Textile Innovation Aboard the America’s Cup
Hünenberg, Switzerland, February 4, 2010 — ODLO brings an absolutely innovative superhydrophobic jacket to team Alinghi, defender of the 33rd America’s Cup. ODLO is using ground-breaking Barrier by HeiQ technology, allowing the world’s best sailing team to meet the ultimate weather and performance demands.
The Alinghi sailing team will during America’s Cup be using a highly innovative and novel water repellent technology on its sailing jackets to ensure maximum repellency under the harshest of conditions. The ODLO produced jackets use Barrier by HeiQ® - a superhydrophobic technology developed and manufactured by the Swiss company HeiQ Materials.
In the America’s Cup, only the best materials are selected to enable both crew and boat to meet the extreme demands for performance. When Swiss sports clothing company ODLO equipped the Aling
hi team with jackets they selected the world-leading Barrier by HeiQ® water repellency effect. This unprecedented breathable textile treatment guarantees that the Alinghi crew stays dry and comfortable at all times before, during and after the race, giving the crew the freedom to fully focus on the sailing tasks at hand.
The high-performance repellency provided by Barrier by HeiQ® comes from a unique microparticle based treatment applied during the textile manufacturing process. The resulting biomimetic structure of the textile surface imitates the self-cleaning surface structure of the Lotus leaf, thereby providing exceptional water repellency, an effect also known as superhydrophobicity. ODLO jackets treated with Barrier by HeiQ® provide the Alinghi crew with durable water repellency under the most demanding weather and sports conditions possible.
“We decided to select HeiQ’s product after multiple testing of leading repellent effects, and Barrier by HeiQ® was clearly standing out in comparison”, says Andreas Kessler, CEO ODLO. “ODLO has always been a forerunner in textile innovation and by using Barrier by HeiQ® we again show our commitment to bringing word-leading innovation to our customers. HeiQ has demonstrated again to be an ideal innovation partner with rapid, efficient and cutting-edge development for our most demanding needs.”
“We are very proud that our innovation has been selected for use by Alinghi in their defense of the America’s Cup”, says Kristofer Skantze, head of sales and marketing with HeiQ Materials AG. “Barrier by HeiQ® raises the bar on water repellency performance and the level of protection end-customers should be able to expect in modern fabrics. This is the third generation particle based textile effects technology developed by HeiQ over the last 5 years and the selection of Barrier by HeiQ® for Alinghi is testimony to the leading textile effect technologies that HeiQ offers.”
About ODLO: ODLO is the inventor of functional sports underwear. As the market and technology leader, ODLO has committed itself to producing the best functional sportswear for people who love exercise – in every weather and at every level of intensity. ODLO ensures well-being from the skin outwards and stands for uncompromisingly high demands of function, wearer-comfort and quality. In Europe, ODLO is the market leader in the segment of functional sportswear with Sports Underwear and Nordic Walking. In addition, ODLO is convincing with successful collections in the categories of Outdoor, Running, X-Country, Tec Shirts, Bike and Kids. ODLO has its own sales companies in Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium/Holland and Austria. The ODLO brand is sold worldwide in more than 20 countries. More information can be found on www.odlo.com.
About Alinghi: www.alinghi.com
About HeiQ: HeiQ Materials AG is a Swiss company developing and manufacturing antimicrobial silver and other sustainable textile effects for the most demanding customer demands. Focusing on textile and medical device markets, the company seeks to build nature inspired innovation into products, making them naturally performing. HeiQ’s products are characterized by high efficiency coupled with long-lasting performance, yet with a minimum impact on the environment. HeiQ is recognised as a young and innovative company, with a palette of award winning, state-of-the-art technologies.
