3 questions to Thilo Von Osterhausen

20/04/2022

At a time when environmental issues have never been as important as they are today, the sailmaker Gunsails is breaking new ground by offering the world's first windsurfing sail made from recycled materials, the RE-SEAL. Depending on the surface, it consists of 75% polyester film made from recycled PET bottles. Head of product development at Gunsails, Thilo Von Osterhausen tells us more about this major innovation...

 


Windsurfjournal.com: What was the thought process behind developing a sail from recycled materials?
Thilo Von Osterhausen: Within our surfboard and composite R&D we have been working with natural or recycled materials for quite a while. There we use recycled fibers and foams in combination with bio resin and natural fibers. Conclusively, it was quite obvious to look for an alternative recycled fabric that could replace parts of the sails construction. This general approach is an significant factor within all our Product development and will reflect in our future innovations. 

 


WJ: What are the advantages and disadvantages of a model made of recycled materials compared to a "classic" sail?
TVO: The main goal was to create a recycled sail that could live up to exactly the same durability and performance levels as a classic construction. This is the only approach that would lead us to a truly sustainable product.  If the lifetime of the sail would be affected in a negative way that would make the previous recycling effort obsolete. As it turns out the recycled fabric actually shows even slightly better UV stability then the virgin polyester.

 


WJ: In the medium term, can this manufacture process be extended to all the sails in the collection, even if it means completely abandoning the "classic" materials?
TVO: We personally would very much hope so but with our customer centric approach it will be also up to the windsurfers to decide if this material finds its way in all our sails. Thanks to the amazing feedback we received so far we are confident to say that this could be a realistic scenario. For 2023 we can already confirm that there are more of our models on the way to be addressed with the “RE”.

 

For more information on Gunsails: www.gunsails.com

 

Source: Thilo Von Osterhausen
Photos: Gunsails

tags: Gunsails Thilo Von Osterhausen RE-SEAL

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