ILCA 7 sailor Philipp Buhl, who will be taking part in the 2024 Olympic Games for the German Sailing Team for the third time in a row, will be using a sheet off Marseille that he was closely involved in the development process of from the very beginning: the LIROS "Magic Flow", optimised for performance-oriented ILCA sailors with high quality and performance standards.

The new LIROS sheet "Magic Flow" was developed together with the ILCA sailors of the German Sailing Team and underwent several extensive tests in the LIROS development laboratory before it had to prove itself in practice.

"The development process began with a workshop with the ILCA sailors from the German Sailing Association in Marseille," says Frank Gottesmann, Product Manager at LIROS. "Together, we worked out which requirements a mainsheet for high-performance athletes must fulfil in addition to good haptics and durability." The workshop was attended by Oliver Freiheit, national technology coach of the German Sailing Team, Philipp Buhl, Nik Aaron Willim, Julian Hoffmann, Nico Naujock, Pia Conradi and Hannah Anderssohn, as well as the majority of the German Sailing Team's ILCA sailors.

Subsequently, the athletes' detailed requirements were translated into technical parameters and the machine settings for braiding the sheet were adjusted accordingly. "At the high level at which our ILCA sailors have to prove themselves internationally, it all comes down to the smallest details and subtleties," emphasises Oliver Freiheit. "Optimised, perfect material is a success factor, especially in a standardised class like the ILCA."

Philipp Buhl's expertise and extensive experience also came into play during the practical tests. "The perfect mainsheet has a non-slip cover, runs easily through the blocks, doesn't absorb water and forms as few knots as possible," explains Philipp Buhl. "I'm delighted to have been so closely involved in the development of the new sheet - it was really fun."

The cover of the abrasion-resistant "Magic Flow" sheet is made of polyester, the core of polypropylene, which does not absorb water so that the sheet does not develop any additional weight. The stretchability of the silver-orange coloured sheet is very low at less than 7 percent, the diameter of the 16-plait sheet is 6 mm and the breaking load is stated as 690 kg.

"With the LIROS Magic Flow, we have found the ideal balance between stiffness and flexibility," emphasises Frank Gottesmann. The sheet is stiff enough to prevent unwanted knot formation and yet flexible enough to glide easily and effortlessly through the blocks in all conditions.

"LIROS has been one of the most important partners of the DSV and the German Sailing Team for many years and enables our athletes to achieve top performances with highly functional, sophisticated ropes," says Oliver Freiheit. "All sailors benefit from the joint development of sheets with our athletes, regardless of whether they are ambitious regatta sailors or ambitious amateur athletes."