Tuning Guides
Sailmakers and other gurus have advice on getting your boat set up properly to improve performance and safety.
Sailmakers and other gurus have advice on getting your boat set up properly to improve performance and safety.
February 26, 2026 Last season, my son and I took part in the Lake Ontario Short Handed Racing (LOSHR) series. This series of six races includes medium distance races, point to point races, and an OSR Cat 3, 100 mile race. There is also the option with Lake Ontario Offshore Racing (LOOR) to do the…
January 22, 2026 This is the time of year for planning next season’s special voyage. This may be a trip up the coast, across the lake, or multi week sail to the islands or a favorite anchorage. We love to think that we can just jump on the boat and sail over the horizon when…
May 22, 2025 Last issue Part 1 looked at the initial stages of developing a sail. Next time, choosing cloth, finishing the design getting ready to cut panels. The structural meshing begins and cloth is chosen to be tested for how much load deformation should be expected. FEA is commonly used in industries where physical…
May 8, 2025 By Keven Piper There are as many ways to design a sail as there are sail designers in the world. In the old days, sailmakers would start either with the measurements of an existing sail that worked on the boat or a blueprint of the sailplan of the boat. These 2D methods…
Apr 24, 2025 On Tuesday, Earth Day, Sail Canada announced a new partnership with LI/NE, a Canadian company that recycles old sails and turns them into bags. Canadian LI/NE is reimagining waste by collecting, cleaning and repurposing old sails into one-of-a-kind bags that are skillfully handcrafted in small batches in Toronto. As part of its…
Feb 27, 2025 By Keven Piper, Bay Sails Introduction The Lake Ontario Short Handed Racing Series (LOSHRS) is a very well attended series for single and double handed crews, and the Great Lakes Single Handed Society promotes other similar series all over the Great Lakes. The challenge of longer navigation style races and less crew…

April 23, 2026 By Marc Robic For many years now, the very large and active Quebec sailing community felt somewhat disappointed by the annual Montreal Boat Show, with the lack of or little attention to sail specific activities (booth, vendors, conferences, etc.). So much so, that some sailing groups decided to take matters into their… Read More…

April 23, 2026 LOOR: Are you up for it? Lake Ontario Offshore Racing is considering running a 900 to 1,000 NM race, the LOXtreme, for Single-handed, Double-handed and Fully Crewed boats. If you are an owner of a sailboat that could meet the Offshore Special Regulations (OSR) for Category 3 without a life raft and… Read More…