Dryarn and Slam together again to tell another story about Made in Italy and grand sport.

Slam technology and Dryarn research together in the creation of AREA 51, an exceptional outfit dedicated to the sailing world and due for a preview at Turin World Capital Design (Teseo, Piazza Castello, Turin, 7-14 May 2008) in recognition of its great values in research and innovation, with a foremost thought to Beijing 2008.

Great expectations for this micro fibre, lightest in the world, which offers unlimited applications and exceptional performance. The Turin appointment is with the great names of architecture and design, in an event – Teseo – where only the most innovative materials can compete and find space. Where fantasy has no limits or borders. And from Turin, the flight to Bejing.

The most important sports event of the last four years is drawing closer. Athletes all around the world have been living months of preparation for Beijing 2008, where sailing expertise will be under scrutiny in the Qingdao waters from 9-21 August. SLAM, accompanying for many years the Italian sailing federation as official supplier, has concentrated efforts on research, aiming to give athletes maximum support from a technical clothing aspect, given the difficult climate with its high temperatures (25-38°), high humidity and breezes. Thus the choice of Dryarn. Just as the athletes have been training for months and months for “Bejing/Qingdao”, the SLAM R&D department for more than a year has been studying the most suitable clothing solutions for the athletes taking part in the regatta.

Particularly the developers have been working in synergy with the Polytechnic universities of Milan and Turin to study new yarns, new fabrics, new solutions that best respond to the Chinese climate and the biomechanics of a sail boat crew. Extraordinary the results obtained during tests, showing how this technical clothing has an excellent response to hot and humid environments such as those expected for the Qingdao regatta.

Test methods: the climatic chamber

Sailors took part by exercising on the ergometer inside the climatic chamber to measure metabolism, heart rate and power developed while pedalling against regularly increased resistance. Eight electrodes were applied during each performance to measure skin temperature in various parts (hand, forehead, shoulder, chest, thigh, deltoid muscle, calf, elbow), with also a chest band to measure the heart rate. The test was carried out in four stages: initial repose (5 minutes), aerobic and anaerobic physical activity (20-30 minutes), slow-down (5 minutes) and rest (20-30 minutes).

At the end of the slow-down stage, a special device was applied to measure the quantity of vapour passing through the jersey in three areas (back, shoulder, deltoid). After these non-invasive tests, the researchers compared the sensation of comfort perceived by the athlete with some of the physiological parameters such as the average skin temperature, loss of water by transpiration, degree of hydration, pH, and the grade of irritation. To complete the picture of the fabric’s physical parameters, heat resistance, passage of vapour, waterproof index, passage of air, capacity of vapour absorption. The physiological skin data, the chemical-physical properties of the fabric and the individual opinions of the sailors involved in the test were processed by computer to evaluate effective comfort. All this to provide the athletes with the greatest innovation available today in the spinning industry, transferred by SLAM and its thirty years of experience in the clothing sector in a contribution to athletic top performance.

These tests carried out by SLAM with regard to the national sailing team will also be presented by the LATT laboratory at the next international AUTEX2008 conference at Città Studi in Biella, from 24-26 June.

Results of tests on the “AREA 51” jersey in climatic chamber

With regard to the individual opinion on comfort, generally both the sensation of heat and that of humidity were considered more favourably when wearing the high-performance “AREA 51” jersey. All the athletes taking part in the test declared that they felt dry 30 minutes after ending the test when wearing the “Bejing” jersey, while the sensation of humidity went from “sticky” to “wet” when wearing the comparison jersey (in cotton) even 30 minutes after finishing the test.

Aquafil S.p.A is a leading Italian company in the production of synthetic fibres, characterised by avant-garde industrial technology and with manufacturing plants in Europe, America and the Far East. Business activities are closely integrated and range from the production of synthetic fibres for floor coverings, to technopolymers, to synthetic yarns for the fashion sector.

An important and innovative point of reference also for high performance sportswear and underwear, the company’s “core business” of Nylon 6 and 66 now includes special fibres such as Dryarn, Microlon and Borgolon. For more information, visit the sites www.aquafil.com and www.dryarn.com or contact [email protected].