|
UK Sailmakers Update January, 2003
Screen Saver 4 Now Available! |
|
FREE
SCREEN SAVER NEW RULES QUIZ AVAILABLE
UK Sailmakers has posted the newest Rules Quiz on our web site. Quiz 13 involves a mark rounding situation that involves the buoy room rule and the port and starboard rule. As a reminder, you can view all 13 quizzes by clicking on the following link. And if you would like to purchase a CD with all the quizzes, go to the UK Sailmakers online store. The cost is $40 and shipping within the U.S.A is $2, $3 to Canada and $5 everywhere else. ATTENTION CRUISING SAILORS
UK Sailmakers has added a brand new section on our web site dedicated
to dacron sails.
We will keep building the section to include storm sails and information
about various dacron weaves. If you like to see a topic added
or have questions about dacron sails please e-mail us at: dacron@uksailmakers.com.
RYAN FINN JOINS UK NEW ORLEANS Ryan Finn has recently joined the UK New Orleans team of Neil Borne, David Constance, Bryan Whited, and Blaine Butchel. Ryan has considerable offshore sailing experience, both as crew and singlehanded. His longest solo sail was on a 21' Beneteau from New Orleans, La., to Savannah, Ga., (1200 NM). He stopped only once during the trip, at Key West, for the noble cause of having a beer at Sloppy Joes, the old haunt of Ernest Hemmingway.
Ryan is an artist with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the
Savannah College of Art and Design. David Constance, UK New Orleans
part-owner noted that "Although Ryan has little experience in
sailmaking, he is learning the craft at an exceptionally rapid
pace. It is obvious that his talents as an artist lend themselves
well to the craftsmanship of sailmaking." RYAN
FINN:
A COURSE IN WINNING Michael Ryan Finn is a sailor to keep your eyes on. This 25-year-old apprentice sailmaker at UK New Orleans has quite a story to tell about beating the odds. Along with working at UK Sailmakers, he is preparing his family's J/90 for the 2004 Singlehanded TransPac. But how he got this far in life is a better story yet. At the age of 20 he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Surgery was quickly performed to remove a large mass from his chest. Consequently, he withdrew from classes at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to begin a course of chemo and radiation therapy. These treatments occupied one year. During that time Michael became fascinated with single-handed sailing and followed the Around Alone (a singlehanded race around the world) obsessively. "Those sailors were an absolute inspiration for me," says Ryan, " and I looked forward to hearing about their trials everyday on the Around Alone web site. I swore that after I was through with treatment, I'd sail across a large body of water by myself. I began preparing myself for the sea. It gave my mind something to focus on while my body was receiving treatments. I read every bit of information about offshore sailing I could get my hands on, and even taught myself celestial navigation. "In March 1999 I re-registered at SCAD, picking up essentially where I left off one year earlier. At the same time I began preparing a 21-footer (Revé) for a single-handed passage of 1,200 nautical miles from the New Orleans area to Savannah, GA." Two years later, Ryan and father and I helped sail the J/160 Pipe Dream from Valparaiso, Chile, to Panama City, Panama. One week after returning to the United States I set off on Revé for a 1,200 nautical mile trip from Slidell, La., to Savannah, Ga. "By the time I arrived in Savannah I knew I was ready for a bigger challenge on a faster boat. The Singlehanded TransPac gradually came into focus," says Ryan. In 2002 Michael graduated from SCAD with a BFA in painting. Recently he began working for UK Sailmakers in New Orleans. The loft has allowed him a flexible schedule to pursue fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and sponsorship opportunities. Ryan is aiming to receive a title sponsorship to cover the costs of preparing his family's J/90 for the 2004 Singlehanded TransPac. Putting off the race until 2004 gives him time to focus on fund raising and training -- a yet another course. "Currently I'm looking for a berth on a ULDB (something similar in performance to a J/90) participating in the 2003 TransPac," says Ryan, "which starts in Los Angeles this summer. I would consider this part of the necessary training for the singlehanded version. If you have suggestions or are interested in knowing more about this campaign, feel free to contact me at: Michael Ryan Finn 1726 St. Charles Ave (front) New Orleans, LA 70130 mofinn@hotmail.com UK New Orleans # (504) 283-3135 Everyone at UK Sailmakers applauds the effort and spirit Ryan has shown in such adversity and we are proud to have him on our team. UK SAILMAKERS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCE NEW ADDITION TO SALES FORCE San Diego, January, 2003 - UK Sailmakers, a worldwide leader in sail development and technology, announced the addition of a new salesman in the San Diego office named Luis Gianotti. Luis has been added to the sales team with the primary responsibilities of sales, sail design, production organization and customer satisfaction. "Customer satisfaction and service," says Luis, "are most important to me. I like to build relationships with my customers and insure the best possible results for them."
Luis
Gianotti comes to San Diego from Buenos Aires, Argentina with
extensive sailing experience in many parts of South America. Luis
has been a sailmaker since 1980 when he started Gianotti Sails,
then joined UK Sailmakers in 1987. "I have worked in all areas
of sail making: design, production, sales, customer service and
testing. I like designing One Design sails because it is more
challenging but I also have many years of experience in designing
big boat sails, " says Luis. 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. |
