The Italian company Viadana, operating in the production and sale of boating accessories since 1961, has choosen Latilub 66-20T G/20 compound by Lati for the manufacture of the front fairlead of its ball bearing cam cleats. Applications for the boating sector are among those subjected to the most severe mechanical, thermal, and environmental stresses. In addition to the stresses due to the use, corrosive effects of water, weathering, and sun radiation are to be considered, even if difficult to quantify. So the use of thermoplastic compounds for nautical products is rather challenging, and has to be carefully addressed.

Viadana, an chose Latilub 66-20T G/20 for the manufacture of the front fairlead of its ball bearing cam cleats. The selected compound is self-lubricating and structural at the same time, so particularly suitable for situations where mechanical strength and low sliding resistance are necessarily required. Formulation of Latilub 66-20T G/20 contains 20% powder PTFE on a 20% glass fiber reinforced PA66 base. The result is an engineering polymer not only reliable in the management of static and dynamic stress due to the rope, but also resistant to friction and wear generated by the sliding on the contact surfaces due to the speed of relative motion and the rope tension.

To address the heat generated by the rope sliding, base polymer should also provide good temperature resistance, and Latilub 66-20T G/20 is not a concern up to over 100°C. The fairleads were subjected to tests provided for in the sector, and are now available in black, yellow, blue, and red.