Racing Season Starts

Most of these photos were given to us by Jorge, Captain of Alarife, one of our competitors. One of his friends took the photos, sorry I don't have better photo credits for them.

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Racing on Banderas Bay

Wings and Alarife, Before the start

Downwind Start

Crowd

Quiet Sailing

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In the Lead

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About to Round

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Finishing Fast

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Some Crew

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More Crew

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The New Main
This sail has been a year in the works since the previous main failed (under warranty) last March. China Sail Factory agreed to replace it but that agreement however took a couple of months to work out and then the completion of this sail was delayed for a few months, until late November, for other reasons. Finally it was shipped to the wrong country instead of here to us in Mexico and that mess took two more months to sort out. Total, one year. Well now we have it and we're glad. It is designed exactly to my specifications and it is a really nice sail.

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Full Moon in the Marina

Mainsail Study

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Mainsails

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1993, home-made, Lotus designed, Kevlar main
This sail turned a few heads when we built it in Seattle in 1993.

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2006 Kevlar Main from China Sail Factory
This is the way it looked when we first got it. The draft is too deep, in my opinion, and the sail is not smooth. I don't have a shot of it after the Australian recut but you can see it below (also shown is the Kevlar Genoa which also needed a recut. Even with their weaknesses, we loved the look of boat with these golden sails.)

jdldigitalimage-john pounderWings sailing in Mexico 1n 2006


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Trash
But they don't last forever. Notice the 6 foot tear in the middle and also the various patches over holes repaired earlier.

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The Replacement, from CSF

Compare two mains
These photos, seen side by side, say everything.

Four, very different, mainsails
Here we show the three racing mains, and a very nice Dacron cruising main from Far East Sails, also in China. My main trimmer, Dick Hodge, likes this one best (but he hasn't seen the new one.) I also distorted the view of the 1993 main to give it a similar perspective to the others.

Testing the New Main

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Bringing the Mainsail South

New Main-First Test Sail

Looking up the Mast

Main

White Side of New Main

Used North #2 Genoa (this sail needs some work)

Proposed #1 Genoa Design

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The Last Generation: The Golden Sails (we loved these sails)

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Great Sailing on Banderas Bay

Repairing the Mainsail

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Sewing machine ready

Working on Mainsail

Looking for destruction

Found Tears

And More Tears

Its ripped to shreds

Mainsail is Kaput, Finished

New Main in Trunk

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More Boat Work in Chiapas

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Judy Looks Up

Sailing in Light Air

Mainsail

Showing the Roach

Looks small, right? See below.

OK, We can go in now

Marina Chiapas

Yachts

Measuring Luff

Measuring Foot

Measuring MGM

We measured carefully. We found that the new mainsail from Fareast Sails did not match the Layout they sent us, and which we agreed to. It is several inches small. If you want a cheap sail and want to take a chance, you can try these guys, but if you want a sail which fits, and want to deal with guys who stand behind their work, I don't recommend FarEast Sails.

Mast Head Units

Epoxy Too Hot

Tapachula

Oaxacca Street

Judy and the Singer

Art Gallery

Wall Art

Art

Route to Huatulco
This is what we must avoid: Big winds coming out of the Bay of Tehuantepec, otherwise known as Tehuantepeckers.