Duotone DRIVEN Magazine No.04

The basic idea that drives us at our Duotone Laboratory, or D/LAB for short: We go to the limit of what is technically possible. D/LAB did not come into being from a classically rational point of view, such as considering a price- performance ratio. If you only consider development in terms of cost efficiency, you simply don’t try out new things. But this is the lifeblood of further development: You have to be open to trying out new things and testing how far you can go with materials in kite development – even if, at first glance, they don’t seem to be economically efficient. Because when you use new materials, they are extremely expensive at the beginning. However, as volumes increase, exclusive materials also become quite a bit cheaper. At D/LAB, our aspiration is to try to swim free from what is the standard. We want to bring new things on the way. We were inspired by the bicycle manufacturer Specialized, who only uses the best of the best in their S-Works series. We started with an experimental pilot project: How light can we build a kite with absolutely exclusive materials? We were in no way thinking of series production. The result, however, left us speechless; the performance advantage was without equal. And the question arose: Shouldn’t we try to offer such a kite to our customers? Not even to all of them, but only to those who simply want the best of the best in the light wind sector. And who are also willing to pay more for this absolute added value. The acceptance surprised us immensely: Especially with the Juice, our light wind kite, D/LAB has been very well received. Half of the Juice kites sold are from the D/LAB series. We expected a share of 10 to 20 percent. And also, in the wingfoil sector, the number of our Unit D/LAB is extremely high. Here, too, the structural stiffness of the leading edge and the struts made of Aluula material have an extremely noticeable effect on performance. Of course, our goal is not to offer as many D/LAB products as possible. Because D/LAB is and remains the spearhead of development. But this great acceptance by our customers inspires us to continue developing intensively in this direction. What else can be technically implemented? And in which area does D/LAB offer added value? If there is a new material or a new design that promises this added value, we try it out. Our premise: There must always be an increase in performance. There will be no product that is only shiny and glossy. But if we discover a possibility of a material advantage with our D/LAB series in an area of our sport, and believe in a target group for it, no matter how small, we will bring a D/LAB offering in this segment. Depending on the product area, the design of D/LAB can be very different. In the board sector, for example, D/LAB construction is currently only available for surfboards. Here, we are not as concerned with weight savings but with better damping. For this purpose, we use E-TPU material in the deck area of the D/LAB surfboards, as it is also used in sneakers. E-TPU has insanely good damping abilities but also releases the energy. This construction results in a production kitesurf board that is extremely durable, combined with unprecedented comfort. For kites and wings, we replace Dacron or Canopy materials in our D/LAB series with new materials that are lighter, stiffer, or have other compelling properties. Weight is a very big issue, especially for kites. Because less weight brings absolute performance advantages. But the stiffness of the materials also enables a kite structure with previously unimagined stability. This also allows, for example, the construction of a thinner leading edge, which in turn reduces drag. All in all, it has to be said that we are learning an insane amount through the D/LAB development and are constantly gaining experience. Which material influences which properties of a kite? For example, we are now looking at intelligent cloth mix constructions that feature stiffer material in certain areas and softer material in others. And these new understandings also flow into our SLS and original designs. D/LAB – THE DUOTONE HIGH-END TECHNOLOGY CONCEPT Photos Toby Bromwich “We started with an experimental pilot project: H ow light can we build a kite with absolute ly exclusive materials?” Antonio Destino, Head of R&D at Duotone, describes the approach of the Duotone D/LAB products. “Weight is a very big issue, especially for kites.” D / L A B D R I V E N 47