"

This is what I know about the exclusive rights to pentex cuban fibre and I am sure there are other things I don't know.

In addition this is not the only "partnership" out there. The Brits have one about masts and there is at least one other one concerning sail shape.

Carl Bohannon