Sunsail Case Study

Rule 26 were approached in 2010 by the worlds largest charter company, Sunsail, to brand their new fleet of Sunsail F40's. 42 new boats are arriving in February and March 2011 which all need hull and sail branding before the start of a busy season with a total of 61 boats running out of Sunsail's base at Port Solent on the edge of Portsmouth.

With the whole of the UK suffering one of the wettest and windiest Februarys for many years getting the first 24 boats ready for the end of February was a challenge which saw the whole team working every break in the weather to get the hulls branded and a lot of nights in the loft getting the sails ready.

The branding requirements for the boats included bow and stern branding, including several pieces over 2.5m long, transom branding, horseshoe bouy branding, and sail branding including printed dacron panels for the mainsail over 14sqm in size.

These panels are striking in colour, but also perfect for ensuring the longevity of the sail and branding by removing the need to layer cut vinyl onto the sail. None of this would have been possible without the arrival of our favourite piece of new kit, the HP LJ 25500 - a massive digital full colour printer, able to print media up to 60 inches wide, using the latest environmentally friendly latex ink technology. And the best bit - it can print onto sticky back Dacron!

The R26 team will be branding the rest of the new Sunsail fleet as they arrive during the rest of March, and you can expect to the the whole fleet out on the Solent from April 2011. We will also be providing them with temporary graphics, dodgers, flags and clothing throughout the 2011 season.