America's Cup: Helmets compulsory on board - how the head cover is produced

It is no scandal that a Snowboard helmet is being stylised as a new development for sailors. Or this development is still in progress and the sailing world will once again be surprised by the New Zealanders in this respect. Be that as it may. In any case, the Cup defender uses the head protectors from the Italian manufacturer Kask both on board and for the land team and when training on the road bike. This will be used intensively again, as pedal drive for the hydraulic systems on board will once again be permitted in the upcoming 2024 Cup.

The remarkable thing about Kask helmets is that they are manufactured entirely in Italy and "Made in Italy!" is the slogan with which Kask wants to score points, while most of its competitors build their helmets in China. The YACHT cycling sister TOUR which is dedicated to road cycling, wanted to find out more about the expertise behind a seemingly simple helmet. At the end of 2022, our colleagues had the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of production at Kask. Here is their report:

How the outer shell of Kask helmets is made

While the polystyrene helmet shell and outer shell are manufactured at one location in a factory hall in an industrial area near Lake Iseo near Bergamo, the final assembly of the finished helmet with padding and harness system takes place at another location.

The process is divided into three steps for which three large machines are required. A Kask employee stands at the first station. He grabs a prefabricated plastic blank, places it in a press and pours paint into a mould from above. The machine then presses the colour onto the blank, which does not yet show that it will later become part of a bicycle helmet. It is surprising to outsiders that this production step is carried out by human hands due to its simplicity and is not yet fully automated.

Bicycle helmet outer shell: production step one of the Kask helmets in video*

At the second station, initially only a person can be seen operating two large levers on a machine. Only when the perspective changes does it become clear what is happening here. The flat plastic blank with the colour is heated and pressed into its final shape. This is done using a raw mould of the helmet's inner shell, which is pressed into the plastic blank from below and pulled out again. Looking into a window on the side of the machine, the inner workings become visible and it becomes clear that this production step for the outer shell of the bicycle helmet only takes a few seconds.

Bicycle helmet outer shell: production step two in the video*

The raw mould of the helmet shell moves out of the machine onto a table. A Kask employee cuts off the excess material with a knife. From there, the process continues to the third station, a huge glass box in which a robot arm is used. A milling machine is used to separate the upper and lower parts of the outer helmet shell and cut them to size. The robot arm mills the necessary holes in the plastic cover of the upper part of the bicycle helmet shell.

Bicycle helmet outer shell: production step three in the video*

The outer shell of the Kask helmets is given the finishing touches by hand. A member of staff uses a file to remove the grade from the shell and carries out a quality check on the product before the outer helmet shell is finished.

The joining of the lower and upper outer shell with the rest of the bicycle helmet then takes place in another factory hall, as does the insertion of the straps, which can be seen here in this picture gallery.

Kask not only manufactures bicycle helmets

Kask has not only made a name for itself with bicycle helmets or other sports helmets. The Italians also produce helmets for rescue and work safety or equestrian sports, for example. Let's see if there will soon be a sailing helmet and what special emphasis is placed on it.

*Video source: Kask

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