A US luxury cruising yacht will be flying sails made down under.
Julian Plante from North Sails Sydney recently headed to Mackay to meet up with Brian Baker and his wife to outfit their new Spectra Gatorback sails for their Island Packet 485. The Bakers have been cruising extensively for a number of years now and should be credited for their five years of training on the Chesapeake Bay in the United States, where Brian and Margaret practiced long distance sailing with just the two of them on board before tackling cross Atlantic voyages.
Neither Brian nor Margaret had any experience sailing, but Brian mentioned he had always played with boats. Margaret opted to learn the ropes through a sailing course in the US, where as Brian opted for the 'learn as you try' approach. For many years the two of them practiced sailing 2 up with 3 hour watches a piece and high fiving each other in the galley way during change of watch.
Julian asked Brian what he missed the most when at sea, and like all experienced long distance sailors; he mentioned sleep, but enjoyed the rewards of arriving at a new destination and experiencing it together with his wife. Margaret misses the grandchildren, but thanks to wonders of modern technology, the Island Packet comes equipped with satellite coverage for phone calls and email, making the distance between the grandchildren a little less hard.
This is the Baker's third cruising boat and after recommendations from friends, Brian and Margaret opted to outfit again their new investment with North Sails exclusive Spectra Gatorback. This product is based on taffeta substrates, which locks up the spectra yarns, anchors the seams and yields the highest possible performance. The sails are built using Spectra Gatorback to ensure a combination of inherent high stability while delivering a long term service life, rarely seen in other fabrics.
The Spectra Gatorback provides other great benefits to the Bakers as it is a fabric that is easy to handle, and its radial construction ensures load bearing and shape retention even when it is reefed.
Based in Mackay for the next few weeks waiting on custom clearance (the Island Packet 485 was built in Florida), the Bakers will be making their way down the eastern coast to Brisbane, taking a little over a month to complete the voyage.
For further information on Island Packet yachts, contact Mark Dent at mark@ipy.com.au
