Sound Boatworks Ultimate Photo Contest

So we've decided, mostly due to lack of participants, to extend the Sound Boatworks Ultimate Photo Contest through May 1st. Anyway, here's a bit of a new batch sent over from Chuck Kesson of Newport, RI, more to come........












Visit our Contest library at Sound Boatworks Ultimate Photo Contest

Sound Boatworks Photo Contest

Some of the first few contestants have already been sending in their photos, check them out: Sound Boatworks Photo Contest Album. Feel free to comment on any of the pictures and be sure to send some of yours in!


Photo courtesy of "k2sails@gmail.com"

Sound Boatworks Photo Contest

Right now its blowing a steady 35 here in CT, and everyone's thinking of how sick it would to be sailing, however its March.....and it's cold, but there's nothing like seeing some extreme sailing photos to get you in the mood to get on the water. For the remainder of March, Sound Boatworks is hosting our first annual "Ultimate Sailing Photo Contest", so send us your best shots. Regardless of whether they are of you, or if you're behind the lens, we'd love to see them and share them with everyone else who's aching to be on the water. Your photo can be a cool boat, nice sailing, or even a sweet wipe out. Nothing is barred here, so send us whatever you have. Top prizes include a Gill Regatta Watch, Gift Certificates worth up to $100, and other additional prizes for the top five winners. Our panel of judges will scrutinize every photo to find the best of the best. To make this a legit contest we're gonna to have some rules here:

1. The photo must be owned by you - no copying and pasting here. It can be you, your brother, your friend or some dude you saw sailing one day. The photo doesn't have to be taken by you, but you must have permission for it.

2. To qualify for medals, all photos have to be in by March 25th

3. By submitting your photo, you give Sound Boatworks permission to post it to our blog, website, or Facebook page

4. Submit your photos to chris@soundboatworksllc.com, include your name, where the photos were taken, and a brief description of what's happening in the shot.

So let's get rolling, be the first - or last to get your Ultimate Photo to Sound Boatworks. This may be your chance to share a boat you've been drooling over, your proudest moment on the water, or even your most humiliating. Here's a little teaser to get you started

Sound Boatworks sponsors "Argo"

Sound Boatworks is proud to announce the sponsorship of "Argo", a Melges 32 from Larchmont YC, NY. Owned and operated by Jason Carroll, NYC, and backed with tactical support by John & Molly Baxter, Greenwich, CT, Argo is a well tuned Long Island Sound boat that has been traveling the international Melges 32 circuit for the past year and placing well amongst their seasoned international competitors. Last summer Argo attended the Melges 32 World Championship in Italy and placed 5th overall against well experienced European sport boat sailors. This year Argo has attended both Key West Race Week & Miami Race Week flying the Sound Boatworks colors. Sound Boatworks sponsored Argo in partnership with SLAM Foul Weather Gear, as you see in the photo above the Argonuats donning SLAM's RC Spraytop & RC Salopettes. Sound Boatworks will be following Argo closely on their tour of the East Coast circuit this season with the grand finale of the Melges 32 World Champs to be held in San Francisco, CA. Sound Boatworks is proud to support local teams and we give many thanks to the crew of Argo for supporting us on the water. We'd like to give special thanks to John & Molly Baxter, Whitney Gladstone from North Graphics, Filipo & Paul of SLAM USA, and Ted & Skip Zuse for all of the help in making this sponsorship a success. You can follow Argo on both our blog and Argo's Blog as they cruise the Melges circuit. Argo's Crew consists of the following sailors:

Jason Carroll from New York, NY – Skipper

John Baxter from Greenwich, CT – Tactician

Chad Corning from New Rochelle, NY – Main trim

Dan Litchfield from New York, NY – Jib / Spin trim

Molly Baxter from Greenwich, CT – Strategist/Pit

Patrick Mauro from New York, NY – Pit

Ben Bardwell from Newport, RI – Mast

Brian Fox from New York, NY – Bow

Julie Howe - Pit Assist

Photos courtesy of John Carroll

Gill Race Padded Front Impact Hikers

New for 2010 from Gill's coveted race line, are the Padded Front Impact Hikers. This latest addition to Gill's line of sailing foul weather gear is great for anyone who is constantly hiking hard on the rail and coming off the boat with lifeline grooves on them. With design targeted for front impact protection when hiking hard on the rail, Gill places padding at the waist line as well as Kevlar reinforced knee protection. These hikers come in two styles, Shorts and 3/4 tights all made from 4-way stretch Lycra ideal for under garment or wearing independently. Also added in to the material is 50+ UV Protection, flat locked seams for comfort and quick drying. We are now accepting orders for delivery before Key West Race Week, Shorts @ $40 & Tights @ $85, Free Shipping included. Give us a call at 800-459-3886 to order for yourself or your entire crew.

New Products: Karver & Antal Hardware

We are very excited to announce the arrival of two new brands to Sound Boatworks, Karver Systems & Antal Marine Equipment. Both of these brands of marine parts will bring innovative products that are of the highest quality and designed to make your sailing experience faster and more fun. Over the next two weeks we will be adding these brands to our marine superstore website and catalog, pre-orders may be taken by emailing us or calling our office @ 800-459-3886.

Karver Systems offer "The present generation of high tech racing boats require equally high tech deck gear that accurately corresponds with the current evolution in performance, output efficiency, weight reduction and ergonomics. Concepts first adopted in the design and construction of the Open 60’Class, can now be applied to all yachts, allowing racing and cruising sailors alike to benefit from the latest cutting edge technology." Visit www.karver-systems.com to learn more about this exciting new brand.




"Antal Marine Equipment designs and manufactures a full line of winches, blocks, marine cleats, roller furling systems, clutches and mast and traveler systems. These products are made in Italy and are the result of the most recent research and technology. You can count on Antal for products that help your boat perform at the highest level. " Visit www.antal.it for more information on Antal's complete product line.

Sound Boatworks always strives to offer the most innovative and cutting edge products necessary for your ultimate sailing experiences. As we continue to build our website and catalog we ask you, the sailor, to offer suggestions on gear or hardware that you would like to see at Sound Boatworks. New products are becoming available every day in the marine industry and the consumer is almost always the most educated on these products. Feel free to comment on this blog with suggestions of new or old products that you need or just desire to have and we will do our best to get them to you.

All images Copyright 2009 Antal Marine Equipment, Karver Systems, Sound Boatworks

Velocitek Speed Challenge

Bora Gulari wins $1000 in the Velocitek Speed Challenge

Cascade Locks, Oregon (August 8th, 2008) – On the opening day of the 2009 CST Moth Worlds competitors pushed their limits in an effort to claim the $1000 cash prize for the highest speed in the CST Moth Worlds Velocitek Speed Challenge. Efficiency was the name of the game with a moderate thermal westerly and short chop pushing against the river current. At 12:00 PM sailors left the beach with three hours to log their top speeds on Velocitek devices.

The world's best Moth sailors were not phased by the challenging conditions and the top speeds were impressive. In the end the three fastest sailors proved to be:

1. Bora Gulari (USA), the Madman from Detroit, who hit 25.3 kts to win this edition of the CST Moth Worlds Velocitek $1000 Speed Challenge.

2. Arnaud Psarophagis (SUI), last year's Speed Challenge winner and Nathan Outteridge (AUS), fresh off winning the 49er Worlds, both clocking in at 24.3 kts.

3. Laser legend Brad Funk (USA), maxing out at 24.2 kts.

Courtesy of Alec Stewart/Velocitek

Kaenon Eyewear: On the Water

Being a collegiate sailor, and doing as much keelboat racing as possible when I'm not in school, I am on the water sailing quite a bit. As we all know, it is nearly impossible to chase shifts when you cannot see them and this is why eye wear is such a small but crucial key to the sport of sailing. True, you can pick up sunglasses before every race at your local convenience store or even gas station (I know all about this from traveling around New England for Jr. and Interscholastic races) but they are never the same as wearing a pair of quality polarized glasses meant for the sport. I have been skiing and sailing for most of my life, and have worn many of the industry's top sunglass brands, and nothing has compared to the level of quality in form or function in similar price ranges that Kaenon has reached.

Kaenon polarized sunglasses offer a wide variety of frame styles for both men and women to fit all size faces. I personally
picked up a pair of the Jettys, my flavor choice: Tobacco (brown) frame with a copper lens.

As advertised and claimed in their tech literature these lenses are clear and acute, with color contrasting qualities I have never seen in any sunglasses I have ever worn. They blow every other brand I've worn out of the water (no pun intended)! Not only is the vision quality superior, but the range of style Kaenon offers is equal to that of, if not exceeding, any sunglass manufacturer around. From highly sport function technical, to total style, Kaenon has a pair shades to match. All retaining the superior qualities of SR-91 polarized lenses, the SR-91 lens material Kaenon uses is impact resistant to the highest level of industry standards, important but hopefully never experienced!

This is my first pair of Kaenon glasses and I am nothing but thrilled with the eye comfort, vision clarity, polarized qualities, and style they’ve provided so far this sailing season! There is no doubt that Kaenon is putting out the best of the best polarized sunglasses. I am looking forward to wearing them for my winter mountain sporting activities in the off season as well. I am fairly confident that my new Jettys will be a year round pair of shades that I will be rocking from Oceanside to Mountainside !

New Gear: Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses

New Gear has arrived at Sound Boatworks in the form of the ultimate eye wear for any sailor, Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses !!! We just received our first shipment of the 2009 line of Kaenon eye wear, and to be honest, work was suspended for part of the day while the staff dug in and tried on just about every model. Kaenon has manufactured an excellent high-impact, superior clarity lens called the SR-91, backed by their stylish and strong frames, which are made in Italy. These sunglasses are a must have for any sailor looking to get away from poly-carbonates that you can't see through or your expensive glass lenses that you keep breaking on the boat. In addition to the great lens and frame technology, Kaenon has come out with some pretty extreme colors, checkout the Bolsa in Seaweed or the Jetty in Tobacco. I grabbed a pair of Jettys out of the case at the end of the day today, and I'm definitely looking forward to trying these out on the water this weekend, I'll keep you posted !!!

New Products: Laser Boom & Traveler Blocks by Harken

With a Fresh New Look and some definite improvements on functionality and performance, Laser Performance has finally introduced the long awaited traveler and boom blocks from Harken. The new Harken blocks will come as a package including rivets for installation on the boom blocks and the retail price for this sailboat rigging hardware package will be $96.

At last you won't have to struggle anymore with taping up your traveler blocks with rigging tape so they won't un-clip. The new traveler blocks will be a one piece setup and approved by the Laser Sailboat Class. They come with a fantastic fresh look, which is sleek and modern - much different than the ones we've been staring at for the past decade or so.

A joint development project with Laser Performance and Harken, the expected arrival date of the new blocks is June 24th. We are already accepting pre-orders via the website. You can also call into the store to reserve a set. This is a definite must have for a serious Laser sailor ! As soon as we receive the new blocks we will ship them out same day. We are very proud and excited to be offering this latest addition to the fine family of Harken sailing gear products.

Sail it Like you Stole It

At the 2009 Tybee 500, Team Accelerated Chaos sailed hard from start to finish. Sailed by Chris Burd & Chris Titcomb and sponsored by Sound Boatworks, Team Accelerated Chaos placed 8th out of 24 boats. On this 6 leg race starting on Islamorada Key, FL and finishing on Tybee Island, GA, Team Accelerated Chaos finished in just 2 days, 4 hours, 14 minutes & 48 seconds, just 2 minutes after Team Zhik whom they had been challenging every leg of the race as seen in this photo on the start of Leg 3.

Based out of Boston, MA, Team Accelerated Chaos is skippered by Chris Titcomb with Chris Burd as crew and the boat was managed by Frank Keefe. Photos are courtesy of Kevin Rejda of Pensacola, FL.