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Announcements, projects and stories from UK Sailmakers International.

Photo © UK Sailmakers

King 40 CHECKMATE running deep under a blue and white A2 asymmetric spinnaker projected to windward, black mainsail

COMPANY

UK ASYMMETRICALS: RUN FASTER RUN DEEPER

View fullsize Here is a great shot of the A2 on the King 40 CHECKMATE sailing downwind. Notice how well the sail projects to windward. According to Geoff Bishop, owner of UK Sailmakers…

December 18, 2019

Butch Ulmer kneeling on the loft floor in a checked shirt, hand-finishing a laminate sail panel

COMPANY

HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY BUTCH ULMER

View fullsize The top-10 things you need to know about Charles “Butch” Ulmer. Butch Ulmer turned 80 today. Along with that major birthday comes the realization that his legacy of sailing…

December 17, 2019

Tamas Bakos of UK Sailmakers Hungary, grey-haired with a white goatee, smiling in the cockpit of a sailboat

COMPANY

UK SAILMAKERS EXPERTISE NOW AVAILABLE IN HUNGARY

Tamas Bakos UK Sailmakers has expanded its worldwide group of lofts by adding a new sales office in Budapest, Hungary. Tamas Bakos, who has more than 20 years of experience as a sailmaker,…

November 26, 2019

Sailboats under winter covers on stands in a snow-buried boatyard, a plowed track running between the rows

COMPANY

10 THINGS TO DO WHEN PUTTING AWAY YOUR BOAT FOR THE WINTER

View fullsize Howard McMichael Photo courtesy McMichaels Yacht Yard. Even if your boat is out of the water, it may not be ready for the long cold winter. Make sure your boat will be in good…

November 26, 2019

White roller-furling mainsail on a Beneteau 423, full sail beside the genoa and a close-up showing the UK Sailmakers logo

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BETTER ROLLER FURLING MAINSAILS

Cruising sailors with roller furling booms or roller furling masts who want their furling systems to be more reliable and easier to handle should replace their worn-out mainsails with a UK…

October 31, 2019

King 40 CHECKMATE beating upwind under grey laminate mainsail and genoa, UK Sailmakers boom cover, crew of four aft

COMPANY

KING 40 CHECKMATE CROWNED WA IRC STATE CHAMP

View fullsize Congratulations to Geoff Bishop and his crew on his King 40 CHECKMATE for being crowned the 2019 Western Australian IRC State Champ. After sailing the first year mostly with…

October 31, 2019

Crew hauling a blue spinnaker down through the letterbox slot between the boom and the foot of a black UK Sailmakers mainsail

COMPANY

LETTERBOX TAKEDOWN VIDEO UPDATED

A while ago, we posted an instructional video on the letterbox spinnaker takedown, which is the safest and most controllable way to douse a spinnaker at sea. In the original video, you saw…

October 31, 2019

Magnified view of Hydra Net® radial sailcloth weave with a note on its high ratio of Ultra-PE fibers in the warp direction

COMPANY

HYDRA NET® RADIAL: THE PREMIUM WOVEN CLOTH FOR CRUISING

With the boat show season upon us, now is the time to talk to your local UK Sailmakers loft about new sails for 2020. For owners of cruising multihulls and large cruising monohulls who…

September 30, 2019

Aerial view of a sailboat circling a swimmer, its trailing LifeSling line curving around the person in the water

COMPANY

THE LIFESLING: THE SAFEST MOB RECOVERY METHOD

After multiple, well-reported incidents of failed man overboard recovery attempts, the thought leaders within the world of safety at sea are evolving their thinking regarding the best way…

September 27, 2019

Yellow-hulled HUBO reaching under black mainsail and jib, two crew aft, sponsor lettering on the coachroof

COMPANY

A PIECE OF 2019 HISTORY IS FOR SALE

View fullsize When racing in Europe this year it is impossible not to have come across Erik van Vuuren’s winning yellow monster Waarschip 36 HUBO. As of day one, Team UK Sailmakers was part…

September 26, 2019

On deck mid-gybe: crew in red foul-weather gear, grey mainsail and a white spinnaker with red panels filling ahead

COMPANY

SECRETS OF THE LATE MAIN GYBE

The “Late Main Gybe” method is the key to the fastest possible asymmetrical spinnaker gybe. Delaying the boom’s crossing avoids the main blanketing the spinnaker as it is trying to re-fill.…

August 28, 2019

SHADOWFOX II, US 588, under black X-Drive® mainsail and genoa in evening light, crew relaxing in the cockpit

COMPANY

X-DRIVE: SOLVING THE SPEED, DURABILITY AND PRICE EQUATION

View fullsize X-Drive Carbon Black main and genoa. Carbon reinforcing yarns run continuously between the corners of the sails and the cross cut laminate panels are made with black aramid…

August 28, 2019

Diagram of a starting line: red boat's pre-start path looping near the committee boat while green boats approach below

COMPANY

A STARTING LINE TRICK

By Adam Loory Here is a recount of a good start I pulled off at the Governor’s Cup of Western Long Island Sound. The starting line was heavily skewed with the starboard end very favored.…

August 26, 2019

Ken Horne's J/105 FINAL FINAL beating upwind with white UK Titanium class jib and dark mainsail, crew in white shirts

COMPANY

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE -- NOT THE LION KING -- SAILING

View fullsize Ken Horne’s J/105 FINAL FINAL racing upwind with her UK Titanium class jib and dacron class main. There is a circle of life for sailing that we’ve all unconsciously…

August 10, 2019

Yellow-hulled HUBO reaching under black mainsail and jib, two crew aft, sponsor lettering on the coachroof

COMPANY

FASTNET FLEET APPROACHING FINISH

View fullsize Perhaps it is because people are becoming increasingly time-poor, or because it neatly side-steps the problem of keeping a large crew together, but one area of offshore racing…

August 2, 2019

Two barefoot foredeck crew hauling a sheet under a yellow-and-black asymmetric spinnaker on a Pogo 12.50

COMPANY

TURNING A DOUBLE PLAY

By Buttons Padin In baseball, players get traded today and are starting with a new team the next day. At first you wonder how they can integrate that quickly into a new team; however, if…

August 2, 2019

ISLAND GIRL heeled upwind with two crew on the rail, white hull with blue boot stripe, hills behind

COMPANY

ISLAND GIRL FAMILY STORY

View fullsize ISLAND GIRL before her refit that included new topsides. If the family that sails together stays together, the Burkhart family are clearly staying together. When Frank…

August 1, 2019

Cruising sloop with a Swedish courtesy flag sailing past a rocky coastline

COMPANY

X-YACHTS 46-FOOTER AND X-DRIVE CRUISING SAILS

Shown above is a video of a new X4.6, a 46-footer by X-Yachts with a new set roller/furling X-Drive Carbon cruising sails. X-Drive® performance cruising sails are perfect for cruising…

July 13, 2019

Onboard view sailing wing-on-wing: blue spinnaker set to windward, dark mainsail to leeward, crew at the mast and helm

COMPANY

AVOID COSTLY GYBES BY SAILING WING-ON-WING

View fullsize Here’s a simple solution to a complex tactical leeward mark situation. We’ve all been there and done that: approaching a leeward mark but your line is too high to do a desired…

July 12, 2019

Racing yacht beating upwind under black mainsail and jib, crew hiked on the rail waving, a white spinnaker overhead nearby

COMPANY

UK Sailmakers Customers Finish First in Four of Eight Classes

View fullsize UK Sailmakers customers stood out at the 2019 Sovereigns Cup sailed out of Kinsale Yacht Club in southern Ireland. Of the eight classes, UK customers finished first in four. •…

July 12, 2019

Two views of a white EasyFurl Code D with straight luff on a Berckemeyer LA28, GER 3, one full and one being rolled up

COMPANY

EASY FURL CODE D CRUISING SPINNAKER

One of the biggest challenges cruising sailors face is how best to sail downwind with only your white up-wind sails set. The jib bangs against the mast and gets beat up and doesn’t provide…

June 21, 2019

Video still of sportboats under red, white and blue spinnakers at Clear Lake, Texas, captioned 'Move of the day'

COMPANY

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

You win some, you lose some, but when the right opportunity knocks, you have to be ready to pull the trigger and go! Here’s a couple of minutes of video shot by Stuart Lindow from Texas'…

June 21, 2019

Rules diagram of windward and leeward boats showing when a leeward boat may luff and the old mast abeam call

COMPANY

MAST ABEAM — A BLAST FROM THE PAST

Sitting around the UK Sailmakers water cooler (technically a scuttlebutt) the other day, a bunch of us got talking about the Racing Rules of Sailing and some of the rules that were deleted…

June 20, 2019

Overhead view of a Swan 42 crew in white shirts at work, a Larchmont Yacht Club spinnaker filling to leeward

COMPANY

STAY IN YOUR BOX - By Buttons Padin

In 2013, I was fortunate enough to be on the crew of Larchmont Yacht Club’s entry in the New York Yacht Club’s Invitational Cup. We were the “young” team (OK, my age was the outlier);…

May 23, 2019

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