Hyde Sails June news round-up
by Hyde Sails 5 Jul 2011 16:26 BST
J/80 nationals – second for Larke
The 26-boat fleet at the Tacktick J/80 Nationals, hosted by the Royal Dart YC, were treated to a variety of conditions across the eight-race series from full on 30-knot foam-up on the first day to a more sedate 10-12 knots on the final day. The last two races of the series were scheduled for Friday morning, Rob Larke won the first race of the day in J2X but it wasn’t enough as Kevin Sproul won the final race to confirm his series victory, forcing Larke and crew, who had shown good speed throughout, to settle for second.
Tom Webb to head Round Britain
Seventeen-year-old Tom Webb is poised to sail round Britain in his Beneteau First 211 ‘Danera’ to raise awareness and funds for a number of disabled sailing charities. Tom believes sailing is a sport to be enjoyed by people of all abilities and to highlight the opportunities for disabled young people, he will set off on his solo sail round Britain on July 2. Tom explains: ‘In doing the challenge I want to show my support to three fantastic charities: Phil Packer’s British Inspiration Trust, Even Keel and RYA Sailability at my local sailing club.’ Tom has new Hyde sails for the trip, and says: ‘The new fully-battened main and genoa are a fantastic addition to the boat, they provide the power and durability that’s needed in long passages, but still give great responsive performance for racing around the cans.’
News from Australia
Hyde exhibits at Sanctuary Cove
Hyde Sails Australia had its first display at The Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show last month. This is one of the major events on the marine industry’s calendar for the Asia Pacific Region. Sanctuary Cove is in Queensland’s Gold Coast and features marina-style retail and residential facilities. As one of only two sailmakers present, Hyde attracted interest from the public and industry members and generated plenty of good leads. The weather was unkind for the time of year, which reduced visitor numbers, but there was an air of confidence amongst exhibitors for future business.
Hyde’s sails compete in early season events
The first of the early season yachting events in Queensland kicks off in early August with the Great Keppell Isle Race, which is en route to the Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island Race Weeks. Yachts using Hyde Sails for these events include the Farr 40 ‘Night Nurse’, Farr 30s ‘GOA’ and ‘Asterix’, Cavalier 350, ‘Flying Colours II’ and Jeanneau 49i, ‘Wee Wah’.
‘GOA’ and ‘Asterix’ have ordered new A1 and A3 asymmetrical spinnakers to cover the possible range of southerly breezes which can be experienced in the Great Keppell Isles Race.
News from the Netherlands
Silver sailors
Hyde’s distributor in the Netherlands, Bert Koeman has started a pilot project for ‘senior sailors’, called ‘The Silver Fleet’. In this innovative project Bert is coaching elderly sailors and helping them to customise their boat to enable them to continue sailing even when they are hampered by age-related restrictions like arthritis.
Customised sails
Over the past few seasons the weather Dutch sailors are dealing with has changed and more than ever they are faced with hardly any wind, or a very strong wind. Bert realised this and over the next few months Bert and his team will be focusing on customised sails for today’s wind conditions and helping customers to make the right choices for them.
More information on the Hyde Sails website.