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Quiet but polishedDr John Nixon describes the low-profile — but ultimately successful — route taken by the Advanced Composite Group as they made a steady crossover from aerospace and motorsport into raceboats. He also develops the case for the low-temperature systems that his group have made popular in recent years The Advanced Composite Group may be a composite supplier that you do not immediately recognise, but we have now been in operation for over 30 years, with much of our early growth shrouded behind the glamour — and obligatory discretion — of Formula One. Our early days saw us primarily concerned with the manufacture of composite racecar components, ie skirts, body panels etc, but we soon realised that if the full potential of these new materials could be realised, a new generation of safer, faster complete composite racecars could become reality. What was theoretically on offer were functional, aerodynamic and aesthetically pleasing structures previously unimaginable in other materials. The factors making such a step possible could be listed as follows:
To take a broad brush, ACG designed and built the first composite racecar chassis in 1982 and continued to build complete composite cars well into the 1990s. However, importantly, our early builds went a long way to highlighting the deficiencies of the then available materials, so we embarked on a parallel track of developing the raw ingredients for bespoke composite solutions. Attacking the problem at source subsequently allowed us to enjoy many years of dominance in the supply of materials to the F1 industry. To read this article in full please purchase the APRIL 2007 edition of Seahorse. To read the remainder of this and many other articles, please purchase your copy of the April 2007 edition of Seahorse International Sailing available at selected newsstands or by calling: + 44 (0) 1590 671899 or by email at: info@seahorse.co.uk You can subscribe via our website
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