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Image credit: RORC 

Reducing mainsail area effectively is an essential aspect of depowering the boat as the wind strength increases. For offshore racing or cruising it is particularly important to be able to do so quickly and safely and this becomes even more critical when sailing shorthanded. Without weight on the rail, the need to reef comes earlier and the ability to deal with a situation is reduced. A mainsail reefing system should be reliable, quick to operate and produce an adequate sail shape once reefed. In this blog we discuss 4 options for taking a slab in the main. 

Replacing your halyards is a great opportunity to upgrade the halyard shackles. In this blog we give a detailed rundown of the options available. 

All sailing boats need ropes. But what is required of a rope varies greatly depending on the application. A vang purchase system demands different characteristics to a sheet, just as a halyard on a cruising boat can differ greatly to that on a grand prix racing yacht. Typically we don’t need to worry about the details too much as manufacturers tend to target their product lines: ‘cruising sheet’, ‘performance halyard’ etc. But what really differentiates these ropes on a technical level and which materials are responsible for providing the various characteristics? In this blog with give a brief overview of some of the fibres most commonly found in modern rope covers. 

The IMOCA class has long been at the forefront of technological development in deck gear and rigging systems. Many of the performance products we promote at Upffront.com have originated in the French offshore racing classes before filtering down to the wider cruiser / racer communities. 

We chatted to Oliver Heer Ocean Racing after completing the Route Du Rhum and delivering his IMOCA back across the Atlantic to France. Ollie talks about his campaign and planned hardware upgrades for the winter including the importance of a good autopilot, the benefits of continuous line furling, constrictor clutches and more. 

Image credit: Ronan Grealish

In our previous blog we spoke with Ronan Grealish from North Sails on the topic of reaching sail configurations for doublehanded racing. In this blog we continue the conversation to take a closer look at the design philosophy and evolution of the code zero. Modern top-down furling code zeros such as those from North have come a long way since the traditional flappy leech sails of late.

Image credit: Ronan Grealish

Reaching legs are an inevitable feature of coastal racing, and a good setup can produce some of the fastest and most stable sailing. We are talking about that range of off-wind angles, where an eased jib is no longer effective, but the TWA is still too tight for a spinnaker. This is where speciality reaching sails are needed. Exactly what these angles are depends on the boat and the wind strength, but for context lets assume a range of 060-120 TWA.