We began 2009 with one design racing participation in the FD Worlds in Napier, New Zealand. In the tightly contested series, held in a beautiful setting down under, North Gulf Coast FD sail designs were aboard the 2nd, 4th and 8th place boats. The mold shapes we have developed proved very effective in a wide range of conditions at the highest level in the class.
The FD North Americans were held in Coronado, CA in March, affording the opportunity of boats returning from the Worlds to easily participate in a three day format. The regatta was won by Paul Scoffin and Pavel Ruzicka, with the winners and all the top teams using Gulf Coast designs.
The FD Nationals were held in June in Canandaigua, NY. This regatta also celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the class in the U.S., with a nice ceremony held Saturday night with FD sailors from several eras attending including Paul Henderson, past president of ISAF. The regatta was won by Lin Robson and Mike Coe, and again the majority of the fleet and all top finishers were using Gulf Coast designs.
The ability of a wide range of sailors to yield the best out their sails continued in the Windmill class, where again the majority of the U.S. fleet uses Gulf Coast designs. This year the Nationals were won by Arthur Anasov and Danny Florianovich. The event was held in Rock Hall, MD.
With growing interest here locally as we look forward to the Contender Worlds to be held here in St. Petersburg in 2011, Ethan is hard at work continuing to develop the fastest sails in that class and in growing the fleet.
Coming off a convincing win by Ethan Bixby and Erik Boothe in the 505 Europeans in 2008, development continues on the mold shapes and details of our 505 class sails. Our 3DL mains are the lightest and strongest available in the world, and all of the mold shapes have been proven very fast. The next event is the 505 Midwinters in February, 2010 here in St. Petersburg. This year’s Midwinters was won by Augie Diaz and Tommy Fink, followed in second by Lin Robson and Matt Gardiner. Both teams utilized full Gulf Coast inventories. The mold shapes seem to by very fast on a variety of rigs and set ups in wide ranges of breeze.
At the ORCi Worlds in Brindisi, Italy, George Andreadis’ “Meliti IV” won a hard fought event with over 50 boats competing. Ethan Bixby has been working with this team for years and it was compelling victory after a strong effort and continual development of the rig and sails for the Grand Soleil 42r. The Offshore Racing Council is the former IMS class and is very strong in Europe.
Here in Tampa Bay, Gulf Coast keel boat clients continued their winning ways in PHRF racing, with Al Thomas’s “Wired”, George Haynie’s “Time Bandit” and others enjoying the lion’s share of local victories.
We continue to enjoy working with interesting performance cruising projects such as Dr. Frank Boucek’s new Tartan 5300, incorporating a full inventory including the latest 3DL Marathon working sails. “Avalon”, a 108’ Holland design, enjoys a full North inventory, using tough Spectra laminates for the working sails.
One theme we’re happy to report is that the bar is always being raised in terms of technology, performance and service. We look forward to another great year in sailing, and in hearing from you with any questions.
Thank you for your continued support! |