Competitors who are amputees, paraplegics, quadriplegics, as well as those with neurological issues, vision-impairment and fully blind sailors competed. This was my first time sailing in the Robie and I was the AB for my good friend Kory Breitel who suffered a stroke five years ago and Julian Klus, who had never sailed before. Even though Kory lost the use of his dominant right arm, he has trained himself to use his left arm to drive his car and a boat along with being able to shoot pistols competitively. Watching Kory excel on the racecourse while joking around in the boat with us was a great way to spend the weekend.  I expect we will see Julian on the water again as he got hooked on sailing.

For me, I it was truly inspiring to be part of the regatta. Helping Kory was only part of it. I got to see life-long sailors continuing to compete even after suffering great physical setbacks. One site I will never forget is watching the blind helmsman turning around and looking astern as he drove downwind. As a sighted sailor, I always look where I’m going, but for the blind sailor he could steer a straight course by feeling the wind on his face. And did I say, he was ahead of us?  Kudos to all the race organizers and volunteers for making this great event possible.

While the weather didn’t cooperate on Friday and Saturday, Sunday allowed the Larchmont Race committee to run two races before the wind built over 18 knots, which forced the fleet back to the dock. In the very light and shifty first race, Kory caught the last puff and passed two boats just before the finish to take first. In the second and final race, he finished third. Those two scores were good enough to win the regatta, which put the cherry on top of a great event.

Named after Robie Pierce, a disabled sailor himself and a driving force in sailing with disabilities in the U.S., this regatta was conceived by the Flag Officers of the Larchmont and American Yacht Clubs to be run jointly by the Clubs and hosted by each on alternating years.  2009’s inaugural regatta at American Yacht Club drew 22 teams sailing in specially adapted Ideal 18s. 2011 saw the inauguration of the first all-women’s disabled regatta.

For those of you who never had the pleasure of meeting Robie Pierce, he was a wonderful man who worked tirelessly to bring adaptive sailing to a larger group.  He was a sailor who battled MS for over 30 years and his illness fueled his passion to create new adaptive sailing and training opportunities.  Leading the way, he continued to sail after being diagnosed and was most proud of winning the World Disabled Sailing Championship in 1993.  According to Buttons Padin, a co-chair of the event, “We lost Robie in 2017 and though we promised Robie that we would never call this the Robie Pierce Memorial Regatta, he did agree that we could toast him each year.”

Article lead image credit to Maureen Koeppel.

According to UK Sailmakers New York’s Emmett Dickheiser, who was the speed doctor aboard CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, “The key in this race was keeping your eyes open and connecting the dots of wind.” Throughout the race, sailors constantly had to be alert to big changes in wind direction as the northerly gradient wind battled against the southerly sea breeze. Both breezes came and retreated during the race. For instance, DRAGON had to beat from Bartlett’s Reef to the turning mark off of Plum Island, while the boats further back did the same leg with spinnakers.

At one point, after the boat was stopped with the spinnaker draped against the rig, Emmett had the crew set the spinnaker staysail from the headstay to use it as a wind seeker. “That got us going again.”

Skipper Andrew Weiss said, “We were aggressive on sail changes. Our headsail trimmer, Colin Fitzpatrick, counted 25 spinnaker changes, which is a lot when you only have three in your inventory.” To optimize his rating, Weiss set up the boat without a Code Zero. Instead, he relies on his A3 for close reaching in heavy and light air. For this race, he carried an A1.5, light A2 and the A3.

Despite a full crew of experienced Long Island sound sailors, the light air was a challenge for the team, “In conditions this shifty and light, we had to work really hard to find breeze and were changing sails all day and night,” Andrew said, “It was an exhausting race physically and mentally.” The hard work paid off and CHRISTOPHER DRAGON corrected out on top of the ORC fleet (0:20:53:50) to win the William Tripp, Jr Memorial Trophy.

He gave an example of sail changes his team used to get the boat going. About three-quarters of the way to the first turning mark, off Bartlett Reef, the J/160 COUGAR (a 52-footer) was catching them as they were both close reaching with jibs. Weiss had the crew change to the A3, and they started pulling away. The J/160 changed to their Code Zero and started catching back up until the wind faired, and DRAGON was able to peel to their A1.5, “And then we left them for good.”

The latest sail to CHRISTOPHER DRAGON’s UK Sailmakers inventory was a genoa staysail, which is smaller than a spinnaker staysail. It is designed with a shorter hoist and a lower clew for closer wind angles so that it works well in the narrower slot. Weiss said that since the A3 is so close-winded, they could not carry the spinnaker staysail inside of it. The new sail was just what he wanted. In light air, they even carried the genoa staysail inside of the A1.5, as shown in the picture taken by competitor Richard du Moulin.

“Everyone makes fun of my little boat, but I love it,” said Weiss. They were around bigger boats all throughout the race. After 23 hours and 16 minutes of racing, they finished ahead of all the J/44s, a Farr 40, a J/121, and Baltic 52. Even though DRAGON finished three hours after the GP42 ARMA, Weiss’ team corrected to a one-minute victory for the ORC Overall award. ARMA was second overall, and the Figaro 2 GROUPE 5, in DRAGON’s ORC Class 5, finished third, over 20 minutes behind on corrected time.

Andrew Weiss said, “We have won overall in almost every race we sailed, which included the Lauderdale 2022 Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race, the 2022 Edlu Race, and the 2022 Block Island Race that couldn’t have been any more different from this year’s race. In 2022, the long course around Block Island was sailed; the fleet had a 15-20 knot tight spinnaker reach all the way to Block Island. “We have won more overall trophies with this boat than with any other.” And Andrew should know this is the 12th boat to carry the name CHRISTOPHER DRAGON.

You can hear more about that winning year on the UK Sailmakers Lessons Learned Podcast.

Now that is trial by fire for a first ocean race. Lucky for him, he didn’t know any other way of doing the race. The crew were prepared with all the right damage control tools and parts, which allowed them to finish the race. One more example of the proverbial “Iron me in wooden ships”.

The 1958 Bermuda Race was won by the 38-foot S&S designed yawl FINISTERRE owned by Carlton Mitchell, who sailed FINISTERRE to three Newport to Bermuda wins in a row during the years 1956, 1958 and 1960.

Some key tactics approaching the pin on starboard:

1. Have a good pin-end line sight if possible.
2. Avoid getting overlapped to leeward.
3. Work to establish a gap in the fleet to your lee side so you can foot off to build speed just before the start.
4. Don’t be afraid to point head-to-wind (but no further) to defend against a boat approaching to windward.
5. Make sure you are up to full speed before the gun.

The first two-minute opening sequence of this video is a beautiful example of Bill Henson’s JPK 45 SIRENE winning the favored pin-end start of the 2023 Cape Naturaliste Race. At 100 seconds before the start, SIRENE passes behind the committee boat on starboard. During the next 20 seconds, the green boat bears off to jibe around. Notice that SIRENE bears off at the same time, but while keeping on starboard to push the green boat away from the line to carve a bigger hole. At 75 seconds, SIRENE tightens up and luffs down the line making sure she only has the minimal speed needed to keep all the other boats from getting a leeward overlap. As long as she keeps clear ahead, no other boat can luff her over the line. At 30 seconds, she lets a boat get overlapped on her windward quarter. This is no problem; notice how fast that boat falls behind once SIRENE tightens up and puts that boat in her bad air. Just after the stat SIRENE has a huge lead.Thank you to Lindsay Preece for this video showing the IRC start of the 2023 200-mile Cape Naturaliste and Return race that started and finished off Fremantle, Western Australia.

The second situation comes from the start of the 2010 630-mile Newport to Bermuda Race. The pin was favored enough that boats on starboard tack on the line were sailing close hauled. I called the pin-winning start on the J/109 APSARA. The tricks to winning the pin in that start was first to time how long it took to sail from one side of the line to the other. Then for our final approach, we started out to windward of the committee boat so that we could reach down the line with speed. All the boats that started below the line had to pinch and go slow to get up to the line. Down toward the port end, we converged with the other boats, but APSARA had speed to sail across their bows. Once we were across the last boat, we dove down to keep from getting hooked by the dark blue Swan 44 TRIPLE LINDY. As the photo shows, we timed it perfectly without a second to spare. As a result, we started off the 630-mile race first in class, which was a high note for our team. 

The Port Tack start is another way to win the pin. It works when the starting line is skewed more than five degrees and the bulk of the fleet doesn’t realize it. The third clip shows of the Platu 25 crossing her fleet by three or four boatlengths in a Thursday evening race two years ago. In most club racing fleets, starting on starboard is too ingrained in most racers. If I realize the pin is that favored, I don’t do any practice runs of my port approach to keep from tipping off the fleet. Pulling off a port start is gets your heart PUMPING!

If you can’t cross the fleet on port, you can still do a port approach start to win the pin, but the method has plenty of risk. You have to approach the line on port and tack in front of the first starboard tacker coming down the line. 

If you mis-time your tack, you can get protested for tacking too close (not keeping clear of a right of way boat. Remember once you start tacking you have to keep clear of all boats already on a tack and you have not completed your tack until you have passed through the eye of the wind and then fallen off onto a closehauled course. If you plan to tack below a boat and luff, you cannot luff until you have first fallen off onto the new starboard head-to-wind heading.) The second issue you might get into when doing a “Port Approach” to win the pin is that you can tack too soon and end up being early. 

In a big fleet on a line that is not skewed, the port approach is a good move allows you pick any hole in the line to tack into. As long as you have space to leeward to keep from getting bad air, you have picked a good place to start if the line is square. Approaching the line on port allows you to keep clear air and flexibility until you are ready to commit to a hole.  

“Good seamanship requires that you learn how to anticipate the future and remove the uncertainty. Great seamanship requires you to admit that a certain future is impossible and to remain flexible,” wrote Schell in his Sail magazine article. To read Schell’s full article, click here.

According to their web site, “59º North Sailing was founded on a simple, strong vision — to explore the world’s oceans & landfalls in safety & style on cool boats and with cool people. 59º North takes people ocean sailing. We’re passionate about following our own dreams and providing both the inspiration and the platform to allow other people who share our vision to follow their dreams, too. 

“We love talking about seamanship, are passionate about traditions of the sea, and share our love for the philosophical aspect of ocean sailing with our eclectic crew. There’s much more to THE STORY HERE — but that’s us in a nutshell.”

Now, Andy’s philosophy is being expressed here largely from a cruising and passagemaking perspective, but it applies to both racing and local cruising folks alike. Flexibility breeds success, but flexibility combined with a solid dose of anticipation is unbeatable. In racing, it may be the “what ifs” your brain thinks through regarding ducking a starboard tacker or where to find your hole approaching a windward mark from the port layline. Or, it could be figuring out the wind and current changes expected many hours or days ahead in a distance race. 

One famous story of a strategy session that went on a little too long was on the Express 37 LORA ANN during a 240-mile Stamford Vineyard Race. Boat owner Richard du Moulin and his tactician Steve Moore went back and forth for 30 minutes or more trying to figure out their moves many hours down the track. Finally, when Steve wanted to cut the conversation off, he answered du Moulin’s final question of, “What do you think will happen when the sun goes down?” with a dismissive, “It will get dark.” 

Cruisers, on the other hand, have different factors to face to stay safe. In their book PACIFC CROSSING NOTES, Nadine Slavinski and Markus Schweitzer wrote, “It’s important to remember that cruising is a special kind of sailing. If racing is about being in the right place at the right time, cruising is about not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Given forethought and a conservative approach, it’s usually possible to avoid that wrong place and time. With a sturdy boat and a good seamanship, you can go a long way toward keeping ‘luck’ on your side.”

Flexibility also creates “invention,” and being able to invent a solution often can be the most fun aspect of sailing. You made that duck and came up under his stern at full speed. Or you found a quiet lagoon where you could drop the hook for the night and feast on some of the back-up food supplies in your cupboard. 

Even if all the ducks fall into a row during your race or on your overnight, let your mind wonder a bit and play the “what if” game. Then, consider how flexible you’d have to be in each situation, what outcomes you would invent, and end the sailing day with a smile on your face. And, if someone asks why you’re smiling so broadly, tell them it’s because you’re practicing the flexibility of your smile.

Editor’s note: When I sailed from Fremantle, Western Australia to the Mediterranean after the 1987 America’s Cup, the owners had a great answer to questions about their schedule. Whenever they were asked about their plans, their answer was, “Our plans are cast in Jell-O,” which agrees with Andy Schell’s point above. – Adam Loory

UK Sailmakers International’s President, John Bennett, commented, “I am pleased to announce that Heather will be our next General Manager. She has earned this promotion based on her understanding of our company, our customers, our industry, and general business best practices. I look forward to working with Heather in the same seamless manner that I have with Adam Loory, who we will miss after all these years.”

Heather Mahady first tried sailing by chance at a summer camp run at her local club, the Canadian Forces Sailing Association (CFSA). Heather said, “Looking back, I didn’t know anyone who sailed, and I remember dragging my feet about attending this camp that my parents had signed me up for. Day one it was decently breezy, and we had turtled the boat within an hour of leaving the docks. When I was clambering up on the slippery hull, I found that I couldn’t stop grinning. That was when I realized that I was absolutely hooked.” 

Within a year Heather and her friend, Claire Brady, were  campaigning a Club 420 on and off Vancouver Island with CFSA and the Royal Victoria Yacht Club (RVicYC), later topping the podium for the BC Circuit and placing second twice at Canadian Youth Nationals. With the RVicYC, they tried out a few different classes including sailing 29er, and the pair really enjoyed the added speed and excitement of skiff sailing. 

Heather joined the University of Victoria Sailing Team, which races FJ dinghies, and enjoyed further success and many regatta wins on the ICSA circuit. Heather said, “The experiences I had at the UVic Sailing team helped to bridge the gap of time between transitioning from mostly dinghy racing to primarily racing keelboats, and I had a lot of fun while doing it”. 

A familiar face around the Victoria-based yacht clubs, both as a racer and a local sailmaker Heather said, “Working with Joy and Stuart Dahlgren, the owners of the UK Sailmakers Northwest loft, and racing with their team and co-owner Marc Vincent on the SC70, WESTERLY, has been a formative experience. They have built a great team both in the loft and onboard, and it’s a pleasure to be a part of it all.” 

ABOVE: Heather trimming on the CM1200 JACK RABBIT. BELOW: Heather driving the Santa Cruz 70 WESTERLY.

Heather is a frequent crew member aboard WESTERLY, as well as another PNW darling, the CM1200 JACKRABBIT, which is owned by long-time UK Sailmakers Northwest client, Colin Nichols. She is looking forward to the 2023 JACKRABBIT campaign, which is shaping up to be a full season of PNW events including the Van Isle 360. Heather said, “I get a thrill out of big-boat racing, but I also have a soft spot for small keelboats that I can drive around like I’m still dinghy racing.” 

Heather is passionate about sailing, sailmaking and racing. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Heather said, “I feel so lucky to have nature at my doorstep here, nothing is better than a day spent sailing on the Salish Sea or hiking in the temperate rainforest among incredible old-growth trees. I’m really passionate about the UK Sailmakers initiative for Supporting Sustainable Sailing because I care about protecting the natural environment for generations to come. I believe what we are doing regarding reducing waste during production and sourcing recycled materials from Challenge Sailcloth is an important step in the right direction. There’s a great future ahead for UK Sailmakers, and at the recent managers meeting in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, our lofts proved that the company is continuing to support the development of new technologies and promote sustainability worldwide.”

Adam Loory made the point that Heather is just about the same age as he was when he started with UK Sailmakers back in 1989. “I hope she enjoys the same longevity with the company as I had, which will be equally good for the company and for her. Besides making great sails, the sailmakers who work at the UK lofts around the world are a family who are a great team to work with and be a part of. Best wishes to Heather and the group.”

UK Sailmakers International is the parent company for the UK Sailmakers group that consists of more that 40 lofts and service centers around the world. The group was founded in 1946 when Charles Ulmer started his loft in City Island, New York. His son Charles “Butch” Ulmer took over the loft in 1968 and in 1975 expanded Ulmer Sails into a group of lofts. In 1984, Texas loft owner John Kolius became a partner, and the company changed its name to Ulmer/Kolius. When John left sailmaking, the company name was shortened to UK Sailmakers.

“Nat is the team’s scrappy and resilient skipper. Sinking in the middle of the Pacific after a collision with a sperm whale did not diminish her appetite for the ocean, Cancer did not diminish her appetite for life, and suffering from chronic asthma did not prevent her from competing in events such as the Death Ride or Climb to Kaiser.” 

This video clip shows how hardcore Nathalie Criou is. It is from the last part of the 2019 R2AK when she was battling it out for third place against the previous race winners, the all-woman team, SAIL LIKE A GIRL, sailing on a faster Melges 32. TEAM SHUT UP AND DRIVE needed to make up a 20-mile deficit after falling behind because of a tactical mistake. With a gale blowing 30 knots and more coming, Nat chose to make up time by heading out into Hecate Strait. She knew team SAIL LIKE A GIRL was playing it safe by taking a route in the protected waters between the coast and the islands on the east side of Hecate Strait. But she also knew her boat revels in heavy air running. As long as the crew could take it, she knew the boat would excel. Her tactical call paid off. TEAM SHUT UP AND DRIVE set a new record in the Race to Alaska by sailing 203 miles in a 24-hour period. By making speeds in the teens, her Figaro 2 went from being 20 miles behind Team SAIL LIKE A GIRL to 25 miles ahead when her team crossed the finish line in Ketchikan, Alaska. 

Sailing into a gale to win a race is “Bad Ass.” It shows grit, skill, preparation, confidence, and terrific crew work. Stay tuned to UK Sailmakers next podcast in our series LESSONS LEARNED, which will be an interview with Nathalie Criou.

This is the fourth episode in UK Sailmakers Lessons Learned podcast series. Tune in to hear UK Sailmakers’ General Manager Adam Loory discuss plans and preparations made for his retirement cruise from the Long Island Sound in the Northeastern United States to the islands of the South Pacific. Adam will be retiring in April 2023 after working at UK Sailmakers for 34 years. During that time, Adam led UK Sailmakers marketing campaign that stresses education as well as letting sailors know about UK Sailmakers quality sails. He is looking forward to embarking on this adventure with his wife Jenni and their cat Max. The couple have made extensive modifications to their racing boat SOULMATES, a Custom Goetz 40-fooer, to create a more comfortable cruising experience. This podcast goes through the modifications, sail inventory and route of this “Bucket List” adventure. Loory plans to share stories, videos and photos of his trip on the UK Sailmakers web and social media sites. Make sure to subscribe to UK Sailmakers Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and website.