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September 05, 2017 3 min read
Gottifredi Maffioli are an Italian rope company who have been in business since 1926.
There are two rope products from Gottifredi Maffioli which really stand out in the dinghy sailing market, Swiftcord and Superswift.
In this article we are going to look at the two types of rope, their characteristics, what they can be used for and why we recommend them for your boat.
You'll hear the Olympic sailors across all fleets raving about the softness of Swiftcord on their hands, especially for constantly adjusted sheets. Superswift is essentially the same product but with a Compact Braid 12 strand dyneema core. Compact braid is slightly different to a standard dyneema as it has a hard wearing coating which makes it tougher.
On our Tornado catamaran we are using SuperSwift for the kite halyard, kite sheets and then Swiftcord for the main sheet. The reason for using SuperSwift on the kite sheets is because the ends of the sheet are tapered down to save a bit of weight. The kite halyard is also tapered exposing that long lasting dyneema core.
By far the most popular of the two products Swiftcord doesn't have a core, it's a hollow braid rope which is available in 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm and 10mm thicknesses from Sailing Chandlery.
The strength of the rope comes from the dyneema mixed into the cover along with a high grip, non slip fibre which helps you hold onto the rope.
Becuase Swiftcord has a hollow center it's great to work with for custom applications, for example, you can stitch dyneema eyes in, feed two ropes together to create your own custom product or simply create an eye splice in one end.
Although commonly used for sheets, with the wide range of diameters the rope is available in, it can also be used for control lines and halyards.
Swiftcord is available from Sailing Chandlery starting at £2 per meter.
SuperSwift is a combination of compact braid 75 dyneema and swiftcord, it has a compact 75 Dyneema® core and a swiftcord cover. This makes the rope ideal for sheets or halyards that need to be tapered down. The rope has high abrasion resistance and good grip from the cover and high strength from the core.
Sailing Chandlery are currently stocking SuperSwift in 5mm, 6.5mm, 8mm and 9.5mm. We find this spread covers everything from tapered kite halyards through to sheets on keel boats.
SuperSwift is extremely easy to taper, even in the smaller diameters. We see the 6.5mm being more popular for smaller boats such as 420's, GP14s and Merlin Rockets. The larger diameters are more popular for catamaran and keel boat sheets.
Through Kingfisher Yacht Ropes, the UK distributor, we stock a number of popular ropes made in Italy by Gottifredi Maffioli, these are for a number of applications across your boat. Probably the most popular is the Evolution Race rope which has a polyester cover and dyneema core.
If you have any questions about Swiftcord, SuperSwift or other Gottifredi Maffioli products then please do get in touch. We're always happy to have a chat about the best rope for your applications.
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