Innovations in Materials and EquipmentLightweight rowing boat
 Using the experience from building the 470 Sailing boat for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, DSM and Volans Rowing have developed the Volans², a rowing boat which aims at making rowing more accessible to the general public. DSM’s knowledge of materials has resulted in a lightweight boat with increased rigidity and stability. For more information about the boat, please visit the website of Volans Rowing. Innovative Bobsleigh
 Leading up to the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, a consortium of 10 partners, including DSM, decided to actively cooperate with the Dutch Bob and Sleigh Union (BSBN) in the development of a new and innovative bobsleigh. The parties worked closely together on the development of materials and parts, improving the sleigh’s aerodynamics and steering behavior and the preparation for specific winter circumstances. DSM was both a sponsor and an innovation partner of TeamNL, which represented the Netherlands at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February 2010. This relationship was part of DSM’s Innovation is our Sport™ program, which aims to work with elite sportspeople in order to develop innovative products in the field of food and equipment for the elite sport sector. For the bobsleigh, DSM used its vast knowledge with respect to performance materials in order to make significant headway in bobsleigh design. By using a Turane resin, a sleigh which was considerably different concerning rigidity, handling and strength was developed. Turane resin is a new generation resin with applications in the automotive industry, an industry which is always looking for stronger but lighter materials. Furthermore, Arnitel® was used to improve the sleigh’s stability. With this new design, TeamNL quickly showed improvements in its results. Within a very short time, the top speed of the sleigh increased to the same level as the speed achieved by the global elite in the sport. With this improved speed, TeamNL also started to climb in the result tables, with a third place at World Cup races in St. Moritz as their best result leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. For more information, click here for the DSM Bobsleigh Media Information Sheet (PDF: 92 Kb), or click here for the press release Innovations in Sailing
The new 470 boat was built using specially designed DSM composite laminates which resulted in a very rigid construction at a minimal weight. This material was developed based on the know-how gained in the construction of longer and stronger blades of large windmills. This construction ensured that the boat lay very solid in the choppy waves typical of the waters of Qingdao where the Olympic races took place. This minimized the loss of energy and maintained the velocity of the boat.
With this boat, Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout won a silver medal in the Women’s 470 race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
For more information about DSM’s Innovations in Sailing, click here for the Sailing Fact Sheet (PDF, 84 Kb), or here for the Press release. Other innovations and applications of DSM products and technologies include:
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The innovations in sailing that were presented at the Hiswa boat show in Amsterdam on 4 March 2008 are another milestone in a series of innovations developed by DSM for the Olympic Games in collaboration with NOC*NSF and the Dutch athletes.
The rigging of the Olympic boats was another important element in the innovation program of DSM and NOC*NSF. With the motto ‘only the best is good enough’ in mind, all Dutch boats that competed for Olympic medals in August on the shores of Qingdao were fitted with special lines with 
