SUMMER DISCOUNTS ARE HERE!! We are once again offering our Summer Discounts on light air racing sails and selected cruising sails: All Racing Light #1’s, Racing Spinnakers, and all Carbon racing sails, plus our Cruising Trifurls and Cruising Asymmetrical Spinnakers ordered for July and August deliveries will receive a 10% Discount!!

On the other hand, if your needs aren’t immediate, we are offering a special summer discount for the first time: You can receive our BEST Fall Discounts for ANY sail ordered Now for delivery AFTER September 15^th. That’s a 15% discount for any one sail ordered, and a 20% discount for two or more sails ordered at the same time! As fuel costs rise, remember that all sailcloth is made from oil derivatives. In addition, many of our woven Dacron fabrics are produced overseas, and the recent unfavorable exchange rates with the Euro Dollar have added to pricing pressures. This is an excellent time to lock in our current pricing together with our best discounts of the year!

We are just finishing up our first suit of racing sails for Tim Kinsella’s new Beneteau 40.7, and they are real showstoppers. Tim decided to go with a Carbon Triradial Main, a Carbon All Purpose Triradial #1, and a Carbon 100% Triradial Jib. However, we both decided to use the “Optic2” Pentex laminates for the #2 Triradial Genoa . This sail takes the most severe usage of all the headsails, as it is the only headsail that slams the shrouds on every tack in winds over 18 knots (the Jib clears the shrouds). For the Spinnakers, we used Airx 600 for the Light to Medium Runner, and Airx 700 for the All Purpose Spinnaker. We will be posting photos of these sails on our web site as the season progresses.

Although Tim had many offers from the international lofts, he decided on Haarstick sails, as he felt it was important to be able to visit the loft, see the materials first hand, and to discuss the details of each sail directly with the person (me) designing these sails. Tim has also used our sails for his C&C 35-3 since 1988, and was confident of our ability to produce sails with superior performance and durability. Finally, the clincher: he wanted the direct attention and service that a new boat and all new sails deserve, and that only a local sailmaker can give.

We have made several other Carbon sails over the last 2 years, and I’m impressed with the strength and extremely low stretch of this material. It is also unaffected by Ultraviolet rays, and this puts it in an entirely different category than Kevlar and Vectran. We have Carbon sails starting their 3^rd season, still performing, and still looking very good. While these sails are expensive, their real cost is determined by the number of competitive races they will give you before they are replaced. If the Carbon sails hold their shape for enough extra races versus a Kevlar sail, they may well prove to be the less expensive material, when comparing the cost per race.

We have read that a new Beneteau 36.7 and a 40.7 are coming soon to this area. If you are in the market for either of these boats, we would appreciate the opportunity to discuss the many advantages a local, quality sailmaker can bring to your program.

The Democrat and Chronicle, our local Rochester paper, published an article on our loft in the Business People section of their Monday 5/31/2004 edition. I want to thank Kurt Sertl and Paul Petronello for taking their time to talk with the paper, and for their very nice comments. We have posted this article on our web site at: http://www.haarsticksailmakers.com/tech/D&Carticle04.html

Here is a first hand report on the J-22 Worlds by Todd Hiller. Todd worked for us in the early nineties, has been a loyal J-22 customer ever since, and sailed his J-22 in this record setting event.

J22 worlds 2004 – Team LEADING EDGE

Team Sponsors: Alexander Key Investments, HARKEN, Skyehigh Performance Sailing.Com

Annapolis played hosts to the 2004 J22 World Championships, sponsored by Annapolis Land Rover/Jaguar, May 15-21. The event attracted a record 130 J22’s from all over the World.

First, I’d like to thank our sponsors for their financial support. Their assistance and guidance carried us further than I could possibly imagine. This regatta went down in the record books as the largest ever attended One Design Keelboat Regatta in the World. Lastly, it goes without saying, my crew, which consisted of Lesley Cook (spinnaker trim), Lynda Hiller (bow) and Nicholas Mercier (jib & tactician). They’re the ones that deserve the most credit and recognition. They kept me inline and on the line when the pressure was on. The sacrifices they made to participate in this event will never be under told. They did a fabulous job and we could not have done as well without their commitment, confidence and synergy.

To start, I’d like to emphasize the importance of boat preparation and logistics. These are several very key items that need to be in place before getting involved with such an event. Gathering information about the local area, (i.e., weather, tides, currents), sail tuning information, boat preparation, (i.e., check all of your deck hardware, halyards, safety equipment, etc.), lunches, housing and whatever else you can think of that you normally take for granted sailing in your home turf. Having these in place will make your life much easier and will reflect in your sailing results. Also, before I forget, practice time prior to the event. Unfortunately, we only sailed one event and a Thursday night before settling into the Worlds. However, I was confident with our crew’s abilities from our past sailing experiences.

We tuned with local sailors and Haarstick’s own Service Manager and sailing guru, Jon Faudree. We varied the rigs from race to race, as the conditions in the area were constantly changing. These wide range of conditions meant we had to stay sharp with our rig set up. As we tuned and tweaked against other boats we found that we had exceptional speed and point. However, the most important factors in performing well in a fleet such as this, rest solely on boat handing, large fleet traffic management, and making the right tactical decisions around the race course. We had all types of gears from “super point mode” to the “need to bleed” for speed. Since the Chesapeake Bay is notorious for it’s chop, we carried our jib leads further forward than normal to give us the speed and power we needed to power through the chop.

The 130 competitors were randomly divided into four groups. Each heat consisted of two races where two of the four groups squared off with each other. Conditions for the first day held and allowed everyone a crack at one another before the Championship Series began. All three races were sailed in descent breeze (max. 10 knots) with 1.0-1.2mi. legs and a 1.0-knot ebb current, which lasted the entire day. Feeling a bit gun shy, our first start wasn’t stellar and we ended up 24^th. Having a chance to recompose myself, we finished the day with a 15^th and 5^th place which carried us to 24^th overall (130 boats).

The breeze wasn’t as cooperative for Day 2 as it was the day before. The wind was unstable and very fluky. A stalled high-pressure system was wreaking havoc in our area. We had a good start in race 1, and proceeded off to the north. The breeze was variable from the west. We found ourselves out on the edge with Jon Faudree, and possibly a top ten rounding at the first mark. However, the breeze continued to veer northward, and eventually to the point where the race was abandoned. The RC then tried to start another race, with the same result: Jon and I in the top ten. Later, after a lengthy postponement, the RC decided to try one last time for a race. Again, we rounded the weather mark in 6^th, and maintained our position all the way around until about 300-400yds from the finish. Then the breeze completely shut off. With the current in strong ebb, we had to anchor in effort to avoid drifting down the bay. When the race was finally abandoned, we were in 3^rd place! As much as it would have been nice to hang on to a third or even a top five finish, it wasn’t meant to be. However, with our performance from Day 1, we had qualified to race in the Gold Fleet, as did Jon.

The breeze for Day 3 was as expected. Now the 130 boat fleet was spilt into two fleets of 65 boats. The Gold Fleet was fortunate to have first dibs upwind. Clear air, and showing the path to take for the Silver Fleet. Our first race start was good, and we had picked the right tuning combination. Everything clicked, and we finished 13^th. The remaining part of the day appeared as if the wheels had come off our wagon. The breeze was very inconsistent and having a difficult time settling in from one direction. We found ourselves on the outside of every 15 – 20 degree shift! In the last race, one of my crew fell on the deck and was severely hurt. She refused to go back to the dock and preceded to tough it out for the last and remaining race of the day. Nevertheless, we needed to switch crew assignments during the race and managed mid-fleet finishes. The day was frustrating. It was really hard to catch a break in the shifts and successfully navigate around other people. No sooner we’d dig a lane for ourselves, a competitor that had the same intentions quickly intercepted it. Despite of our Day 3 performance, others had experienced much of the same. We dropped from 24^th to 26^th, which, all things considered, wasn’t all that bad.

Typical Chesapeake Bay . Forecast for the day was light and variable. From our past performances (top ten and a 3^rd) in races that were later cancelled, today might be the day to make a formidable comeback. The first race was fairly tricky and we managed to pull off a 16^th finish. That helped. For the second race, we started near the pin end and launched ourselves out to the left side. Breeze now was 5-8 and slowly dying from the southwest with a strong ebb current. We connected the dots well enough to round the top mark in 3^rd place. After the rounding, I looked back to notice that the top 20 boats or so were with us, and the next pack of 20 boats jibed at the mark and headed for the western shore. The breeze had died in the middle of the bay. With a progressively stronger ebb on its way, it was time for us as well to make tracks towards the western shore. The first boat to head west was John Bertrand (Finn Silver Medallist). Next was Ray Wulff, then ourselves, along with Greg Fisher. We managed to save a lane and head in as far as we could go. Bertrand just made the connection with the pack of boats along the western shore. They had the breeze. We didn’t. Our sails lay limp. It was especially frustrating just to hear the bow waves of the boats with breeze. If we could only get to those guys! Slowly, the breeze reached us, just enough to move against the current. Ray Wulff was just ahead of us, still hanging on to his lead. We were about 5-7 boat lengths behind, and rapidly closely distance. My biggest concern was what to do with the boats to weather when they jibed on to starboard to round the leeward gate? Then it dawned on me that the RC hadn’t set a new weather mark. As I anxiously searched in the direction of the new breeze, the fleet was now starting to jibe over and head for us. We kept our pace and just cleared the pack of starboard boats. We rounded in 2^nd place, to the sound of three guns firing! The race was abandoned!

The last race was a debacle. The new breeze was from the west, and a course was set so far inshore, that it left few options for anybody. Again, we managed a descent start, and had good speed, but, as usual, no breaks. There was a question as to whether or not the last race should have counted. Fortunately, for John Faudree, it did count, and his team finished their series with a moral boosting 4^th place finish.

Overall, I am confident that we sailed as well as we could. We lost some tough breaks. That’s sailboat racing. You take what you can get. This event had a large contingent of professionals and high profile sailors. That, with the conditions thrown at us for the week, made for a very competitive event. My goal was to finish in the top 25, and we did just that.

Racing in Annapolis keeps you sharp, with a wide assortment of variables. It’s not difficult to find yourself tuning your boat into oblivion; the trick is bringing it back.

A huge thanks goes out to our sponsors and Haarstick sailmakers. We’ve been using Haarsticks for over ten years now with our sailing program and find them very fast and very forgiving in all conditions.

Congratulations to Doug Burtner, our Sales Manager for his recent engagement to Erin Bull. Doug proposed in an unusual manner while they were sailing together a few weeks ago. When they hoisted the spinnaker, the question “Will you marry me?” was displayed on the spinnaker for all to see. She said “yes”.

I would also like to congratulate my son Chris for his upcoming MBA Graduation from Rochester ’s Simon School this Sunday, June 13^th. After graduating from the University of Rochester in the spring of 2001, Chris decided to stay on as an assistant football coach, and take a few graduate business courses. Last spring, he decided that coaching the sport he loved was not the same as playing it, and it was time to change career paths and go full time for his MBA. Although he had already committed to coaching full time that fall, he added a full course load on top of the 40-hour plus workweek. He made it through with a major dose of hard work, and will graduate with somewhere around a 3.8 GPA!

Chris began his football career when he finally convinced his Mother to let him play in 7^th grade. At a strapping 115 pounds, he became a fullback on offense and a nose guard on defensive. He spent his first season at the bottom of every pile, and loved it. He won the “heart” award that season, given to the player that showed the most love for the game and worked the hardest at improving his play.

Chris learned a valuable lesson from Football. He was not the biggest, strongest, or fastest player, but Football, more than any other sport he played, taught him the importance of hard work. When Basketball season ended his junior year in high school, he committed himself to a rigorous weight training program at the Ithaca Fitness Center . Starting at 6’ 2” and 175# in mid February, he showed up for Ithaca Football summer camp five months later completely transformed from a tall skinny kid into a 205 pound man. The amazed coaches moved him from fullback to left offensive guard. He played both ways and on all special teams, except kickoff. At season’s end, he was voted the best linebacker in Tompkins County by the channel 7 sportscasters, the local Ithaca TV station.

At Rochester , he was again asked to move to defensive end, a position he had never played before. After the second game of his freshman season, he became a starter, and held his starting position throughout his college career. In his last two years, he was named to both all Conference teams, and holds a UR record for touchdown interceptions by a defensive lineman. One of which won the game against Chicago University, as his touchdown interception mid way through the 4^th quarter were the only points scored by Rochester as they defeated Chicago 6 to 3. That week, he was named the conference player of the week.

While there has been a lot of bad press lately about football players, Division 3 football is much different than Division 1. There are no football scholarships, virtually no chance of professional football after college, and no “basket weaving” courses at UR . These kids are true scholar athletes and work hard to play football solely for the love of the game. I have met many of his teammates, and I’m sure their parents are as proud of them as I am of my son.

Chris will be looking for work, probably in one of the big cities like New York , Washington , or perhaps Charlotte , but most likely not Rochester . I know Chris will be successful at whatever he decides to do. He proven time and time again, that he has the discipline, the work ethic, and, most importantly, the passion to set tough goals and then accomplish them. I wish him the best, he’s earned it!

Please let us know your race results. We would like to compile a more complete listing this year on our web sit, and we need your help.

That’s it for the June Newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, respond with “Remove” in the subject box.

J22 worlds 2004 – Team LEADING EDGE

Team Sponsors: Alexander Key Investments, HARKEN, Skyehigh Performance Sailing.Com