Congratulations to Nico Cortlever who won the Maxi Class 2 at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta sailing is X-612 NIX powered by nine-year-old UK sails. NIX scored three firsts and a second in a class of 60-footers. NIX’s UK Spectra/Carbon sails have stood up to years of racing and cruising. In fact, Nico now lives on his boat and crosses the Atlantic every two years.
Nine-year-old UK sails kept their shape and power X-612 to class win
“I bought these sails in 2010 and, for the first five years, the boat was in charter service,” said Nico. “We raced the Caribbean 600 a few times, the Heineken Regatta, and the Voiles de St. Barth. These UK Tape-Drive® sails are excellent because they’ve lasted a long time and haven’t torn when damaged. Also, they have kept their shape during all these years. These sails are half the weight of my delivery sails.”
And Nico did not baby his sails. “Although I know it’s the right thing to do, I never had the sails serviced or washed. I did put some protective taffeta on the leech of the jib to keep in good condition. Often, the sails got wet in the sail locker; but it did not have any influence on the condition of the sails. During the time that I sailed with them I’ve never had the feeling that any wind was too strong for them. If I ever buy racing sails again, I definitely will choose UK Sailmakers sails because they are light, very reliable, and long lasting.”
Tape-Drive evolved into X-Drive® for even stronger sails
NIX’s sails are so old that UK Sailmakers no longer uses the Tape-Drive construction method. Five years ago, Tape-Drive evolved into X-Drive®. X-Drive sails are even stronger and smoother than Tape-Drive because the surface of the sail is almost completely covered with continuous loadpath tapes. With hundreds of closely-spaced yarns bonded to the sail’s surface, an X-Drive sail has incredible strength and stretch resistance, which results in a smooth sail without distortion. When you want to own one suit of sails that can be used to cruise and win races for years and years, call your local UK Sailmakers loft.
