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A Sun Fast 52 blasting across the Mediterranean with Tape-Drive sails made by UK France.
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UK SAILMAKERS ADDS TWO NEW LOFTS IN EUROPE |
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UK France Atlantic
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| Shown is an 80 foot cruising catamaran with sails made by Christophe Tonnerre |
This shows just one part of UK France Atlantic's large loft |
Since the first of the year, UK Sailmakers has grown much stronger in Europe. In France, Voile Tonnerre has joined the UK group and is now UK France Atlantic. Voile Tonnerre started in business in 1934 and is a large shop on the southern coast of Brittany in the city of Lorient. The business employs 26 people who cover sailmaking, rigging, canvas and also includes a chandlery. They have a strong reputation for making top sails for 40-80 foot cruising boats, classic gaff-rigged boats, square riggers and modern mini transAt racers.
Loft owner Christophe Tonnerre plans to work closely with Alain Janet’s UK loft on the Mediterranean, which produces fast racing sails.
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Davorin Righi
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UK Croatia
On the Adriatic, Righi Sails has become UK Sailmakers Croatia in the growing sailing center.
Our new loft in Split, Croatia, is run by Davorin Righi -- a third generation sailor who has been a sailmaker for two decades. His loft suffered greatly during the war in the Balkans in the 1990s, but he survived by doing all kinds of jobs including canon covers and repairing sails with shrapnel damage! By 2000 the war was over and the foreign cruising boats started coming back to the Croatian coast’s natural beauty, many islands and mild Mediterranean climate. |
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ORDER THE NEW RULES QUIZ CD |
Every
four years, the International Sailing Federation updates
the Racing Rules of Sailing, which results in sailors
scrambling to seminars, books and instructional videos
to learn the “new rules”. The updated rules
took effect Jan. 1, 2005. As a result, we are updating
the Real Time Racing Rules Quiz CD and the animated
quizzes on our web site. Since the new CD will not be
ready for another month, we are making a special offer
to those who buy the current version of the CD. Buy
the current version for $40 plus $5 shipping and handling
and we will send you the new version for free when it’s
completed. Along with the new rules, the updated CD
will have three new quizzes, will include all the appendices,
will include the US Appeals and International Cases,
will have improved graphics and an easier to use interface.
A final improvement will be an automatic updating feature
that will add new quizzes to your CD once they are posted
on our web site. To purchase the Rules Quiz CD click
here. To view the 16 existing quizzes online, click
here.
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RULES QUIZ 17 NOW AVAILABLE |
 Click on the link to play the movie for our latest rules quiz. This quiz reflects the new rules and showcases the upgraded graphics that we are using. Quiz 17 and two more new quizzes will be on the new version of the Real Time Racing Rules Quiz CD. |
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MARTEN
49 TUNING UP |
Marten
Marine in New Zealand teamed up with Reichel-Pugh to
build this
fast comfortable racer-cruiser to compete under the
IRC rule.
According Jamie Collins of UK Hamble, "The Marten
49 is a fantastic
looking boat with performance to match her looks. It’s
great going
upwind as you know that the further you go up the track
the longer the
ride will be when you turn the corner! The kites are
huge and very
powerful. With her keel down she is stable and comfortable
down wind, even in 30+ knots. Easily handled by a crew of five,
she is a pleasure to sail. The UK sails are great
and complete this stylish boat, which will make a massive
impact on the race course and the cruising circuit." |
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Juan
Mauri of UK Texas wins J/24 Peruvian Nationals |
 “All the sail testing that we did paid off when we realized how fast and high we were upwind,” Juan commented after winning the 2004 J-24 Peruvian Nationals. Sailed in the beautiful waters and scenery of La Punta in Lima, Peru, this regatta was highly competitive with five of the seven races won by different boats. Four past national champions loaded with young talent (Peru has several Optimist Team Racing world champions) participated.
The first couple of races showed that the ability to change gears was just as important as raw speed. Winds were shifty and several commercial boats were going by very close throwing up big waves.
UK Texas’ sail designer Pedro Gianotti and Juan made several changes to the 2004 sail designs and they paid off. Not only with the Peruvian Nationals, but Erminio Di Lodovico won the Puerto Azul Sailing Festival with the same sails. Erminio and his trimmer Rodrigo Favela said, “It’s amazing how easy it is a trim the genoa for speed and how a click on the mainsheet makes a huge difference in pointing. Pointing is hugely important in this class where you need to hold on in the narrow lanes in the big fleets.” |
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CLUB 420 SAILS AVAILABLE FROM UK SAILMAKERS |
Even though the Club 420 Class only allows one sailmaker to provide
sails for championship regattas, UK Sailmakers provides top quality
sails for sailing teams and junior programs at a great savings compared
to the class approved sails. UK Sailmakers makes these sails at our
loft in Houston, Texas, by sailors with decades of one-design
experience. When you are looking for quality sails without blowing your
club's budget, contact Pedro Gianotti. For a tuning guide, pricing and
sail details go to: www.ukhalsey.com/onedesign |
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DAILY SAILING NEWS |
 In between issues of the UK Sailmakers Newsletter, you can get your daily fix of sailing news from Scuttlebutt, an e-newsletter providing the latest in major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
Distributed each weekday either by email subscription or posted on their website, this free publication has been providing the ‘buttheads’ with sailing updates since 1998. Founded by former Sailing World editor Tom Leweck, aka ‘The Curmudgeon’, Scuttlebutt has changed the way sailing enthusiasts can stay in touch with their sport.
In addition to the newsletter, look for the website to also host all the back issues in addition to photo galleries, a comprehensive event calendar, a classified ads section, special features, trivia and games. The website also provides complimentary memberships to the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club, a fully accredited club member of US Sailing.
To subscribe, go to http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com |
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