Recent news

OK PreWorlds & Worlds in Australia

Thomas Wilkes Dinghy Masts, Dinghy_classes, Recent news , ,

With many of the southern hemisphere sailors that came to the 2023 OK Dinghy Worlds in Lyme Regis buying Ceilidh masts for the event last year, these masts have all been shipped back to Australia and are sharing the spoils together with masts from our colleagues at C-Tech at the Pre-Worlds 2024 that has just completed in Brisbane. Congratulations to Dave Clark who won the Pre-Worlds.

As always our thanks to Robert Deaves for the great reports and photos. Please link here to his article on the event.

E-mail server issues

Thomas Wilkes Recent news

Unfortunately we have had a lot of problems recently with our email provider. It appears that we have not been able to send over 50% of our recent e-mails. We have just change servers and hope to have solved all the issues.

If you are waiting on a reply from us, please resend the mail so that we can be sure to receive it in our new system.

This is valid for all e-mails from 15-08-2023 through to 31-08-2023

We thank you for your assistance, and again offer our apologies.

Price increases

Thomas Wilkes Recent news

It is with regret that we have to modify our prices due to the effects of price increases from our suppliers. Due to various factors we are faced with significant increases in our transport prices and uncertainty in raw material price and availability.

As a result of this we are increasing our basic transport charge for all masts to cover the length surcharge we pay to our transport partners. Also as our material prices are increasing in the order of 10 to 15% from 1st July 2022 we shall be increasing our prices by 5% across the range. This is relevant to all orders placed after 27-06-2022.

We hope that this price increase will be the last of this year and appreciate your continued understanding and support.

Splash Masts

Thomas Wilkes Dinghy Masts, Dinghy_classes, Marine articles, Recent news
Splash Masts

The first batch of Splash Dinghy Carbon masts has recently be delivered to the class builder. The mast is equal in performance to the aluminium masts but should not suffer from the permanent bend problems of the existing masts. Ceilidh developed the the mast exclusively for Jachtwerf Heeg who will be responsible for all sales and service enquiries. There is a quick guide for use (click here). For further information click here

Job Vacancy

Thomas Wilkes Recent news

We are currently looking for colleagues to work in our production and finishing units. There is no specific schooling for this job, but if you are technical, good with your hands, creative and accurate, or you have previously worked with composites, or are keen to learn, then this could be the job for you.

Applications are open to all nationalities, but we assume that the suitable candidate will live locally, so the text below continues in Dutch.

Wij zoeken naar collega’s om in ons productie en afbouw afdelingen te werken. Het is niet een baan waar een specifiek opleiding voor nodig is, maar heb je een technische achtergrond, ben je handig en nauwkeurig, heb je ervaring met composiet materiaal of de ambitie dit te leren, dan is deze vacature wellicht iets voor jou.

Belangrijkste taken en verantwoordelijkheden

  • Voorbereiding en voorsnijden van materiaal voor producten
  • Lamineren met ‘prepreg’, een schone vorm van composiet zonder vloeibaar hars
  • Ondersteuning van productie
  • nabewerken van producten en afbouw voor levering.
  • Onderhoud en controle van de gereedschappen en bijhorende voorraad
  • Verzorgen voor een opgeruimde werkruimte
  • Het naleven van de gezondheids- en veiligheidsprocedures van ons bedrijf

Functie-eisen

  • VMBO/MBO denk- en werkniveau
  • Vaardigheid met handgereedschap,
  • Goede technische vaardigheden en inzicht
  • Nauwkeurigheid en precisie
  • Contractduur 7 maanden met kans op verlenging
  • Verwachte startdatum: per direct of in overleg
  • Soort dienstverband: Fulltime of 32 uur
  • Wonen binnen 25km van Hellevoetsluis
  • trefwoord  composiet, composieten, meubelmaker, meubileringscollege

Wij bieden:
Afwisselend werk in een groeiend bedrijf. Enthousiaste en energieke collega’s in een klein team. Goed salaris en secundaire arbeidsvoorwaarden.


Voor informatie over deze functie kunt u zich wenden tot de heer T. Wilkes. tel: 0181-324558

Price changes for 2022

Thomas Wilkes Custom, Industrial, Marine articles, Recent news

Unfortunately Ceilidh Composite Technologies has also been affected by the increase in raw material costs in the composite industry. During 2021 the average carbon pre-preg price for our products increased by 5%, a price increase that we chose to absorb in our sales prices.

However recently we have been advised of another 10% increase in raw materials prices with immediate effect. Unfortunately this means we will be forced to increase our prices with an average of 4% over the entire product range.

It is disappointing for us that this has happened, but we will be able to keep the prices for all items already on order with us, and all items ordered before 10th January.

Contender mast

Thomas Wilkes Dinghy Masts, Dinghy_classes, Recent news ,
Contender mast

As a natural development of products which utilize the 70mm x 50mm teardrop mould which Ceilidh designed for the Flying Dutchman class, the Contender dinghy seemed to be an ideal candidate for the achievable mechanical properties of this design.

Having been approached by Cicada Sails to develop a laminate schedule for the new Ceilidh Contender mast data from many of the top sailors in Europe was collated into a bend database which allows the comparison of the stiffness index both fore-aft and sideways. The different measurement systems can be combined in such a way to give a simple stiffness index which functions then as the reference for the design variations that Ceilidh can create. Please follow this link to our bend testing methods.

The prototype of the mast is finished in a similar fashion to our other stayed dinghy masts. Custom carbon detailing combined with standard fittings from Allen Brothers and Camcleats makes the finished product stand out. The foot is CNC machined from hard plastic (Delrin) and incorporates an innovative setup for the vang attachment. First testing will provide further information to finish the final development of this performance mast.

The masts are available to order in our webshop, along with spare parts as they become available. Rigging is offered separately as it will be custom made for each order. Each fully fitted mast will be supplied complete with measurement and a comprehensive bend datasheet. Please click here for a direct link to our webshop

FD Mast production

Thomas Wilkes Dinghy Masts, Dinghy_classes, Marine articles, Recent news
FD Mast production

Just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak we manufactured 3 FD masts for customers in The Netherlands and Switzerland. Unfortunately due to the lockdown restrictions we have not had too much feedback with regards to the performance, and definitely no results from regattas, however sailmaker Stephan Fels (SUI) was more than happy with his new mast, and notices the positive difference in gust response that we have been able to develop. We are pleased to announce a new collaboration with Axel Antrecht of FSA Segelsport GmbH based at the Steinhuder lake. We will be shipping two masts to him for further evaluation. Axel has ordered both a stiff mast and the new light crew reflex mast. For further information please contact our office via this link.