United Parachute Technologies Vector 3 - The History Behind United Parachute Technologies

VECTOR3MANUAL
MAN‐004REV7.227/20/2017
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INTRODUCTION
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BychoosingtheUnitedParachuteTechnologiesVector3,you’veshownthatyou’llsettlefornothinglessthanthebest.
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THE HISTORY BEHIND UNITED PARACHUTE TECHNOLOGIES(formerlyRelativeWorkshop)
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Overthepastthreedecades,UnitedParachuteTechnologieshasdeliveredmorethan50,000qualityharnessand
containersystemstoskydiversallovertheworld!
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In1972,BillBoothstartedRelativeWorkshop(nowUnitedParachuteTechnologies)inaMiamigarage.Duringthelate
1970’sBillmadetwo
majorcontributionstotheworldofskydiving.First,Billinventedandpatentedthehanddeploy
pilotchutesystem.Thiscontributionchangedthesportforever.BillBooth’ssecondandmaybegreatestcontribution
andrecognitionduringthisperiodcamewiththeinventionandpatentoftheBooth3‐Ringreleasesystem.In1983,
Bill
receivedtheprestigiousParachuteIndustryAssociation(PIA)Achieve mentAward.TheFederationAeronautic
International(FAI)awardedBillBooththe1984GoldMedalforoutstandingachievementinparachutesafetydesign,
thehighestawardavailableinthisfield.
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RelativeWorkshop’sfirstharnessandcontainersystemwascalledtheWonderhog.Thisrigincorporated
allthebest
safetyimprovementsofitsera.Notlongthereafter,theWonderhogSprintwasintroduced.In1981,theVectorwas
introducedandsoonbecamethemostpopularrigintheworld.TheVectorIIfollowedandsoonenjoyedevenmore
popularity.Since1977,teamsandindividualshavebeenwinninggold
medalswearingRelativeWorkshopsystems!The 
U.S.SkydivingTeamatthe1981WorldMeetworetheveryfirstVectors.
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Inthelate1980sandearly1990s,newfreefalldisciplinessuchasSkysurfingandFreestylemadetheirwayintothe
skydivingmainstream.Freeflyingenteredthemainstreamshortlythereafter.These
newdisciplinesbroughtwiththem
newandincreaseddemandsonskydivingequipment.Intheseflightattitudes,thecontainerissubjectedtodirect,
high‐speedairflow.Theneedformoresecuritysuchasriserprotection,pinprotectionandbridleprotectionbecame
apparent.Hence,ourengineerswenttowork.
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VECTOR3
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In
1994,RelativeWorkshopunveiledtheVector3harnessandcontainersystem.Thisnewdesignincorporated
conceptsthatoriginatedthroughyearsofresearchanddevelopment.
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In1999,usingthelatesttechnologyandtheknowledgeRelativeWorkshopgainedinbuilding theVector3,theMicron
wasintroducedtosuitthegrowingtrend
ofsmallercanopyuse.TheMicronisthemosttechnicallyadvancedharness
andcontainersystemintheworld.RelativeWorkshopachievedthisbyhiringateamofengineersfromthearenaof
sportskydiving.Theseengineers,whohappentobeworld‐classcompetitiveskydivers,reviewedcurrentsystem
designsandappliedsound
engineeringpracticestothem.Theresult:improvedoverallfunctionoftheVector3riser
covers,greaterpinprotection,betteroverallcomfortoftherigandtheimprovementtotheoperationoftheBooth3‐
ringreleasesystem.Consistentinnovatorsandperfectionists,RelativeWorkshop’sengineerscontinuetomake
improvementstothe
productionanddesignofproducts.Thisdeterminationtomakethemostcomfortableandsafest
skydivingsystemsintheworldhasresultedinyetanotherupdatetotheclassicVector3.InFebruaryof2002,the