keelboat news

Hyde Sails at METS - stand 03.103

2010-11-16T12:02:00.002Z

Hyde Sails will be exhibiting in the UK Pavilion at METS this November, where you can meet the team and find out more about Hyde's and what makes their sails such a strong brand.

You can meet the team, including Sales and Marketing Director Richard Franks, Technical Director Mike Lennon and various members of the Hyde distribution network on stand number 03.103

As one of the largest volume sailmakers worldwide, Hyde currently produces some 45,000 sails a year for a range of dinghies, one-design keelboats, custom racing and cruising yachts. The company is also the supplier to a number of boat builders including LaserPerformance, LDC Racing Sailboats, Northshore Yachts, Cornish Crabbers, Hanse and Rustler Yachts as well as being the official sail supplier for the Clipper Round the World Race.

From its strong UK network, Hyde Sails has been busy expanding its famous brand to key markets around the world and has distributors across the globe, ranging from the USA to Australia, Spain, Denmark and New Zealand.

The Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS) runs from November 16-18, 2010 at the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam.

Hyde develop new Swallow sails

2010-11-15T10:36:00.004Z

Hyde has been working closely with the Swallow class association to develop new sails for the class for 2011.

The Swallow fleet will be enjoying updated sail designs for 2011, following a close liaison between the class and Hyde Sails.

The new Hyde Swallow sails, made to fit the new 2011 rule, had their first outing at Itchenor last month in bright sunshine and perfect testing conditions. Richard Lovering, Hyde's chief designer, gave them an immediate thumbs up apart from some minor tweaking to the jib leech to ensure the extra area allowed is fully exploited. The shape of both sails is good, however, and Mike Wigmore’s newly modified jib sheeting arrangements on 'Gwaihir' were soon getting the best from the new rig.

A mark two jib was ready a couple of weeks later and testing will continue into the autumn to make sure that next year’s sails will maximise every second of speed straight out of the box.

For more information on Hyde Sails, its products and how Hyde can work with your class, contact:
Rob Larke - (T: +44 (0) 7737 853914)
rob@hydesailscowes.co.uk

or
Paul Austin - (T: +44 (0) 7801 907458)

http://www.hydesails.com/products/swallow.html

Hyde dominates Squib 'Last Chance' regatta

2010-10-21T13:50:00.001+01:00

The final event of the Squib season took place at Burnham on Crouch in sparkling conditions and fresh northerly breezes that peaked at over 25 knots, testing the 15 competitors tired end-of-season boats and limbs to the limits.

Sponsored by Colman Coyle solicitors and run by Edwin Buckley's Endeavour Trophy race team, the five back-to-back races were brilliantly conducted on a series of windward leeward courses in the entrance to the River Roach. With most races taking just 30 minutes and, unusually for Squibs, just one general recall, the format was ideal for keeping the competitors warm in the crisp conditions.

Nigel and Jack Grogan took the event with four straight wins and made for the bar for race five. Behind them, the racing was close and furious with neap tides helping to keep the boats just feet apart for most of the time. Malcolm Hutchins and Andy Ramsey won the last race to take second overall on count-back from Peter Marchant and Mel Titmus. Ian Gray was always present, but in the year-long duel of the sailmakers it was a clear Hyde 1,2,3. Also significant from a gear point of view was the use by the Grogan's of a new horizontal cut spinnaker, which has shown great pace on windward-leeward courses all year.

With autumn upon us, it's the perfect time to invest in a new suit of sails to give your Squib that extra edge. For a special deal, contact Paul Austin (T: +44 (0) 7801 907458)

Southampton Boat Show

2010-08-25T14:05:00.001+01:00

Your chance to get a fantastic deal on your new Hyde sails

Wandering around the forthcoming Southampton Boat Show (September 10-19, 2010), you’ll spot the distinctive Hyde logo on a wide range of boats, from dinghies to cruiser-racers. While you might not be ready to buy a new boat right now, investing in a suit of sails can give your current craft a new lease of life.

If you would like to talk to meet with a Hyde sails representative during the Southampton Boat Show to discuss a new or outstanding quote then we have people on hand during week. Rather than operating from a dedicated stand, with all its associated distractions, we have always chosen to use the time to sit down individually with our customers.

Not only is a great opportunity to get some expert advice about your existing sail wardrobe and your plans for the future, but it's also your chance to benefit from Hyde's amazing winter deals.

So why not book an appointment for a chat? Appointments are available Monday-Friday,and all you need to do is call +44 (0)7764 933 894 and speak to Wooderz to arrange a time.

The 2010 Squib National Championships

2010-07-06T13:23:00.008+01:00

Hyde Sails prove a force to be reckoned with at the 2010 Squib nationals at the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire

The 2010 Squib National Championship was always set to be a tricky light weather test on the shifty, unpredictable waters of Dublin Bay. With a week of high pressure and spring tides, conditions were dominated by the timing and direction of the erratic sea breeze, which filled in every day, but sometimes long after the sailing had either finished or been abandoned. No one team managed to win more than one race and the series was a high points scorer with any resulting the top 20 being a counter.

Strong start for Hyde
Race one was won by Hyde Sails MD Nigel Grogan and Dan Cripps after they made it to the new sea breeze early and crossed the line with their spinnaker up, while the early leaders Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey parked on the left. With the wind from the land this pattern became all too familiar with the early gradient breeze eventually being replaced from the sea.

Race two was sailed in light, but steadier breezes and multiple championship winners the Hogans won, beating Andy Brown and Harvey Worden in 'Bacchante VII' who were second. The Rileys clocked up a second third place looking as though they had already mastered the conditions, while consistency eluded virtually everyone else.

Race three was held back to back with the sea breeze getting up to about 18 knots and strengthening throughout. 'Alchemy' got into their stride winning from Mike Probert and James Bryer, with Alan Johnson in third already carrying a black flag.

At the end of the day Grogan and Cripps had a big lead with the Fenwicks and the Rileys close behind, Robert Coyle and wife Tracy were also near the top due to some fast, consistent sailing.

Abandonments galore
Tuesday saw thick sea mist and no sailing, but the mist rose and a sparkling sea breeze filled in an hour before the coach arrived to take the fleet to Ireland's highest pub!

Wednesday was controversial. The gradient breeze was very light and moving around 30 degrees. The race was abandoned after a big shift on the first beat. After a restart the race was again abandoned after the wind went around 180 degrees on the run and there was confusion over the re-laid 'windward mark'. A third time attempt was made with the sea breeze now at around 10 knots, but as the boats on the right hoisted spinnakers (tactically?!) the race officer decided the boats romping to the windward mark on the right were having too much fun and abandoned that one too!

Final pressure
With the pressure now on to complete the series, the Thursday race started in an unstable westerly. Sam Cole and Denise Kerr performed brilliantly to win ahead of 'Nimble' and 'Banshee'. Heavyweights Colin Bentley and Nigel in 'Squirrel' defied gravity to take fourth.

The second race that day turned inside out, but was well won by Nigel Harris giving him the overall lead. Many of the frontrunners scored places in the wrong half of the fleet after being becalmed for over half an hour, importantly the Rileys managed a fourth and 'Pocohontes' a sixth, Owen Delaney and Tony Holman also showed good form on their old waters.

Fortunately the final race was sailed in steady 12-18 knots of breeze and a convincing win by the Fenwicks saw them take the championship with clever sailing and great tactical prowess. The Hogans were second, but well out of the overall results due to the disaster of the day before. Nigel Harris had a shocker after spinnaker problems, but still managed third overall, while 11th place in the last race was enough to give runner-up spot to Dave Best and Pete Richards who almost managed to keep every result in the top 20 and showed how to sail a high scoring, big fleet championships. Grogan and Cripps rallied to 11th, which gave them fourth overall, beating 'Pani Munta' by a point.

Sail development pays dividends
From a gear perspective the development work on sails paid dividends for Hyde Sails, with the Batt stranglehold well and truly broken. Interestingly five out of the top 10 were 'new' Parker boats as opposed to the pre-150 sail numbers. Some very expensive rudders and hull finishes were also evident as the class appears to have moved to new levels of competitiveness.

Overall Results

1st 758 Ghost Rider Mike Fenwick Penny Fenwick 41pts
2nd 797 Crossfire Dave Best Pete Richards 43pts
3rd 65 Banshee M.N. Harris R.J. Stephenson 51pts
4th 105 Helmut Shoing II Nigel Grogan Daniel Cripps 54pts
5th 128 Pani Munta Mike Probert James Bryer 55pts
6th 872 Pocahontas Mike Hughes James Smith 55pts
7th 127 Misfire Roger Harris Mark Thompson 60pts
8th 800 Alchemy Gerard P. Dyson Tony Saltonstall 61pts
9th 823 Humphrey Robert Coyle Tracy Coyle 63pts
10th 136 Rico'shea Chris Hogan Mark Hogan 64pts

Hyde tops podium after day one of Squib nationals

2010-06-22T19:28:00.001+01:00

Two races were sailed on the first day of the 2010 Squib Nationals in Dublin. Nigel Grogan and Dan Cripps took the first race, sailing Squib 105 complete with their new set of 2010 Hyde Sails. They went on to extend their overall lead in the 68-boat fleet to 12 points after two races, despite a very unpredictable day's racing full of big gusts and shifts. There is still a long way to go in the event with three days of racing remaining and a fickle forecast.

'Neilson Redeye' wins at Brighton Marina Regatta

2010-05-26T20:56:00.002+01:00

Over the weekend of May 7-9 Brighton Marina Yacht Club hosted its popular club regatta. With visiting yachts from Eastbourne and Sussex (Shoreham) Yacht Clubs, the fleet was split four ways. IRC1 and 2 (starting together) for the dedicated racers, a Portsmouth yardstick (PY) fleet for the cruiser racers and a dedicated fleet for the Cork 1720s.

The format was for the first race on the Friday evening followed by five races over the weekend with five races to count. With simple windward/leeward and triangle courses. The weather had still not settled into 'summer mode' and this spring regatta had a wintery feel about it with cold northerlies blowing through the weekend making for gusty offshore winds but flat seas. The scene was set for some great racing.

Race one saw some light and shifty conditions and the fleet split for the first leg. The smaller SB3 'Neilson Shark Bite' played the shifts well and sailed a faultless race to finish first with 'Neilson Redeye' (J92S) a minute behind on corrected time and just a few seconds ahead of 'Jeneral Lee' the new J97 in the fleet.

Race two on Saturday saw some more wind and 'Shark Bite' picking up a fishing net from somewhere which put her down the fleet and out of the next race as she retired to the marina to clear it from her keel. 'Jeneral Lee' sailed well to beat 'Redeye' by a few seconds and 'Vision', the SJ320, also made a showing on the podium.

Race three and the results remained the same before the fleet came in for lunch. Fresh fish and chips in the club house and a pint of Harveys best bitter was obviously what the 'Redeye' crew needed as they emerged after lunch to win race four with 'Jeneral Lee' and 'Shark Bite' picking up second and third. This left 'Jeneral Lee' and 'Redeye' tying on points over night with third place still open to the fleet.

Sunday was forecast windy and after a light start the breeze built to over 20 knots making for some interesting broaches on the reaches as the boats struggled to hold their spinnakers. 'Redeye' flying the new Hyde spinnaker, whilst being cut for downwind sailing, performed well on the reaches and took a win from 'Jeneral Lee' with 'Shark Bite' sailing well in the big stuff to secure a third.

A quick check on the results showed that the regatta win was dependent on the final race. 'Neilson Redeye' had a good start but were soon covered by the larger IRC1 fleet and unable to tack across and were forced out to the port layline for the windward mark whilst 'Jeneral Lee' had managed to extricate themselves from the pack and in clear air find themselves mixing it at the front of the fleet. 'Neilson Redeye' had a close call with 'Vision' near the windward mark but convinced enouth room had ben given chased the fleet and later took the lead. All was looking good till the last gybe mark and a poor manoeuvre saw them let the J97 through. At the leeward mark a gust caught 'Jeneral Lee' off guard and they broached into and then passed the mark on the wrong side. The race was on again as 'Redeye' sailed past as 'Jeneral Lee' attempted their penalty turns but in the excitement they forgot to re-round the mark and sailed on to the finish line not having completed the course and she was forced to retire from the race. To avoid a time consuming protest meeting whilst the bar was open 'Redeye' apologised to 'Vision' and also retired. 'J'Ronimo'

(J92) now found herself at the top of the race podium finish taking the honours with 'Shark Bite' and 'Vision' behind her.

Totting up the final results saw 'Neilson Redeye' (J92S) taking the series by just one point from 'Jeneral Lee' (J97) and Neilson 'Shark Bite' (SB3) in third.

'Neilson Redeye' (D4 and GPL carbon laminate) and 'Jeneral Lee' (D4) were using complete suits of Hyde Sails, as was the SB3 'Neilson Shark Bite' whilst 'J'Ronimo' found herself 'taking the bullet' in the final race whilst flying her Hyde #3.

For further information on yacht sails please contact either
Wooderz (Wooderz@hydesails.co.uk / 07764 933 894 ) or
Charles (charlesdevenport@hydesails.co.uk
/ 0845 543 89 57 )

Hyde Sails one-two at J/80 nationals

2010-05-26T13:24:00.003+01:00

The recent UK nationals in Cardiff saw 'Boats.com' top the fleet, and with a second Hyde boat second, showing the latest J/80 sails from Hyde are the ones to beat!

The Tacktick Suunto J/80 nationals was hosted by Cardiff Bay YC and saw Hyde Sails-clad boats taking the top two spots. Light breeze dominae the first two days, with increased pressure for the final day of racing. Rob Larke, manager of the Hyde Sails Cowes loft, was on board the overall winner, Ian Atkins' 'Boats.com', an impressive nine points ahead of second-placed 'Elle s'appelle' (Thor Askeland), which also sported Hyde Sails. Scott Cole's 'Purple Haze' was third.

Tactician on the winning boat, Rob Larke, commented: "It was areally good and well organised event. We had high hopes of winning, but the weather on the opening day was light and anything could have happened, but we were really lucky to have great boat speed to get us out of some sticky situations to get a 1,1,3."

He put their success down to a winning combination of a strong team and good boat setup: "The team worked really well with Karen on bow, 'Perma-tan Dan' on trim with myself and Ian Atkins working the boat in the right direction most of the time," Rob explained. "Our downwind speed was also key in the light and in the windy conditions, we always went forward on the downwind legs."

Rob added: "The top two boats used Hyde sails and they are all this year's designs. We have a great tuning guide for the sails that is easy to use! All you have to do is set the boat up to the rig guide and off you go and to prove this, 'Thor', which came second hasn't sailed for about 15 years and has just started competing again."

The next focus for the class is the Europeans in Larke Garda in June.

HYDE SAILS COWES
Cowes Yacht Haven
Vectis Yard
Cowes, Isle of Wight
PO31 7AY
T: +44 (0)1983 281100
M: +44 (0)7737 853914
Email: Cowes@hydesails.com

Hyde success in Sussex Regatta

2010-04-29T13:05:00.003+01:00

The Hyde-powered J-92S 'Neilson Redeye' takes overall victory for the second year in succession, while two Hyde Sonars found success in Class 2.

The Sussex Regatta is traditionally the first of the season, taking place over Easter weekend and this year the event was hosted by Brighton Marina Yacht Club. The fleet was split into four fleets, two IRC fleets and two PY, based on a Sussex handicap system. Neilson Redeye was in IRC2. Racing was abandoned on Friday due to the bad weather, but the fleet of 44 yachts took to the water on Saturday in more moderate conditions. The PRO squeezed in four races on Saturday, with racing run from the harbour wall as the seas were too rough to launch the BMYC committee boat. All fleets had some tough sailing in big, cold seas and winds ranging from 15-25 knots.

Saturday's challenge
Pete Tyler shares his account of the day's racing... "With a good start we lead the fleet, sailed carefully and conservatively, and no-one seemed to get near us, even the faster boats in the fleet stayed in our wake and we finished first on the water and first on corrected time after handicap adjustments - the game was on! The next two races were close, and without accurate timings and a calculator we would have to wait to see the corrected results ashore. On the final race of the day, again we showed a clean pair of heels to the fleet, but a wrong course decision by our navigator (me!) meant we sailed the wrong way for a leg and then had to windward launch the spinnaker, difficult in 20 knots on a reach! We caught up some ground, but back in the Club the results showed we had dropped to third place on this race, by just 13 seconds! On the positive side we had won races two and three by very close margins, so were leading the regatta on day one with three firsts and a third."

Flatter seas and sunshine
Sunday morning brought better weather, sunshine and a cross-offshore breeze that flattened the seas. The committee boat set some short triangle/sausage courses and squeezed in three races for the four fleets in the day. Pete Tyler explains: "Again it was close, and race five seemed a cert for us to take a win - finishing well ahead of the fleet, races 6 & 7 were too close to call and the corrected times would be close, very close - with Neilson Redeye taking three wins out of three on the day, with one race only a three-second margin."

Reflecting on the weekend's racing Pete sums up: "Some good starts, good boat handling and a well prepared yacht seemed to do the trick. Our new Ultra-Sonic antifouling is keeping our hull clear, coupled with our new hull paint from Flag paints, we had a great boat speed. Our new spinnaker from Hyde's was kept in the bag, and our old sails were aired, so look for some more speed when we hoist the new shaped spinnaker and our H5 mainsail and jib. The Hyde- DPcarbon sails are now into their third season were perfect for the conditions."

Meanwhile, also sporting Hyde Sails, the Shoreham Yacht Club Sailability boats (Sonars) 'Josh' and 'Geronimo' formed an unbeatable double-act to take a clean-sweep in the Sussex Clubs Combined Handicap Class 2.

Squib success for Hyde's sails

2010-04-12T13:46:00.003+01:00

Hyde Sails' hard work developing its Squib sail design over the winter has paid
off, with Hyde's sails dominating the opening regatta of the season, the Mike Flint
Trophy…

The first regatta of the Squib season took place at Burnham on Crouch over the Easter Weekend, with the fleet competing for the Mike Flint Trophy. The event had a sailmaking subplot as Hyde Sails' former Squib agent, White Marine had defected to Lonton and Grey with both teams eager to see whose new designs would prove to be fastest…

Good Friday saw the opening contest for the Champagne Race with a strong breeze and low water restricting the course laying options, Nigel and Jack Grogan from Hyde in 'Helmut Shoeing' pulled away from Dave White and Mel Titmus in 'Easy' for a comfortable win, with Malcolm Hutchins and partner Jacqui ('Lady Penelope') in the other boat
sporting new Hyde sails third.

Saturday morning saw light variable breezes and a monster 2.5-hour struggle against the elements, Nigel and Jack's lead at the first mark was eliminated when the race turned inside out and Malcolm astutely went up the opposite bank to get well ahead with Paul Buckley ('Electra') just astern before he ran aground. Micky Wright ('Spoof') then planed up the middle of the river in his own jetstream to win, with the Grogans second and Malcolm unhappily OCS. Saturday afternoon saw the fleet racing up the Roach and a close tussle between Malcom and the Grogans well ahead of the rest with the race being decided when the Grogans managed to carry their spinnaker on the reach back to the finish. Micky Wright took a good third with Sarah Hastwell making a guest appearance on Dave White's boat for fourth.

Sunday saw Malcolm build a big lead with massive upwind speed, unfortunately for him the wind filled in from behind and in the long run downriver Paul Buckley, Robert Coyle ('Humphrey') and the Grogans all caught up. With clever balancing of tide versus breeze Robert just edged ahead for a final mark white knuckle ride, but the Grogan's sailed over them on the fetch to the finish with Malcolm second. The afternoon saw fresh conditions and Malcolm over the line again. But Simon Sanders (What's the Story') put his foot down and flew up the first beat. The Grogans managed to wriggle ahead and stay there to win from Malcolm by a boat length, Simon hung onto a well deserved third with Paul Buckley fourth.
With the event won the Grogan's sat out the final race with Lonton and Grey fielding their third guest helmsman of the event. Dave's brother Pete White pulled off a win from Malcolm as for the second time they were out spinnaker reached. Paul Buckley took third to also finish third overall, beating 'Spoof', the first placed Lonton and Grey boat into fourth. Simon and crew excelled with fifth overall, ahead 'Easy' in sixth. A comprehensive win for Hyde in 'the battle of the sailmakers'.

The event was blessed with a good mix of courses and breezes and leaves the fleet itching to get to grips again at the Gold Cup in a few weeks' time.

more testing

2010-03-24T13:26:00.001Z

" Another Solent tuning session last week pushed the Squib Sail development programme to it's final stages for the new season. This picture shows Nigel Grogan sailing Malcolm Hutchings boat to windward of Rob Larke sailing Nigel's boat. Crewing for Nigel and casting his critical eye over the latest development sails is Richard Lovering, one of Hyde's sail designers while the other designer Mike Lennon is monitoring the tuning run and taking photos from the Hyde RIB. Amongst Richard's impressive sailing CV is attending the Atlanta Olympics as the late John Merricks tuning partner- so he knows a few things about two boat tuning. His keelboat experience includes winning the SB3 nationals and Cowes week sailing with Jerry Richards as well as winning the prestigeous Captains Cup, in the ultra close XOD boats in Cowes week.

Rob Larke with Malcom crewing, are sailing 105 with the sails and set-up that Nigel used to come in 9th place at last years nationals. Although not a brilliant result , the boat was quick enough for three top five places at that event , so the assumption was that if 105 could be convincingly beaten in a straight line then the tuning process was getting somehwere.

The picture shows Malcolm's boat with the new sails, more powered up and pointing as high. What it cannot show is that a few minutes later it had pulled out distance ahead and to windward of 105 to the extent that the run had to be aborted to reposition Rob and Malcolm in clean air.

No suprises to learn that Malcolm has promptly bought the development sails and is planning to use them at the Burnham Easter regatta!

The first production set of the new designs are currently being built in Hyde's sail factory in Cebu and will be shipped back in time for Nigel to use them at the Easter Open event at Abersoch so they can be tried out on the race course against the classes toughest fleet!"

Winter Development and Testing

2010-03-24T13:25:00.000Z

We have spent the winter redesigning our sails and two boat tuning which has resulted in quantifiably performance improvements.

Jib Design - Using Nigel Grogan's boat and Malcolm Hutchin’s 819, we firstly tested all our designs to see what the differences were under the expert eye of our two sail designers, Mike Lennonand & Richard Lovering. They then used Sailpack (state of the art sail design software developed by the Italian America's Cup syndicate) to produce the perfect "flying shape" Some late nights in our Cowes loft then gave us a prototype to test. The results were very gratifying, whoever sailed which boat, and the team with the new jib were consistently higher and faster. The changes had concentrated on entry and exit angles as well as chord depth particularly high up. The new jib is also much more user friendly and easier to change gears with using halyard tension and barber hauler length.

Mainsail Design - The designers then worked on matching the mainsail perfectly to the jib. The mainsail has less fullness high up to encourage the right amount of twist and also a less aggressive leach return to aid straight line speed and acceleration. If you look at the pictures you can see the slot is matched to the back of the mainsail all the way up with no back winding and no over twisting of the jib leach - common problems we are all too familiar with.

Two Boat Tuning – It is easy to make all sorts of claims about sail design improvements, but the real test is two-boat tuning - hours of it! We spent several days going up and down the open water of the Solent with the boats close hauled a few feet apart replicating that "start line feeling" until there was no doubt that the changes we have made translate into speed gains across all wind ranges. We tried the new sails against the previous versions in conditions ranging from 6 knots short tacking back up the Hamble to full- on 25 knots in open water with waves and snow! As Mike Lennon observed "I know which sails I would use to try and win the nationals!"

At Hydesails we are looking forward to the start of the sailing season and using the new sails on the racecourse. We will be at most of the open events this year where we will be delighted to discuss the changes we have made in greater detail.

If you go to our squib page on our online store you will see full details and prices as well as an enticing Spring Offer.
We have sailcloth and production capacity for only 20 sets of sails before the nationals so it makes sense to act now. In addition cloth prices will rise after August so order before prices rise.

J-80 wins White Group

2010-01-05T12:42:00.005Z

John Cooper's J-80 'Oi!', won her class and took the overall White Group title in the 2009 Hamble Winter Series.

The Hyde Sails powered J-80 'Oi!' dominated the J-80 series to take the class title 12 points ahead of second-placed 'Boats.com', a performance which also saw John Cooper and his crew lifting the title for the best Sportsboat of the series.

John purchased 'Oi!' earlier in the year after a four-year break from sailing. "This was our first season in a J-80 with an entirely new crew, we didn't even know each others names at the start of the series! We were delighted to win and especially to beat such a great competitor as Ian (Atkins), I have raced against him many times in the 1720 class and he is a difficult opponent to beat. I hope we can keep the crew together and next year we plan to race in the Spring Series, the J-80 Europeans in Lake Garda and Cowes Week."

'Oi!' started the series strongly, posting two firsts and two seconds in the first four races. Over the rest of the event the team posted only one result outside the top four, to finish the series on 19 points, second was 'Boats.com' on 31 points, and third 'Elle Sappelle' on 44.

For more details and j80 products www.hydesails.com/products/j80.html

Hyde Jib helps 'Hard on Port' to victory

2009-10-30T11:50:00.005Z

The performance of his J/24 'Hard on Port' earnt Flor O'Driscoll the title of Sailor of the Month by Irish Sailing Magazine 'Afloat'

Flor O'Driscoll was overall champion of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2009, a permormance which earnt him the title of Irish Independent/Afloat.ie 'Sailor of the Month' for what was described as "An inspirational performance which saw his veteran J/24 'Hard on Port' emerge as supreme champion from a fleet of more than 450 boats."

He was credited with having shown what can be achieved with what was described as "a highly motivated and well coordinated crew of friends, and an immaculately maintained and expertly-tuned veteran boat." 'Hard on Port' was sporting a new Hyde jib, which O'Driscoll had purchased the previous Autumn.

HYDE SAILS DUBLIN
18 Springfield Park
Foxrock Dublin 18
T: +353 (0)86 344 5651
F: +353 (0)1 2896937
E: doyle.gavin@gmail.com
W: www.hydesails.com/ireland

Hyde J/24 wins North-eastern regionals

2009-10-13T16:23:00.005+01:00

The Hyde Sails-powered J24 takes regional championship in Marblehead, USA.

'SpoilSport', skippered by Stuart Challoner, beat 16 other boats to win the 2009 J24 Northeast Regional Championship hosted by the Corinthian YC of Marblehead, Massachusetts.

The event started with a strong 18-25 knot northwesterly and choppy seas, providing challenging and fun conditions for a talented group of racers. Three races were held on Saturday with 1.2 mile windward/leeward legs. 'SpoilSport' dominated the day with two seconds and a first. Other notable competitors were Mike Ingham sailing a new Italian boat who finished the day with two firsts and a sixth and Will Welles sailing 'Paraloc' who finished third on the day

Sunday brought completely different conditions with a southwesterly breeze of 6-12 knots and flat seas. Two races were run in slightly shifty conditions. Will Welles and team posted a first and a third, but 'SpoilSport' sailed very conservatively, making sure to keep close to their competition, and posted a fourth and a second place to win the regatta.

HYDE SAILS NORTH AMERICA
326 First Street Suite 35B
Annapolis, MD 21403
T: +1 443-255-6797
F: +1 832-383-7347
Email: scott@hydesailsnorthamerica.com
Web: www.hydesails.com/northamerica

Photos by Brad Earl Photography

Hyde dominates Squib fleet at Burnham

2009-10-13T16:12:00.000+01:00

Hyde Sails fills the top four places of the class series during Burnham Week, an impressive display of their strength in the class

A three-day series was run for he Squib class during Burnham Week, with some 23 boats going on to compete in the whole week. Coming out of Squib 'retirement' for three-day series was Hyde's Cowes loft manage Rob Larke, who sailed Nigel Grogan's boat for the event.

The fleet was greeted with 15 knots of breeze over the weekend from the west, so competitors enjoyed the entertainment of running starts all weekend. First overall was Peter Marchant's 'Tears in Heaven', which was driven by Hyde Sails, second was another Hyde powered boat, Malcom Hutching's 'Lady Penelope', while Robert Cole's 'Humphrey' in third completed a Hyde sweep of the podium, with Hyde's Rob Larke taking fourth.

I was a challenging return to the fleet for the Hyde loft manager. Rob Larke commented: 'I last sailed a Squib nine years ago. The fleet hasn’t changed much and is still as competitive as ever! It was always going to be hard with running starts and 25 Squibs arriving at the first mark at the same time, so you have to be fast downwind to make sure you got in a good position around the mark. As I hadn't sailed a Squib for a while it did take a bit of time to get back into the swing of things, but I got better as the weekend went on, finishing second in the last race!'

For more information on Hyde's range of Squib sails see www.hydeshop.com, or contact Peter White of White Marine Services, Hyde's Squib agents
T: +44 (0) 1394 275557 www.whitemarineservices.co.uk

Hyde Sails J/80 success

2009-10-13T16:05:00.000+01:00

Hyde Sails-powered J80 scoops runner-up spot in the class nationals

Rob Larke, manager of the recently-announced Cowes Hyde loft, finished second in the championship, a promising result ahead of the class worlds later in the year.

The eight-race J80 championship took place in Hamble over the course of three days. Conditions were predominately light, although the wind ranged from 5-28 knots, with the best breeze appearing for Thursday's second race.

Kevin Sproul and his team on 'Jane's Sister' started the event with two wins and a second, but Rob Larke and his team on the Hyde Sailspowered 'Joystick' followed a third in the first race with a second and then a win in race three as they found their feet. Racing was tight at the front of the fleet, and the top three was only decided on the last day, when a 2,3 secured second for Larke and his crew, two points ahead of Ian Atkins on 'Boats.com', and just five points adrift of Sproul.

Rob Larke explained: 'It was a good test of boat speed to go up against Kevin as he finished in the top five in the worlds last year, so we could find how we would compare. We were definitely fast in the breeze and should have won the windy race, but an unlucky hoist put us in second. Our light airs speed got faster as the weekend went on and we definitely felt like we were the fastest boat on the water on the last day.'

The J80 worlds are due to take place in Santander, Spain in July, where Rob and his team will be competing. Meanwhile, Rob is busy running the Hyde loft in Cowes, which is ideally situated to serve the sailors of the Isle of White and the Solent for many of the season's biggest events.

HYDE SAILS COWES
Cowes Yacht Haven
Vectis Yard
Cowes, Isle of Wight
PO31 7AY
T: +44 (0)1983 281100
M: +44 (0)7737 853914
Email: cowes@hydesails.com

Squib East Coast Championship

2009-10-13T15:57:00.000+01:00

With four Hyde-powered boats in the top five, it was a successful weekend of racing ahead of the class nationals.

The Squib East Coast Championship was sailed at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk YC in conditions that could reasonably be described as 'testing'. Saturday had a steady Force 4-5 and Sunday marginally less breeze, but the strong tides and onshore breezes made for rough seas and frightening white water over the ever-present sandbanks. A quality fleet included visitors from as far afield as Yorkshire and racing was very close with many crews seeing the event as the last real practice before the Nationals later in the month.

Race one started with a heavily port biased line, and with the tide setting towards the pin there was only ever one place to be. Grogan and Cripps stole the pin and led from start to finish. The breaking seas on the sandbanks meant that the course was very short and with tacking being so hard in the waves overtaking lanes were restricted to the markroundings, which could be eventful in the conditions. Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall in the oldest Squib still sailing - the beautifully restored number 11 - chased hard with Dave White and Pete Ballam in third. Race two got under way after chaos at the pin end resulted in a recall after Sam Cole and Denise Sinclair wrapped 'Flying Fish' securely around the buoy's mooring line. Former National Champion Lloyd Crisp emerged from retirement to win by a huge margin with Gerard and Tony consolidating their overall lead with another second. Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey showed good pace and excellent boat handling to take third.

After a night of Abba at the club, the fleet went afloat in shocking weather for two further races, which did no one with a hangover any favours. Race three got away with slack tide and a starboard-biased line. Grogan and Cripps again led from start to finish with ex-505 World champion Pete White and Sarah 'Agnetha' Hastwell close behind, going fast in their new Parker boat. Brother Dave was just behind again. Grogan and Cripps then made a schoolboy error by miscounting Lloyd's finishing position and thinking that they only had to sail Gerard and Tony lower than fourth to win. They sat on Gerard who limped into eighth place, but Lloyd went on to win the race by a mile and beat Grogan and Cripps who had retired, on the tie break. Pete White and hard-hiking Sarah beat his brother again to come third overall with Dave and Pete fourth. A consistent Robert Coyle and Mel Titmus came sixth being in the top five in all three races. Lloyd and Nick Barret of the home club secured a very narrow, but well deserved win and Grogan and Cripps had the ignominy of winning the 'Dick of the Day' and the contempt of their peers for their limited maths skills.

Generously the club gave prizes to the top 12 boats, adding some smiles to the battered, rain-soaked competitors. Four out of the top five were sailing old boats and using Hyde Sails. Crew weight mattered and lightweights like the three times nationals winning Rileys could only manage 10th. The fleet now looks forward to the nationals in Weymouth at the end of June. Entries for the event have now been limited at 108, promising to make it the biggest Squib event ever and probably the biggest one-design keelboat event in the UK this year.

For more information on Hyde's range of Squib sails see www.hydeshop.com or contact Peter White
of White Marine Services, Hyde's Squib agents T: +44 (0) 1394 275557 www.peterwhitemarine.co.uk

Hyde Sails fill podium at Squib gold cup

2009-10-13T15:00:00.000+01:00

It was a 1,2,3 for Hyde-powered Squibs at the hotly-contested Gold Cup in Burnham.

The prestigious Squib Gold Cup took place at Burnham On Crouch over the Bank Holiday weekend with 21 competitors, including visitors from Lowestoft and Felixstowe, three times nationals winners Brian and Jenny Riley and former 505 world champion Peter White, debuting his new boat.

The eight-race programme got off to a bad start when all but three competitors were timed out of race one after a twolap struggle as the sea breeze tried desperately to establish itself. Robert Coyle and Mel Titmuss claimed victory after just making it into the new breeze on the Creeksea shore.

Sunday provided perfect conditions with four back-to-back races on short windward leeward courses in a consistent force 4-5. Nigel and Jack Grogan managed two firsts and two seconds, showing great pace upwind using the new design Hyde flat-cut sails developed over the winter. Dave White and Pete Ballam also scored a win, as did Malcolm Hutchins and Andy who had retired from the previous race with spinnaker problems. The short port-biased line made starting skills critical with Robert Coyle damaging his chances with a marginal OCS.

Monday saw the course in the mouth of the Roach and race six comprised five laps where the only place to be upwind was as close as you dared to the Foulness shore. Malcom Hutchins scored his second win with Dave White taking the overall lead with an important second.

The last race decider saw Dave White in pole position at the pin and rivals the Grogans betting on the wind staying right at the committee boat end. Dave comfortably crossed the fleet to win the race, with Pam and Max Evans securing second and Malcolm third. The Grogans climbed to fourth, leaving Dave White two points ahead to take the Gold Cup with the Grogan's in second place for the second year. Robert Coyle was third overall ahead of the consistent Rileys on equal points. Last years winner Paul Buckley had his moments but ending up fifth ahead of the unlucky but fast Malcolm Hutchings.

The event also saw the Grogan's using the newly-developed prototype Hyde Hiking Pads which demonstrated their worth in what were fairly testing conditions.

Hyde prides itself in its continual sail development, Squib Sails and accessories are available direct from Hyde's online shop, www.hydeshop.com or contact Paul Austin (T: +44 (0) 7801 907458) or Toby Barsley-Dale (T: +44 (0) 7872 816918).

Swallow nationals won by Hyde boat

2009-10-11T21:30:00.002+01:00

'Gwaihir' takes the championship in Bracklesham Bay

The Swallow National Championship was sailed in Bracklesham Bay, just outside Chichester Harbour, with the five race programme hosted by Itchenor Sailing Club being completed in a blustery and shifty NE Force 4/5.

The event was ultimately dominated by 'Gwaihir' (Mike Wigmore/Mark Struckett) and 'Marengo' (Carolyn Brigg). In the opener 'Skua' (Harry Roome) lead from a black flag start around the Olympic triangle course, with 'Marengo' and 'Gwaihir' following. The next windward/leeward race went to 'Gwaihir' with 'Echo' (Chris Body) in second and 'Marengo' third. In the third and final race of day one 'Marengo' made no mistakes and comfortably won the Olympic triangle race from 'Skua' with 'Gwaihir' third. This left 'Marengo' in the lead overnight with 'Gwaihir' just one point behind.

'Gwaihir' came out with full guns firing for the fourth race to post her second win of the championship, while 'Marengo' gained steadily from another poor start to take third. In the final race and after another black flag start 'Spectre' took early control and stayed there with 'Echo' taking second. Meanwhile 'Gwaihir' was indulged in some pre-start and first beat match racing to sail 'Marengo' down the fleet. Job done, 'Gwaihir' then advanced to fourth while 'Marengo' eventually finished fifth - enough to secure 'Gwaihir's' championship title.

Mike Wigmore was delighted with the win, adding: 'We had won the event crewing 15 years ago but this is our first win as owner and helm.'

Regarding the sails, he explained: 'We have worked with Hyde since the boat was new to develop the sails. The rig is now fast in all conditions. It's particularly good in the flat water of Chichester Harbour whilst retaining good speed and flexibility in championship conditions. The mark three spinnaker is particularly good on windward leeward courses.'

For more information on Hyde Sails and the Swallow class, see www.hydesails.com go direct to the class page at www.hydeshop.com/swallow-112-c.asp or contact Paul Austin (T: +44 (0) 7801 907458)

Hyde - sponsored Sandhopper nationals

2009-10-11T21:25:00.000+01:00

Success on the water for Hyde's sails, and new sails for the happy winners.

The Hyde Sails-sponsored Sandhopper nationals took place in champagne sailing conditions at Thorpe Bay YC. Glorious sunshine with 20mph westerly breeze was the order of the weekend, and some 29 boats entered the event, which was spread over four races with a windward/leeward course.

The first start was extremely exciting with 27 boats storming into the pin end on starboard with seconds to go and one brave soul attempting a port hand flyer! A few raised voices and a 720s later the race was underway; many battles ensued throughout the fleet with Satisfaction 158 (Crawford/Kennedy) taking the first bullet of the day followed by Sand Star 159 (Thompson/Hopper) in second and Squiffy 41 (Binnendijk/Saunders) in third.

Race two again was very close with Sandstar 159 taking the bullet, Squiffy 41 in second and new boy to the fleet Scruffy 11 (Junior Binnendijk and Paul Dell) taking third.

Sunday's first race was subject to a general recall. On the second try the fleet got away and Sandstorm 12 took the bullet and proved their status as worthy championship contenders followed very closely by Sand star 159 in second and Apollo 156 third. With a discard in hand, this was enough to assure Sandstar’ overall victory, and with big smiley faces Peter Thompson and Steve Hopper relaxed for the final race.

Race four saw some extreme wind shifts with a building swell Apollo 156 popped out a mile ahead around the windward mark and took the bullet, Sandstorm 12 was second and Pheonix 18 third. The winners chose a brand-new Hyde Genoa for their prize, and Windrush 39 was the lucky winner of the draw for a new Hyde spinnaker.

For more information on Hyde Sails see www.hydesails.com, for Hyde's Sandhopper sails speak to Charles Devenport (+44 (0)845 54 38 957) or see www.hydeshop.com

Merlin nationals victory for Hyde Sails

2009-10-11T21:20:00.000+01:00

Glen Truswell and Olly Turner scoop victory in Whitstable
A healthy turnout of 57 boats gathered in Whitstable, Kent for the 2009 Merlin Rocket National Championship. The first race took place in 12-14 knots of breeze with a slight swell. The event started steadlily for Glen and Olly, who finished third in the first race, which was won by Matt Biggs and Rob Kennaugh.

Glen and Olly went on to post wins in the next two races, which left them with a five piint lead at the head of the table, with Tom Stweart and Liam Dempsey lying second and Richard Whitworth and Sally Townend third.

With no racing on day four of the championship, two races were held on day five. The Hyde Sails-powered boat posted a 6,2, which left them just one point ahead of Richard Whitworth and Sally ownend going into the final day.

The fleet was greeted with champagne conditions for the final showdown, with 18 - 20 knots from the west, and a short chop. Richard and Sally led the fleet up the first beat, but a capsize at the leeward mark pushed them back into 23rd place. Andy Davis and Ellie Bremner claimed the lead in their absence, with Glen Truswell and Olly Turner in second. The Hyde-powered duo sailed a conservative race and crossed the line in third place, ahead of Richard and Sally who had worked their way up to 6th - enough to secure the runner-up spot. It was a well-deserved victory for Glen and Olly. The pair are also currently leading the class's competitive Silver Tiller circuit with a range of results in a variety of venues and conditions, showing consistency and speed throughout the wind range.

Glen and Olly were using a complete suit of Hyde’s sails, developed by the company's experienced design team over the last few seasons. It is typical of the way that Hyde approaches its sailmaking, working closely with the sailors in a wide range of classes to develop ever improving designs that make the most of the latest developments in technology.

Hyde Sails prides itself in its continual sail development, Hyde's Merlin Sails are available direct from the company's online shop, www.hydeshop.com

Speedy '3 Rivers' for Hyde-powered A Rater

2009-10-11T21:19:00.000+01:00

New sails prove fast as record time is recorded by the first two boats to finish.

Just because a class looks beautiful, it doesn't mean that performance isn't important. Hyde Sails Cowes loft manager Rob Larke has been working with the Thames A Rater class to deliver first class sails for these beauties, which enjoy close and competitive racing.

In the recent Navigators and General Three Rivers Race, Thames A Raters set a new race record, with the first two boats to complete the course finishing just two minutes apart. The second placed team of Kevin Pearson, Nick Fribbens and Melanie Hardman were racing with a brand-new set of sails on 'Lady Jane'. Kevin Pearson enthused: "They have made a dramatic improvement to our boat's overall performance already, although we are only just beginning to find out how to get the best out of them.

The race, which runs annually from Horning SC, is approximately 55 miles long and teams have to drop the mast four times to go under bridges. This year's event saw a record entry of 135 boats, which enjoyed moderate, sometimes fresh, south westerly.

Kevin explained: 'We completed the race in the second fastest time ever (although unfortunately two minutes behind the leader) having lead for half the race. Our time was six hours 59 minutes and 45 seconds and beat the previous record by about half an hour."

Rob Larke explained: "When Kevin came to us and showed us his current sails we thought that we could definitely improve the shape and profile. Kevin asked for a bigger head on the mainsail so that he could get more area above the trees! The A Raters usually race on the Thames, which is surrounded by trees. The big problem we had is that the class rules only give an overall sail area of the main and jib combined so we had to work out the best place to take the area from so that we could add the area to the head of the mainsail and also create a roach profile that will work."

For more details see www.hydeshop.com or contact Rob Larke (T: +44 (0)7737 853914) to find out how Hyde Sails can help your boat find that extra bit of boatspeed.

Hyde Sails FD wins Northern areas

2009-10-11T21:18:00.000+01:00

Challenging conditions saw Hyde's Toby Barsley-Dale take a hard-fought victory in Ullswater.

Conditions were varied for the Flying Dutchman Northern Area Championships held at Ullswater YC. A Force 1-3 greeted competitors on Saturday, followed by a Force 3-5 on Sunday, with significantly bigger gusts, particularly on Sunday. Both days were also very shifty providing plenty of scope for gains and losses!

Overall winners after seven races were Toby Barsley-Dale and Gareth Russell, second was Jon Williams and Ales Rogers, third was Tony Lyall and Colin Burns.

Toby Barsley-Dale describes the win: "The event as a whole was quite challenging for us. The conditions meant that consistency was going to be the vital with all boats potentially having to count bad results. In the end we won the first race and managed to follow this with a second and another first. This left us in a strong position until the majority of the fleet made a navigational error in the last race on Saturday and the results were turned upside down, we were fortunate to be able to fight back to third for that race. Sunday was much breezier and despite much place changing we managed to get another two wins to secure the event before posting a third in the final race after a big capsize!"

Toby explains: "The sails are the 2008 designs we have produced for other boats in the fleet. We have used them in a couple of events now and have always felt that the speed and height offered is great. This was our first opportunity to use the heavy weather genoa and we were particularly pleased with the speed of this sail. We are one of the lighter crews in the class, but feel the sails are very versatile and can be depowered very efficiently to allow us to remain competitive across the wind range."

The next event for the FD class is the Nationals at Royal Torbay YC in June. This is the first sea event for the year and is likely to be very fiercely contested.

Hyde prides itself in its continual sail development, Flying Dutchman Sails and accessories are available direct from Hyde's online shop, www.hydeshop.com

Albacore sail development proves a success

2009-10-11T21:16:00.000+01:00

Hyde Sails-powered Albacore, sailed by Nigel Potter and Mark Fowler, wins the class Inlands

The Albacore Inland Championship, held at South Cerney on May 2-3 was hard fought on the water with a high calibre fleet and close racing throughout. A light, shifty Force 1-2 greeted competitors on day one, with Norman Halstead and Ruth Birkett taking the first two races. However, by race three, Nigel Potter and Mark Fowler in their Hyde Sailspowered boat made their presence felt, following their second in race two with a win to finish the day second overall behind Halstead and Birkett.

For the second day of racing, the sun had gone, but a welcome Force 3-4 made an appearance. The first race was won by Judy and Paul Armstrong, Potter and Fowler second and Halstead and Birkett third. Potter and Fowler then took the final two races to clain the inland title from Halstead and Birkett.

It was a well-deserved win for the duo, who showed good speed and consistency all weekend in their Paintcraft -rebuilt boat (sail number 7143), and their sights are firmly set on the class's International Championships in Largs this July. Mark Fowler explains: "We will be attending events at Lyme Regis and Ogston S.C prior to the International Championships, other weekends are spent sail tuning on the water at Notts County SC."

The sails have been developed in close collaboration with Potter and Fowler, and Hyde's Charles Devonport, a former Albacore national champion. Mark Fowler explains: "We are finding the sails extremely powerful, with work over the winter we now have the ability to manage the power with improved rig control, This is enabling improved off wind speed with the ability to maintain upwind performance. The final design is now with Charles Devenport who is a previous Albacore Champion, it is Charles's experience and feedback from Nigel and myself that has enabled the development to proceed quickly with only minor alterations to sail shapes."

Hyde prides itself in its continual sail development, Albacore and accessories are available direct from Hyde’s online shop, www.hydeshop.com

Hyde Streaker wins at Alton

2009-10-11T21:12:00.000+01:00

A very shifty Force 4-5 greeted competitors at the Streaker Open at Aton Water last weekend, with Jonny Shuster's Hyde Sails powered Streaker taking the top spot ahead of Chris Woodard. Mike Haynes, also sailing with a suit of Hyde's, finished third.

It was a convincing win for Jonny, who recalls; "I felt good going into the first race, it was my kind of conditions so I felt comfortable in my ability to perform well. Halfway up the first beat I realised it was going to be a real battle against my body as my legs were on fire, despite the increase in my fitness recently. I went round the windward mark second. Went onto the long shifty reach, which is my forte, and pulled through into first. Stayed like that for the remaining two laps with no challenge, pulling out a bit towards the end."

However, the second race didn’t go to plan for Jonny as he was a bit keen at the start and had to work his way up from the back of the fleet. By the end of the first beat he was up into fifth, then the reach and by the gybe mark he was up into third. "Chris Woodard, who had a great start and had established a big lead looked un-catchable with well over a minute's lead, I grabbed distance wherever I could and by the finish was just over 10 seconds behind."

So it was all down to the third race. A good start for Jonny, but Chris got the better of the beat and rounded in the lead, however Jonny had the pace on the reach and held his lead to the finish. "An exhausting open," concludes Jonny, "I'm very satisfied with my win, it was a great first open meeting with the Hyde sail."

The new sail

We asked Jonny what he thought of his new sail. "It has a lovely shape to it and maintains its shape in the lighter airs which is something I really appreciate as it is my weakest in terms of conditions to race in. It performed brilliantly at the open, and I was able to depower it very effectively, whilst harnessing all the power I could manage downwind. I am still new to sailing with it but it has been great so far, and I look forward to continuing to race with it."

Jonny will be competing in as many of the Streaker events as he can this year, including the upcoming Northern Area Championships, the Nationals and the Inlands.

Hyde prides itself in its continual sail development, Streaker Sails are available direct from Hyde's online shop, www.hydeshop.com

New Osprey wins on first outing

2009-10-11T21:10:00.000+01:00

Eighteen Osprey crews competed at Blithfield Sailing Club for the two-day open meeting event held over the weekend of April 18-19.

The local Osprey boat builders Mark and Richard Hartley, sailing their hastily fitted out new MkIV (which was only finished the previous day) started as they meant to go on, demonstrating outstanding form to win the first two races.

Viola and Mike Scott in 'Think Again' (1314) went on to win race three, ahead of the Hartleys, who were hampered somewhat when Richard Hartley partd company with the boat during a particularly determined tack on the final leg of the race.

After a lively social on Saturday evening, the competitors woke to much reduced wind and increasingly shifty conditions. The Hartleys posted second in race four, behind Viola Scott and then won the final race ahead of Dave Carroll and Jonno Baker in 'Doris' (1302).

Hyde prides itself in its continual sail development, Osprey Sails are available direct from Hyde's online shop, www.hydeshop.com

Hyde Sails Merlin wins Salcombe Silver Tiller

2009-10-11T21:00:00.000+01:00

Glen Truswell and Olly Turner sailing a Hyde Sailspowered Merlin Rocket continued their winning form with victory at the Salcombe Silver Tiller event.

Some 37 Merlin Rockets entered the event, which saw breezy conditions for Saturday's racing, followed by light winds on Sunday. Glen Truswell and Olly Turner started as they meant to go on, with a win in the first race, followed home by Matt Biggs and Rob Kennaugh in 'Two Pints of Lager'.Richard Adams and Ben Hollis in 'Loosed Cannon' were third. In race two, Truswell and Turner were relegated to third behind Tom Stewart/Liam Dempsey and Andy David/Elie Bremer. However, a win in race three was enough to give Truswell and Turner overall victory, finishing three points ahead of Biggs and Kennaugh who won the final race.

Truswell commented: "We remained competitive throughout though, sailed pretty well and had the necessary element of good fortune required to prevail at such an event!"

Hyde prides itself in its continual sail development, Merlin Sails are available direct from Hyde's online shop, www.hydeshop.com

Flying Moth development

2009-10-11T20:53:00.000+01:00

Hyde's new foiling International Moth mainsail proves a winner.

The Hyde Sails design team has been working hard on a new Moth sail design over the winter months, with a return to a radial panel layout, revised leech profile to promote pointing ability and a slightly bigger top. The sail also sports the suspended cam system for fast rotation during manoeuvres as developed on last year's sail.

A keen Moth sailor himself, Hyde Sails' Technical Director Mike Lennon explains: "Revised cloth layout and seam shape distribution allows the head to go "floppy" when you really go for it on the cunningham."

The sail has one less batten than most and is made almost entirely of ODL04 (2.8 OZ Technora by DP). Only the sleeve and window panel are from other materials. The result is a sail of less than 3kg in weight as opposed to the usual Moth mainsail weight of around 4kg.

Mike comments: "This is an all-round design but requires a strong cunningham system to get the most out of it in 14 knots and above." The sail (order code 2A 2009) is available from Hyde's online shop, www.hydeshop.com

Parkstone Open
The Moth class had its first class open of the year at Parkstone. Some 15 boats entered the event, which saw four 20-minute races were run in Saturday's 12-18 knot breeze. Hyde's Mike Lennon won every race on the water, suffering an OCS in the last race. Unfortunately Sunday's racing was cancelled due to no wind.

Foiling Moth ace Simon Payne had been favourite to win after stealing the show at the recent Australian Nationals with the debut of his new Mach 2 design, but gear failure stopped him from getting started. Mike takes delivery of a new Mach 2 any time soon, so combined with the power of the new mainsail, he should be a force to be reckoned with.

Moth accessories
Hyde has also introduced a range of covers and foil bags for the Moth class. For details on these and any other International Moth products see www.hydeshop.com or go direct to the Hyde Sails Moth page www.hydeshop.com/ moth-104-c.asp

Flying 15s enjoy a battle at Bewl

2009-10-11T20:43:00.000+01:00

New Hyde spinnaker design proves a winner on its first outing.

Some 20 Flying 15s enjoyed a challenging weekend of racing, with Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado taking overall victory, with the assistance of the brand-new Hyde spinnaker design.

Saturday's racing took place in a blustery breeze, which ranged from 8-24 knots. Big clouds added to the entertainment, with the wind direction predominantly northerly, but some large shifts up to 40 degrees at times - whacky inland sailing at its best!
A relatively short D-shaped course proved very testing with the pressure and angle changes, and the two five-lap races proved a real challenge.

Unfortunately Sunday dawned with just 2-4 knots at 10am, which dropped to zero at 10.30. Racing was eventually cancelled at 11.30 leaving Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado in the Hyde-powered boat as winners, having won both of Saturday's races, with Robert Hogben and Glyn Morgan second.

Lovering and Alvarado put their win down to simple strategy with good starts, clean air and nice tactics from crew. Matt Alvarado commented: "The event was awesome fun given the massive changes in pressure and direction. Bewl is a beautiful place to sail. The main and jib combination was quick through the range, while the new Hyde spinnaker proved very stable and controllable on the tricky 3-sail reaches."

The first half of last year saw some intensive sail development by Hyde's in the Flying 15 class, resulting in a strong showing from Hyde-powered boats at the 2008 nationals. The main project over the winter and early 2009 has been the development of the new spinnaker design, which enjoyed its first airing at Bewl.

Hyde Sails is renowned for its success in working with one-design classes, and the last year has been a busy one. The Hyde team has been working hard to produce to best sails for each class to enable sailors to achieve their full potential. With the launch of Hyde's new webshop - www.hydeshop.com - you can browse the spec sheets and information for each class as well as being able to buy your sails direct online.

For more details on Flying 15 and other one-design sails, contact Paul Austin (T: +44(0)7872 816918) see www.hydesails.com or go direct to the Flying 15 class page: www.hydeshop.com/flying-15-143-c.asp

Hyde Sails enjoys a successful Dinghy Show

2009-09-17T14:40:00.000+01:00

The Hyde Sails team enjoyed a busy weekend at the recent Volvo RYA Dinghy Show, held on March 7-8 at Alexandra Palace, London.

Star of the Hyde Sails stand was the Hyde Sailspowered Cherub, which Pete Barton and Roz Allen have raced so successfully since its launch last year. Hyde's brand-new range of accessories was on display, attracting lots of attention from visitors, and the show also marked the launch of Hyde's new online shop, www.hydeshop.com, where sails for a host of dinghy classes from Albacores, B14s and Contenders, to Optimists, Streakers and Wayfarers can be ordered direct from Hyde's website.

Toby Barsley-Dale, who looks after Hyde's UK onedesign sales, commented: "We are delighted with the response we had at the show. Over the weekend we saw a ride range of visitors on the stand from cruising sailors to World champions showing that Hyde offers something for everyone. Despite the recession, sales were good and it was great to be able to discuss a number of new projects with sailors, builders and class associations."

HYDE SAILS MERLIN WINS AT STARCROSS

2009-09-17T14:39:00.000+01:00

The Steamer, held at Starcross YC on the River Exe, is one of the classic early season pursuit races, and although entries were down little, this year's event still attracted a strong 54-boat entry. The Hyde Sails Merlin crossed the line more than a leg ahead of the next boat, also a Merlin Rocket, sailed by 2008 Silver Tiller winners Matt Biggs and Rob Kennaugh. Another Merlin, sailed by John Gorridge and Peter Horn, took third place, with the RS800 of Russell Gibbs and Megan Fileman fourth, and the RS400 of Richard Cain and Owen Taylor completing the top five. Glen Trusswell commented:

We have now shed off our winter retirement and are back down to a fighting weight of under 23 stone.

The team plans to compete in the Steve Nicholson and Tiger Trophy events over the next two weekends.