WICHARD was born in the town of Theirs in the Clermont-Ferrand region, in France. Ferrand, in English, translates to: “steelers”. For centuries, this area has been known for its superior quality and technical ability at forging steel. During the dark ages, knights regarded swords that were forged in the Clermont-Ferrand region, to be far superior as they produced the hardest and the sharpest blades in the known world.

Today, Wichard is located in the city of Thiers, in the Clermont-Ferrand district. It’s now modern; high-tech factory produces hot-forged steel components with the same unmatched quality and strength characteristics.

Whenever a life or high-value asset is potentially put at risk, you will find a Wichard component at its heart. Wichard, through the hot-forging process produces these high-quality, critical components for various industries where failure of that component is not an option.

Industries such as the military, parachute, aeronautical/space, yachting and medical industries are only a few of many areas where you will find a Wichard manufactured component.

Like wood, steel has a grain. The forging process aligns this grain in the steel with the desired load bearing axis, thus creating a part which has more elasticity, and a suburb ability to withstand fatigue stress. Unlike cast products, a forged component is guaranteed to be free of internal voids, which can cause premature failure.

In the same tradition of manufacturing excellence, Wichard owns and produces the well known yachting brand, Profurl, which is the world leader in Sail Management systems. The Profurl head sail system was one of the first successful systems on the market, and after 25 years of continued developed, still leads the way in both high performance offshore racing, and true blue water cruising, where safety and product reliable is of the utmost importance.

Profurl also boasts a successful line of Free flying furlers, in-boom furler/reefing systems, and electric/hydraulic systems, for boats ranging from 22ft to well over 80ft. Profurl’s custom research and development team comprises the unique combination of top level sailors and engineers from all parts of the world, which utilize state of the art CAD/CAM and finite element analysis software to help rapidly prototype and develop custom products for various high profile racers. The design success realized in this custom racing environment, is re-engineered and brought to market, so whether you an avid club racer or offshore cruiser, everyone can benefit and enjoy state of the art equipment on their yacht.