Equipment is nice,
but it is knowledge and skill that gets
someone to the top.

Browse around the site, and you will find a wealth of information and links, for sailors as well as for event organizers. There are of course some products here that are for sale, they are here to help support the coaching and coaching programs for youth. This is not trying to be a retail store, just a place to come to get information, ideas, and the occasional products that I find that really offer something extra.

The Sale Bin
Close-outs and other goodies!!

As 2024 fades away, we are working on a fall schedule that includes our own annual getaway and a couple of late season trips, one an easy one-day race clinic only a couple hour drive away, the other a week in southern California. Otherwise it's time outside chopping firewood or inside in the yurt cutting lines and making parts for next season. And we continue to explore other uses for our 3D printer, currently making a couple parts for the Butterfly and a custom fitting for a group of NACRA catamaran sailors. If your boat or class has a part that is out-of-production (and you need more than one!), let us know and we'll see if it's possible to scan and print it for you.

The flying catamaran photo is one of Jim's, from his last major (months-long) coaching commitment over the winter of 2015-16, training the Odyessy Racing team of Stephanie Hudson and Dalton Tebo, taken on Sarasota Bay in November of 2015. The pictured Nacra 17 has curved boards, making it known as a 'semi-foiling' boat. The class, after the 2016 Olympics in Rio (won by an old friend from Jim's Tornado days, Santiago Lange from Argentina) has voted and moved on, with World Sailing approving for the 2020 and 2024 Olympics an upgraded version of the boat with full-foiling boards and rudders. So instead of just flying 'sometimes', its on full-speed-ahead to flying almost all the time!

Meanwhile, Optis are still Optis and club 420s are still club 420s with a huge base in all of North America. However, the big lesson from the last couple of years, what we once thought of as 'normal' should never again be taken for granted.

Web Site Security, refunds, and returns:

So-called Secure Sites (when you see a web name with HTTPS instead of HTTP) has become a business by itself, not actually related to 'site security'. If you leave no information at a site that does not use cookies (we don't, we collect NO information about our visitors) then 'security' is not an issue. But some browsers now refuse to even open so-called 'non-secure' web sites. This has become a good business for site hosting services, charging $$ for a 'security certificate' so web sites can display the valued HTTPS. We have paid the bribe so our web site will properly display even on a browser that doesn't open 'non-secure' sites. Understand that is a business expense that gets rolled into our pricing. When you purchase something on this web site, you are sent to PayPal's very secure servers, and all information is handled there with no credit card information coming to us. No cookies, no information collected, no 'account' and another password required to browse or buy, is our simple contribution to a more open internet.

We will accept returns to the address on our shipping labels for a full refund of the original purchase amount minus non-refundable banking fees and the original shipping charge if the item(s) are returned to us in original unused condition within 30 days of receipt.

Articles

We are doing some background work on the web site, and among the things we are adding are some articles that Jim has written over the years that still apply. The first one up is an article titled "Mind Games", written for US Sailing back in 1983, but still loaded with advice that applies to the racing sailors of today. Click the title to read the pdf.

ZIM

At Zim World Headquarters in Warren, RI, they continue to add and innovate to their collection of boats aimed specifically at serving the youth, sailing school, and club markets. Visit their web site at ZimSailing.com for complete info.

Rules

The Rules; The Racing Rules of Sailing get modified/unpdated every four years, and 20121 began a new 4-year cycle. Click the link to see the new Rules, and make sure you are current when you get on the water this season.

And did you know that most classes use something called the Equipment Rules of Sailingg to standardize the definitions of all of the parts and pieces, including sails, on the boats that we play on? These Rules make sure we are all speaking the same language. Take a look, and improve your own understanding of the sport.

Better, Smarter, Faster

Every year brings more opportunities to get ahead - or fall further behind. What are YOU doing to be sure you are among the 'get ahead' group?

International Customers Since early 2020, international shipping has just become more of a problem - both time and cost. While we used to do a surprising amount of custom items, usually lines, to both Australia and Canada, we have had to decide that it is just too much of a hassle in the current version of the world for us to continue to ship internationally. Please exhaust all possible resources in your home country before contacting us for something you can't live without! And do not try to order online, send us an email with your needs so we can so we can work to see if we can help you before committing US$ to something that might not happen.

Opti Splashes

Hike out, go fast, have fun!

That's how sailing should be!!

Some of our Training Sessions 2009 Training

June training sessions

On-Line Shopping

If you see something listed on our shopping pages and there is no "Add to Cart" button next to it, that means that we are out of stock. Simply drop us a note and we'll let you know when we expect to be able to ship.

How Serious are You About Getting Better?

This photo is old now, from Jan 14, 2007, Rush Creek Yacht Club, Dallas TX, 10-12 mph winds, and 25° F: Some of my Opti training group that got in 4 hours sailing that day, the middle day of a 5 day training camp that totaled over 18 hours of sailing while the rest of Dallas was hiding from from the freezing rain and ice.

The message here is simple, what are YOU doing to get better? If your idea of winter is sitting inside and waiting, then these sailors just got farther ahead of you. You can't catch anyone by doing less work - the way to get better as a sailor is to SAIL MORE!!. (And these kids will tell you that they all had fun - they all had on the right gear including waterproof socks - and will never be intimidated by any Yankee sailor's stories about frostbiting!)

(The fog in the background of the photo is the typical 'steam' cloud that rises above a lake when the air is much colder than the water, heat and moisture leaving the lake surface. Its common on lakes just before they freeze.)