‘This technology came out of the free-flying Code sails we were building a few years ago where we took the cable away and put a band of carbon up the front of the sail instead,’ says Doyle’s Superyacht sail coordinator Matt Bridge. ‘As part of that and to distribute some of the straight-line load, we put a lens structure in behind and into the sail. These are continuous fibres that run from the head to the tack in the front of the sail that gives us the possibility to shape the front of the sail and distribute what used to be a straight-line load back into the sail. Now we've taken that thinking from the Cableless Code sails and applied it to our upwind designs.

In some instances, we are reducing loads by up to 50 per cent,’ explains Doyle Sails International’s COO Emma Hendy. ‘Reducing luff sag is one of the biggest factors in allowing our sails to achieve more driving force. On some of the bigger boats, we’re seeing a reduction in sag at the middle of the forestay of up to a metre, which in turn means that the sail can be projecting a metre further to windward. So there are some serious benefits for racing superyachts. But from a cruising standpoint, there are massive advantages too, where the reliability of the furl, the reduction in weight and the fact that these new sails are easier to store are all important factors in this area.’