I thought about building a sprit for my second Archambault 31, but only for about a week.  Sure I could engineer it, build it, and then install it.  But would it do all the things I want out of a sprit?  Most likely, but the time and expense would not be well spent since I was just keeping up with the refit schedule this past off-season.  So I made the wise decision, and went to Trogear for the second time, and am happy I did. This sprit is longer then the last one, for many reasons.  First it helps the…

What the hell does that mean Paul? Well we hear it in sport all the time, he or she has the feel, or they are in the zone, or look at that comeback.  When we race sailboats this is one of the many skills we need to develop to be successful. There are ways to train for getting in the feel, which will help you, get close, and then there is the natural talent that covers the last 8-10 percent. I thought of this post while sailing in the California Offshore Week on a Santa Cruz 50.  It had been…

Exciting news; I am going downwind in the Pacific again.  Last time was in 2012 on California Condor with a fantastic team in the Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Kaneohe, Hawaii.  See some onboard clips of the race video below. Picture is Condor team at the dock just after our finish at sunrise, love all the smiles. This time I am sailing with great friend Liz Baylis on the Santa Cruz 50 Oaxaca, owner Michael Moradzedeh, and a very talented team.  In 2019 they won their class and were 6th overall, very impressive.  See great post by Dee Caffari crew…

Here are the last two episodes of modifying the cockpit of my Archambault 31. If you are getting into shorthanded sailing, and would like help setting up your boat, finding the right sailplan, or coaching, contact me, I am happy to help. Less then a month to launch, exciting time of year. See you soon, Paul

Yes, lets bring back the classic four part series on how I modified the last Archambault 31, and some of the same for the current boat in the shop, with a few new twist. Below are the first two episodes showing my thought process on how to solve the problem, with boats that are setup for fully crewed. I will walk through the steps and in this four part series designing, mocking up, building, and installing the parts needed to have an efficient singlehanded cockpit design. See you soon, Paul

 After my website was hacked I am slowly staring to put my photography back on the site. Not as a store but simple galleries. Hope you enjoy it, at Photography. This is such a great time of year in New England, days getting longer, water temp coming up, daylight savings, all good. It has been a busy time in the PCS Boat Spa this winter.  Kincora has another six weeks before I take her to the boat yard, and start the bottom, topsides, and finish up the rig work.  The list of 130 jobs that looked daunting early November has…

Yikes, the last week of February, it is hard to believe.  Two months and I will be finishing up the bottom work at the yard getting ready to launch.  It has been a good push since early December doing the refit on the A31.  Covid has me spending most of my time in the shop. I started this refit with 95 items on the list, and now I am down to 40 plus or minus, since I am adding and deleting as I go.   Below are just a few examples of what is coming in the next two Episodes, 60…

Happy New Year to all. At full speed in the shop doing another major refit. Lots of exciting jobs on the way, and many running at the same time. Before we know it Spring launching will on the schedule. It has been a few boats since I had the options of going from the #4 jib to unfurling a storm jib inside of the headstay. It is a great comfort, and very efficient. Besides the sail can be used as a staysail with the Code 0, A-Sails, and jib top as a bonus. Hope you enjoy Episode 59, (see below)…