Sail Tech
Club Racing has evolved over the years, from primarily racer/cruisers flying spinnakers, to a fairly serious level of non-spinnaker racers. A quick look at race registrations around the Great Lakes shows most clubs having more NFS (Non-Flying Sails = no spinnakers) racers than Flying Sails racers.
At the beginning of every season, I get large numbers of sailors calling and dropping by the loft to get replacement battens. Most of these batten losses are preventable if the sail is getting serviced regularly and the battens are installed correctly.
Read more: Keven Talks Sails: Battens – How to Keep Them in...
When the wind builds waves also build creating large choppy waves and gradually increasing swells. These waves slow down your boat when you are trying to make windward progress. Every wave is like climbing a hill or punching through a wall, especially when the wind gets over 25 knots.
At the sail loft, we are always busy repairing and maintaining sails. Much of the damage we are fixing can be prevented with some simple sail handling tips.
Most sailors just don’t have practice sailing in really windy conditions. Club racers don’t go out if it is more than 25 knots (nor will the race committee). When doing a long-distance cruise or race, you don’t have much option if a squall runs at you.
Read more: Keven Talks Sails: Preparing for Bad Weather –...
If you sail on the Great Lakes long enough, you are going to need to deal with summertime squalls. Because of the landlocked humid continental climate, we see very hot summer temperatures that lead to convective weather events.
A balanced boat is key to performance and as the season winds down, let’s take a look at why and how. It’s that time of the year that we put our boats to bed and clean up the sailing locker.
Working alongside a US-based designer and boat building company, Burlington ON’s MarsKeel Technology recently provided a dissimilar metal combination keel for a 68-foot modern classic cruiser/racer.
I was helping teach my daughters to drive a 5-speed manual over the last while, and they have gotten very good at it. The clutch has survived, and they willingly take that car when they need it, so I think that is a win. I only wish my customers would figure out the 3 gears they need to race a sailboat!
Sails are attached to the sailboat rig using several different systems. Let’s begin with mainsails. The most basic attachment is with a boltrope that fits into a mast groove. This is very secure, and the sail is very well supported along the luff edge.
SailGP: Canada Faces Challenges, NZ Explodes in Saint-Tropez
The European portion of SailGP Season 4 got underway this weekend in Saint-Tropez, France. Having hit record breaking speeds last year on the Côte d’Azur, Phil Robertson and the Canadians were looking forward to this weekend of racing, but things did not turn out as hoped. A penalty in the pre-start of race one was a precursor of what was to come, and it proved difficult for the team to recover.
A collision with Spain early on in race one set the team back and translated into eight penalty points for the event and an additional four penalty points for the season.
The Big Picture: D Danger: Made in the Shade in Spain
From sailing 8-Metres in Port Credit to sailing adventures hither and yon, our pal and occasional foredeck, D Danger Mitchele, is never one to be overheated even now that he’s residing in sunny Spain. He’s also not the kind of guy who would put a dodger on a racing boat. So, here’s the logical solution.
