Racing Sails...E35MKII....?

Howdy...
I'm looking to have made one or two racing sails for my 35MKII. I have an old set of North Sails, a 150 and 110, and would like to upgrade to new sails. including a asymetrical spinnaker. Can anyone recommend a good sail loft who's familiar with the 35MKII. I'm not crazy about the cut of my existing sails, and the fact that they were likely made in the early 70's makes using them as a pattern unfeasible except for general dimensions.
thanks
Alan
Masallah
E35MKII
Newport, OR

Not to brag, but..

I built some bangin' sails for the winningest 35-2 on the Great Lakes. Always top 3 in Class and often top 5 overall in the Mac Race..

The designs I did (and are at the Doyle loft) are for D4 carbon Main, 155(also D4 Carbon), Carbon/Kevlar high-aspect #3, and then a .6 AP Kite.

The owner can tell you how well they fit and how fast they are. Even if you step down in materials (but I would not), the designs are FAST..
You can get in touch with me directly for details.

Cheers,

Seth

Seth:
Excellent. I'll contact the loft, who is the owner? Would it be possible to talk with them?
I am interested in moving this forward, I hadn't considered a main, as I have a good Dacron full batten, but a new main would balance to boat better. Let me know if it would be okay to contact the owner.
thanks
Alan

Alan
you also might try mauriprosailing.com, they custom make sails. He made a racing spin for our race boat unbeliveable performance out of it. tell him Bob (foredeck on GodSpeed) sent you
Bob

good choice

Mauriprosailing.com is actually a Doyle dealer-and the sails I made were at the Doyle loft (which I co-ran in Chicago). It is possible they got the design from that loft-although each loft does their own thing often.
I'm sure my designs are not the only fast ones-but they sure did well in the Mac!!

You will get good ones either way!

Thanks Bob!
S

mores on sails

I purchased a new main & #1 from the Doyle loft in Detriot this past summer. Been very happy w/performance & service. Doyle is I believe the up & comer in the performance sail field. I believe that there is a lot of comunication between the loft's which makes for a good product. The only unknown is the loft in your region but Seth can shed light on that subject. BTW, I went with the Pentax sails & use a sock over the roller furling #1 to keep the UV from degrading the sails. It's a little more work than just rolling it up but FAR less than folding sails after every Wed. night race!
Have fun & sail fast
Bud E34 "Escapade"

Sails scoop

Hey Bud!! Glad to hear it-The Detroit Doyle loft (ex UK) as been around for years, and in general has enjoyed an excellent reputation-one that is getting better with their switch to the Doyle gang...

For Alan, I believe you will want to speak with the SF Doyle loft. They are without doubt one of most talented in the Doyle group-especially with racing sails-They built the sails for Ocean Planet-and many other high profile yachts.
The owner, Bill Columbo, is a good friend-if you speak with him, tell him you have been in touch with me on the E-site, and that you are interested in the designs done in Chicago for Providence. You can tell him to check with me if he has any questions-but he will certainly contact the Chicago loft himself in any case.

If he has suggested changes for the Oregon Coast sailing conditions, take his advice-he knows what he is talking about.

With respect to the sock idea in lieu of the furling cover-there are plusses and minuses either way.. Obviously with any furling sail you will lose some sail area due to the shortened hoist-but, I think if your conditions are similar most of the time, and whatever size the sail is built to covers the typical sailing conditions, then it probably is fine-your boat is very easily driven. In terms of performance, you will lose more by lugging around too much gear (and anchor + rode on the bow!) thank you will by having the hoist 14-18" short. Keep the boat light and the weight out of the ends and you will be just fine. The socks are cool in that your sail has no extra weight on the leech, but, they can be very noisy in a big breeze flapping around, and I have often about dock neighbors complaining about this..If your slip is near a bunch of live-aboard types, I would think twice about this option, but if you are out on a can (mooring) it should be no problem.

In terms of the UV leech and foot covers, there are a few options: The first, and worst for a racer, is to use the Sunbrella material-which is what you see on most cruisers, and is what your main cover is made from. This stuff weighs about 9 oz./yard, and offers no strength benefits. The advantage is that most colors are available in this, and if you need to make your partner happy, you could be locked into it.

My choice is the dacron UV material-which typically is just under half the weight of Sunbrella, and being a dacron sail cloth, actually adds a little "beef" to the leech and foot-exactly where a furling sail could benefit from some extra strength. It is only available in white, though-but this is my preference for furling genoas.

2 cents submitted, good luck!!

Fair winds,
S

Short comment on Seth's comment on sacrificial UV protectors --
Our '95 model dacron furling 135 is now getting it's first replacement of this dacron leech cover. The threads flunked the "pencil lead breaking test" and the dacron was yellowing. Added note: sails are off the boat December through March each year.

Hmmm..... I wonder if I should get the loft to replace the faded UK logo, and then send a picture of it to Seth?

[sorry, Seth, couldn't resist...]

And, seriously, thanks for continuing to help us out in these forums.

Happy Holidays,

Loren in (overcast) Portland, OR

That's Okay-I have big shoulders!

10 years from a sacrificial cover? Pretty impressive! I am assuming that this was your endorsement of the Dacron UV material? If not, it should be.

But it brings up a point I neglected to mention: Durabilty. I have found that while things vary from region to region, generally speaking both the Dacron and Sunbrella last about the same amount of time. How much you sail, where you sail, etc. all make a difference, but the common wisdom says about 4-6 years between replacements-at $250-$550 roughly for the change out.

Bring it Loren!!

Oh yes, and Happy Holidays!

S

thanks....

good advice from all....I called the Doyle loft in Chicago, and was referred to the SF loft. I'm awaiting a call from the Doyle rep in Chicago who's coincidentally moving to SF.....I'll let you know what they're recommending...
thanks again
alan

Nate Ballard

Alan,

You are in talented hands-Whether you speak with Bill Columbo or the guy moving to SF you are in good shape...That "rep" is actually Nate Ballard, who physically did the complete sail design for all the sails we built for Providence-when you hook up, let Nate know you heard about the Providence sails from me..he has the design sheets in his laptop.

Go get 'em!

S

Think you got it bad

Loren
Couldn't resist this. We havent seen temps above 32F for the last 14 days, have 8+" of snow on the ground and your wimpering about clouds? The first day of winter is 10 days away yet and I'm wondering why Seth would leave SoCal for this kind of weather. He must be crazy! I know I am for staying! Such is life in the great white north.
Have fun, sail fast and pray for summer.
Bud E34 "Escapade"

Maybe a little crazy

Well, As great as the weather in SoCal can be, it is not all fun and games (but where is?)...I really don't mind the weather, and one of the reasons was that when I got back into sailmaking in 2000, it was WONDERFUL to be able to make and sell sails, yet not HAVE to sail..I could have weekends and Wednesday nights to be with my kids-something I could never have when I was in this biz in SoCal....

It may be hard to imagine, but lugging Joe Blow's new 150% genoa up and down the dock gets old after enough years-so having at least a several month break was a very welcome change-I really enjoyed being in this business in the Midwest...

But as good as that was, I reached an age where even if only during the sailing months, the service requirements became a bit too much. I want to keep my love of the sport, and stay near the top of my game (or as close as I can stay)-and the best way for me was to "retire"...

And I still like the weather!!

Crazy, yes!! But not going anywhere....

Cheers,
S

New main

Here are a couple of pictures of my new main from Duwamish Head last weekend. It is a full size code 6, no reef points, 4 full battons. It is tough to get a good sense of the shape, as we are twisting off the top a fair bit. It was a little windy last weekend.

Very nice!

Love it! My only comment is that it looks a bit too full for the conditions-this can be an issue with FB mains-with normal batten tension it can be hard to get rid of the draft in the body of the sail-especially since you have very little mast bend to help you with this!

In this stuff, work on WAILING on the outhaul, making sure you have the right luff tension, and then, on heavy days, play will LESS tension in the battens. Flat sails are FAST-espeically in big air and flat water like in the pics!!

Otherwise looks sweet!

Cheers,

hiking...

I'm impressed to see 2 bodies actually hiking-
Hiking: v 1. an outward movement of weight to improve balance and reduce heel 2. if the lifeline breaks and you don't go headfirst into the water, you ain't hiking!
cool pictures!
Chris

Genoa trim

I gotta ask: Tell us how and where you are trimming your genoa-inboard? Rail? adjustable? I can't tell exactly from that shot...
Thanks
S