OPAC: when a top is “mega”
The OPAC “Yacht Division”, specialists in customized hard and soft yacht
tops, has designed one
of the largest yacht tops ever to be created for the
Swiss yard SHIPTEC.
The
structure’s surface is a good 9.4 meters in length by almost 5 meters in
breadth and it covers the upper
deck of the brand new technological vessel “Saphir”, which has just been
launched onto Lake Lucerne.
The
mega-top, comprising 15 AISI 316 steel arch ribs, extends to a surface area of
almost 47 sq meters.
A technical
and logistics study was carried out in collaboration with the yard and ship
owning company with the purpose of creating the superstructure. Over and beyond
merely technical aspects geared towards obtaining the necessary robustness and
rigidity of the structure so as to bear the weight of the material employed,
non secondary solutions relevant to finished product transport and ease of
assembly were also taken into consideration in the design.
Once again
in response to the yard’s request, Opac not only constructed the soft-top but
also the huge resin support structure - the result of collaboration with its
own dedicated suppliers. Here too, the search for material for specific yacht spaces
was carried out with a view to ensuring product sea worthiness and durability.
The
mechanism reflects OPAC standards: electrical opening/closing is by way of a
cog belt drive system powered engine, run electronically by an encoder which,
when programmed, recognizes the points
of full stroke, basically making sensor installation superfluous. The system, hence,
allows programming of effective top functioning both in opening and closing
mode. The mega-cover is divided into three
sections with a compartment designed to store the canvas when the yacht deck is
completely open.
The whole
structure has been conceived to ensure
yacht design continuity, though at the same time emphasizing the recherché
style of a vessel created following ecological principles and used for tourist
transport on lakes.
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