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Sail22 Speed Barn | Melges 24 Tweaks

Sail22 had many requests from teams last week about the options we offer for Melges 24′s and other boats while at Key West Race Week, so we’ve put together a summary of details to make things easier. As always, feel free to ask us questions.

The Sail22 Speed Shop was extremely busy throughout December and early January in preparation for this past week at Quantum Sails Premiere Racing Key West Race Week. In late December, we picked up a brand new Melges 24 for a client, USA 829, and brought it directly to the shop to begin the customization process prior to her first splash in Key West. Here are a few of the tweaks we’ve made that can be made to any boat, new or old when they visit the Sail22 Speed Shop.

Sail22 Foam Deck & Non-Skid Deck: Be nice to your crew with our custom cut Sail22 Foam Deck. No grit, lots of traction and easy on gear and lines. If the skipper likes a little more traction, then we offer the option for non-skid in the aft section, which is what USA 829 opted for, while NOR 800 went for the full Sail22 Foam Deck. We also offer a full non-skid deck as well for teams preferring the traditional traction. Available for all boats, not just the Melges 24!

Sail22 Hiking Rail Strips: Add these to the rail to make hiking easier and more comfortable. Great for the Melges 24, Melges 32 and any other boat with legs out hiking.

Sail22 Melges 24 Hatch Cover: There are plenty of hatch covers on the market, but we think ours is by far the best! Constructed to have a hinge so that the cover does not become fully unattached from the deck and made out of high quality canvas. Velcro to deck and allows for quicker resealing for the bowman and always stays in place.

Sail22 Melges 24 Trampoline: Uka Uka has used a trampoline instead of a spinnaker bag for years. Trampolines are used on bigger boats to keep the kite out of the water that collects in the boat and allow for easy launching and take downs. Teams that have tested ours have rave reviews. Easy to attach with bungee and small pad-eyes we have created with Soak (makers of one of our favorite tweaks, the Soak Halyard Clip). With the trampoline, we recommend our Sail22 Compression Post Cover to make sure the kite does not become stuck on anything down below.

Sail22 First Aid Kit: Most first aid kits are full of things you really don’t need (aka fillers). Since Becky is a nurse practitioner and sailor, she has designed a first aid kit that is meant to handle injuries common to sailors on and off the water. All materials are high quality and not normally found in a common first aid kit. The case is also made by Pelican Cases to be fully waterproof and the whole kit only weighs in at 1.5 lbs. They come in handy when you need them the most!

Sail22 First Aid Kit

Sail22 First Aid KitSail22 Dog Bone: This can be used on any boat and has various applications. We use them on tack lines, main halyards, spin sheets and more. We’re always finding new uses for them! They come in multiple colors as well (currently silver, green, blue and red).

Sail22 Carbon Rig Adjustment Tool: No need to keep a screwdriver in the crew’s pocket to tune the rig now that we make our Sail22 Rig Adjustment Tool. Perfect to add and take off turns quickly on the open body turnbuckles. Made of carbon with a lashing line to lash to the boat or to a crew member’s PFD.

Carbon Melges 24 Backstay Flicker: One of our most popular Melges 24 items. Super light weight and tapered. A tweak where you want at the top of the rig and much more flexible then the traditional flicker to allow for more backstay when you need it.

DSC_0024Melges 24 Carbon Jib Block Cover: Our very sturdy carbon jib block cover prevents the spinnaker from being sucked into the jib block on take downs, which can be a very costly error. Only needed on the port side for one design racing. Clear coated carbon looks great and is very functional. If you have ever had the kite stuck in the jib block, you will understand why this is needed!

Sail22 Melges 24 Carbon Tack Deflector: This piece keeps the spinnaker from becoming stuck in the lifeline triangle where the lifeline meets the deck on spinnaker sets. No need for bungee across the deck any longer with this device. Ours is made of carbon and glues to the deck (no holes required to be drilled).

Melges 24 Carbon Rig Locks: Once the rig is tuned, our Carbon Rig Locks keep the open body turnbuckles from spinning on or off any more than you wanted. Available in 8mm and 10mm to fit both sizes of open body turnbuckles depending on if they are made prior to 2011.

Melges 24 Third Hands & Keepers: Our third hands are sturdier than the traditional style (and cheaper too!). They allow the rig to be easier to work with for open body turnbuckles. The Keepers eliminate movement of the shrouds to prevent the third hand from becoming repositioned. Our Keepers work with other manufacturers’s Third Hands as well.

IMG_0462

IMG_0461Sail22 Melges 24 Traveler Brackets: Anodized aluminum brackets that make it easier to work the traveler and backstay from either side so that they are never in the wrong place. Work both traveler or backstay from either side for light air settings. No block needed like other manufacturer’s brackets.

Sail22 Keel Guards: We’ve been working to perfect the best way to protect Melges keels and think we have found it. Our Sail22 keel guards provide front and back, as well as side stability to secure the keel in place while traveling.

Sail22 Turnbuckle Covers: We try and stay away from anything metal (ie. grommets), so our Sail22 Turnbuckle Cover is made out of high quality canvas and has a loop with lashing line. This keeps the cover from falling in when tuning the rig.

Sail22 Forestay Triangle Cover: Our Forestay Triangle Cover prevents water from coming in to the area around the furler. It’s amazing how much drier the boat is with this piece in place. Velcro in place for easy on and off.

Sail22 Forestay Turnbuckle Sleeve: This prevents the spin sheet from catching on the furler drum during gybes. A sleeve to make sure things run smooth and better than a water bottle or garden hose!

Sail22 Melges 24 Stanchion Ball: A very simple way to keep the kite from catching on the front port stanchion during sets and take downs.

IMG_0463Sail22 Ultra Light Megles 24 Backstay: (0.46 lbs with micro-cleat attached) Super light and covered. We developed our Ultra Light Backstay with a special line after not being satisfied with the original vectran and PBO options due to the breakdown that occurs of the fibers in UV light.

DSC_0019Sail22 New England Ropes Rigging Package: We offer full service rigging for all boats. Custom designed based on your preferences and our recommendations.

Dock Boxes: Custom made dock boxes are available that fit the Melges 24 trailer. Our favorite is a gray (which is on USA 829). Add vinyl team graphics to customize your dock box even further for easy recognition.

Sail22 Tuning Stickers: Why mark up your hull with a sharpie when you can have Sail22 tuning stickers? We make them for the jib cars, backstay, jib trim and traveler markings and rig tuning guides (just let us know which sail maker you use or we can do a custom one with your numbers).

Sail22 Flush Mount Velocitek ProStart or Tacktick Micro Bracket: Allows you to mount a Velocitek ProStart or Tacktick Micro directly onto the mast to keep it clear of halyards. When used with both Tacktick and Velociteck, it allows both screens to be at the same distance from the mast versus sticking out due to the traditional bracket size.

Sail22 Carbon Double Cleat Spinnaker Bracket: In big breeze, the spinnaker halyard can slip leading to a mess when it’s not needed. An easy fix is to double cleat and the Sail22 Double Cleat Spinnaker bracket is made of carbon and uses the same fasteners as the traditional Melges 24 bracket. Use the existing cam cleat and add a second one to the bracket.

Vinyl Logos for Hull and Sails: Custom graphics for your hull, cockpits, sails, dock boxes and more. We have the ability to cut large graphics in house and apply them prior to your next event.

Custom Painted Tillers: A favorite request in our Sail22 Speed Barn. Do you want your tiller to stand out with a special color or design? Vinyl graphics or airbrushed designs can be added during this process to make your tiller stand out!

These are just a few of the custom parts and options we offer to clients through Sail22. We enjoy working with clients one on one to make sure their boat is exactly the way they want it set up or overhauled. Please check out our website at www.Sail22.com for further offerings to teams such as gear, logistics, coaching and photography. We can be reached any time of the day by email at info@sail22.com and we’re quick to respond to phone calls too at 574-889-0022.


Melges 32 Gold Cup 2011 Team Galleries | Sail22 Photography

To make finding Melges 32 Gold Cup 2011 Team Galleries easier, here are the links to each of the different teams. Great conditions as always in Fort Lauderdale and huge thanks to Vicki and Steve Rhyne and the Mojo team for allowing us to get out on the water! Congratulations to Steve Howe and the Warpath team on their win and a very impressive regatta. Check out the Sick Trix gallery for one of the best Melges 32 wipeouts we’ve seen in a very long time. For more coverage from the event, go to Sailing Updates to see our on the water mark rounding details and blog coverage. Enjoy!

Arethusa

Argo

Catapult

Celeritas

Delta

Fantastica

Heartbreaker

Intac

Leenabarca

Mojo

Ninkasi

Pisces

Ramrod

Red

Samba Pa Ti

Sick Trix

Volpe

Warpath

Fleet Photos & Starts


Sail22 named J/Boats Mobile Resource Team

Sail22 is excited to announce a new affiliation with J/Boats to further support all of our clients who own J/Boats. Sail22 has been supporting racing teams since 2007 with the Sail22 Support Trailer. The trailer is fully stocked with rigging, cordage from New England Ropes, Ronstan and Harken parts, custom designed parts, gear and accessories from Gill, as well as, tools for teams to use at regattas. Sail22 is also working with J/Boats Dealer, Stearns Boating, to support J/Boats owners and teams in the Midwest region for service needs, rigging and gear. As the J/Boats Mobile Resource Team, Ed and Becky Furry have over 25 years of combined racing on J Boats and will work with teams on a one-on-one basis for their needs.

Look for the Sail22 Support Trailer this winter season in Key West, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The trailer will be stocked with all of your J/Boats needs to make your boat faster and provide service for any repairs or rigging. A video tour of the Sail22 Support Trailer will give you a even better idea of what you can expect to see at upcoming regattas. For the J/Fest Winter Series, the Sail22 J/Boats Mobile Resource Team will be located in Truman Annex and will be available starting the week before Quantum Key West Race Week 2012. Until Key West and after, the the trailer will be based at Shake-a-Leg Miami and will head to Fort Lauderdale for both of the Winter Series events, J/Fest Dead President’s Regatta and the J/Fest Super Lucky Regatta at the Bahia Mar. To cap off the end of the winter season, the J/Boats Mobile Resource Team will be in Charleston for Charleston Race Week 2012.

Feel free to contact Sail22 with any of your J/Boats Resource Team questions or needs at info@sail22.com or 574-889-0022. Sail22 is proud to be part of the J/Boats family and looks forward to meeting and working with more J/Boat sailors.


New Sail22 Support Trailer Wrap | Sail22 Photography – GT3 Creative

The Sail22 Support Trailer was in need of a little bit of a face lift recently, so we decided it was time to go for a full trailer wrap. We sorted through the Sail22 Photography photo galleries and came up with one photo of each of the different classes we work with on a regular basis to grace the sides of the trailer. Our friends, Cary and Beth at GT3 Creative recently purchased a large format printer capable of printing on wrap material, so it seemed like a no brainer for us. They do awesome design work and we use them for our web designs, logos, etc and highly recommend them. Tell them you heard it from Sail22! ;) We sent them our design and they printed and flew the wrap out with them to Culver, Indiana.

They arrived at Sail22 Headquarters late Thursday evening and started on the wrap early Friday morning. We had pulled the Sail22 Support Trailer into the Speed Barn, so they had a climate controlled area to work in. The wrap looked great from the start. We posted several of the “in process” photos on our Sail22 Facebook page if you didn’t see them. Make sure you “like” our page while you’re there to see our regular updates that do not make it onto the blog. We update it frequently!

Here’s the official reveal! We couldn’t be more excited about how it turned out and can’t wait to show it off when we head south for the winter regatta circuit. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

Passenger Side with the Etchells and front view with a Melges 32

Etchells

J80′s Going Downwind on the rear of the trailer

Melges 32 Spinnaker Take Down

Melges 24 Start and J80′s


J80 East Coast Championship Report | Annapolis Sailing

Chris Chadwick owner of the J80 Church Key sent us a guest post about last weekend’s J80 East Coast Championship in Annapolis, Maryland. Ed and I had so much fun sailing on Church Key and it’s always sweeter to win when you sail with friends. It was also a nice change to not be photographing the regatta and sailing instead! Check out Sara Proctor’s SailFastPhoto images for some great shots from the weekend.

Without further adieu, here’s Chris’s report:

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J80 ECC’s
If anyone has seen Church Key, you’ll know what I mean when I say she doesn’t look all that special. She’s hull number 59. She’s a little beat up, with outdated blocks and parts, many of which we have scavenged from discards of other boats (we actually took smaller parts off of bigger broken things, like masts, to stay sailing at the worlds!). As a military family with 3 children (all of which sail, too), resources are tight. As a result, the old girl doesn’t get much love, but we do the best we can. Kerry Klingler, a longtime friend and the Quantum Sails J Boat guru helps us out as best he can, often selling “lightly” used sails to keep us on the water (our race mainis the sail Terry Flynn used in last year’s World’s). This year we were fortunate to hook up with Sail22 for rigging sponsorship, providing much needed new halyards and sheets! (Becky and Ed are the best!!)

Well, back to Church Key…As I said, she’s not the prettiest girl at the dance, but she gets the jobdone (sort of like a German Sausage maker…) and she is very loved by her family.

So after a whirlwind summer experiencing moderate success traveling around the Northeast, the old girl made it home in time for the 2011 J80 East Coast Championships at Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis on October 28-30th. We finalized the crew for the event only 2 weeks prior at the Annapolis
Boat Show. Tom Murray, my constant on the boat was set to trim jib. Ed and Becky Furry, owners of Sail22, were going to be in town, and they hardly are able to sail together, so the offer of teaming up on the boat was too good to pass up. Ed trimmed Spinnaker and called the upwind shots, and Becky
called wind, boats and generally attempted to keep me at least moderately in check during an incredibly shifty regatta.

The forecast for the weekend was sketchy. Friday would be chilly, with a nice breeze from the Northeast that would slowly diminish. Saturday we were to be besieged by an early winter Nor’easter…and then Sunday was just cold, with even shiftier conditions from the Northwest. The first day of sailing was intense. Church Key scrambled to make the first race after a last minute outhaul fix on the way out. Firebolt, owned by Bill Hunt, sailed a great first day. Through four races they ended the day in first with 11 points. Will Crump, sailing on Jeff’s Boat and our crew on Church Key were right on Firebolt’s heels in a tie for second (Will was winning the tie breaker with two bullets) at 13 points. John White was 5 points back sitting in 4th. At the end of the day, we took a good look at the impending storm and made the smart decision to postpone sailing forSaturday. Seeing the weather that hit, this was an incredibly smart call!!

The last day of sailing started with freezing temperatures and shifty winds. We got out to the race course and commenced race one of the day. Our team talked prior to the start and decided we were going to sail our own race and stay clear of everyone at the start. We went for the boat end at the start and were given the opportunity to push Will Crump over the line. This wasn’t the plan, but it didn’t hurt us either. Though not our greatest race, we scored a 5, better than the 2 boats in front of us going into the day. Suddenly we were sitting with two points in first and John White had moved into the second position. The second race we were launched. Ed and Becky kept us in the wind and Tom did a great job on the jib to keep us driving through increasingly shifty conditions. By the end of the second leg, we had a nice lead and played cover for the remainder of the race. The 3rd race continued with our goal of consistency. The wheels stayed on and we were able to work the shifts nicely. We finished with a 2nd. At this point the wind had shifted drastically and the current was strong. The Race Committee attempted to shift the course and get one last race off. They finally were able to start a fourth race, but the shifts were so drastic that the committee decided to abandon the race and call it a day. We had won the regatta with a solid 10 point lead!!!

As we all know, the driver is just the idiot in the back of the boat trying not to screw it up! All credit for the win goes to Tom Murray, who is always there for me on Church Key, and to Ed and Becky Furry, whose support for our family program on and off the water has been truly a blessing. And without the joy of sailing against such a tight group of friends that is the J80 class, what would be the point?And, as always, my love and thanks to Liz, Riley, Madeline and Hadley, the 4 other women in my life…

See you on the water soon!!!

Chris Chadwick
USA 59
Church Key