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WINTER SERVICE SAIL SERVICE AND REPAIRS |
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With the season drawing to a close, this is a reminder to have your sails serviced over the coming winter so they''re ready to go next spring. Instead of leaving your sails exposed to the elements, have them washed, inspected, repaired and stored in our climate-controlled storage facility. Never leave your sails exposed to the elements on the boom or furled around the headstay all winter. UK-Halsey�s winter service is much better for your sails than abandoning them to the icy winter winds will try to rip them to shreds. And if a shredded furling genoa is not bad enough, a flogging genoa has a good chance of blowing a boat off its jack-stands leading to disastrous results. If you think stuffing your sails below for the winter is a good plan, think again. Sails left in your boat are exposed to mildew and extreme temperature swings from cold to frigid. If you are storing your sails yourself, keep them dry and warm. A dry basement is better than a cold garage. A big part of prolonging the life of your sails is keeping them clean. Salt and some airborne contaminates can cause mildew and actual damage to the fabrics/laminates so cleaning is certainly something to consider. At UK-Halsey Annapolis, your sails will be professionally cleaned using the right detergents in state of the art equipment. Then they are dried, folded and stored. Our Winter Service starts with a detailed inspection of your sails. We typically accomplish minor repairs on the spot. If we come across something major, we''ll give you a call with our assessment of what should be done and an estimate of the cost. We check batten pockets, luff tapes, furling covers, seams, leech cords, the works. No detail escapes our attention. By dropping your sails off now, you know that they will be ready for a trouble free sailing season next year. UK-Halsey Annapolis has pick up locations all over the area and if you don''t know of one near you, call us at 410-268-1175 and we''ll help you locate one. Check with Scott Allan, David Gross, Bill Birmingham or Andy Schmickle for Winter Service assistance or information on new sails. UK-Halsey Annapolis 108 Severn Ave. Annapolis, MD 21403 (410) 268-1175 E-Mail: [email protected] Directions and map to the loft www.ukhalseyannapolis.com ANDY SCHMICKLE JOINS UK-HALSEY ANNAPOLIS  We are happy to introduce our new sail consultant and service coordinator � Andy Schmickle. Prior to joining UK-Halsey, he was a corporate marketing manager at companies such as The Home Depot, Intercontinental Hotel Group, and Verizon Wireless. He is a 1999 graduate of the United States Naval Academy where he was a member of the Varsity Offshore Sailing Team and cut his teeth sailing on J/24s, Navy 44s, and donated race boats. Since graduation he has raced extensively on the East Coast, Chesapeake Bay, and San Diego on boats ranging from Lightnings to custom racing sloops. After moving back to Annapolis last fall, he worked as an instructor with J/World Annapolis and has worked as a volunteer coach with the Naval Academy. This past summer, Andy was the assistant coach on the Academy�s TP52 Invictus for the Newport to Bermuda race. Andy also holds a MBA in Marketing and Statistics from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., and is a welcome addition to the UK-Halsey Annapolis Team.Contact Andy at: UK-Halsey Annapolis 108 Severn Ave. Annapolis, MD 21403 (410) 268-1175 ROLLER FURLING SAILS SERVICE NOTE  In the December ''07 UK-Halsey Newsletter, we called attention to the fact that the stitching and webbing at the head and tack of furling genoas and at clew of furling mainsails is exposed to sunlight all the time. The result of this exposure is a dramatic deterioration in strength. Unfortunately, this loss of strength is virtually invisible to the eye and usually only shows up when the stitching or webbing fails completely. This almost always occurs when a good breeze is blowing, which makes the failure dramatic and very inconvenient.The first step in avoiding these problems is to have these parts of your sails checked and repaired on a regular basis by your sailmaker. Think of it as changing the oil in your car! In the early years of your sails, this will just mean re-stitching the webbing. However, after three or four years the webbing should be completely replaced. Given the upcoming change of season, it''s a perfect time to have your sails checked. If you have a roller furling genoa and/or a roller furling mainsail, assume the worst and have the stitching and webbing gone over and repaired. You''ll be glad you did! |