Fashion played its part by grabbing the attention of those with money and soon we saw powerboat dashboards, cockpit tables and boarding ladders all sporting that distinctive carbon fibre weave.

Mind you, boarding ladders were always so heavy and unwieldy that carbon fibre was a very natural progression for those who have to use them frequently.

At present it seems the price disadvantage of carbon fibre is still so great that further progression into the more mundane bits of deck equipment will have to wait. Unless, of course, you are in the Ellison and Bertarelli league, where carbon fibre winch drums and rope clutches are commonplace. To them, the odd carbon winch handle going over the side means little...

But, just as carbon spars and rigs are now becoming more prevalent, it won't be long before deck equipment companies begin to use it more. And the price of carbon is getting better and more stable.

According to SP Gurit's Rudy Jurg: "Two years ago carbon went up massively, but over the past 12 months it's stabilised and we see it being pretty stable for the forseeable future," he told BB.

But Mr Jurg points out the price of carbon is affected by factors other than the price of oil and exchange rates. Worldwide demand plays a large part and, in turn, the aerospace and alternative power industries can have a huge effect. "The aerospace programmes for Boeing and Airbus are severely delayed, so the demand is not as strong as forecast," he told us.

But what has taken off in a major way, says Mr Jurg, is wind energy. "Those blades are becoming so big - now 50 or 60 metres - and they're switching from glass to carbon, and certain components in the blades are now carbon. And the quantities are now enormous."

SP makes heavyweight UD carbon fibre in phenomenal quantities for these blades.

The move to carbon for deck equipment may well be prompted by the demands of owners for boats with all the modern conveniences on board. A lot of production boatbuilders are now offering the option of carbon fibre rigs. One of the reasons for this is boats are becoming heavier because owners now want all the extra equipment on board to give them the comfort of home while afloat.

Washing machines, air conditioning, DVD players and fridges all add lots of weight, so builders need to use lighter components to keep the overall weight of the boat down.

"Hanse Yachts want to build performance boats, but they also want performance boats that have lots of equipment," said Mr Jurg. All Hanse boats over 40ft are now built in composite, as are Dehler and Najad, to keep the overall weight down.

Deck hardware will be under the same pressure to reduce weight, so we'll be seeing more products in carbon.

Against a move to carbon is the need for specialised equipment and specialised knowledge to work the materials. The DIY man may have been a dab hand with a pop riveter on an aluminium spar, but working on a carbon spar may take rather more specialist knowledge.

That doesn't mean he can't use some exotic composites for small work. SP Gurit offers small packs of epoxy composites that are, says Mr Jurg, ideal for high load small components and small repairs.

But one thing is certain - the carbon element in boats is rapidly expanding. Mr Jurg says the market for carbon spars is now around US$100m a year and growing.

Standing rigging is another area that has seen flourishing use of exotic materials, so much so that Mike Orange, technical director of Ocean Yacht Systems (OYS) reckons every superyacht will be rigged with composite rigging within five years.

OK, but what about the everyday weekend sailor?

"As more PBO is made so it will become cheaper and composite rigging will become more realistic for smaller boats," he said, but added: "Composite rigging is still a hi-tech product that requires greater levels of care and inspection than, say wire, but we are learning that it is not as vulnerable as more historical data is gathered."

But does that mean textile rigging has a role to play for those with smaller boats, from 12 to 18m?

"Apart from turbo’ing them up as they start to do a little racing, composite rigging can be seen to have many non-racing benefits for cruising yachts," Mr Orange said.

Weight aloft is the obvious starting point, he added, as we can save up to 80% of rigging weight. For good measure, Mr Orange pushed the point that it's far cheaper and easier to replace metallic rigging with composite rigging than it is to replace an aluminium or wooden mast with a carbon one to reduce weight aloft.

"Reducing weight aloft can lead to performance gains and comfort advantages," he said. "The performance gains come from the boat being able to utilise wind power instead of the boat tipping over from mast weight. Another improvement comes from reducing pitching and rolling motion in waves, which otherwise slow the boat. Higher boat speeds and ability to carry larger sail areas are results."

The crew will find the motion of the boat will be less violent and generally give a more comfortable ride. "Even when the boat is at anchor, the boat will noticeably rock and pitch less," he said.

So will there be additional costs when an owner replaces his existing rigging with PBO? No, says Mr Orange. "The OYS PBO range is designed to be completely interchangeable with an existing rigging system. No special tooling or hardware is required."

But even if replacing the rigging is cheaper than going to a carbon spar, is PBO too expensive a luxury for the majority of boats? "While the fibre is relatively expensive in itself, the overall product is not as costly as sometimes perceived," says Mr Orange. "Alternative processes such as continuous sling wound PBO stays require huge amounts of material and labour that greatly inflate the end cost, but our unique production methods reduce manufacturing time allowing greater cost savings to be passed onto the end user."