Carbon fiber is the king of hi-tech materials. It is well known for its high tensile strength and is often touted as being stronger then steel at a fraction of the weight. It was originally introduced for use in the aerospace industry, but has since been adapted by many other industries (now most well known in the automotive sector) in need of a high strength lightweight material. The carbon fiber cloth we use is a sailcloth laminate, adapted to bring high strength, low stretch, and lightweight to the high performance sailing world. The carbon fibers are woven and layered in different directions (known as a warp and weft) and then sealed with a flexible UV resistant resin to make a flexible, shiny, waterproof cloth.