Bull Sails. Sailmakers

One of the most frustrating parts of owning a yacht is finding and keeping a regular crew. It is not uncommon for skippers every week to be making numerous phone calls and sending emails out desperately searching for people to make up the numbers. It is an ongoing and very onerous task; remember we all sail for recreational purposes so who needs this hassle every week? There are two facets to this dilemma, firstly how do we find the crew we need and secondly how do we keep them? It is fairly well documented that a lot of sailors leave the sport in their late teens and tend to return again in the early to mid forties. Some of the reasons for this are obvious, as part of early adulthood most people are faced with quite a drastic lifestyle change, they are thrust out into the workplace or tertiary education takes over, for many of them they have their first pay packet in hand and have expendable income for partying and spending on themselves, not to mention the lure of the opposite sex. S...

There is always a certain time of the year when yachtsmen from all over the world start to turn their thoughts toward some of the larger prestigious regattas’ and picture idyllic sailing and warm weather. Around yacht club bars, if you listen into conversations you will hear the words “Hammo” and “Airlie” pop up frequently in conversation down here in Australia, in other locations the words “Key West” and “Cowes Weeks” tend to turn up in sailing discussions. Thes types of events have become an integral part of the yacht racing calendar and no wonder. The water is warm, the drinks are cold and the racing is first class and all this usually with a backdrop that is truly spectacular. These regattas have not only become premier events but are quite unique in the dual role they play; not only providing excellent world standard racing but a real catch up point for sailors from all over the world. It is one of the joys of these events to catch up with fellow yachties over a cold “frothy”, in ...

Helming a Keelboat Steering a racing yacht is no doubt one of the most challenging aspects of yachting. The helmsperson is seen as the leader of the team, as when two boats sail past each other, most of the crew will look across at the skipper on the helm of the other yacht before checking out the rest of the crew. However, rather than being an individual, he or she is very much the catalyst of a group of people working together to make their job easier. The helmperson is very much a receiver of information, continually getting feedback from their tactician and trimmers. They should be constantly relaying information to him about the boat performance and changes in the setup. The mainsheet hand is the primary conduit to and from the helm and should be monitoring the speed and targets as well as working with the jib and spinnaker trimmers to keep the boat moving at its optimum speed. Quiet asides from the trimmers and a bit of feedback from the helm on the way the boat feels should cont...

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