Sail Blog

Turkey Shoot Hospice Regatta Results

2010-12-01T17:18:45Z

We believe these are the final results and would like to congratulate all of our customers who took home silver.

Lt Blue Fleet:

- Third Place: Rattlesnake with Skipper Premier Woman’s Sailing

Grey Fleet:

- First Place: Salute with Skipper Peter Knight

Green Fleet (J-24)

- Second Place: Marijo with Skipper Mike McCartney

Green Fleet less J-24s:

- First Place: Trilogy with Skipper Wayland Rennie

- Third Place: Sweetbay with Skipper Jay Townsend

Yellow Fleet:

- First Place: Scotty with Skipper Mosby West & Debbie Cycotte

- Third Place: Spitkit II with Skipper Franklin Birdsail

Purple Fleet:

- First Place: Grey Seal with Skipper Mark Giegel

- Third Place: Windkeeper with Skipper Bland Gill/Bob Richard

White Fleet:

- Third Place: Cahoots with Skipper Mike Conroy

Orange Fleet

- First Place: Cricket with Skipper Chris Ehring

- Third Place: Dea Latis with Skipper Jim Beardon

Flying Cloud Division Overall:

- Second Place: Cricket with Skipper Chris Ehring

- Third Place Salute with Skipper Peter Knight

Can I convert an old sail for use on my new furling system?

2010-09-21T10:18:07Z

Question: I have a hank-on genoa that was new 4 years ago and has had little use in that time. I am wondering about converting to a roller furler. I can budget the new furler I would need, and probably a sail conversion, but doubt I can budget a new furling head sail along with a new furler. The boat is a Columbia 9.6 meter sloop. Answer: A lot of people don't even think about budgeting for the sail when contemplating an upgrade to a furling unit. The sail is a significant part of

First Time Racer

2010-08-21T14:14:26Z

The local newspaper wrote an article about kids from our area racing in the huge (300+ boat) Opti National Championships sailed in Deltaville recently; but they forgot to mention one competitor who will be a force to reckon with as the years go by.

Flying Scot Regatta Notes

2010-08-20T16:14:16Z

I always spend a fair amount of time thinking through a regatta afterwards. This past weekend we sailed the FBYC Annual Regatta in a fleet of 34 Flying Scots. Results Some top players showed up and I sailed one of the better regattas I’ve had in a while, both on the score card and in terms of enjoyment. The event presented a lot of challenges and it seemed like a good opportunity to write down some of my thoughts on the keys to success.

Send us your Questions for a chance at a free Ullman t-shirt or belt

2010-07-27T12:41:07Z

We are looking for article ideas. If you have a question about sails chances are that others have the same question. Send us your question and we'll answer it in our blog. If we use your question/idea for a blog post we'll give you a free Ullman t-shirt or belt. To submit your question/ideas just click on the "ask the experts" link to the left.

Should I have full length battens in my new mainsail?

2010-07-13T00:36:51Z

      Opinions are something never found in short supply around boats. When you ask a sailor about battens it is rare to find someone without a strong opinion. Of course attitudes on the subject vary as much as they possibly could. Some would argue that full length battens are the only reasonable way to go while others would say that battens are to be avoided all together. As with most gear on boats optimum batten configuration is a function of how the boat is used.
      The saltiest of blue water cruisers often insist on the omission of battens all together. The thought is that battens cause the sail to become a more complicated piece of gear. Simplicity is the surest way to reduce the possibility of gear failure. No battens to lose, pockets to tear, or sidewise forces on luff slides causing them to jam.
     An increasing number of sailors are advocates of full length battens. Most of the cruising sails we now build are fitted with full battens. Full length battens provide two benefits to the sail. They help to support the roach which promotes a smooth shape even in the lightest air. The second , and probably more important benefit, is that full length battens help to dissipate flogging forces. When a sail is flogged the shock loads that are created can be very damaging. I have seen short batten pockets flogged right off of a sail in a matter of a minute or two. Full length battens significantly dampen these forces and are a huge help extending the life of a sail.
     There are some possible downsides to full length battens. One possible drawback for the racing sailor is additional weight, although the amount of weight is too small to concern the cruiser. Friction was a big concern in the early years of full length battens. This problem has however been mitigated over the years by advancements in hardware. There are a number of options for terminating batten against the luff, ranging from pricey ball bearing car systems to simple webbed-on slides. The modern full length batten receptacle is miles ahead of the early systems and generates very little additional friction along the luff.
     For performance oriented sailors a combination of full length and partial battens can be a great way to go. The most benefit is derived from full length battens higher in the sail. So a full length top batten or top two battens is a common set-up for racer and cruiser/racer sails. The top two battens help support the leech and dampen flogging while the partial bottom battens save weight and allow the bottom half of the sail to be adjusted through more range of shape.
     So one or two full length battens are the way to go for racing sails, and full length battens are the only way to go for the serious cruiser. At least that’s one guys opinion…

Ullman customers take home the silver in the Leukemia Cup

2010-07-11T23:01:17Z

Congratulations to all of the participants in the 12th Annual Southern Chesapeake Leukemia Cup Regatta, especially those who sailed to silver with Ullman sails.

J-105 - 1st Place Inevitable, Mike Karn, 2nd Place Lucky Dog, Travis Weisleder
PHRF B - 1st Place Shenanigan, Miles Booth
PHRF C - 1st Place Morningtide, Russ Collins
Classic Division - 1st Place Last Boat III, Frank Murphy, 3rd Place Desperado, Ric Bauer, 4th Place Nutcracker, Dick Cole
Leukemia 1 Division - 2nd Place Mojito, Jere Dennison
Leukemia 2 Division - 3rd Place Bodacious Too Bill Broaddus, 4th Place Sanctuary Stan Coloff

Full results here: www.fbyc.net

What does the genoa percent mean?

2010-07-08T14:38:01Z

Genoa sizing is a something that is often confusing to the average sailor. There are a number of different systems to describe sails. “#1”, “155%”, “Lapper” are some of the expressions that can be used interchangeably. We should probably start with answering the question “what makes a sail a genoa?” A genoa is an overlapping headsail. Overlapping meaning that the clew of the sail comes back past the mast.

Racing sails are generally given a number to describe the sail’s size. A #1 would be the largest genoa in an inventory, a #2 the next largest, and so on. A # 3 is usually the largest non overlapping sail in the inventory. This sail is also often called a blade.

A more precise description of the size of a genoa is given as a percentage. The overlap size is the LP of the sail divided by the J dimension of the boat. The “LP” is the luff perpendicular which is the shortest distance from clew to luff, which always works out to be on a 90 degree angle from the luff. A 155% genoa has an LP that is 155% of J. If your J dimension is 10’ then a 155% genoa would measure 15.5’ as the shortest distance from the clew to the luff.

We are still here! Just working on sails rather than the website...

2010-07-08T12:49:30Z

It has been quite a while since we have updated our website. We have had a very busy first half of the year and are just getting time to take a breath. A lot has happened over the past six months and I will just cover some highlights.

We have two new employees. Ann Perry who has years of sailing and sailing industry experience is our office manager. She tends the phone, creates work orders, does all the billing, and overseas our inventory and retail sales. It is great to have someone so capable and able to handle a million things at once! John Piorko is our second new employee. He is working on the loft floor as an assistant sailmaker. He brings a ton of energy and enthusiasm and is quickly becoming an indispensible asset to our sailmaking efforts. We are pleased to welcome Ann and John to the team!

Our sail washing has grown considerably over the last year. Moving this process in-house has allowed us to greatly improve quality and significantly speed up turn-around time. Lance has developed the process and oversees all sail washing. He is also managing all service activity in the loft so there is continuity throughout the process. The turnaround time right now is about two weeks. If you know you won't be sailing for one weekend we can remove, wash, and reinstall your sails and you won't miss a thing!

Consumer confidence is up (at least right now). We have been very busy building new sails. We are one of the few lofts on the Chesapeake who still build the majority of our sails in-house. We have built everything from Opti sails to finishing D4 Fiberpath membranes. We still have a backlog of new sails that includes a couple of boom furling mains, some traditional sails, and several racing sails, but should be slowing down in the new sail department in August. If you are looking for a new sail deal check into having something built in August.

Our service department is as busy as ever. In addition to the regular repairs and maintenence we have done a lot of mainsail re-cuts this year. One increasingly common re-cut is cutting a wedge out of the foot of a mainsail to make room for a new bimini. It is a relatively simple recut and allows a new bimni to be installed with ample headroom. We work with our friends at The Ship's Tailer on these projects to ensure all of the parts work together. Another re-cut that we are seeing quite a lot is on in-mast roller furling mainsails. These sails tend to stretch over time and become less willing to cooperate when asked to roll in and out of the mast. Often a quick luff re-cut will make a big difference in how smoothly one of these sails rolls.

One of our competitors is currnetly running a full page ad for 5 day turnaround on service work and Saturday hours. We've had a five day service guarantee for as long as I have been involved with this loft. On most repairs if you bring the sail in monday we'll have it ready by the end of the week. We are here 9-12 on Saturdays and we have a pick-up/drop-off box that can be used anytime to make our services as easy as possible. We can even come to your boat and remove/install your sails to make it even easier.

New Old Sail Project

2009-05-04T19:06:58Z

We just learned that we will be building another set of sails for a square rigged early 17th century replica ship. This will be our second full suit of square sails over the last ten months. We will be ordering materials soon, getting started sometime in late May, and working on the project over the summer. Stop by the loft sometime and see how sails were made 400 years ago!