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The sailing world is undergoing a sea change, embracing the power of electrification for unparalleled ease and convenience, especially for older crews and solo sailors. Electric systems are revolutionising boats, from lithium-ion battery improvements to automation in rigging systems. Electric furlers for headsails are now common, making sail handling more effortless than ever. 

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A snuffer is a simple, reliable method of dousing an asymmetric spinnaker. Despite advances in furling technology, snuffers remain the first choice for many offshore race yachts such as Class 40 and IMOCA. In this blog we look at how to select the correct length of snuffer for your sail, why snuffers dominate in short-handed offshore racing and where a furling asymmetric might be preferred. To help answer these questions we sat down with Nathan Steffenoni, co-director of OneSails GBR South. As you might expect, the considerations are very much case dependent, so Nathan was keen to caveat many of his responses. 

A bowsprit is now an almost inevitable feature of a racing yacht or performance cruiser and there are also a number of off-the-shelf retrofit options available. The uptake is due in part to the popularity of asymmetric downwind sails which offer ease of handing, particularly when sailing with reduced crew. But even for a predominantly symmetric spinnaker boat, a bowsprit is necessary for flying a code zero or other specialist reaching asymmetric. In this blog we look at how to best setup a bowsprit to suit your sail inventory. 

Next week the Upffront team will be heading to Amsterdam for the biggest and most prestigious marine trade show in the world, METS. We are planning to share with you some of the latest innovations in marine technology at the show next week, but for now, here are a few of the DAME nominated products that caught our eye!

If you have a 25-30ft sailboat and you are looking to boost your sailing performance with a code zero or asymmetric spinnaker then you will need a furler in the 900-1000kg working load range. There is a decent selection of different products available at this size, but which one should you chose? In this blog we run through the relative pro’s and con’s of the main contenders.

©Facnor

It’s a simple question but if you are buying a new furler or need to organise a replacement furling line and do not have access to measure it……. how long should it be!? In this blog we give you some simple rules for estimating the required lengths of single or continuous loop furling lines.