Integrating RigCalc and Membrain

"Ensuring your rig and sail combination works in unison, delivering optimum performance every time"

Southern Spars has invested heavily in technology and human resources to develop a collaborative relationship with North Sails designers to the extent where we are able to integrate our own RigCalc computer technology with North Sails’ Membrain software and vice versa. Our ability to do this ensures the rig and sail designs are developed to provide the optimum rig/sail arrangement.

Membrain is the powerful non-linear FEA program developed by North Sails engineers to analyse the forces and deformations on sails in different conditions, allowing sail designers to adjust sail structure to reduce both stretch and weight.

How This Benefits Southern Spars Designers

-Our designers are able to produce very accurate mast bend plots for luff curves of North Sails’ mainsails.

-Our designers can apply accurate lifelike sail forces to their structural rig models in order to optimise and refine rig designs.



How This Benefits North Sails Designers

When North Sails designers receive our accurate Membrain model from RigCalc, it enables them to design sails on an ‘as built’, ‘docktuned’ rig, rather than a simplified version.  This allows North Sails designers to model more accurately the behaviour of the rig/sail interaction to optimise sail designs.

How This Benefits the Yacht Owner

-Knowing exactly how the rig should be tuned at stepping as the optimal jack pressures are specified during design.

-Significantly reducing the amount of time needed to tune a rig during sea trials.

Both companies’ designers are mindful of the complete package – not treating the rig and sails as independent components. Ultimately, it means that designers from North Sails and Southern Spars can be confident of the rig and sail package working together as modelled, having used the most accurate simulation that exists.