Above is the animated movie that is part of UK Sailmakers's ninth racing rules quiz. To read the situation and find out the answer, click on the provided link. This link will take you to Rules Quiz No. 9 as well as let you go to any of the previous rules quizzes. Using movies to teach the rules allows you to watch a situation as many times as you want while testing your knowledge of the rules. Only a movie makes understanding rules situations clear and UK Sailmakers is the only place you find this teaching aid.  Feel free to tell your friends about the UK Sailmakers quizzes.

The Wavelength 24 MAL DE MAR won her class and the overall award at the 2002 MORC Midwinters.

Richard Karran, owner of MAL DE MER sent in the following report about winning his class and the overall fleet award. At the annual MORC Midwinters raced out of Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Fla., March 8-10, and we proved that the Wavelength 24 design is still a contender in the national MORC ranks. MAL DE MER, Wavelength 24 hull #2, sailed all races, compiling all first place class finishes, but more importantly, five first-place, one second-place, and one third-place fleet finishes, to take the overall championship. There were few local Florida boats, as most competitors trailered in from more northern climes.

There were Henderson 30's, Mariah 27's, a Donovan 27, Mumm 30, J/27, J/30, Soverel 27, Antrum 27, Pearson Flyer, and others including exclusive MORC designed one-offs. Conditions wound up being pretty extreme.

Friday was the distance race down to the mouth of Tampa Bay, then back up to Tampa (25 miles). The downwind route was big fun to the halfway point. After that, increasing winds built to 30 knots true for the beat back coupled with an incoming tide opposing the wind. These conditions caused steep waves, at just the right frequency to keep the boat constantly awash and the crew continuously soaked to the skin by the 61-degree water.

Although we carried the full .75 oz. chute downwind, we found we couldn't carry the 1+ genoa upwind without endangering the rig in the big sea. We did a bare-headed change to the blade and fared much better, especially as the wind built. We finished among some of our higher rated (faster) competitors, so figured we'd done well - even though we felt we'd been in a fist-fight. The distance race counts double if four additional races are sailed. We won that one, class and fleet.

Saturday we sailed three buoy races -- all W/L's, four legs each. Just like Friday, it was "blowing dogs off chains" and we almost made the decision not to go out and risk ourselves or the boat, but adrenaline-induced insanity prevailed and we headed for the line. We used the blade upwind and 1.5 oz chicken chute downwind. There were big waves, but from the South. On the first downwind leg we doused the chute before jibing -- some others didn't carry chutes at all. That's RARE in this crowd!

With the security of an unexciting, controlled, no-spinnaker jibe under our belt, we rediscovered our confidence and chanced full-on jibes (most of you know what I mean!). Although we've seen 15 knots boatspeed in the past, this day we saw frequent 11k's - 11.5k's, and even a 12k+. We buried the bow occasionally in waves surfing downwind! The larger, heavier MORC guys would usually get us upwind, but we'd plane right by 'em off the wind, (amid much hootin' and hollerin' at the exhilaration of it all). I wish someone had had a camera! We did take a knockdown during one downwind leg, but MAL DE MER came back quickly; we bore off, filled the chute and planed away without losing a beat. Thankfully we were not in close quarters. The scoring showed us with three firsts in class and three firsts in fleet for day two.

Sunday, in a little lighter breeze (15 knots) we sailed another two four-legged W/L's. We finally brought out the No. 1 for the first half of the first race until the wind built to the 1+ PBO level. We pushed hard with the big chute downwind. We never showed the blade on Sunday. Score for the day was two firsts in class, and a second and a third in fleet. Thanks tons to Tom Barry, Ralph Reeser, Pat Lawler, Jay Booker, Craig Taylor, Ed Bahen. We're all STILL grinning!

Editors Addition: Tom Barry of UK Tampa wrote, "This year's MORC Midwinters was breezy, 18 to 24 knots. About half the competitors were sporting UK Sailmakers' sails, a beautiful view if your a UK sail loft owner.

Of the 17 sails we repaired from the regatta, 10 of them were spinnakers and seven were mains and jibs. Those seven were either 3DL or a radial panel type sails. Not one Tape-Drive failed.

Three generations of the Peters family teamed up with three generations of the Abbott family to sail the Abbott 33 TIGRESS to a convincing win in the Level 123 class at the St. Petersburg NOOD regatta. The youngest generations of both families were sets of identical twins.

The three-day regatta, sailed February 15-17 at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, was sailed in a range of conditions: sun and little wind on Friday; stiff and shifty 15- to 20-knot northerly on Saturday; 10- to 12-knot northerly Sunday.

Ed and his son Scott Peters bought TIGRESS a year and a half ago and they invited the Abbotts to sail with them for the 2001 NOOD in order to learn how to sail the boat from the masters. After all, Bill Abbott senior has been racing the boats since he started building them 25 years ago. They were competitive last year and finished second, but they were 16 points behind first place.

This year Ed bought new sails from Tom Barry at UK Sailmakers in Tampa. "Tom did a really excellent job for us," said Ed. "It made a super difference in the boat. Last year we sailed competitively with the Tripp 26s and this year they weren't even close. We just walked away from them. In fact, last year we got beaten by the Tartan 10 LIQUOR BOX and this year the T10s had their own start five minutes ahead of us. In one race we beat them all, including LIQUOR BOX."

Ed went on, "Both Bill Abbotts, the boat builder and his son the Canadian Olympic Soling sailor, said, 'Make sure UK doesn't throw away patterns for these sails. In all the years we've raced the Abbott 33, we've never seen the boat go upwind or downwind faster -- in light, medium or heavy air."

The Tape-Drive construction system locks in sail shapes and Ed has a story to back that statement up. "In one race we got half way up the first beat with the light No. 1. Bill Abbott asked if we should change to the heavy one and I said 'No.' The sail held its shape perfectly and didn't bag out even though we had it up beyond its wind range."

"Tom Barry really knows how to make sails," said Ed. "They were perfect right out of the box."

In our expanding line of quality bags, UK Sailmakers is pleased to offer a Kevlar Computer Carrying Case, Suit/Garment Bag and Carry All/Ice Bag. All these bags have large embroidered UK Sailmakers logos. For a full description of these bags and to make a purchase, go to the UK store by clicking .

CRUISING SPINNAKER VIDEO

Another movie available from UK Sailmakers is our new 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.

Sailors can buy "The Cruising Spinnaker A-Z" on VHS cassette or CD for $35 (shipping within the U.S.A. included) from the UK Sailmakers online store or they can get it free when they buy a new cruising spinnaker from their local UK Sailmakers loft.
Click for a preview of the movie.