UK Sailmakers June, 2003

ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK
UK CUSTOMERS WIN TWO TOUGH CLASSES

For those looking for great breeze, tons of sun, warm clear water and ocean swells, to say nothing about a week of great parties, Antigua Sailing Week is hard to beat. Racing conditions this year were moderate -- 16-23 knots with six foot ocean swells. Planing off those swells was Antiguan Melges 24 HUEY skippered by Bernie Evan-Wong, which topped the racing sport boat class by two points. HUEY scooped up a pile of trophies for the win: First in Racing Sport Boat Class, Best Caribbean Yacht, Best Antiguan Yacht in Division A, plus a first in the International Team Prize. Said Bernie, "Our UK sails worked well for us."

In Racing Class III, Carlo Falcone's 20-year-old CACCIA ALLA VOLPE(pictured to right), won by eight points over a tight class of fifteen 40-footers. Falcone, an Italian citizen who has been living in Antigua for years, is a veteran of the Caribbean racing circuit. This was his first event after purchasing five sails from UK Sailmakers and his boat was much faster after replacing her North sails. Third place went to IRISH INTUITION that had a partial Tape-Drive inventory.




Above is of John Staff's Cheetah 30 WILDCAT, which finished first in the ULDB A division of the 461-boat fleet that sailed this year's Newport to Ensenada race. WILDCAT bested a fleet of 21 that included the ULDB maxis like the new course monohull record holder, PYEWACKET. Below are the names of other UK Sailmakers' customers who finished in the silver of this 125-mile downwind race from southern California to northern Mexico.

Results from the 2003 Newport to Ensenada Race
Place Class Name Boat type Owner
1st ULDB A Wildcat Cheetah 30 John Staff
1st ULDB C Firebird** Nelson Marek 56 Greg Sands
1st PHRF A Chicken Little** Santa Cruz 50T Bruce Anderson
1st PHRF B Matador** Aerodyne 38 Craig Harmening
1st* PHRF G Between the Sheets Jeanneau 52.2 Ross Pearlman
1st PHRF I Peresphone** Cal 40 Dennis Conner
1st PHRF J Golden Skye Custom 63’ Ketch Richard Mulvania
3rd PHRF L Sojourn** Catalina 30 Cleve Hardaker
3rd ULDB A Ghost II Farr 395 Al Berg
4th PHRF A Stealth Chicken Perry 56 Tim Beatty
5th J-120 Sneakers J-120 Dave Gibbs
*4TH PHRF Overall
** partial inventory
      
BELL LAWRIE SCOTTISH SERIES
 UK Customers Clean House

LOCH FYNE, Scotland, May 23-27 -- "We absolutely creamed the regatta with UK Sailmakers' sails," writes John Brinkers of UK Sails in Hamble who steered the eight year old Corby 40 CRACKLIN ROSIE to first place in the Blue Riband division at the Bell Lawrie Scottish Series.

CRACKLIN ROSIE had the new UK genoa shown below. Brinkers said, "We had great height and speed with the sail, it looked really good." Unfortunately, the boat's owner Roy Dickson was not aboard for the five-point victory over the second place Swan 45.

Using her 0.75 oz. asymmetric , CRACKLIN ROSIE proved as fast and as deep as her near-sister with symmetric spinnakers from another sailmaker.

"Having finished runner up in both of the last two years' 1720 class at the Scottish Series, Ruairidh Scott and his crew finally completed the fairytale win so wanted by his local villagers who have played host to the regatta for the last 27 years. Scott, steering KING QUICK - not only won the 20-boat class but was awarded the overall Series Trophy, the top award for the 202 boat annual regatta," reported Andi Robertson on the ISAF web site. Full story at: www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=4583

KING QUICK has a full inventory of UK Sailmakers sails.

In IRC Class 2 Chris Bonar's BH 36 BATELEUR 97 repeated its 1997 series win using three-year-old Tape-Drives and spinnakers.

Full results at http://www.hyc.ie/news/newsview.asp?newsid=180
UK Update

FARR 395 UK MAINSAIL for Roger and Judy Widmann's QUINTESSENCE. This is the second generation main for the boat, which recently won first in class and first in fleet in Larchmont Yacht Club's Edlu Race. The Kevlar UK main weighs 20% less (while still being class legal) than the Kevlar Tape-Drive sail it replaced. "The new main is not only lighter than the old main, but it has a flawlessly smooth finish and looks like it will hold its shape over a broader wind range," said Widmann.

SANTA CRUZ 70 UK MAINSAIL made for Allan Fletcher's COLT 45. According to UK Detroit's Al Declercq, "The sail is stunning. This sail has an oversized roach with a MGU of 42%. We can't wait to go racing with it. A couple of days later I went sailing on Bill McKinley's Nelson/Marek 70. We made Bill three new asymmetrical spinnakers and a conventional spinnaker. All three sails looked great; McKinley and the crew were very impressed."
2003 DETROIT NOOD
Congratulations to our customers for another terrific performance in this year's Detroit NOOD Regatta. Highlights of the regatta include Jim & Cynthia Best's strong showing in the J-105 class. PHANTOM won convincingly in a very tough class. Continuing with sprit boats, Bob Kirkman won the J-120 class. Bob's new UK main helped HOT TICKET win three of the five races. In the J-35 class, FALCON and BERNOULLI finished first and second. The word on the dock was that every boat in the class with the UK Tape-Drive Number One genoas were simply faster than the boats using our competitors' genoas. The regatta's strongest performance was turned in by Marc Hollerbach and the crew of MANDALAY. Marc won the NA-40 with five first place finishes. Great job Marc!!!
C&C 35
Contender Gary Graham 3rd
 CAL 25
Stormalong Bob Orr 2nd
Holme Brew David Holme 3rd		 CRESCENT
Utopia David Hume 2nd
Zoomer Diane Janeski 3rd
     
EXPRESS 27
Das Boot Harald Kolter 3rd		 J-105
Phantom Jim & Cynthia Best 1st		 J-120
Hot Ticket Bob Kirkman 1st
     
LEVEL 123
BenJammin Jim Rapelje 3rd		 LEVEL 141
Freedom Nat Towle 3rd		 J-35
Falcon Ed Bayer/Mike Welch 1st
Bermoulli Mike Elliot 2nd
     
NA 40
Mandalay Marc Hollerbach 1st
Velero VI John Barbour 2nd
Kemosabe Steve Steckert 3rd		 GRAND PRIX
Burden IV Burt Jones 3rd		 WARHORSE
Hellion Dane Christy 1st
Bushwacker Gerry Anderson 2nd
Pendragon Greg Thomas 3rd
     
  ULTIMATE 20
Super Toy Gary Shoemaker 3rd 		 

SOLING SAILING CLASS PRES WINS WITH NEW UK JIB

MILWAUKEE, WISCONISN, June 6, 2003 -- The 2003 McNulty was won by US Soling Class President John Kennedy (USA818). Sailing with son Brendan and god-son Rorke Miller, Kennedy topped the 12 boat fleet with both smart tactics and impressive boat speed.

Sporting a new UK Sailmakers light air jib, made by Pedro Gianotti (ARG 33) from UK's Houston loft, Kennedy appeared to have little trouble with the 5-10 knot oscillating breeze (sometimes persistent) and 1 foot chop that dominated much of Saturdays racing.

In an e-mail to UK's Pedro Gianotti, Kennedy wrote: " I won the McNulty and owe a lot to your jib - I recommended it a lot. We found that keeping the sheet tight in fast conditions and playing the sheet to keep the top telltales streaming worked great - in chop, we eased the halyard and the sheet a bit for punch. BTW - how much for a main?

UK CUSTOMERS CLEAN UP IN STC'S AROUND BLOCK ISLAND RACE

John Santa's Swan 46 GALADRIEL cleaned up in the 180-mile Around Block Island Race sailed Memorial Day weekend. He won his PHRF division, the overall PHRF fleet award, as well as the prize for the boat that has won her class and in the judgment of the Race Committee has turned in the best performance in the 52-boat IMS and PHRF fleets.

Santa's boat has a partial inventory of UK Sailmakers's sails, but in this race they played only a small part. Nevertheless, congratulations to John and his crew for their stand out performances in offshore and inshore events over the last two years. Some of the boat's standout results include winning their division in the 2002 Newport-Bermuda race and 2002 Stamford-Vineyard race, as well as winning the small boat division in the 2001 Swan Atlantic Regatta.

Finishing second in Class 6 behind GALADRIEL was Huguenot Yacht Club's Joe Colella sailing his Beneteau 42s7 CONCETTA. This is the second year in row that CONCETTA has finished second in class and 10th in fleet in this spring classic.

Joe was extremely happy with his Platinum-Drive performance cruising sails. His fully battened main and Passagemaker roller/furling No. 1 genoa are made with a Spectra laminate base fabric and carbon fiber tapes. "The sails are everything I wanted. I needed sails for the handful of big races I do each year, Thursday night racing and cruising. The Spectra sails with carbon tapes do it all.

The first half of the Block Island race was a long beat and the wind built from the 8-10 at the start to 20 knots. "As we got over powered with the No. 1 up we moved the leads back on the genoa to depower and get the boat back on her feet. That worked for a while, but with about an hour before we rounded the north side of the island we were thinking about changing to the No. 3 because we were heeling too much again. But we were going so fast with the Tape-Drive sail that we decided to reef it down instead. The foam luff worked great and the boat got back on her feet enough that we didn't lose speed. As we reached down the East side of Block Island, we unrolled the genoa and went to an outboard lead. We were glad that we didn't change to the No. 3 earlier."

About his sails, Joe commented that his boat came with a competitor's load-path sails that he watched disintegrate with light use. On the other hand he said, "Two years later my Tape-Drive sails still look brand new. The main is great. The main is the toughest sail to get right, but the most important for my boat since it's a big fractional rig. I get compliments from other sailors on other boats on how great the main looks -- even in its second year."

VINTAGE TAPE-DRIVE SAILS POWER TEAM NEPENTHE
TO STRAFORD SHOALS WIN

Editor's Note: Lynn and Larry Rouen's Dawn 41 NEPENTHE won the non-spinnaker division in the New York Athletic Club Yacht Club's Stratford Shoal Race. On the 32-mile course, NEPENTHE corrected over the 2nd place GRACHOUS, a LaCoste 42 by 10 minutes and over the 3rd place CHARLIE V, a J/44 by 23 minutes.

PELHAM, NY -- May 10: With Mother's Day the next day, some of the crew promised their wives that they would get home from this distance race early; but glassy conditions at the starting line made the prospects for marital bliss shaky at best!

Division I, (non-spinnaker), crossed the starting line at noon. . . sort of; the adverse current was a bit stronger than the 0 to 2 knot variable easterly and yachts ended up pointing in many different directions. Not too auspicious for a 32-mile distance race. The course was 16 miles east to Cable and Anchor Reef and then back.

Sail selection was not too complicated since our choice is somewhat limited. Our new sails are a fully battened main and a 143% roller/furling Passagemaker II genoa -- both Spectra Tape-Drives with Kevlar tapes. (I was recently reminded that our ‘new’ sails are eight years old. My how time does fly when you’re having fun sailing.)

The sail that we chose was the light No. 1 Tape-Drive from 1986 when the boat was built. After all, what are the chances of having to sail close to the wind for very long in a race with only one predetermined mark. Before we got too far, the wind veered to the southeast and we were able to stay pretty close to the center of the Sound without any further tacking. With light air out of the WSW and the current still against us, it felt mighty slow. We had a few kids on board who are new to sailing and one of them repeatedly asked “how fast are we going now?” I figured out that that question is a great racing substitute for “are we there yet”!

We continued working our way toward Cable and Anchor, but it often seemed as though the mark was gaining on us. Whenever we saw a dark patch of water within reach, we altered course to fetch it in hope that it was not a mirage. Eventually, the response to “how fast are we going,” was getting progressively faster. When we rounded Cable & Anchor, we were not too far behind CHARLIE V and GRACHOUS, and they both owed us time -- in fact the J/44 owed us 84 seconds a mile. It blew 12 to 22 apparent on the way back and we only had to tack a few times. In respect for our vintage sail’s delicate condition we probably should have considered changing to the more robust 143% genoa, but the crew had little experience with sail changes. Unbelievably, the old sail survived -- including a very late release on one tack. Even more amazingly, we crossed the line ahead of GRACHOUS and saved our time on CHARLIE V.

What a day! We finished at 8:19 PM and not one person on board cared what the definition of “early” was. Not only did we win and save our marital relations, but this year the race had been dedicated to an old friend as the “Henry E. Abbott Memorial.” We enjoyed winning one for Hank.

Tuning Tips
When looking over your boat for a new racing season, try to make sailing easier and faster, Kerry Klingler of UK Sailmakers in New York offers nine simple details that make a difference.

Above is Rahmi Koc's 1925 Willima Fife III designed 12-Meter sailing after an extensive two-year restoration. Koc plans to keep the boat at his Maritime Museum and to use it to start a classic yacht regatta in Turkey. UK Sailmakers made the sails in a classic manner where all the rings were handworked in. Beige dacron was used to look like classic cotton sails from pre World War II.

UK Sailmakers is proud to be one of the primary sponsors of Block Island Race Week XX. The Storm Trysail Club will run the biennial event for 200 boats racing on four circles.

"This sponsorship presents us with an opportunity to help sponsor an event that attracts literally thousands of sailors, many of whom in turn are our customers," said Charles "Butch" Ulmer, President of UK Sailmakers. "Additionally, it continues a long relationship between UK Sailmakers and The Storm Trysail Club in support of the sport of competitive sailing."

Block Island Race Week is one of the largest regattas on the East Coast, drawing boats from Massachusetts to the Chesapeake Bay.





UK Sailmakers is back as a sponsor of the Cadillac Van Isle 360, a 580 nm race circumnavigating wild and rugged Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada from June 14 to 29, 2003. Sailed in ten legs the course provides inshore, offshore and overnight legs through some of the worlds most challenging and beautiful waters. In its' fourth year, the Cadillac Van Isle 360° has matured into one of the most respected and exciting yacht races on the entire west coast, with international media coverage, heart stopping drama and superb racing action. Even if you are not sailing in this one, check out the web site regularly for awesome pictures heart pounding stories about the racing.
To get to their extensive web site click here
UK SAILMAKERS ONLINE STORE

New to the UK Sailmakers online store are our highest quality polo shirts. These shirts resist fading because they are made with yarn that is dyed before the shirt is made. We like the workmanship and materials so much that we are putting our own label inside, as well as on the left breast and back collar. Three color choices are available and the price is $36. (link to shirts in store here) Also available at the UK Sailmakers online store are instructional CDs, sailcloth duffel bags, hats and much more. Visit the