UK-Halsey August 2004 Newsletter

The Mumm 30 THEOULE-MANDELIEU lead by Sylvain Chtounder led the first part of the Tour de France.
See final story below.

J/80 WORLDS SANDHAMN, SWEDEN

Kerry, Klingler, Robert Miller, Jay Lurie and Joshua Bone.

Peder Arvefors of Sweden, sailing SWE 200 OUTER SPACE, saved his best for last to win the 2004 J/80 Worlds in Sandhamn, Sweden. With an impressive 2, 2, 1 in the final three races, the OUTER SPACE team edged out former world champion, UK Sailmakers' Kerry Klingler, and 54 other teams to capture the 2004 title. This was the largest J/80 regatta to date and featured all three of the former world champions, Klingler (2001), Pascal Abignoli (2002) and Jay Lutz (2003).

For Kerry Klingler, VP of UK Sailmakers New York, this was a very tough regatta. "Our team of Jay Lurie, Joshua Bone, and Robert Miller, buckled down and put in an impressive effort for the regatta. Our goal was to be consistent and to avoid the big mistakes that cause a loss. This was the first worlds where I felt that 10 different teams were challengers and had a chance of winning. It amazed me to see top flight sailors like John Kolius, and Jay Lutz have dramatic swings in finishes. Up one race, down the next. Overall this was the hardest fought J/80 events ever."

"In the end it came down to two circumstances that cost us the regatta," said Kerry. "The first was a decision by the Jury to reinstate Peter Arvefors in the first race, when he was over the line early. This decision advanced Arvefors dramatically in the results. The second circumstance came in the last race. We were going into the windward mark on starboard tack in 8th place, just making the mark when a port tacker came through that we had to fall off dramatically to avoid hitting. After falling off we couldn’t make the mark and had to jibe around and find a hole to reapproach the mark. We ended up rounding the windward mark in 25th place. In essence that foul cost us a chance of winning the regatta."

Kerry Klingler uses top flight regattas to work on and develop new sails for the J/80 class. This regatta he experimented with a new main, jib and spinnaker. The spinnaker is a break through. "We consistently moved faster and passed boats downwind. The sail had to be worth 20 boats in the regatta," said Kerry. The main and jib designs were altered to give better light air speed. But with most of the regatta sailed in over 10 knots of wind, light air speed was not that great an advantage. Overall Kerry had good upwind speed, but he thinks the standard main and jib would have been faster in the regatta. It is important for UK Sailmakers to test developments in the highest level of competition; it is the only way we can find out if sail can perform. For UK Sailmakers it is well worth the expense to work on and develop the fastest sails in the class. At the Worlds there were only 2 boats using UK Sailmakers' sails. They ended up second and third -- not bad in a fleet of 56 boats.

Even though Kerry and his team finished second, he is still the dominate sailor in the class. In the last four world championships he has finished 1,2,4,2. No other team has had such consistent results over the last 4 years. Kerry pointed out that other J/80s with UK Sails are doing well; UK Sailmakers' customers won the 2004 North American Championship, as well as the 2004 Swedish Championship.

Kerry has been working on a more comprehensive tuning guide for the boat. "It's important to help our customers get more and better speed out of the boat, so I updated our tuning guide to reflect rig tension for each condition. We also experimented with the mast step a little farther forward. This should help our customers get more speed out of our sails," said Klingler. Click here for the latest tuning guide.

CORK WEEK DRAWS OVER 500 BOATS
FARR 52 CHERNIKEEFF A BIG WINNER

Cork Week, one of the biggest keel-boat regattas in the world, drew over 550 boats this year. The Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world, has figured out how to draw boats from around Europe for this biennial classic. Much of the regatta's draw has to do with the extreme limits placed on professional sailors, who are banned from all but the grand prix classes. Of the 25 classes, pros are limited to three classes -- the two IRM classes and IRC Class Zero.

Winning the big grand prix class (IRM Large) as well as the IMR overall, was the Farr 52 Cherikeeff, owned by Peter Harrison, backer of the GBR America's Cup challenge. They crushed their sistership, which finished fourth, nine-and-a-half points back. UK Sailmakers’ Tom McWilliam said, “We were quicker than them (the other Farr 52) and we sailed a better week than they did. Our UK sails worked great. The medium No. 1 was our only new sail and we used it in everything between 7 to 23 knots of breeze. Our trimmers are amazed that the sail hasn’t changed shape after so much hard use. In fact we used the main and same jib to win the IRM overall award at Cowes Week several weeks after Cork Week.”

Boats with UK Sailmakers’ sails won two other classes and came close in a handful of others. Congratulations to Graeme Scott and his crew for winning the 30-boat 1720 One-Design class. Scott’s boat KING QUICK won with a 15-point lead. In IRC 6, Anthony Gore-Grimes X-302 DUX topped the 40-boat class by half a point. Tom Brennan’s Corby 25 RESPECT finished third, a half point out of first after losing a tie breaker.

Thirty-nine boats raced in IRC Class 3, the MacCarthy brothers sailed their J/35 CHECKMATE to a tie for second. Unfortunately they lost the tie-breaker and were scored third. Another J/35, Bruce Douglas’s JACANA finished second in IRC 4, one point out of first in the 38-boat class. IRC 7 was another class where first through third was extremely tight. Anthony Dodd’s cold-molded 1/4 Tonner PURPLE HAZE tied for second, one point out of first and ended up third – 12 points ahead of the next boat. In the Impala 28 one-design class, UK customers were second and third.

WITH UK SAILS, YOU DON’T NEED A CREW TO WIN UK CUSTOMERS WIN SINGLE AND DOUBLE HANDED TRANSPACS
Shorthanded Winners. Left to right: Synthia Petroka, Sylvia Seaberg and Phil MacFarlane.	This summer was very successful for some of our shorthanded sailors using UK Sailmakers' sails. Phil Macfarlane, racing his Ericson 35-2 TM SAIL A VIE won the Singlehanded TransPac from San Francisco to Kauai, Hawaii, with his Carbon Tape-Drive sails, which used a polyester laminate. Phil has a complete set of sails: triple reefed main, 155%, 125%, 100% and had already put a full season of ocean racing on them before he won the 2000 mile run to Hawaii. Talk about durability and performance! MacFarlane, an electrical contractor, not only finished first in his seven-boat class, but he corrected to first overall in the 21-boat fleet. He saved his time on an Open 60, Hunter 54, J/120 and many other boats that owed him time. Being a slower boat helped him figure out how to attack the 2120-mile because, "You get to watch the guys out in front and see what's not working," said MacFarlane. Ryan Finn, of UK New Orleans, sailed his J/90 in Class II of the Singlehanded Transpac. This was his first time doing the race, which he set his sites on doing while recovering from lymphoma. He used the race to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Even though he finished last in his class (because he sailed too far south looking for wind), he had the third fastest rate through the water, averaging 7.7 knots for 2503 miles. Ryan said that his Tape-Drive main held up great. He picked Tape-Drive for its durability. . "Sailing singlehanded you beat the crap out of your sails since there isn't anyone else to help you fold them or reef them. IN THE WEST MARINE PACIFIC CUP, the Hawkfarm 28 EYRIE sailed by Sylvia Seaberg and Synthia Petroka won the double-handed division. This 2070-mile race went from San Francisco to Oahu, Hawaii. Synthia represents the UK San Francisco loft and had outfitted EYRIE with a UK No. 2 and a triple reefed Dacron main. Sylvia and Synthia were the last boat to finish, but they correct to first in their 9-boat class by over 11 hours -- the largest margin of victory in the seven classes. On corrected time, the girls actually corrected over MARI-CHA IV, the 140-foot canting-keeled, water-ballasted ketch, by 25 minutes. MARI-CHA set a new elapsed time record for the race of 5 days 5 hours 38 minutes 10 seconds, and the first double-handed women's entry "spanked" two dozen men on a 140-foot record smasher.
The sails for Phil MacFarlane's Ericson 35 are made with a polyester laminate and carbon fiber reinforced tapes. They provide great shape-holding at a reasonable cost for boats 35-feet and under.
A shot taken during the race of EYRIE's dacron main and UK No. 2 genoa.

CRUISING FROM ACAPULCO MEXICO TO CADIZ SPAIN

Rocio and Rafael Ambrosi relaxing on EL PICON during cocktail hour at sea.

EL PICON under her spread of sails made by UK Sailmakers. We designed an inventory to be strong enough for ocean crossings as well as having the performance to move the 50-ton, 75-foot ketch in light air.

Rafael Ambrosi, a customer of UK Sailmakers Southern California, just finished sailing from Acapulco, Mexico, to Cadiz, Spain. In September 2003 Rafael bought EL PICON, a heavy 75-foot cruising boat and then spent the next six months getting the boat ready for the trip. UK Sailmakers built a complete set of new sails: main, mizzen and furling genoa (all Spectra Tape-Drives) and asymmetric nylon cruising spinnaker.

On April 28th the trip started from Acapulco to the Panama Canal. From the Canal they sailed in the Caribbean stopping several times before ending up in Miami where EL PICON spent 10 days getting ready for the Atlantic crossing, which was done in three parts: Miami – Bermuda 800 miles; 1800 miles to the Azores, and finally 1080 miles to Cadiz.

At the end of July they arrived to Cadiz. After three months of ocean sailing, Rafael is surprised with his boat’s performance -- especially considering her 50-ton displacement. The sails are doing a very good job and still practically new.

Now they will stay in Cadiz to get the boat ready for Mediterranean cruising, which Rafael will do with just his wife and daughter. They plan to sail short legs only at day and stop every night at different harbors.

NEW TRANSPAC 52 MAKES HER DEBUT

Fred Detwiler's new Transpac 52 TRADER competed in her first race on Sunday of the Harbor Springs regatta. TRADER arrived at Torresen Marine in Muskegon, Mich., one week before the Chicago-Mackinac Race and was completed in time to arrive in Harbor Springs on Friday. Fred and his crew tuned the rig Saturday morning in 20 knots of wind. The wind began to build shortly before the start of the Turbo Class and Fred decided it just was not smart to race a boat that had only been sailing for 45 minutes in 25 knots of breeze. This turned out to be a good decision. About an hour into TRADER's sea trials, the Vectron steering lines had stretched to the point that they were coming off the quadrant. Losing steering going 20 knots downwind would not have been good. We took TRADER back to the dock and re-tensioned the steering, headstay, backstay and outhaul. With the re-tensioning of the stressed line along with minor adjustments to the jib tack downhall and jib lead adjusters we were ready to sail again.

Sunday was a much nicer day for TRADER's first race. The wind was blowing nine knots out of the west. Trader showed good speed on the first upwind leg. At the end of a two mile beat, TRADER rounded the top mark in second place fifty yards behind BRITE STAR and one boat length ahead of ROSEBUD. ROSEBUD passed TRADER due to a poor set. Once TRADER's .6 oz. asymmetrical was filled, we had excellent speed. We rolled ROSEBUD and built a 75-yard lead by the end of a two-mile run. TRADER rounded the downwind mark three boatlengths behind BRITE STAR and 75 yards ahead of ROSEBUD. Up the next beat, BRITE STAR covered TRADER closely and rounded the upwind mark several boat lengths ahead of TRADER and ROSEBUD. All three boats arrived at the next downwind mark overlapped. ( GREAT RACING !!! ) TRADER had a problem with one of her halyard locks and had to sail past the mark and ended up finishing behind BRITE STAR and ROSEBUD.

Needless to say Fred Detwiler was ecstatic about his new boat and the sails. For pictures of the sailing in Harbor Springs and a look at the computer simulation of TRADER's sails go to http://www.intercreate.com/trader/. There is a great shot of the Code 2 all blue Asymmetrical. This sail is very big for a 52 foot boat and proved to be quite fast in comparison to the other TP 52's. Click on "Sail Studies" for the pressure distribution and structural analysis pictures. Click on "First Sail" for some nice shots of TRADER in her first race.

OTHER HARBOR SPRINGS RESULTS
Congratulations to Don Harthorn and the crew of SNAKE OIL for winning the Harbor Springs J/105 one design class. In the J/120 one-design class the top five boats all carried UK Sails. Congratulations to MERLIN, HOT TICKET, JAY HAWKER, CARINTHIA and NIGHT MOVES. All five boats sailed an excellent series.

For a long time we have believed that UK Sailmakers is building the fastest Asymmetricals. TRADER's excellent downwind speed along with victories in the J/105 and J/120 class are further evidence that our Asymmerticals are fast.

KATIVA WINS IN REGATTA DEL SOL

The J/160 KATIVA has followed up last year's dominating win in the Charleston to Bermuda race with another victory in the Regatta al Sol, Class A. Regatta del Sol is a biennial race from Pensacola, Fla., to Isla Majeres, Mexico (Yucatan). In addition to winning Class A, KATIVA was first to finish in the Racing Fleet.

Owner Mike Finn is steadily replacing his sail inventory with UK sails. He currently races with a Platinum-Drive main, Diamond-Drive No. 1 Genoa, and UK spinnaker (runner). Mike reports that after two years, his Platinum-Drive mainsail has retained its ideal power producing shape like the day it was new. Mike said "I'll never go back to tri-radial sails; they just don't hold up, especially on sails this big. Tri-radial sails stretch out of shape and have to be replaced to remain competitive. I've been impressed with the way Tape-Drive sails hold their shape."

SPARKMAN & STEVENS 75TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION:
UK TEXAS’S JUAN MAURI REFLECTS

Dan Gregorie's ODDER sailing upwind with her new Passagemaker Genoa at the Castine Classic Yacht Race. UK Sailmakers Texas re-built the classic ketch's whole inventory.

To have a sailboat design company celebrating it 75th. anniversary is quite an achievement. To have its founder sailing and driving on one of their boats was an extraordinary experience.

When I got the phone call from my customer and friend Dan Gregorie ordering the sails for a classic wooden boat built in 1931, I thought it was kind of a joke. As the conversation went on, I found out that he was bringing back to life an old yawl and wanted to have it ready for the Castine Classic Yacht Race that would be running in conjunction with the Maine portion of the S&S 75th Anniversary celebration.

I was lucky to be part of the ODDER's crew; even though we didn't win the classic yacht race it was and amazing just to participate. A lot of sailing history was represented in teak, vanish and bronze. These classics seem more like works of art than the fiberglass boats I’m used to sailing.

The Sparkman and Stevens celebration started with a sailboat designers’ symposium, led by Olin Stephens and included German Frers, Doug Peterson, Dave Pedrick and others, who discussed the America’s Cup, a new international rating rule and the future of yacht design. The next morning crews from the classic boats were invited to come aboard the other boats in the fleet. Within a few steps you could go back in history visiting the 12-Meter Valiant, several examples of the New York 32 one-design, and others.

That afternoon a couple of races were held, which included an interesting match race between the 36-foot STORMY, with Olin Stephens at the helm, and the new S&S-designed Morris 36. STORMY led until she sailed into a hole. While others were racing, we took some time to practice with the new sails. While playing with the rig's tuning, we learned that the massive rake of our wooden spars (schooner style) was necessary to balance the helm.

The next morning almost 50 classic wooden boats met on the starting line and headed up Penobscot Bay to Camden, Maine; this was the first race I ever sailed in where winning was not important. The race was more of a parade where the participants were also the spectators. It was a time to sit back, relax and admire the boats and the vision of a designer and a sailor who was born before 96 years ago -- and officially retired before I started sailing. For the last 37 years he has been on the water enjoying the wind, the ocean, the pleasure of sailing.

TOUR DE FRANCE WRAP UP

After leading Tour de France for a week and scoring among the top three boats for the first half of Tour de France (15 of the 30 days), the UK Sailmakers sponsored Mumm 30 finished 6th overall.
THEOULE-MANDELIEU (pictured at the top of the newsletter) took a hard hit before La Rochelle and suffered structural damage. The boat was briefly repaired but lost speed. Despite a second place finish in the mostly reaching offshore race to Marseille, the UK France Mumm 30 skippered by Sylvain Chtounder had lost its bite.

Don't forget to visit the UK Sailmakers store for UK logo gear and two top notch instructional videos. The first is our 17-minute instructional video "The Cruising Spinnaker A-Z." The movie is a true "A-Z" treatment because it teaches more than just how to jibe and trim the cruising spinnaker. Viewers learn handy tips on how two people can hoist and douse the cruising spinnaker, what kind of sheets work best, what equipment is needed to use the sail, how to enlist the help of the wind in moving the sail across the boat during jibes, how to pack the sail into its bag so that it will launch easily, what to look for when adjusting the height of the tack, and much, much more.

"Break The Mold" Tee Shirt
These 100 percent cotton Haines Beefy Tees are the most comfortable and long lasting tee-shirt you can buy. The shirt's message tells the competition that you can think outside the box. Cost $10. Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large Visit the Store.

Sailors can buy "The Cruising Spinnaker A-Z" on DVD or VHS cassette for $35 or buy it on CD ROM for $20. (shipping within the U.S.A. included for all three formats.) Visit the Store.

Our animated Real Time Racing Rules Quiz CD has been called "the best way to learn the racing rules of sailing". Check out the quizzes for free by clicking on this link. The CD offers more features, which can't be streamed on the web, that make the learning experience even better. (Which can't be streamed on the web)