ULLMAN SAILS VENTURA

CRUISING NOTES from Gary Swenson

We have found over the years that many sailors think all we do is make racing sails.  Fortunately many of our cruising customers only think of us as making the finest cruising sails.

At Ullman Sails we have a straight forward philosophy towards cruising sails.  We think they should be very strong, easy to set and trim, designed with good performance in mind and not cost too much.  We believe that some of the current trends in cruising sails are not always the best for your individual cruising needs.  Roller furling, full battens and spinnakers are not for everyone.


CRUISING CAN BE FUN AND PROFITABLE

For example: Dusty Trembly single hands his Peterson 44 to New Zealand, Alaska and all points in between using Ullman Sails.

Sandy Sandlin uses Ullman Sails to power his rugged lngrid 38 commercial fishing ketch.  Sandy built his boat to take anything and his sails had to be built to match.


CRUISING HEAVY AIR

We have noticed that many boats don't have heavy air jibs or storm jibs in there sail inventory anymore.  This is because so many people have gone to roller furling systems.  Modern roller furling systems are a good way to reduce the size of a headsail but there is a limit to how much they can be reefed effectively.  We find that a 25% reduction is about the maximum you would want to roller reef a headsail.
A minimum headsail inventory should include a primary genoa and a smaller heavy air jib.  The jib should have reinforcement to about 75% so when it is reefed down it will have the proper strength for the high load areas of the head and tack.

Today's furling systems make it easy to lower a headsail and put up another.  If you know your going to be in windy conditions it is a good idea to put up your heavy air jib while you are still at anchor or at your slip.


CRUISING FULL BATTENS

We have been perfecting our Full Battened Cruising Mainsails.  Our full battened mainsails are designed to enhance sail performance, handling and durability.

The stiff light weight battens we use help keep the overall weight of the mainsail down and that makes it much easier to hoist and to flake when your done sailing.

Full Battened Mains are really neat!  When used with lazy jacks or better yet a Dutchman sailflaking-system they make for the best handling "coastal cruising performance" mainsail.

We can convert your existing mainsail to full battens and Dutchman as long as it is still in decent shape.  This conversion can be done for a moderate investment.

In 2006 we will continue to make sure you get the best sails for your boat and give you the best service.  As a "Full Service" loft our expert staff enables us to do repairs, conversions, sail modifications, and meet all your cruising needs.