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| Chase away the winter blues. Summer is coming and it is time to think about getting your boat ready for another season of fun. This photo was taken in Croatia showing the Ultra Sailing School’s Nautic 12. Many local sailors took their first step into big boat racing on this boat. Teacher and successful skipper Sandi Lulic does not hesitate in taking his students out in difficult winter races. As a result his students learn to enjoy heavy air instead of fearing it. |
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| UK-HALSEY RULES QUIZ PROGRAM AVAILABLE AGAIN |
 The UK-Halsey Rules Quiz program is once again available at the UK-Halsey online store. The quiz program is much more than the 25 quizzes that will eventually be posted on our web site. The program is a download (not a physical CD), which allows UK-Halsey to update the program often and allows users to receive the program without waiting for the mail to arrive. Updates will include new quizzes as they are developed, along with a library of exclusive material to help racing sailors called “The Lifted Tack,” which contains instructional and entertaining videos, commentary on the rules and tools to make you a better racer.
The animated format of the UK-Halsey rules quizzes is much easier to learn from than printed diagrams with arrows and numbers. In the quizzes you see boats slow down as they luff and speed up when the sails are trimmed in. Spinnakers are doused as boats round marks. Users can repeat the animations as many times as they want. The latest improvement allows users to modify the speed of the animations.
The quiz answers help sailors learn the rules because they follow the same sequence used on a protest form. After analyzing the animation, users go on to read the “Facts Found” followed by the “Conclusions and Rules That Apply”. In the text, each rule is hot linked so that rules can be called up on screen with a click of the mouse. The animations can be enlarged to full screen for easy viewing, or viewed along with the answer to the quiz – all on the same screen, no page flipping. This is truly the easiest way to learn the rules!
To get a sample of the animated quizzes, see them for free on the UK-Halsey web site by clicking here. The quizzes on the site are a stripped down version of what comes in the program download. See the picture above showing the difference between watching an animation in the small size on the web site as compared to full screen on your computer using the download.
The answers to the quizzes were re-written for the new rules by Rob Overton, a member of the rule writing committee. Needless to say, our answers reflect the greatest understanding of the rules. Don’t miss Rob’s frequent postings to the UK-Halsey Rules Blog.
The cost of the program is $55, $40 for owners of the Rules Quiz CD.
We also sell the program in a bundle with the two best books on the Racing Rules of Sailing: Dave Perry’s “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing 2009-2012” and Bryan Willis’ “The Rules in Practice, 2009-2012.” These two books teach the rules from complementary perspectives. Perry explains the rules in numerical order, while Willis shows common race course encounters and explains the rules that apply to each boat. We call this package the Ultimate Rules Bundle. The cost is $100, $85 for owners of the Rules Quiz CD.
To order, visit the UK-Halsey online store.
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| STORCK FAMILY DOMINATES J/80 FLEET AT KEY WEST |
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| Rumor sailing upwind with her new MatriX class jib |
John Stork, Jr., sailing with his son John and daughter Kaity, won the J/80 one-design class at Key West Race Week for the second year in a row. It does not hurt that both kids are college all-Americans. Rounding out the crew were Mandi Markee, a college All American crew and local Huntington sailor Dave Waldo. Last year Kaity drove the boat and this year it was the younger John’s turn. After the regatta, John Storck, III, said, “I don't need to explain to you that the fleet was slightly down. However, I did feel fast. The main is the same one that was new this time last year and seems to be holding up very well. The new jib was nice and fast especially in the higher wind ranges. It holds its shape better than all of the other jibs we have had. In the end, our belief is still very strong that you guys are making the best J/80 sails out there. Our chute was also the same one we used last year.” John Storck the father said, “Our upwind speed so good that we always had confidence that we could grind down anyone upwind.” The Storck’s just didn’t win, they won seven of the 10 races and had a second, third and fourth to round out their score line.
John Storck, Jr., also wanted to point out the therapeutic aspect of the sport. “For weeks I had been feeling down because of the economy and our business, but as soon as I hit the send button on the computer to enter Race Week, I felt great. From that point on I was thinking about sailing – ordering new jib, getting a condo lined up, etc. I mean it; I was feeling better immediately. Two weeks after the regatta I still feel great. Sailing is way better than going to a psychiatrist.”
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| NEW SAFETY AT SEA VIDEO POSTED: CREW RECOVERY METHODS |
The hardest part of recovering a crew member who has gone overboard can be getting the person back onto the boat. Only fully-crewed boats can attempt to pull a person up over the side by brute strength. You need to have other methods at your disposal. Our latest video is three minutes long and covers four different methods. Watch the video and then go out and practice while the boat is tied to the dock. Once you find a method that works best for your boat and crew, then try to practice while the boat is rocking and moving.
This video is one of nine Safety at Sea videos posted to the Learning Center of the UK-Halsey Sailmakers web site. Take some time and share them with your crew. You never know who might be in the water, and who might need to lead the rescue.
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A line led to a winch can be used to lift a person out of the water.
To view view video click on image |
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| ZAC SUNDERLAND ON TRACK TO BECOME YOUNGEST CIRCUMNAVIGATOR |
Zac Sunderland is more than halfway toward his goal of being the youngest circumnavigator on record. He left Los Angeles in June 2008 when he was 16-years-old on his rebuilt Islander 36 INTREPID, bought with his own savings. So far he has crossed the Pacific and the Indian Oceans and is just about to set off from Cape Town, South Africa,on his way to the Panama Canal. You can learn all about Zac and his trip and read his daily blog at: www.zacsunderland.com. UK-Halsey is a proud sponsor of Zac’s effort and is happy that he chose to make his record attempt using an inventory of UK-Halsey sails. The following is an article by Zac written just before sailing into Cape Town:
“It has been some 14,000 nautical miles beneath the keel of INTREPID and as I prepare to sail on around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Atlantic I find myself marveling at the amount of work the sails have done this far. My solo circumnavigation has not been without event, most of which has been written about on my blog.
UK-Halsey decided early on to sponsor me in my campaign. I had been looking for a good partnership with a sailmaker to provide the sails for my trip. I must say that I was very impressed with the new sails when they arrived. Oliver from UK-Halsey in Marina del Rey, Calif., was a pleasure to work with. Even when we put him under a serious time crunch, the team at UK-Halsey came through. I found that the performance of INTREPID had improved considerably with the new sails. Putting the sails up the first time, and I knew that my UK- Halsey sails were second to none and would go the distance.
Unfortunately my trip from Cocos Keeling to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean was not without some major calamity. Some 400 nautical miles from a small island called Rodriges, my forestay let go. I came on deck that night after feeling the motion of the boat change. I switched on the spreader lights and found my gennie 15 feet from the boat held by the furling line and the sheet. It looked like a spinnaker. As I looked at it I knew that I was in for one of those adrenalin-filled sleepless nights. The first thing I did was to grab the spinnaker halyard and fasten it to the bow for mast support. For four days I was is 30 knots of wind with 16 foot breaking seas as I tried to sort out this problem. But in the end, the sail shredded, the forestay broke inside the furler, my pulpit got mangled and I truly feared for my life as I worked on the bow. Finally on the fourth day I collapsed in my bunk too tired to move. I awoke some hours later to find that the conditions had subsided. I changed course for an unplanned stop at Rodregus Island where I could make some substantial repairs.
Dad was there to meet me in Mauritius and had already been in contact with UK-Halsey and yes they were already on it, ready to provide the much needed replacement genoa. There was no delay at all. The sail was made and shipped. Mauritius was a busy place for me. We needed a new forestay, new boom, welded the bow pulpit and installed a new roller furler among other things.
As I hoist the sails when leaving port I see the all too familiar logo on the sails and I smile to myself. Another ocean, another challenge and as bird stretches its wings before taking off I pull out the sails with the confidence knowing I have the very best in the business: UK-Halsey.”
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| J/24 ARAMID GENOA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM UNDERWAY |
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| UK-Halsey Houston is testing new aramid J/24 genoas throughout the winter so that customers will have the fastest sails possible this spring. The aramid MatriX genoa is on the boat to leeward and the Kevlar Tape-Drive genoa is on the windward boat. |
After the International J/24 Class Association voted to allow the use of aramid fibers in the construction of class genoas, UK-Halsey Houston started working on making their fast class genoa’s faster yet. Aramid is the generic name for yarns such as Dupont’s Kevlar. Since aramid yarns have very little stretch, existing sail designs that compensated for stretch need to be updated.
The first major event for which the new sails should be legal is the World Championship in March.
UK-Halsey Houston did its first two-boat testing using aramid sails made with UK-Halsey’s MatriX and Tape-Drive construction methods. The first round of testing was done at Corpus Christi, Texas, over a weekend in January. On the first day it blew 14-16 knots and on the second day it only blew 5-7 knots. This provided a good range of results. To ensure the veracity of our tests, both boats were tuned equally, drivers were switched and sails where switched from boat to boat. All combinations of boats, drivers and sails were tested to ensure accurate data. After all the testing, it was concluded without any doubt that the aramid sails were faster than the Pentex and Silver-Drive genoas in all the conditions. Sail designer and UK-Halsey Houston loft owner Pedro Gianotti said, “We liked both Kevlar sails very much, although the Tape-Drive Genoa set better for light breeze and the MatriX genoa looks very strong and powerful in heavy winds. We will continue testing other sails during the month of February. By building and testing different sails, we will make sure that customers are not treated a guinea pigs. They will have the fastest J/24 sails available.”
UK-Halsey Houston has been creating fast sails for the J/24 class for years; in fact, in 2008 two UK-powered boats finished in the top three of the competitive Texas Circuit. Special thanks to Stuart Lindow and his crew (second at the 2008 Texas circuit) for towing his boat from Houston to Corpus Christi and Doug Weakly and his crew (third at the 2008 Texas circuit). Also many thanks to David Herschap for providing his powerboat.
For more information about the J-24 sails contact http://www.uksailstexas.com/J-24.htm |
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| ARCHAMBAULT 40 ROUGHED ON THE WAY TO KEY WEST |
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CIAO sailing upwind with her MatriX upwind inventory. |
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Pictured above is the Archambault 40 CIAO sailing in the very competitive 13-boat IRC 2 class at Key West Race Week. CIAO was cursed at this event. The brand new boat was rushed late to Florida from France. As the boat was being trucked from New York to Florida she suffered damage to her cabin-top when the boat struck a bridge two days before the week started. After a massive effort – full story to be told later – the boat hit the race course but her owner lacked confidence in the repairs and did not push the boat hard. As a result CIAO finished 6th. A40s have been racing successfully in Europe for a couple of years under IRC, but CIAO is the first of her design to make it to the USA. Owner and importer Philippe Paturel expects great things from the boat. His last Archambault model, the A35, cleaned up just about every event she sailed in and won Sailing World Magazine’s award for Boat of the Year as Best Crossover Boat.
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| UK-HALSEY SPONSORS NORTHWEST PASSAGE EXPEDTION |
The Open Passage Expedition will be setting sail in June to combine a grueling sailing challenge with a serious look at how climate change is impacting people’s lives. The four-member team plans to sail through the Northwest Passage from west to east while researching and documenting changes to the peoples in Arctic communities.
While the crew is currently spread out around the globe, SILENT SOUND, the 40-foot expedition boat, is moored near Victoria, BC. UK-Halsey is making new sails for the boat.
“I race on the IOR boat AUTHORITY in Hong Kong, and we recently won our class at the China Cup International Regatta using UK-Halsey sails. This is a very different challenge, but the service and attention we got as a recreational racing boat convinced me that UK-Halsey would be the best sail partner for this expedition,” said Cameron Dueck, the expedition leader.
While the sailing aspect of the expedition will be enough to keep the crew busy, they have their heart set on accomplishing more than just the voyage itself. Dueck is a journalist and plans to write a book based on the journey and the stories he hears about how climate change is affecting Inuit culture, economics and lifestyle. He is also working with a filmmaker to produce a documentary.
The expedition has been self-financed to this point, but the team hopes to change that soon as it appeals to equipment manufacturers and corporate sponsors. In particular, the expedition is looking for a marine electronics company to support them. “It’s a tough market now, but with our media and journalism plans, we can offer sponsors some pretty good exposure,” Dueck said.
The expedition website (www.openpassageexpedition.com) features a blog, boat tracker and information on the journey. The team is in discussion with Discovery.com to partner with a new climate change project named Discovery Earth Live (http://dsc.discovery.com/guides/discovery-earth-live/discovery-earth-live.html). It is also working with schools in Hong Kong and Canada to build an education platform based on student interaction before, during, and after the expedition.
“Yes, this promises to be an epic voyage, but we’re also hoping to make it something that can be used to get the climate change story to more people in a way they can relate to,” Dueck said.
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| CLOSING SHOT |
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If you want to learn how to sail in heavy air, go out and practice sailing in heavy air. Above is a J/80 sailing off the southern coast of Spain in 30 knots of wind. They are proving west coast sled designer Bill Lee’s theory that, “ Fast is Fun.” |
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