No holds barred flat out performance is the design criteria. Fusion M is the first sail built using an adaptable, “smart” sail structure. Fusion M is not a “load path” sail. Fusion M smart structure integrates loadings throughout the whole sail so that loadings are shared evenly. Gone is the principle of trying to place fibers along primary stress paths.

Fusion M is an adaptable sail structure that transfers loads as they increase instead of allowing loads to concentrate in high load areas and distort sail shape. It is the first sail to strain proportionately (isostrain), so that the design, or initial mold shape does not distort. This makes Fusion M sails faster, easier to trim thorugh a wider wind range, and preserves sail shape over the long haul. Fusion M is custom engineered on a sail by sail basis, and is the first sail made using an entirely new approach. Instead of being built using the traditional “load path” model, Fusion M sails utilize an integrated fiber network that addresses sail loadings as a whole, instead of attempting to place fiber as efficiently as possible along the primary load paths. Fusion M’s smart structure uses a more sophisticated finite element analysis, which recognizes the ever changing nature of sail loads, and the need to adapt to a wide range of changes and demands on the sail structure.

Fusion M addresses the reality that loads exist in all directions at any given point in the sail. It also relies on a new understanding of the way the fiber network works together to support overall sail loadings, including those along the primary load path. Fusion M complex, dense, fiber matrix allows each part of the structural system to support the rest, keeping any one part of the sail from becoming overloaded and distorted. Fusion M's smart structural system is “isostrain” instead of load path, which means there is no distortion, but instead, consistent deformation in all directions. Sail shape changes evenly and uniformly, making trim easier, and there is no localized distortion to permanently deform and degrade sail shape. The result is a sail that is easier to get the most out of, which lasts longer Available in aramid and carbon/aramid blends, Quantum Fusion M membrane sails are engineered like no other sail in the world. For more on the Fusion M process, check out the Fusion M Movie (9Mb).