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XPO LASAGNA CUP 2023 : A REGATTA FULL OF PROMISE

Grabner GmbH Austria use the new CL282 tie down cleat to adjust the steering pedal control lines on their range of inflatable kayaks. “We have been looking for a way of upgrading the way you can adjust our steering pedal and the CL282 tie down cleat has solved this, it’s easy and quick to use, simple to adjust and it is a perfect solution to our requirements” explains Ewald Grabner. Designed for ropes from 1-3mm this lightweight ultra small Nylon cleat is fixed at one end with a strip or bar shackle, carbine hook or rope. The cleat is only 37mm in length, weighs just 5 gms and has a holding power of up to 50kgs with its unique 4 tooth Clamcleat® design. The black CL282 cleat is very easy to rig and is ideal for tie-downs, dinghy and canoe control lines, sunshades and adjustable tensioners. https://www.clamcleat.com/cl282-micros-tie-down-cleat.html

Plastics need to be broken down into 2 sectors, plastic which can be recycled and single use plastics. Single use plastic needs to be removed from the world as quick as possible. Whereas plastic which can be recycled are here to stay, with plastic contributing up to 50% of the volume of the average modern car along with most other goods. There are 4 types of material currently available, 3 have “greener” credentials. 1. Prime materials (new material) 2. Recycling existing plastics (reprocessed or reusing) 3. Bio sourced plastics. 4. Biodegradable and Compostable plastics Recycling existing plastic is broken down into 3 areas. (Recycling may not work for all types of plastics or all applications) • In house recycling - during the manufacturing process the waste and rejected components are reground and reused. This is by far the greenest option as it requires the smallest amount of energy. This of course depends on the material application and the ratio of recycled material can vary from 5 to 100%. We do this at Clamcleats Ltd. • Post industrial and post-consumer recycling - recycled material and waste are sent to a reprocessing center where they are reground, tested, blended, and resold. • Chemical recycling or Natural balance - the scrap is broken down into its original monomer and reused in the making of new material up to 30%. Bio sourced plastics which are made from raw organic matter such as starch or sugar. • Bio sourced plastics are not made from petroleum but are made by extracting sugar or cellulose from plants including sugarcane or corn etc. • Commonly used in food packaging or medical devices. Biodegradable and compostable plastics • Not all Bio sourced plastics are Biodegradable or compostable and there are some petroleum-based plastics which are either biodegradable or compostable. • All compostable plastics are biodegradable but not all biodegradable plastics would be considered compostable. • Biodegradable plastic needs to be disposed of properly and the natural breakdown of the plastic will not occur unless managed correctly. • There are different levels of compostable approval including industrial, home and soil. The industrial compostable material requires commercial compostable conditions and is very unlikely to break down in applications a soil compostable is much more likely too. The soil compostable material biodegrades over a certain period of time and leaves no toxic resin in the soil. To conclude, it is important when designing a product, component, and mould tool to decide which material you want to use at a very early stage, how this will affect your carbon footprint and not as an afterthought. Biodegradable and compostable products in most applications do not have a shorter shelf life and will only start to break down once in the right controlled environment. During our cleat production we recycle 100% of our waste material "in house", using up to 25% recycled material for each cleat. At every stage of the design and manufacturing process our environmental impact is recorded and becomes part of the decision making process. "We can all make a difference"

International Canoe used CL230AN and CL211MK2 for its kicker, 2 gib sheet control and gib slot positioning

International 14 from Ovington used a bank of 3 CL230AN for the Cunningham, rudder rack and Gnav system.

Merlin Rocket Ecstasy has used a bank of 4 CL211MK1 with CL814 keeper on both tacks for the kicker, Cunningham, lower shroud and gib car adjusters.

Join us on stand L9 on 25-26th February 2023 Farnborough International Meet the team, see all of our new products and watch a product being made on the stand live https://www.rya.org.uk/events/dinghy-show

TIWAL from France produce a TIWAL 3R, an inflatable dinghy which can be dismantled within 25 minutes into 2 bags (weighing approx. 28kgs each). The bags will fit into the back of any small hatch back car. The inflatable dinghy uses our CL244 for its outhaul, Cunningham, downhauls and kicker as the clamp fits around the tube framework. The CL244 clamp is also used on the boom to secure the mainsheet and kicker etc. They have recently won the Sailing World 2023 Boat of the Year best Dinghy award.

We would like to thank our staff for their generosity in donating to our annual Christmas appeal in conjunction with Welwyn Rugby Club. Donations go to the Christchurch Food Bank which we have been supporting for the last 2 years. The Christchurch Food Bank supplies over 500 food items per week to families and people in their hour of need.

We have just been accredited as a Carbon Neutral company and have offset all our carbon footprint. We are committed to improving the environment, the planet we live on and have a program to reduce our carbon emissions by at lease 5% per year. This will be achieved by reducing our energy consumption, reducing waste, and investing in cleaner technology etc. We currently offset our carbon footprint in 2 major projects, a major wind farm in India consisting of 30 wind turbines and habitat conservation in Brazil which helps to protect several species living in the rain forest. For more information about our accreditation or our goals for the future please contact pbotterill@clamcleat.com.