Marine

Dainese D-Air technology to hit the water

Dainese D-Air technology to hit the water
Dainese's Sea-Guard will be used by Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2017 America's Cup competition
Dainese's Sea-Guard will be used by  Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2017 America's Cup competition
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Sea Guard is the latest product to use D-Air technology
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Sea Guard is the latest product to use D-Air technology
Dainese's Sea-Guard incorporates air bag technology
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Dainese's Sea-Guard incorporates air bag technology
Dainese's Sea-Guard will be used by Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2017 America's Cup competition
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Dainese's Sea-Guard will be used by  Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2017 America's Cup competition
Sea-Guard is still in the development stage
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Sea-Guard is still in the development stage
Sea-Guard is designed to be fully ergonomic
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Sea-Guard is designed to be fully ergonomic
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Anyone who has crewed on a racing yacht can tell you it can be a hard, thrilling, and potentially dangerous ride. With 2017 America's Cup racers expected to reach speed of up to 50 knots (57 mph, 92 km/h), getting a serious injury can be as easy as falling overboard, so Italy's Dainese Group is teaming with Emirates Team New Zealand to develop a new Sea-Guard life jacket that incorporates Dainese's D-Air automatic airbag technology that inflates special airbags when potentially dangerous situations are detected.

According to the company, the move into the field of cutting-edge sailing is a logical progression for the brand, which is famous for creating protective sports gear for racing motorcyclists and skiing competitors as well as collaborating with MIT and NASA on new safety suit designs for astronauts.

Since the Sea-Guard is still in the early stages of development, few details are available, though as a life jacket that's fully ergonomic and allows the wearer to move with a large degree of freedom, it is likely to include some form of inflatable flotation device as well as the airbag system to guard against dangerous impacts, like a suddenly shifting boom or being thrown against a bulkhead. In addition, it will have to comply with US Coast Guard and other regulatory requirements.

Dainese's Sea-Guard incorporates air bag technology
Dainese's Sea-Guard incorporates air bag technology

"The foiling AC50 catamarans that will be raced in the next America's Cup are flying machines, the most advanced yachts in terms of technology and performance," says Max Sirena, former Italian Challenger, Luna Rossa Skipper and current Technical Advisor and member of Emirates Team New Zealand's Management. "These boats will be able to reach speeds never seen before. Safety on board became therefore fundamental in our preparation."

The new partnership was announced at the EICMA 2016 Motorcycling World Exhibition.

The video below introduces Sea Guard.

Source: Dainese

Revolutionizing Sailing Safety

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1 comment
1 comment
Calson
Hopefully the technology once developed will become available to the general public. Current PFD's that are water activated will self-activate in damp storage areas or if not self activating will not be deployed by an unconscious user when knocked off a boat. The devil is in the details though as the majority of PFD's or life jackets lack a crotch or leg straps and the majority of the time when a rescue is attempted the people on the boat will pull up on the life jacket and cause the individual to slip out of it and the body is never recovered.