Plain Bearings Replace Roller Bearings in Yacht

Top swivel for furler units
The careful and thoughtful design of the reefing system is evident in the compactness of the important components: The top swirl sits on top of a reefing system and holds the sail. When the sailor rolls up the sail, the inner part of the top swirl must synchronously move along, and that too as smoothly as possible and without stick-slip effects. This places high demands on the bearing and the entire structure of the component. Dipl.-Ing. Björn Möser, Project Manager for customized reefing system: "All system components must be permanently resistant to seawater and tropical temperatures. Also, the perfect finish plays an important role in yacht building. Therefore, the housings are machined from an aluminum alloy and coated with a special anodizing film. “

Resistant to seawater and wear, stable
This material has already proven itself for years in many other fields of application as the fast- and slow-motion specialist with the best coefficients of friction. Moreover – and this is another important criterion in this case – the material has high dimension stability even in humid applications. After extensive in-house tests, Reckmann confirmed the results and is now using the iglide® J plain bearings in the hydraulic furling systems. The bearings cope perfectly well with the high mechanical requirements. If the mechanical emergency operation of the reefing system is tested by a standard winch handle, the sailor himself is able to comprehend that the desired low-friction properties are achieved even with high pretension of the sails. Even after a long break in which the sail is not furled, the bearings rotate extremely smoothly at full load.

iglide® J also for universal joints
Reckmann is so pleased with the iglide® operation that the material is also used in another new development for boats up to 100 feet in length. Here it is the universal joint of a furling system, whose electrical or hydraulic drive is installed below the deck. The reefing system itself is installed in the deck with a special swivel mount. Also in the motion axes of the gimbal mount, Reckmann uses polymer plain bearings made ​​from this material. Björn Möser: "As a very high surface pressure occurs here as an additional parameter, we have the bearings tested extensively in the installed condition, i.e. in the universal joint, for tensile strength at a test stand with up to 32 tons."

The end of the development has not yet been reached with these new, heavy-duty reefing system. Some super yachts, which are currently in the design phase, are again larger than the previous top models with new features integrated. Björn Möser: "Our customers – the shipyards as well as the yacht designers and sailors – are highly demanding." This is also true for Reckmann themselves. Therefore, the company is working on new reefing systems that are also characterized by ideal optics, easy operation and low friction properties, despite the high load. Here, too, Reckmann want to fall back on wear-resistant bearings.

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