Squib Forum

Hyde dominates Squib 'Last Chance' regatta

2010-10-19T01:13:00.000-07:00

The final event of the Squib season took place at Burnham on Crouch in sparkling conditions and fresh northerly breezes that peaked at over 25 knots, testing the 15 competitors tired end-of-season boats and limbs to the limits.

Sponsored by Colman Coyle solicitors and run by Edwin Buckley's Endeavour Trophy race team, the five back-to-back races were brilliantly conducted on a series of windward leeward courses in the entrance to the River Roach. With most races taking just 30 minutes and, unusually for Squibs, just one general recall, the format was ideal for keeping the competitors warm in the crisp conditions.

Nigel and Jack Grogan took the event with four straight wins and made for the bar for race five. Behind them, the racing was close and furious with neap tides helping to keep the boats just feet apart for most of the time. Malcolm Hutchins and Andy Ramsey won the last race to take second overall on count-back from Peter Marchant and Mel Titmus. Ian Gray was always present, but in the year-long duel of the sailmakers it was a clear Hyde 1,2,3. Also significant from a gear point of view was the use by the Grogan's of a new horizontal cut spinnaker, which has shown great pace on windward-leeward courses all year.

With autumn upon us, it's the perfect time to invest in a new suit of sails to give your Squib that extra edge. For a special deal, contact Paul Austin (T: +44 (0) 7801 907458)

Southampton Boat Show

2010-08-25T06:06:00.001-07:00

Your chance to get a fantastic deal on your new Hyde sails

Wandering around the forthcoming Southampton Boat Show (September 10-19, 2010), you’ll spot the distinctive Hyde logo on a wide range of boats, from dinghies to cruiser-racers. While you might not be ready to buy a new boat right now, investing in a suit of sails can give your current craft a new lease of life.

If you would like to talk to meet with a Hyde sails representative during the Southampton Boat Show to discuss a new or outstanding quote then we have people on hand during week. Rather than operating from a dedicated stand, with all its associated distractions, we have always chosen to use the time to sit down individually with our customers.

Not only is a great opportunity to get some expert advice about your existing sail wardrobe and your plans for the future, but it's also your chance to benefit from Hyde's amazing winter deals.

So why not book an appointment for a chat? Appointments are available Monday-Friday,and all you need to do is call +44 (0)7764 933 894 and speak to Wooderz to arrange a time.

The 2010 Squib National Championships

2010-07-06T05:51:00.000-07:00

Hyde Sails prove a force to be reckoned with at the 2010 Squib nationals at the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire

The 2010 Squib National Championship was always set to be a tricky light weather test on the shifty, unpredictable waters of Dublin Bay. With a week of high pressure and spring tides, conditions were dominated by the timing and direction of the erratic sea breeze, which filled in every day, but sometimes long after the sailing had either finished or been abandoned. No one team managed to win more than one race and the series was a high points scorer with any resulting the top 20 being a counter.

Strong start for Hyde
Race one was won by Hyde Sails MD Nigel Grogan and Dan Cripps after they made it to the new sea breeze early and crossed the line with their spinnaker up, while the early leaders Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey parked on the left. With the wind from the land this pattern became all too familiar with the early gradient breeze eventually being replaced from the sea.

Race two was sailed in light, but steadier breezes and multiple championship winners the Hogans won, beating Andy Brown and Harvey Worden in 'Bacchante VII' who were second. The Rileys clocked up a second third place looking as though they had already mastered the conditions, while consistency eluded virtually everyone else.

Race three was held back to back with the sea breeze getting up to about 18 knots and strengthening throughout. 'Alchemy' got into their stride winning from Mike Probert and James Bryer, with Alan Johnson in third already carrying a black flag.

At the end of the day Grogan and Cripps had a big lead with the Fenwicks and the Rileys close behind, Robert Coyle and wife Tracy were also near the top due to some fast, consistent sailing.

Abandonments galore
Tuesday saw thick sea mist and no sailing, but the mist rose and a sparkling sea breeze filled in an hour before the coach arrived to take the fleet to Ireland's highest pub!

Wednesday was controversial. The gradient breeze was very light and moving around 30 degrees. The race was abandoned after a big shift on the first beat. After a restart the race was again abandoned after the wind went around 180 degrees on the run and there was confusion over the re-laid 'windward mark'. A third time attempt was made with the sea breeze now at around 10 knots, but as the boats on the right hoisted spinnakers (tactically?!) the race officer decided the boats romping to the windward mark on the right were having too much fun and abandoned that one too!

Final pressure
With the pressure now on to complete the series, the Thursday race started in an unstable westerly. Sam Cole and Denise Kerr performed brilliantly to win ahead of 'Nimble' and 'Banshee'. Heavyweights Colin Bentley and Nigel in 'Squirrel' defied gravity to take fourth.

The second race that day turned inside out, but was well won by Nigel Harris giving him the overall lead. Many of the frontrunners scored places in the wrong half of the fleet after being becalmed for over half an hour, importantly the Rileys managed a fourth and 'Pocohontes' a sixth, Owen Delaney and Tony Holman also showed good form on their old waters.

Fortunately the final race was sailed in steady 12-18 knots of breeze and a convincing win by the Fenwicks saw them take the championship with clever sailing and great tactical prowess. The Hogans were second, but well out of the overall results due to the disaster of the day before. Nigel Harris had a shocker after spinnaker problems, but still managed third overall, while 11th place in the last race was enough to give runner-up spot to Dave Best and Pete Richards who almost managed to keep every result in the top 20 and showed how to sail a high scoring, big fleet championships. Grogan and Cripps rallied to 11th, which gave them fourth overall, beating 'Pani Munta' by a point.

Sail development pays dividends
From a gear perspective the development work on sails paid dividends for Hyde Sails, with the Batt stranglehold well and truly broken. Interestingly five out of the top 10 were 'new' Parker boats as opposed to the pre-150 sail numbers. Some very expensive rudders and hull finishes were also evident as the class appears to have moved to new levels of competitiveness.

Overall Results

1st 758 Ghost Rider Mike Fenwick Penny Fenwick 41pts
2nd 797 Crossfire Dave Best Pete Richards 43pts
3rd 65 Banshee M.N. Harris R.J. Stephenson 51pts
4th 105 Helmut Shoing II Nigel Grogan Daniel Cripps 54pts
5th 128 Pani Munta Mike Probert James Bryer 55pts
6th 872 Pocahontas Mike Hughes James Smith 55pts
7th 127 Misfire Roger Harris Mark Thompson 60pts
8th 800 Alchemy Gerard P. Dyson Tony Saltonstall 61pts
9th 823 Humphrey Robert Coyle Tracy Coyle 63pts
10th 136 Rico'shea Chris Hogan Mark Hogan 64pts

Hyde tops podium after day one of Squib nationals

2010-06-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

Two races were sailed on the first day of the 2010 Squib Nationals in Dublin. Nigel Grogan and Dan Cripps took the first race, sailing Squib 105 complete with their new set of 2010 Hyde Sails. They went on to extend their overall lead in the 68-boat fleet to 12 points after two races, despite a very unpredictable day's racing full of big gusts and shifts. There is still a long way to go in the event with three days of racing remaining and a fickle forecast.

Hyde sails leads squibs nationals 2010

2010-06-22T02:20:00.001-07:00

Race 1 was won by Nigel Grogan and Dan Cripps in 105 with the new 2010 design sails having overtaken, on the last beat, Malcolm Hutchins 819 who had led the whole race again with another set of 2010 designed Hydesails...

Squib success for Hyde's sails

2010-04-12T05:54:00.001-07:00

Hyde Sails' hard work developing its Squib sail design over the winter has paid
off, with Hyde's sails dominating the opening regatta of the season, the Mike Flint
Trophy…

The first regatta of the Squib season took place at Burnham on Crouch over the Easter Weekend, with the fleet competing for the Mike Flint Trophy. The event had a sailmaking subplot as Hyde Sails' former Squib agent, White Marine had defected to Lonton and Grey with both teams eager to see whose new designs would prove to be fastest…

Good Friday saw the opening contest for the Champagne Race with a strong breeze and low water restricting the course laying options, Nigel and Jack Grogan from Hyde in 'Helmut Shoeing' pulled away from Dave White and Mel Titmus in 'Easy' for a comfortable win, with Malcolm Hutchins and partner Jacqui ('Lady Penelope') in the other boat
sporting new Hyde sails third.

Saturday morning saw light variable breezes and a monster 2.5-hour struggle against the elements, Nigel and Jack's lead at the first mark was eliminated when the race turned inside out and Malcolm astutely went up the opposite bank to get well ahead with Paul Buckley ('Electra') just astern before he ran aground. Micky Wright ('Spoof') then planed up the middle of the river in his own jetstream to win, with the Grogans second and Malcolm unhappily OCS. Saturday afternoon saw the fleet racing up the Roach and a close tussle between Malcom and the Grogans well ahead of the rest with the race being decided when the Grogans managed to carry their spinnaker on the reach back to the finish. Micky Wright took a good third with Sarah Hastwell making a guest appearance on Dave White's boat for fourth.

Sunday saw Malcolm build a big lead with massive upwind speed, unfortunately for him the wind filled in from behind and in the long run downriver Paul Buckley, Robert Coyle ('Humphrey') and the Grogans all caught up. With clever balancing of tide versus breeze Robert just edged ahead for a final mark white knuckle ride, but the Grogan's sailed over them on the fetch to the finish with Malcolm second. The afternoon saw fresh conditions and Malcolm over the line again. But Simon Sanders (What's the Story') put his foot down and flew up the first beat. The Grogans managed to wriggle ahead and stay there to win from Malcolm by a boat length, Simon hung onto a well deserved third with Paul Buckley fourth.
With the event won the Grogan's sat out the final race with Lonton and Grey fielding their third guest helmsman of the event. Dave's brother Pete White pulled off a win from Malcolm as for the second time they were out spinnaker reached. Paul Buckley took third to also finish third overall, beating 'Spoof', the first placed Lonton and Grey boat into fourth. Simon and crew excelled with fifth overall, ahead 'Easy' in sixth. A comprehensive win for Hyde in 'the battle of the sailmakers'.

The event was blessed with a good mix of courses and breezes and leaves the fleet itching to get to grips again at the Gold Cup in a few weeks' time.

more testing

2010-03-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

" Another Solent tuning session last week pushed the Squib Sail development programme to it's final stages for the new season. This picture shows Nigel Grogan sailing Malcolm Hutchings boat to windward of Rob Larke sailing Nigel's boat. Crewing for Nigel and casting his critical eye over the latest development sails is Richard Lovering, one of Hyde's sail designers while the other designer Mike Lennon is monitoring the tuning run and taking photos from the Hyde RIB. Amongst Richard's impressive sailing CV is attending the Atlanta Olympics as the late John Merricks tuning partner- so he knows a few things about two boat tuning. His keelboat experience includes winning the SB3 nationals and Cowes week sailing with Jerry Richards as well as winning the prestigeous Captains Cup, in the ultra close XOD boats in Cowes week.

Rob Larke with Malcom crewing, are sailing 105 with the sails and set-up that Nigel used to come in 9th place at last years nationals. Although not a brilliant result , the boat was quick enough for three top five places at that event , so the assumption was that if 105 could be convincingly beaten in a straight line then the tuning process was getting somehwere.

The picture shows Malcolm's boat with the new sails, more powered up and pointing as high. What it cannot show is that a few minutes later it had pulled out distance ahead and to windward of 105 to the extent that the run had to be aborted to reposition Rob and Malcolm in clean air.

No suprises to learn that Malcolm has promptly bought the development sails and is planning to use them at the Burnham Easter regatta!

The first production set of the new designs are currently being built in Hyde's sail factory in Cebu and will be shipped back in time for Nigel to use them at the Easter Open event at Abersoch so they can be tried out on the race course against the classes toughest fleet!"

Winter Development and Testing

2010-03-16T03:34:00.000-07:00

We have spent the winter redesigning our sails and two boat tuning which has resulted in quantifiably performance improvements.

Jib Design - Using Nigel Grogan's boat and Malcolm Hutchin’s 819, we firstly tested all our designs to see what the differences were under the expert eye of our two sail designers, Mike Lennonand & Richard Lovering. They then used Sailpack (state of the art sail design software developed by the Italian America's Cup syndicate) to produce the perfect "flying shape" Some late nights in our Cowes loft then gave us a prototype to test. The results were very gratifying, whoever sailed which boat, and the team with the new jib were consistently higher and faster. The changes had concentrated on entry and exit angles as well as chord depth particularly high up. The new jib is also much more user friendly and easier to change gears with using halyard tension and barber hauler length.

Mainsail Design - The designers then worked on matching the mainsail perfectly to the jib. The mainsail has less fullness high up to encourage the right amount of twist and also a less aggressive leach return to aid straight line speed and acceleration. If you look at the pictures you can see the slot is matched to the back of the mainsail all the way up with no back winding and no over twisting of the jib leach - common problems we are all too familiar with.

Two Boat Tuning – It is easy to make all sorts of claims about sail design improvements, but the real test is two-boat tuning - hours of it! We spent several days going up and down the open water of the Solent with the boats close hauled a few feet apart replicating that "start line feeling" until there was no doubt that the changes we have made translate into speed gains across all wind ranges. We tried the new sails against the previous versions in conditions ranging from 6 knots short tacking back up the Hamble to full- on 25 knots in open water with waves and snow! As Mike Lennon observed "I know which sails I would use to try and win the nationals!"

At Hydesails we are looking forward to the start of the sailing season and using the new sails on the racecourse. We will be at most of the open events this year where we will be delighted to discuss the changes we have made in greater detail.

If you go to our squib page on our online store you will see full details and prices as well as an enticing Spring Offer.
We have sailcloth and production capacity for only 20 sets of sails before the nationals so it makes sense to act now. In addition cloth prices will rise after August so order before prices rise.

Modification/sailing tips for your squib

2010-01-05T03:27:00.001-08:00

On our squib (105) we have spent a lot of time optimizing its performance legally by just doing a few simple things...

Firstly we went to work on the hull. We wet and dried the hull and keel right the way back to within an inch of their lives with 600 grade wet and dry... This allowed us to obtain a super smooth finish therefore allowing us to fully focus on the sailing knowing we could be the only variables on the boat slowing it down. Once this was done the hull is left as it is. However, the keel has to have more work done. As you are all too aware the keels on squibs rust and there seems to be no real cure for this. What we do on keel is paint the keel with VC Tar epoxy primer this is a self leveling paint so it cures with an ultra smooth finish but this is not enough to stop all the rust... The join between the hull and keel will still rust so we add an extra layer of zinc based primer (Ku-rust). This does not stop the rust completely it means before each event we sand back the small amount of rust starts to show and apply another coat...

We also have made sure the rudder and keel are aligned and the rudder is down to weight and as stiff as possible...

We make sure we keep our weight around the 24/25 stone (combined) mark as we believe that this is about optimum for the squib... Making sure when the wind is light that the helm and crew are as far forward as possible in the boat (right over the keel). If you look at a squib when it is out of the water you will realize how far forward the keel is mounted compared to the cockpit so this will give you a good clue as to how far forward to sit.

We were using a Holt canapus mast section and were very happy with it unfortunately is got snapped at the nationals so we are currently sailing with a super spar mast. We believe you will be fast enough with either of these mast sections as these are what all the top boats use...

The most important modification we have made in our opinion is where our shroud plates were positioned. When dead running in a squib you have your boom as far out as possible, touching the shroud wires, this restricts how far you can let the boom out. We measured our shrouds and they were 50mm to far back in the boat and also one was different to the other once this was corrected we felt we had found an extra gear downwind thus opening up many tactical options...

All of the above points are extremely important they do make a lot of difference if you do have the time to make any of these changes I would strongly recommend doing so!

Squib East Coast Championship

2009-12-18T05:49:00.001-08:00

With four Hyde-powered boats in the top five, it was a successful weekend of racing ahead of the class nationals.

The Squib East Coast Championship was sailed at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk YC in conditions that could reasonably be described as 'testing'. Saturday had a steady Force 4-5 and Sunday marginally less breeze, but the strong tides and onshore breezes made for rough seas and frightening white water over the ever-present sandbanks. A quality fleet included visitors from as far afield as Yorkshire and racing was very close with many crews seeing the event as the last real practice before the Nationals later in the month.

Race one started with a heavily port biased line, and with the tide setting towards the pin there was only ever one place to be. Grogan and Cripps stole the pin and led from start to finish. The breaking seas on the sandbanks meant that the course was very short and with tacking being so hard in the waves overtaking lanes were restricted to the markroundings, which could be eventful in the conditions. Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall in the oldest Squib still sailing - the beautifully restored number 11 - chased hard with Dave White and Pete Ballam in third. Race two got under way after chaos at the pin end resulted in a recall after Sam Cole and Denise Sinclair wrapped 'Flying Fish' securely around the buoy's mooring line. Former National Champion Lloyd Crisp emerged from retirement to win by a huge margin with Gerard and Tony consolidating their overall lead with another second. Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey showed good pace and excellent boat handling to take third.

After a night of Abba at the club, the fleet went afloat in shocking weather for two further races, which did no one with a hangover any favours. Race three got away with slack tide and a starboard-biased line. Grogan and Cripps again led from start to finish with ex-505 World champion Pete White and Sarah 'Agnetha' Hastwell close behind, going fast in their new Parker boat. Brother Dave was just behind again. Grogan and Cripps then made a schoolboy error by miscounting Lloyd's finishing position and thinking that they only had to sail Gerard and Tony lower than fourth to win. They sat on Gerard who limped into eighth place, but Lloyd went on to win the race by a mile and beat Grogan and Cripps who had retired, on the tie break. Pete White and hard-hiking Sarah beat his brother again to come third overall with Dave and Pete fourth. A consistent Robert Coyle and Mel Titmus came sixth being in the top five in all three races. Lloyd and Nick Barret of the home club secured a very narrow, but well deserved win and Grogan and Cripps had the ignominy of winning the 'Dick of the Day' and the contempt of their peers for their limited maths skills.

Generously the club gave prizes to the top 12 boats, adding some smiles to the battered, rain-soaked competitors. Four out of the top five were sailing old boats and using Hyde Sails. Crew weight mattered and lightweights like the three times nationals winning Rileys could only manage 10th. The fleet now looks forward to the nationals in Weymouth at the end of June. Entries for the event have now been limited at 108, promising to make it the biggest Squib event ever and probably the biggest one-design keelboat event in the UK this year.