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Image Credits: @oceanrace.com

BY ANDY RICE, INTERVIEWING BJARNE LORENZEN

One of the great spectacles of the recent Volvo Ocean Race was seeing the VO65s charging along with a trio of headsails flying in neat formation in front of the mainsail. In the fourth blog post of this series, Bjarne Lorenzen of sailmaker Doyle O’leu describes the growing appeal of the staysail in both the racing and cruising scenes.

BY ANDY RICE, INTERVIEWING BJARNE LORENZEN

Most of the time we think of furling headsails but as Bjarne Lorenzen of sailmaker Doyle O’leu explains, there are options for furling your mainsail too. In the fifth and final post from this series, Bjarne considers the pros and cons of ‘in boom’ or ‘in mast’.

Image credit: Karver

BY ANDY RICE, INTERVIEWING BJARNE LORENZEN

In part three of this blog series, Bjarne Lorenzen of sailmaker Doyle O’leu explains the benefits of top-down furling, one of the big developments of the past decade which has trickled down to the cruising scene from the Volvo Ocean Race.

Image Credit: Bjarne Lorenzen, Meike Brunssen Knierim Yachtbau

Code zero - a sail that emerged from the offshore racing world is now firmly established as an essential part of a modern cruising sail package. While the sail plan will develop over time, the code zero is often one of the first sails to go into the inventory. Here, our Guest blogger Andy Rice interviews Bjarne Lorenzen of sailmaker Doyle O’leu who explains the appeal of this versatile sail. 

By: Nick Black/Andy Rice

The final in our series on lock systems for sailing yachts, Andy Rice talks to Nick Black - from Rigging Projects - about mainsail locks.

(Image: Karver KFH1)

By: Nick Black / Andy Rice                                                               

Most modern boats today have a form of top-down furling. If you don’t already use this method of sail handling, it’s worth considering a retrofit. Compared with hoisting and dropping spinnakers and gennakers in the conventional way, and all the potential for mistakes that go with that, top-down furling is a much more user-friendly and less risky way of handling big downwind sails.