By Adam Loory, General Manager of UK Sailmakers International
The English car designer Sir Frederick Henry Royce who, with Charles Rolls, founded the Rolls-Royce, once said, “The quality will remain long after the price is forgotten,” and that truly applies to UK Sailmakers’ Uni-Titanium Liteskin sails. While Uni-Titanium is our most expensive line of sails, these grand prix sails hold their trimmed shape perfectly while being the lightest and strongest sails we make. On the water results show they are not only fast, but they last.
The Judel-Vrolijk 66 DEFIANCE pressing downwind.
Here’s proof: In 2018 Chicago sailor Dale Smirl’s Judel-Vrolijk 66 DEFIANCE won the Lake Michigan Overall PHRF Distance Series for the seventh year in a row. Smirl said, “Not only are our sails fast, but I have never seen sails for a boat this size last so long. DEFIANCE’s Uni-Titanium mainsail just finished its fifth season, which is much more than I ever expected. UK Sailmakers’ sails definitely have superior longevity and durability.” His mainsail is a monster – 85 feet on the luff by 30 feet on the foot for a total of 1,550 square feet.
The Uni-Titanium Liteskin main on SOULMATES as she is on her way to setting a new course record in the Douglaston Yacht Squadron’s Captain’s Island Race. M. A. Fisher Photography.
If DEFIANCE’s performance doesn’t convince you to consider Uni-Titanium sails for your boat, let me tell you about my own Uni-Titanium Liteskin mainsail. My boat is custom-designed 40-footer designed by Rodger Martin and built by Eric Goetz in 1992. The boat’s name is SOULMATES, which I sail on New York’s Long Island Sound. The Uni main just finished its third full season and it is still fast and smooth. In 2018, SOULMATES won the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound’s inshore season championship for the fastest PHRF boats – the Gitana Trophy. Click her to see a video of the sail taken during the 2018 Turkey Day Reach, the last race of the of the season. While not as big as DEFIANCE’s, SOULMATES’ main is still big for a 40-footer; the luff is over 56 feet and the foot 19.5 feet.
