Sail22

J/70 Demo Sailing in Bristol, RI | Sail22 J/Boats Resource Center

Sail22 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:45:07 +0000

Since we are working with J/Boats on the brand new J/70, we headed up to Bristol, RI to test sail hull #1 (USA 1) and #2 (USA 2) with the sailmakers and the team from J/Boats. Our verdict….we think you’re going to love the J/70!!! It’s everything and more with J/Boats true attention to details in all aspects of the boat. CCF has built another solid member to the J/Boat family. A boat will be headed to Charleston Race Week for demo sails, so let us know if you’re interested. We’ll be happy to help arrange a chance to try it out if it is possible. We have USA 14 on order as part of our work with Stearns Boating from Chicago to bring the J/70 to the Midwest. We’ll be arranging demo sails at various locations throughout the summer and the boat will be based at Sail22 Headquarters in Culver, Indiana. If you’d like to take USA 14 out for a test sail this summer, please send us an email to info@sail22.com or feel free to give us a call. We’d love to hear from you! For more information on the latest J/70 news, make sure to visit the J/70 website.

We are already working to put together upgrades for the J/70, including our Sail22 J/70 Soft Deck Kit and upgraded Sail22 Race Rigging options!

Sailing World’s video features a Sail22 cameo, as we sailed USA 2 with Jeff Johnstone, while Sailing World’s Dave Reed and Meredith Powlison were on USA 1 with Kerry Klingler of Quantum Sails. Dave’s Sailing World review of the J/70 can be found here. Sail Magazine’s team also did a demo sail while we were there. They had big smiles in the big breeze. Read Adam Cort’s J/70 article here. The reviews speak well of this spirited family boat!

Stu Johnstone put together another video showing off a little more fun with the J/70’s. Definitely shows off how balanced and responsive these little boats are in some breeze!

Becky spent some time photographing the J/70’s in and out of the water. Enjoy!

And the Winners Are…. | Sail22 Grab Bag Giveaway

Sail22 — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:48:52 +0000

Lots of entries for the Sail22 Grab Bag Giveaway!!! We’ll have to do this again soon! Thank you everyone for spreading the word and participating in the giveaway. We made up a few extra grab bags, so if you’re at Bacardi Miami Sailing Week or know someone who is, tell them to stop by the Sail22 Support Trailer and pick one up. We’ll give them out until they are gone!

If you’re a winner, please contact us in the next 48 hours (ie. by Saturday at noon) at info@sail22.com. Please send us your full name, address and phone # for shipping within the United States. If we’ll be seeing you here at Bacardi, Etchells Nationals or Charleston Race Week, please just let us know and we’ll hold it for you to pick-up. If you do not contact us within 48 hours, we’ll be drawing a new winner. Remember, we’re trying to clean out the Sail22 Support Trailer, so we want to ship out everything as soon as possible!

Now…on to the winners! Congratulations to the following Sail22 Grab Bag Winners:

Rosemary Metzger

Broony Daniels

Sam Richmond

Kelly Monahan

Jeff Carpenter

Matthew Princing

Lynz Boston

Frank McCarthy

KLM (Not sure of your name…)

Jorgen Wathne

Sail22 Grab Bag Giveaway | Always happy. Never satisfied.®

Sail22 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:42:15 +0000

We work with some great companies in the sailing industry and they often give us goodies to promote their companies. Our cup runneth over right now as the saying goes, so it’s time for a big giveaway! We also have some extra Sail22 branded things which we added to the giveaway. Grab bags are all different and may include stickers, t-shirts, hats, visors, small bags, product samples, Sail22 Gift Certificates, a Sail22 First Aid Kit, gear, shoes and more. The average value per bag is over $50! We are lucky to work with these great companies who support us: Harken, McLube, Ronstan, Sailrite, Ullman Sails, North Sails, Quantum Sails, Sebago, Hall Spars & Rigging, Boeshield, Gill and New England Ropes. There are 10 Grab Bags in the contest and every bag has at least three items in it!!! It’s easy to enter:

Here’s what you need to do to enter to win…

Please leave ONE comment below this blog post stating that you completed step 1 below (leave only one comment please). That ONE comment will serve as your giveaway entry.

1. Like Sail22 on Facebook (if you don’t already) and make this your status: “Go check out @Sail22 at www.Sail22.com to enter to win a grab bag of sailing goodies!” and leave ONE comment on the blog about what you hope we have in our goodie bags!

Be sure to type the @ symbol before Sail22 to link to our page.

FOR UP TO FOUR BONUS ENTRIES…

BONUS ENTRIES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO ENTER.

1. Share a link to this blog post on your favorite Forum or Twitter. Then come back and tell us you did by leaving a link with a separate (second) comment in the comments section below.

2. Visit our little Always Happy Life / Sail22 shop and have a look around and then come back here and leave ONE comment letting us know why you want to win and what products you would add to your shopping list!

3. Go to Sail22 Photography and pick out your favorite photo. Click the Share button below the photo and put in the message “Check out the @Sail22 photography galleries from www.Sail22.com & be entered in a great giveaway!” for Facebook or for Twitter “Check out the @Sail22 photography galleries from www.Sail22.com & be entered in a great giveaway!”

4. Like Always Happy Life on Facebook. Leave another comment here to let us know you are a fan or just became one.

You can have five chances to win with the bonus entries! Good Luck!!!

The Sail22 Giveaway starts today and will end on March 7th at midnight (EST). The winners will be selected by random number generator and announced here on the blog on March 8th . The winners will have 24 hours to claim their winnings or another winner will be selected.

This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.
Participants are providing information to Sail22 and not to Facebook.

***Shipping of giveaway grab bags is free in the United States. Winners out of the US can pick up their bags at a future regatta.***

Key West Race Week 2012 Galleries Are Posted | Sail22 Photography

Sail22 — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:12:48 +0000

All photo galleries are finally posted from Quantum Sails Key West Race Week 2012! I was out on the water for each day of racing and have tagged every image with a team name and sail number if possible. Click the link (in red) below a photo to be taken directly to the gallery with that tag. The Division 1 Gallery included the TP52, Farr 40, Mini Maxi, Farr 400, and IRC classes. Definitely an exciting course to be out on and the conditions were great during the week.

A TP52 Start

The brand new McConaghy 38 owned by Rob & Sandy Butler with Marty Kullman driving.

Ran going downwind. A favorite of mine!

The Division 2 Gallery showcases the Melges 24 and Melges 32 classes. Always great one design racing with those fleets and fun to watch as well. Congratulations to Bora Gulari & his team on the Melges 24, West Marine Rigging New England Ropes and to John Kilroy and his team on Samba Pa Ti.

Melges 24 Start at Key West Race Week.

Congrats to Samba Pa Ti, winner’s of the Melges 32 class and Boat of the Week!

Bora Gulari and team headed to yet another win. They were tough to beat!
The Division 3 Gallery includes the J/80’s, Farr 30’s, PHRF and J/Boats (J/109, J/122, J/111, J/120) classes. A big variety on this course for sure and great to see more one design classes on the water at the event! As always, Key West was great to see everyone, as it’s always a bit of a reunion. We’re already looking forward to next year!

Looks like the Farr 30 Groovederci was having fun out there!

Mental and Wicked, both J/111 boats were very competitive with each other.

J/80 Start

J/Boats headed downwind

J/122 Teamwork headed to a class win!

Sail22 Speed Barn | Melges 24 Tweaks

Sail22 — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:48:24 +0000

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 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.

Melges 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.

Sail22 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.

Sail22 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.

Sail22 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

Sail22 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:54:34 +0000

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!

Fleet Photos & Starts

Sail22 named J/Boats Mobile Resource Team

Sail22 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:35:25 +0000

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

Sail22 — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:12:58 +0000

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

Sail22 — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:14:14 +0000

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:

******

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

Sail22 & Sailing Updates to Support the 2011 Melges 24 Nationals in Lake Geneva ~ Sailing Regatta Coverage

Sail22 — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:00:30 +0000

Sail22 is in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with our Sail22 Regatta Support Trailer for the 2011 Melges 24 Nationals hosted by Lake Geneva Yacht Club on September 30th through October 2nd. The Melges 24 is one of our favorite classes to work with and we look forward to seeing everyone! We are fully stocked with our New England Ropes cordage wall, some great new Sail22 gear, go fast Melges 24 parts and more! Sail22 will be providing our Sailing Updates live regatta coverage of the event to keep those who aren’t able to be in Lake Geneva updated with mark roundings and live blogging from on the water. Becky will also be photographing the Nationals and posting images on Sail22 Photography.

Just under twenty boats are already here prepping for what will be the third largest Melges 24 Nationals in the history of the class. It definitely makes sense since Lake Geneva Yacht Club is the home club of Melges Boat Works. We stopped by Zenda today to say hello and pick up a few things. Always a great place to visit!

We’re also bringing our newest member of the Sail22 team with us, Dana Keller, who has joined our company to provide even better customer service and support to our clients. Stop by and meet Dana at the Sail22 Support Trailer to say hello!