Sail America elected Soundings Trade Only associate editor Reagan Haynes and Karma Yacht Sales co-founder and co-owner Lou Sandoval to its 2015 board of directors.

Haynes and Sandoval will join newly elected board president Scot West of Ronstan USA and treasurer/secretary Jeff Johnstone of JBoats.

Other current board members are Erin Schanen (vice president, association) of Sailing magazine; Greg Emerson (vice president, shows) of Marlow-Hunter LLC; Jay Stockmann (vice president, marketing) of Vetus Maxwell; Stanton Murray (past president) of Murray Yacht Sales; Kevin Coughlin of New England Ropes; Laurent Fabre of Beneteau America; Jack Gierhart of US Sailing; Kyle Gross of APS; Ben Wold of the National Marine Manufacturers Association; Jim Abel of West Marine; Mark Pillsbury of Cruising World; Bob Ross of Sail Northwest; and Kimo Worthington of North Sails.

Sail America is the trade association for the U.S. sailing industry.

via Sail America adds two board members | Trade Only Today.

Key West Race Week: Fantastic finish at Florida Keys Monday, 26 January 2015 Most of the marquee classes at Quantum Key West Race Week 2015 came down to the last day of the regatta, which delivered the toughest conditions of the week. Howling winds and rough seas challenging the competitors on Friday,  forcing the top contenders to raise their game in order to claim overall victory. That was certainly the case aboard Bella Mente, the mini maxi skippered by Hap Fauth of Minneapolis. Fauth steered the Judel – Vrolijk 72 – footer to  first place in both races on Friday to hold off a stiff challenge from skipper Gunther Buerman and his team on Numbers. “Our plan was to be in position to win going into the last day and that is what happened. The wind Gods cooperated today and gave us great racing. We rose to the occasion and were able to win both races,” Fauth said. “I thought the whole crew did an impeccable job. We sailed hard in both races.” Bella Mente wound up winning six of 10 races in posting a low score of 19 points, twobetter than Numbers, which had four-time America’s Cup winner Brad Butterworth aboard as tactician. Fauth captured his fourth victory in Key West despite a grounding incident on Wednesday that caused the team to absorb seven points in two races. Bella Mente was unable to finish Race 5 then limped to third in Race 6 due to a damaged keel bulb. “We basically tanked two races and that was very hard to overcome, especially against this caliber of competition,” Fauth said. “Numbers is very quick and very well sailed. Gunther, Brad and their guys did a terrific job and really pushed us the whole way.” Veteran professional Terry Hutchinson, who was recently named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year for the second time in his career, praised the performance of Fauth and the rest of the crew. Hutchinson, an executive with Quantum Sail Design Group, is a relative usedcomer to the Bella Mente program. “Hap has a lot of experience racing this boat and does an outstanding job on the helm,” Hutchinson said. “The one constant we had all week was superb starting and tremendous boat-handling.  Every member of the crew really did a great job.” Race committee personnel reported wind gusts of nearly 30 knots during the second race on Friday and that made for some spectacular racing. Sailors aboard the GC32 catamarans were hanging on for dear life all day as the high-tech speedsters were bouncing off waves and coming completely out of the water. Ken Legler, principal race officer on Division 1, said the foiling catamarans completed a downwind leg in just six minutes. Skipper Flavio Marazzi led the Swiss entry ARMIN STROM Sailing to aone-point victory over ZouLou, the French entry skippered by Erik Maris. Keith Swinton served as tactician while Diego Stefani was headsail trimmeraboard ARMIN STROM, which finished first or second in eight of 10 races. Argo and Leenabarca were unable to compete in the last race aftersustaining rudder damage in the rough conditions. “The last two days were really fun. These are very cool boats and they were absolutely flying,”  Marazzi said. “Today was a bit tricky because of the swell. It’s hard to find the fine line between pushing and backing off. It is very exciting, but also very dangerous.” Alec Cutler and his crew on Hedgehog carried a three-point lead into the final day and decided to cover the second place boat in Race 9. Cutler finished fourth, but forced Dalton DeVos and the Delta team to absorb a fifth. That gave Hedgehog the breathing room it needed and Cutler repeated as class champ by a two-point margin over Argo, skippered College Sailor of the Year Graham Lundy of Yale. “All five boats were very good so the competition was real tough,” Cutler said. “Every boat won a race and we were the only boat that didn’t finish last. It was real close racing and you could lose two or three boats in a hurry with the slightest mistake.” Richard Clarke, who has represented Canada in the Olympics several times, called tactics for Cutler. Adrian Stead, a veteran professional from Great Britain, was aboard as strategist. Quantum Key West Race Week 2015 was the first regatta for Tonnerre 4 under the ownership of Peter Vroon of The Netherlands. It didn’t take the crew very long to figure out how to make the Ker 51 go fast as the Dutch entry led IRC 1 class for the final four days. “We are very pleased to win such a strong class. I have an excellent bunch of sailors on the boat and they do all the work. My contributions are ballast and writing the checks,” Vroon joked.  “Obviously, the bigger breeze of the last two days was good for our boat.”Kevin George served as tactician for the 84-year-old Vroon, who won Key West for the second time. “It was just a case of putting the building blocks together and gaining momentum. We focused on getting good starts and just tried to sail a clean regatta,” George said. Tonnere alsowon the High Performance Rule sub-class, which consisted of five of the IRC 1 entries. Tonnere edged the Ker 43 Otra Vez (William Coates) in IRC 1 and the Carkeek 40 Spookie (Steve and Heidi Benjamin) in HPR. Impetuous, skippered by Paul Zabetakis of Stuart, Florida, topped the Swan 42 sub-class. J/70 was the largest class of the regatta with 54 boats and featured a slew of top professionals. It was a week-long dog fight that saw constant changes at the top end of the standings. Skipper Carlo Alberini and his Italian team on Calvi Network emerged as overall winner thanks to single-digit finishes in nine of 11 races. Branko Brcin served as tactician while Sergio Blosi and Karlo Hmeljak handled the trimming aboard Calvi Network, which closed the regattawith a second after posting a steady string of fourths and fifths. That remarkable consistency in such a competitive class earned Calvi Network the ultimate prize at Quantum Key West Race Week–Boat of the Week. “The talent level in this class is very high. We came to Key West because we are very excited about the J/70 fleet and want to race against the best boats,” said Alberini, who won the European Championship last year. “To win here is the best feeling. This might be the most important win of my career because we beat the world champion on the water.” Calvi Network totaled 49 points, eight better than the Mexican entry Flojito y Cooperando that is skippered by Julian Fernandez Neckelmann. Italian pro Vasco Vascotto called tactics on Flojito, which closed the regatta strong with a first and second on Friday. Tim Healy, the reigning J/70 World Champion and two-time winner here in Key West, finished third after pushing the line and being ruled on-course side (OCS) in the last race. Gannon Troutman, the 12-year-old skipper of Pied Piper, was the talk of the regatta after finishing fifth in the talent-laden J/70 class –winning a race while also posting a second and third. San Francisco skipper Jim Cunningham captured the Corinthian Division of J/70 class, which had 20 boats. Irish skipper Conor Clarke competed in Key West for the first time and came away with an impressive victory in Melges 24 class, winning eight of 11 races and beating the second place boat by 23 points. Stuart McNay and Dave Hughes,who are mounting a 470 Olympic campaign together, were helmsman and tactician aboard Embarr. “It’s a fantastic feeling to win in Key West,”said Clarke, a Dublin resident who’s had the regatta on his bucket list. “Today’s sailing was just amazing. We had perfect conditions… just what the brochure said it would be like.” J/88 class was decided on Friday with Rob & Sandy Butler sailing Touch2Play Racing to victory in both races. That clutch performance gave the Canadian entry  the same amount of points as Deviation, skippered by Iris Vogel of used Rochelle, N.Y. Touch2Play won the tiebreaker by virtue of more first place finishes. “We kind of put the pressure on (Deviation) by winning the last race on Thursday. We still trailed by two points so we kused we had to come out and win both races today,” Rob Butler said. “Our crew was really dialed in and we had very good boat speed. I’m proud of the team for doing what we had to do in order to win the regatta.” J/111 also had a one-design class and Florida skipper George Gamble steered My Sharona to a wire-to-wire victory. Quantum pro Scott Nixon called tactics on My Sharona, which displayed superb boat speed in all conditions in winning five races and placing second or third in four others. British skipper Joe Woods and his crew on Red set the pace in PHRF 1 from the outset and led at the end of each day’s racing. Dave Lenz served as tactician aboard the Farr 280, which won five races and placed second or third in four others. “Joe has sailed a Melges 24 and a Melges 32 so he’s used to being on sport boats,” Lenz said. “This entire crew has sailed with Joe on the 32 and that familiarity seemed to give us a slight edge from day one. We just had a little extra click of speed than everybody else.” Red closed the regatta with a pair of bullets and received the Quantum Sail Boat of the Day award. Woods was also the runaway winner of the Farr 280 sub-class, which had four boats. Gerry Taylor secured his third class victory in Key West, steering Tangent to a wire-to-wire victory in PHRF 2. Veteran sailmaker Chuck O’Malley called tactics while headsail trimmer Jay Corcoran anchored a strong crew aboard the Cape Fear 38, which won every race but one. Event Sponsors include Title Sponsor Quantum Sailsand Day Sponsors Lewmar (Official Marine Hardware), and Mount Gay® Rum (Official Rum). The Supporting Sponsors are B&G (Official Marine Electronics), Marlow Ropes (Official Rope), andGaastra (Official Clothing and Footwear). Key West Race Week is also supported by The Florida Keys & Key West Tourism Council   Sapporo USAis the Official Beer and Regatta Ginger Beeris the Official Ginger Beer. Chelsea Clock is providing their classic Shipstrike Clocks for the Boat of the Day trophies.20 Industry Partners bring their support through a program that is now in its 14th year. Quantum Key West Race Week 2015 is a US SAILING sanctioned event. The racing will be conducted under permit in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary protects 2,900 square nautical miles of critical marine habitat, including coral reef, hard bottom, seagrass meadow, mangrove comm unities and sand flats

Coveted accolade for young 49er sailors

Up and coming 49er sailors Rory and Neil Hunter are the latest recipients of the Marlow Ropes Award, which will give the Scottish brothers free rope for a year after recently being selected to join the British Sailing Team Podium Potential Squad.

The Marlow Ropes Award was introduced in 2002 with the aim of rewarding Britain’s most promising young sailors for their determination, focus and talent.

The sailing siblings from Lamlash on the Isle of Arran, Scotland, have spent the last three months training alongside the Podium Potential Squad and given their 49er potential and recent performances the brothers earned selection to the British Team in January.

“We were both absolutely delighted to have won the Marlow Ropes Award only days after our selection for the Podium Potential Squad,” said 17-year-old helm Rory.

“We feel we have won the award from the results we have gained over the past season and from displaying a high amount of dedication and commitment during our time training alongside the Podium Potential Squad.

“The award will be a huge benefit to our campaign over the next season as we will be able to fit our boat out with top quality rope. In the 49er class, halyards and control lines come under high loads in the windier conditions, making top quality rope absolutely key to ensure a successful day racing with no breakages.”

Over the past 18 months the duo have recorded some impressive results including the 49er National Championship title in August, finishing second overall at the RYA National Ranking Series in November and their season highlight coming at the ISAF Santander World Championships where they posted 36th overall and 11th in the Silver fleet.

The 19-year-old Neil added: “We feel that the key ingredient to our results over the past year has been mainly a lot of hard work!  We’ve spent a lot of time sailing and just learning as much as possible.  The learning curve is so steep, especially in a class like the 49er.”

“Over the next 12 months our main goal is a top five at the Youth Worlds, that’s our target event this year. We’ve got a lot of sailing planned between now and then, with events throughout Europe and we’re going to Miami later this week. The Marlow award entitles the brothers to free Marlow rope for a year, which Rory says will be invaluable as they prepare for their inaugural season as British Sailing Team members.

“The award will help us massively. In a high performance boat like a 49er having the best kit is crucial for us to achieve our goals. With Marlow Ropes we can be sure that we are using the best rope available so it’s just one less thing for us to worry about!  It will be a massive boost to our campaign.”

Barrie Edgington, British Sailing Team Podium Potential Squad Manager, commented: “Rory and Neil are rare examples of sailors who have taken a slightly more independent tack to campaigning and making the case for support from the World Class Programme.

“In doing so their professional approach combined with achieving measurable international and national results has got them noticed and rewarded both by officially joining the British Sailing Team and being nominated for the prestigious Marlow Ropes Award.

“If they keep up the level of commitment to their 49er sailing and goals, I am sure they will continue to excel and achieve higher things.”

For further information on Marlow Ropes including the latest products and technical information visit www.marlowropes.com.

For the latest news and information from the British Sailing Team follow us at www.britishsailingteam.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @BritishSailing.

via Hunter brothers tie up Marlow deal | News | News & Events | RYA.

In February of this year, UK performance and technical rope manufacturer Marlow Ropes Ltd, announced the formation of Marlow Ropes, Inc.

The new sales, marketing and distribution company based in Plymouth, Massachusetts has a dedicated sales function, inventory availability and technical support designed to strengthen service and distribution in the US market.

Jon Mitchell Managing Director Marlow Ropes Ltd stated; “This move follows strong progressive sales growth of Marlow’s range of high performance rope products, into the US market over the past 6 years. Having a full time technical and sales presence in the US will provide direct manufacturers support to a wide range of customers and markets, both existing and new. This is a logical step for Marlow and which will continue the successful growth of Marlow Ropes brand in the US market.”

All of the products in the Marlow portfolio are more available than they have been in the US in many years…give us a call to find out more about Pro Drive torsion rope, MGP custom rigging options, or our gold medal winning Excel dinghy range.

What these changes mean for you, our customer, is easy – better service; easier access to a human on the phone or through email, more responsive customer service, and improved oversight for our most important order – yours – from placement through delivery. These improvements go hand in hand with our increasing stock holding in the US and faster delivery for bespoke items from the UK.

via Marlow Ropes Expands Presence in the US – ALL AT SEA.

Up and coming windsurfing talent Kieran Martin is the latest recipient of the British Sailing Team’s Marlow Ropes Award, which will give him free rope for a year as he makes the step-up from Youth to Olympic classes racing.

The Marlow Ropes Award was introduced in 2002 with the aim of rewarding Britain’s most promising young sailors for their determination, focus and talent.

After being invited to join the British Sailing Team’s Podium Potential Squad in 2013 following an exceptional year in the RYA Youth National Squad, the Marlow Award kick-starts an exciting new year for Martin who will now test his mettle in the men’s RS:X senior windsurfing fleet after bowing out of the RYA Youth Racing programme in impressive style.

The 18-year-old from Cheadle had an exceptional final year in the RS:X Youth class, winning the 2013 RYA Youth National Championships in Largs, Scotland in impressive style to secure his place in RYA Team GBR for the second consecutive year – the GBR team to compete at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Limmassol, Cyprus.

With a point to prove after finishing ninth at the 2012 Youth Worlds regatta in Dublin Bay, Ireland, the young Olympic hopeful went out all guns blazing and clinched the RS:X ISAF Youth Worlds title by a staggering 20 points to etch his name on the prestigious trophy alongside past winners including Sir Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy and Sarah Ayton.

On winning the Marlow Ropes Award, Martin said: ‘It feels really good to have been awarded the Marlow Ropes Award and to be recognised for all the hard work and commitment I have put into my sailing over the past year.

‘I think the main reason for me winning the award would be for my result at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Cyprus. It was a tough week of racing and to walk away 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds Champion was a fantastic achievement and such a great feeling!’

The Marlow award entitles the Carsington Water Sailing Club starlet to free Marlow rope for a year, which Martin says will be invaluable as he launches himself into his first Olympic cycle.

RS:X windsurfer Kieran Martin accepts the Marlow Ropes Award at 2014 London Boat Show – RYA Click Here to view large photo

‘Having an unlimited supply of Marlow Rope which is known for being top quality rope will be invaluable throughout my new Olympic campaign. Knowing that I will now be able to set up my equipment with new systems and with new rope at each event and knowing that nothing will break will be a great confidence boost when racing at future regattas.’

Martin continued: ‘After winning the ISAF Youth Worlds last summer I have now moved into the Men’s RS:X Olympic classes which has been a big step up but something which I am really enjoying. I now need to train hard over the next few months with the main aim of trying to qualify for the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships in September.’

Barrie Edgington, British Sailing Team Podium Potential Squad Manager, commented: ‘The support by Marlow Ropes of the young talent in the British Sailing Team Podium Potential programme continues to make a real difference to those starting out on their Olympic campaigns.

‘Kieran is a great example of identified and supported talent whose performances have singled him out as a worthy recipient of the 1st Marlow Award of 2014.’

Edgington concluded: ‘Confidence in your equipment is key and having the best available rope will certainly assist Kieran to focus on the bigger picture as he moves exclusively from RS:X Youth into the more rarefied environment of the senior RS:X Olympic class racing this year.’

via Sail-World.com : British Sailing Team’s Marlow Ropes Award to Kieran Martin.

Marlow Ropes appoint Harken as new distributor in Australia

05 Sep 2014

Sydney-based Harken Australia provides technical support, supply and distribution to the Australian leisure marine industry. The company already handles product ranges from marine deck hardware manufacturers, including Harken, Spinlock, Edson Steering and McLube.

Paul Honess, Sales Director for Marlow Ropes Ltd commented, “We are delighted to be working with Harken Australia, who are ideally placed to service a market in which they are already well established. Harken Australia Managing Director, Grant Pellew, has been working in the industry for many years and is running a very professional company that is well respected throughout the Australian marine industry. Harken Australia is considered as the number one supplier for deck hardware to the aftermarket. We look forward to working with them.”

Harken Australia is able to offer complete stocking solutions from Marlow Ropes for both chandleries and riggers. The new partnership means Marlow Ropes continues to develop their global reach to customers in Australia.

via Harken appointed Marlow Ropes distributor in Australia.

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is starting the New Year by announcing sponsorship extensions with long-term partners Marlow Ropes, ChartCo and Ocean Safety ahead of the 2015-16 series, the tenth edition of the unique biennial global challenge.

Clipper Race Founder and Chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, said: “We are very pleased that Marlow Ropes, ChartCo and Ocean Safety are to continue their partnerships with us for the 2015-16 edition.

“We have enjoyed successful, long term relationships with these industry leading companies whose products continue to stand up to the test of one of the world’s most unique challenges. Once again we look forward to working together to create both another safe circumnavigation and an extraordinary experience for our crew.”

The tenth edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race starts this August and will take almost a year to complete. At 40,000 nautical miles in length, it is the world’s longest ocean race, also regarded as one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet.

As the Clipper Race’s official rope supplier, Marlow Ropes will once again provide each of the fleet’s twelve Clipper 70 yachts with over 40,000 metres of high quality ropes which are made of modern, light weight fibres such as Dyneema. Crew will be provided with rope care and splicing advice by Marlow experts during training to help them get maximum lifespan and efficiency out of the running rigging during their eleven month challenge.

Paul Honess, Leisure Marine Sales Director for Marlow Ropes Ltd, said: “Marlow is very proud to continue our association with the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race for the seventh consecutive race series. It was clear to see from the last edition of the race that the new Clipper 70 is a big step up from the Clipper 68s with regards to power and performance.

“We continue to use mostly standard products on most of the running rigging but have now upgraded some cover composition for a few of the lines, this is to increase the longevity and performance in a few key applications ready for the next edition of the race. The great thing about working with the Clipper fleet is that we can trial and test our products and look at ways to increase performance and longevity of the lines and get great feedback which we can then use to develop our Cruiser/ Racer range of products.”​

Ocean Safety marks its sixth consecutive time as Clipper Race safety supplier and will continue to work closely with the race organisers to ensure that the safety standards of the 2015-16 circumnavigation are accurately met.

“We are delighted to be partnering and re-supplying to the Clipper Race once again,” commented Ocean Safety’s Charlie Mill. “We will be supplying their complete safety package, as well as invaluable support and training for the race crews prior to and during the race. A comprehensive service package will also be put in place to ensure regular equipment checks and updates are completed.”

Leaving nothing to chance to protect the amateur sailors who will crew each boat – the complete safety kit includes; liferafts, Kannad EPIRBs, lifebuoy lights, lifebuoys, survival suits, flares, radar reflectors, fire extinguishers, thermal protective suits, grab bags and more. Ocean Safety has also continued its innovation and evolution on a number of the products including a custom lifejacket, to be revealed shortly.

ChartCo, one of the world’s largest stockists and distributors of nautical charts, navigational data and marine technical publications, is back on board for its fourth consecutive race as an official Clipper Race supplier.

Martin Taylor, Managing Director of ChartCo said: “We’re really pleased to continue our partnership with the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race, a unique event which shares our spirit of teamwork and respect; two important values that ChartCo has held throughout its 250-year history.

The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors. Twelve teams, each led by a professional skipper, will battle against each other in up to 16 individually scored races which cover six continents on the global race circuit.

Marlow Ropes Ltd, the leading supplier of high performance running rigging to the worldwide leisure marine market, is proud to announce its appointment as Official Rope Supplier to the BAR Team for the 35^th America’s Cup cycle.

This partnership covers the exclusive supply of running rigging to the BAR Team for the AC World Series starting next year through to the 35^th America’s Cup in 2017.

Paul Honess, Leisure Marine Sales Director at Marlow Ropes commented, “Marlow are very excited to partner with the BAR Team, as we share the mutual ambition to bring the Americas Cup to the UK.  BAR are putting together a serious challenge and we hope that our track record and experience in Grand Prix rigging will help them achieve that goal.  As a British manufacturer, we are also very proud to be supporting Sir Ben Ainslie during the next stage of his stellar career, having worked with him through the RYA British Sailing team for many years in Olympic sailing.”

James Stagg, BAR Shore Team Manager commented, “It’s great to be working with Marlow Ropes, their range of running rigging is a perfect match for our varying requirements.

“As we go through the next three years of racing in the World Series and the America’s Cup we will work closely together to develop specialised products, tailored for BAR’s needs – and we’re particularly happy to be once again partnering with a local UK manufacturer.”

Notes: Marlow Ropes Ltd, is a British manufacturer of rope and cordage based in East Sussex, UK. Marlow’s worldwide network of distributers and Grand Prix Rigging Partners means their leisure marine product portfolio is available in all major sailing locations around the world.

As well as their extensive range of Grand Prix racing, cruising and dinghy products, Marlow also manufacture specialist rope products for the Safety, Arboriculture, Automotive, Commercial Marine and Defence industries.