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The Solent Has Its Own Stay!

A stay that gets its name from a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of southern England, the Solent. This traditionally windy place with strong currents can cause rough sea conditions and can make for some interesting sailing, to say the least. This body of water is also famous for hosting one of sailing’s largest events known as Cowes Week. These…

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Un-stepping the Mast

When un-stepping the mast there are several things that need to happen in preparation for the actual mast removal. The following tips and procedures are in line with the methods we use for boats up to 55′. Small boats or big boats alike, first things must come first. All of the sails and sail covers…

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How to Tune a Sailboat Mast

Here are some general guidelines for tuning your mast’s standing rigging. Please see our blog on how to properly adjust a turnbuckle before you begin. As always we recommend seeking the advice of a professional rigger for more specific tips and tricks regarding tuning your boat’s rigging. Your boat must be in the water. Begin by just slacking off all of…

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Spar Finishes

Today’s spars are usually made of composite carbon fiber or aluminum extrusions. Both of these mast materials, just like old wooden masts, require a finish. Whereas wooden masts were typically coated with a clear varnish, they could also be found painted. These more traditional finishes were typically brush applied or rolled and tipped. Spray finishes became…

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Anchors Aweigh

Sometimes in sailboat racing the guy that deploys the anchor first, pulls into the lead. Winds have been light and variable for most of this leg, as expected. However, the teams are nearing the final rounding mark and things may start “heating up”, as the teams begin to turn upwind  ~ see what I did…

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Boat Rope

The vast U.S. cordage market allows us to have several competitive options including; Robline, New England, Samson, Yale, and Marlow Ropes, just to name a few. Each one of these manufacturers provide various rope constructions utilizing different materials to allow the consumer to achieve different functions based on application. All of the jargon like Spectra, Dyneema, Vectran, Kevlar, Technora, Dacron, Double Braid, Single Braid,…

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How to Service Your Winches

Some winches are more difficult to service than others. If you do not know what to expect, certain parts, depending on manufacturer, can come sliding out at inopportune times and jump overboard! I happen to know this from personal experience and if you are really unlucky (like I was) then it may be a part from a vintage…

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Vitters Carbon #whatayacht

Vitters Shipyard does it again. “Sarissa” a 42.6 m (140.58′) carbon fiber spectacle, is the largest carbon sloop built in the Netherlands, maybe even in the world, to date. Check out the Vitters Shipyard YouTube feed for more super yacht footage. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POFjB0mIaBc&w=560&h=315] This design oozes modern style, remarkable speed (it cruises at 11 knots) and offers…

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Beautiful Fairlie Yachts

This is one of the most magnificent sailboats built today. Watch this well edited video that summarizes the entire build process of the Fairlie 55. What a beautiful boat and what beautiful craftsmanship. You don’t see too many boats built like this today. I personally, love the line between classic design/craftsmanship, meets modern innovation. If you are into how things are made then…