News
Lessons Learned at the 2026 Pacific Cup
In Episode 30 of UK Sailmakers’ Lessons Learned, host Buttons Padin talks with Brendan Huffman, co-owner of the UK Sailmakers Los Angeles loft, fresh off winning ORR 4, the Gosling’s Rum Division, and the perpetual Carl Schumacher Award in the…
Racing and Winning for a Cause
Most regatta competitors race for a trophy or for bragging rights. A few events aim higher. One of them is the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club’s annual Ms. Race, held August 15 on Sandy Hook Bay, NJ. The Ms. Race is…
I Win, or I Learn
There is a fantastic scene in the baseball movie Moneyball where Brad Pitt’s character walks into the players’ locker room after another loss. He is disgusted to see some of the players dancing and laughing while a losing streak continues.…
Local Knowledge Pays Off at Falmouth
Boats carrying inventories built by UK Sailmakers GBR South West took overall honours in IRC 1, IRC 2, IRC 3, the Falmouth Large Working Boats and the Falmouth Sunbeams during the 2026 edition of Falmouth Sailing Week. The event wrapped…
Lessons Learned Ocean Racing Down Under
In Episode 29 of UK Sailmakers’ Lessons Learned podcast, host Buttons Padin talks with Ceris and Paul Arns about Obsession, the Mark Mills designed MAT 1245 they campaign out of Western Australia. Ceris and Paul are the poster children for…
Quentin Debois Waits for His Window to The Lizard
Belgian solo sailor Quentin Debois has been on standby in New York since August 5, watching the forecasts and waiting for the weather to hand him a route across the North Atlantic. His boat, the Mini 6.5 ODIGO, is in…
Class One Thriller at Calves Week
Finbarr O’Regan and the crew of the J/109 Artful DodJer came away from Calves Week 2026 with both the IRC One and ORC One titles, sailing for Kinsale Yacht Club in what turned out to be one of the closest…
Big Mac’s Big Week
The McGrath family’s Royal Cork YC Dehler 34 Big Mac had a Cork Week to remember, finishing the regatta with the ICRA National Championship, the Coveney Wave Trophy for best-performing Royal Cork Yacht Club boat, and the overall win in…
Eagles Wings Soars at Race to Mackinac
The Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac is the oldest freshwater distance race in the world, first raced in 1898. Starting off the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse just off Navy Pier, it heads northeast to cross Lake Michigan, enters Lake Huron…
SNAFU Debuts at Plymouth Race Week
Plymouth Race Week, the Royal Western Yacht Club’s famous “Yachtsman’s Regatta,” ran from July 9th to 12th in the Port of Plymouth, and it delivered exactly the kind of close, tactical racing the event is known for. Seventeen boats lined…
Lessons Learned Racing Double-Handed to Bermuda
In Episode 28 of UK Sailmakers’ Lessons Learned podcast, host Buttons Padin talks with UK Sailmakers Northeast Loft Manager Emmett Dickheiser and co-skipper Cat Chimney about their 2026 Newport Bermuda Race in the Double-Handed Division aboard the J/44 Kenai. Though…
Istvan Kopar Sets Sail on His Anniversary Challenge
On Saturday, July 4th at 10 AM, Istvan Kopar cast off from Fort Lauderdale (Florida, USA) aboard Surprise, bound for Les Sables d’Olonne, France. It’s the first leg of a journey that will eventually become his fourth circumnavigation and one…
Lessons Learned Short – Quentin Debois’ Benchmark Record
In this Lessons Learned Podcast Short, host Buttons Padin talks with Belgian sailor Quentin Debois after he established a world benchmark time sailing a Mini 6.5 from Miami to New York (about 900 miles), a category with no prior official…
Condor and Sirocco win Lake Michigan’s Queen’s Cup
The sailors of the US’s Midwest didn’t let the Newport Bermuda Race’s post-race news and scoring controversy suck the air out of their sailing. Starting on Friday, June 26, the South Shore Yacht Club (Milwaukee, WI) hosted its 87th running…
Bill Gunther’s Blue Skies Tops ORC Fleet in 2026 Wetherill Race
UK Sailmakers Northeast customer William Gunther raced his 50’ Alden Skye ketch Blue Skies to first place in ORC Division 1 and took ORC Overall in this year’s running of Essex (CT) Yacht Club’s Sam Wetherill Race. The Wetherill is…