Bull Sails. Sailmakers

USING YOU STORM SAILS   Whether we like it or not, on occasions the sport of yachting can be dangerous, anyone who has ventured into or been caught in extreme conditions can vouch for this. We always talk in yachting circles of the value of practice and preparation, yet one area that we tend to ignore is the art of survival in extreme conditions. Several years ago it became quite common for a lot of ocean race organizing committees to insist that prior to the start of the race the competitors sailed through a set of buoys with their storm sails set and drawing. This is a great initiative as I am sure that on a lot of race boats this would be the only time that these sails are brought out of the bag. Even so; I am always amazed at the bungled and botched attempts that ensue when the setting up of the storm sails is done on these occasions. I have even been on a boat where the trysail has been set upside down in broad daylight and light winds, imagine the confusion if th...

29 Jun 2011 Australian Sailing - April/May 2011 Tony Bull looks at the fine-tune controls used to fly a symmetrical spinnaker off a pole . When a complete novice first steps on board a racing yacht, invariably the first response is amazement at the number of sheets and lines that run along the deck and up the mast. They find it hard to comprehend that all these ropes have a role in the sailing of the boat. All top sailors will tell you the difference in the relative speeds of similar craft is the ability to constantly adjust the setup of the boat to counter the wind and wave variations as they are faced. This ability to change gears and keep your boat sailing well through the oscillating conditions is what sets the top boats apart. All these various lines and sheets each have a role to play in these alterations. I see so many boats sail around the course with a very token approach to changing gears. I had a recent experience of doing some two-boat sailing with a couple of ...

Interesting and factual article on the offshore manufacturing plant we use. http://www.leesails.ca/images/Sailsfromchina2.pdf

Now out. Get aboard.

Sailing by feel It is quite a fascinating thing to sit and watch a fleet of yachts sailing upwind in a heavy wind; so much can be learnt from observing the different styles and techniques from a bird’s eye perspective. It is amazing how much variation there is between the good ones in the lead doing it easy and the ones having all sorts of trouble at the back. The leaders always look so much settled and in control, whilst at the back of the fleet there are roundups and flapping sails and it looks like they are sailing in twice the breeze. Two things are always obvious to the naked eye; the leaders nearly always have less angle of heel and as well seem to have their sails a lot more stable and flapping or ragging a lot less. Teamwork This ability to handle these conditions is a result of teawork between all the crew, in particular the trimmers and the helmsman. In these most testing of circumstances it is the ability of both parties to have an inate “feel” for the boat and its pe...

That Damn Barger There is a certain sound that makes yachties wince, the crunch of two boats meeting. Unfortunately it is not that uncommon, despite the yachting rules being relatively simple and orientated toward keeping boats apart. There will always be the collisions caused by poor decision making or loss of control. It is unavoidable when you have a lot of boats in a congested area. But a strong working knowledge of the rules is absolutely mandatory for all sailors and would go a long way toward making the racecourse a much safer place. A lot of sailors regard the rules of sailing as a bit of a minefield. But when you break them down into simple areas and likely scenarios then it does become relatively straight forward. Let’s start by looking at probably the most flagrant violation of the rules. Barging in at the boat end of the starting line! In every yacht club in the world there is a serial barger who incurs the wrath of the competitors. The person who comes sweeping in ar...