Red Wing has new Tanbark Wings

JBlumhorst@aol.com
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 04:06:14 EST


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Greetings Potter Gang,

It's here! Red Wing's new main sail. And it's absolutely stunning!!! It's 6
oz hi-modulus tanbark, a deep, rich, burgundy brown, with a white Potter Logo,
white sail numbers, white luft tape, and white batten covers. The workmanship
and quality of materials by UK Sailmakers is awesome! It will hold its shape
for many years, even with SF Bay's punishing winds. And just as awesome was
the reasonable price for a top-notch sail.

The sail has slugs, two reef points, with beautiful stitchwork on the
reinforcement points, and a separate leech tensioning line for each reef (as
well as one for the whole leech). The headboard is made of golden colored
anodized aluminum. There's a foot tensioning line, a sturdy cunningham
grommet, and rings attached with webbing at the tack and the clew. There's a
velcro strap to hold the clew to the boom when the outhaul is adjusted. I
had asked for two horizontal draft stripes, but they thought it would look too
busy in white so they didn't put them in. I think they're right - it would
look too busy. I'll have then put them on in black tape if I decide I still
need them. Oh, and the telltales are sewn into the luff at each batten.

The battens are a little longer than the typical Odessey-built Potter
mainsail, especially the second one from the top, to support the full roach.
The battens from UK Sailmakers are tapered at the forward edge to keep the
draft forward when the sail is loaded. It's got these very clever velcro
batten pocket closings that will never let a batten escape no matter haw badly
the sail is inadvertantly flogged (I know, I shouldn't do that to the sail) .
The batten pockets are made of some amazingly tough fabric, so I don't think
I'll be getting holes in the corners for a long, long time. It's got a pretty
full roach for a Potter sail, but the draft is cut a little shallower than the
Odyssey sails; they tailored it and specifically tuned it for sailing SF Bay.

The most beautiful part of the sail is the shape you see when three people
pull on the corners of the sail. The shape of the draft is like a cross
section right out of a book on sailmaking -- smooth, with a gorgeous foil
shape that says "aerodynamic". I compared it to my old sail, and it made my
old sail look very sad indeed.

I'm waiting here in not-so-sunny California (it's been pouring for 5 days
now), waiting for the weather to change so I can dress Red Wing in her new
wings. I want to experiment and decide on the placement of the new genoa
tracks so I can order the new jib made to fit the track location exactly.

Red Wing is starting to recall the days of her youth when her former owner,
Bruce Little, one of the most daring Potter sailors ever, sailed her up and
down the Left Coast from British Columbia to Mexico. But right now, Red Wing
is sitting patiently in the side yard huddled under her raincoat... I'm the
one who's impatient to complete the task of being midwife to her second birth.

Judy B.

Judith Blumhorst, DC
HMS18/P19 Fleet Captain, Potter's Yachters
WWP-19 #266 "Red Wing"
SF Bay, CA