Mailspeed Marine Sponsors Promising Young Sailors

Over the winter we have done a deal to offer clothing and support to a promising young sailing duo, Toby Hodge and Abbie Page who are starting their first season in the highly competitive 29er dinghy class after a succesful year last year in the RS Feva.

We will be following their progress over the coming months during training and open events including National and European championships.

Here are a few Pics of Toby and Abbie in action.


Rigging before the Feva Europeans at Lake Garda Italy




Action From Garda



Rigging the new boat


Heading out on to the water with a change of crewing positions required to make the most of the new boat.

Looking good so far!


Good luck guys!

The Worlds toughest yacht race!

Well it looks as though the Clipper Round the world Race is living up to it's billing as being "the Worlds toughest yacht race" after the fleet has been battered by Pacific storms for the last few day's.

Skipper of Uniquely Singapore Jim Dobie is quoted as saying "Don't know what to say today except I've had a gutful of this bloody ocean," in a recent race report after they had suffered damage to the wheel and the companionway hood had been ripped off during a knockdown. Team Finland have also had problems all be it less dramitic which has meant them calling into Yokohama to fill up with fresh water after failing to resolve an issue with their watermaker.

By far the most serious situation involed the crew of California who were reportadly rolled 120 degrees by a large wave that struck the boat beam on, when the boat self righted the pressure proved too much for the rig and the mast snapped in 2 places. Fortunately having been located by the US Coastguard California had not suffered hull damage and all crew were relatively unscaved however a Danish container ship on route to the US was diverted to recover one crew member that recieved injury's after being thrown across the cabin during the roll. The remaining crew are motoring on to their destination in San Francisco whilst being constantly shadowed by fellow Clipper entrants Jamaica Lightening Bolt.

Lets hope the rest of the fleet make it safely to port without any major drama.

For more information on the race click here to view the Clipper race Website.

Henri Lloyd to Supply Velux 5 Oceans

Iconic marine clothing company selected as Official Technical Clothing Supplier

Clipper Ventures today announced their continued long term partnership with Henri Lloyd, selecting the specialist British marine clothing company as the Official Technical Clothing Supplier to the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11. A premium lifestyle brand and market leader in innovative marine technical clothing, with a reputation for quality, style and endurance, Henri Lloyd is the ideal clothing supplier for the VELUX 5 OCEANS and will provide a comprehensive team collection to Clipper Ventures Race Management and VELUX.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Chairman of Clipper Ventures commented, “Clipper Ventures has a fantastic partnership with Henri Lloyd that goes back many years with both the Clipper Round the World Race and the previous VELUX 5 OCEANS. We wanted to continue this partnership of trust and reliability for the VELUX 5 OCEANS in 2010-11 as we share common values across our brands. Our race management will be wearing the finest Henri Lloyd gear, in particular the cutting edge Blue Eco jacket, which fits perfectly with our TAKING ON THE ELEMENTS mission to promote sustainable living through the race. Henri Lloyd will be in a position to offer competitive solutions to all our skippers, ports, partners and stakeholders.”

Paul Strzelecki, Joint Chief Executive of Henri Lloyd commented, “The continuation of our partnership with Velux 5 Oceans was a natural decision for Henri Lloyd, and we are looking forward to working with Sir Robin and his team once again.

Some of the best single-handed sailors in the world battle the elements during the race and therefore need the best clothing protection available. Henri Lloyd have spent the last 45 years working with professional ocean racing sailors and is able to offer Velux skippers the ultimate in ocean protection and will be working with the individual skippers to ensure that every clothing requirement is met.”

For 2010, Henri Lloyd has launched a revolutionary innovation aimed at advancing more eco-friendly marine technical apparel, taking the marine industry’s first steps to link product development and eco-friendly problem-solving with the Henri Lloyd Blue Eco Jacket. Henri Lloyd have applied their skills and expertise of innovative design technology to reduce energy consumption and decrease unnecessary waste, by offering the industry’s first ‘infinite loop’ recycling system for marine apparel.

Henri Lloyd is the first partner to join the VELUX 5 OCEANS under the banner of TAKING ON THE ELEMENTS, and expect to be present in race villages around the world. To learn more about TAKING ON THE ELEMENTS, please visit the VELUX 5 OCEANS website

Team Origin advance to the next round

A CLINICAL DISPLAY BY TEAMORIGIN SEES THEM ADVANCE TO THE NEXT ROUND

TEAMORIGIN take an impressive and important race victory against the French/German ALL4ONE team to guarantee their place in the next round tomorrow.


Elimination Round One kicked off today, the eighth day of racing in this exciting and hotly contested Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta. The competition has been intense and the next two days will be critical for all teams, including TEAMORIGIN.


Race one was between the Swedish Artemis team and the Italian Azzurra team, who finished 5th and 4th respectively, in the Round Robin phase. Artemis took control from the start and took the win by 32 seconds guaranteeing them to move forward into tomorrow’s Elimination Round Two.


Next up was TEAMORIGIN, whose opponent was the French/German team of ALL4ONE. The result of this match was critical for the British team if they were to retain control of their destiny in the competition. If they won the race, they moved forward into tomorrow’s Elimination Round Two; a loss meant they would have to rely on the outcome of the last two races of the day.


After a short postponement due to strong winds increasing to 25 knots, the warning signal was fired at 1245. Conditions had stabilised, down to 17 knots of wind.


It looked like a fairly quiet and conservative start by both teams, but the reality was that Ainslie was at his finest and controlled the speed and lateral separation of TEAMORIGIN to weather of the opponent in the crucial last run to the start gun. The pair crossed at speed on the gun but TEAMORIGIN had been positioned to stay comfortably to windward of the Franco-German boat managing to slowly move forwards for the first part of the beat.



ALL4ONE were first to tack and passed behind the British yacht, TEAMORIGIN followed suit holding the cards for now and keeping the gas on their French competitor. ALL4ONE were forced to tack off again but needed to keep an eye on Bean Rock on the left hand side of the course with its exclusion zone. TEAMORIGIN rounded mark one 17 seconds ahead.

On the first run TEAMORIGIN did a nice gybe after responding to ALL4ONE gybing around the mark, the French guys, however, not managing such a great manoeuvre. Both boats headed downwind and round the leeward gate, the wind was building and TEAMORIGIN were still in command with a lead of 20 seconds around the bottom gate mark but still needing to keep their cool, ALL4ONE still very much in the hunt.



Ian Percy, Tactician, calling the shots for Ben Ainslie, was on the look-out as ever, staying in phase with the wind shifts and the moves of the French/German team. TEAMORIGIN were making it look pretty comfortable, stretching out to almost 5 boat lengths by the second weather mark. But with continuing fresh winds the British team were not relaxing as anything could still happen.



On the last downwind leg, if to prove the point that you can never relax in these boats until you’ve crossed the finish line, TEAMORIGIN suffered a small issue with a spinnaker sheet and tear in the kite. They lost some distance, but they managed to control it and fly the spinnaker off the tack line while they sorted out their problem. Ben Ainslie and his team managed to hold the lead and took the win by 27 seconds – so all in all an impressive demonstration by the British team and a win that ensures they move on to the next round.



Ian Percy, Tactician, commented on the race win, “Ben gave us an excellent start, he really is the best in the business on that front, from there I was confident to head right, we had to keep it tight over such a short race course and from there on in it was a pretty classic match race. “

read the full story here

The British Leisure Show

With just over 2 days to go before this brand new show opens it's doors to the public we take a quick look at what makes this show different to all of the others out there.

Well first of all as the name suggests it is a show aimed at the British leisure industry and not just one section of it like the boat shows and car shows we are used to. The show is split into areas covering a whole host of activities and past times, these are Boats and Water sports, Motor homes and Campavans, Caravan and Camping, Cars and Bikes, Holiday Homes, Outdoor and Country, Extreme sports and Britain abroad.

Within these sections there are a whole host of hands on activity's to try out like Archery, boat drips, dinghy sailing simulator, climbing wall, bungee jumping, Windsurf simulator, land yachting and quad biking and loads more.

With a family ticket at £20 (2 adults and up to 4 children) and Adult tickets at just £10 and plenty of free car parking then it's well worth a trip to Windsor this weekend.

Lifejacket servicing

A life jacket is arguably the most important part on any boat.
They are only of use however if they are properly maintained. This guide outlines the process of life jacket servicing and doing a life jacket test to ensure they always work when needed.

Life Jacket Service

A life jacket is arguably the most important part on any boat. They have proven to save lives and there should always be enough for everyone one board to have one. They are only of use however if they are properly maintained. This guide outlines the process of life jacket servicing and doing a lifejacket test to ensure they always work when needed.

Life Jacket Serviceing

•One of the best ways to avoid having to do such drastic servicing is to maintain a good, regular cleaning schedule for your lifejacket(s). This means they will stay in good condition for longer.

•After use, clean them in cool fresh water with a good quality, but fairly mild detergent. After cleaning, rinse them with more cool water and allow them to dry naturally. Using fresh water will get rid of any salt water deposits. (don’t forget to de-activate any auto jackets 1st)

•A life jacket has special coatings on the fabric to keep them waterproof. If you use a too strong detergent or any chemicals during your life jacket service it will break this coating down and decrease the life span of the lifejacket.

•Most life jacket manufacturers will include cleaning instructions with the jacket and these provide a good overview of how to go about cleaning.

•Automatic inflating lifejackets can have the inflating mechanism removed for separate cleaning.

•Carefully inspect the inflating mechanisms. Some cheap CO2 canisters are prone to rusting and this can be avoided by buying good quality canisters.

•It is possible to do a life jacket test by removing the inflating mechanism and blowing the jacket up manually. You will able to check that all zips etc work correctly.

Correct LifeJacket Care

•Never use a life jacket as a pillow or a cushion, they are complex designed pieces of equipment and this may damage them

•After use, hang them up to dry naturally. A lot of the automatic lifejackets use a chemical process to activate the CO2 inflator, putting them away when wet could make this go off.

If you are not confident to carry out these checks yourselves then many life jacket manufacturers will be happy to service and check your jackets for you at a low cost.

If your CO2 canister needs replacing or you need a spare re-arming kit then click here for our range of top quality lifejacket accessories. In need of a new lifejacket? click here to see our range.

Gill announced as the Official Clothing Sponsor of Cowes Week

Gill announced as the Official Clothing Sponsor of Cowes Week

Cowes Week Limited is delighted to announce a new partnership with Gill, the technical sailing clothing specialists, who have become the official technical clothing sponsor of one of the world's best-known sailing regattas for the next 3 years.

As part of its investment, Gill will be developing a merchandise range with Cowes Week organisers, running a series of competitions to win exclusive prizes, introducing a voucher scheme for daily winners at Cowes Week, as well as providing the regatta team with clothing.

Commenting on the announcement, Michelle Warner, Sales & Marketing Director for Cowes Week Limited says: "We are really excited about working in partnership with Gill and increasing the value we are able to offer participants racing at Cowes Week. Gill is hugely respected by the sailing fraternity and the partnership represents some fantastic opportunities for us both."

Founder and Chairman of Gill, Nick Gill adds: "Cowes Week is an internationally iconic event and one that Gill is extremely proud to be associated with. We are looking forward to working with the Cowes Week team to develop a great range of event clothing and a great presence for our brand at the world's premier sailing regatta."

Look out for details on the introduction of the official Cowes Week merchandise range by Gill, as well as full details of the planned Cowes Week activity, over the course of the next few months on the Cowes Week website.

Good start for team Origin

The latest from the Louis Vuitton Trophy

A point on the board for TEAMORIGIN with a race win against All4One(from Leslie Greenhalgh, TEAMORIGIN)

TEAMORIGIN showed strong form this morning with a stylish victory over the French/German All4One team. The British team won the start and went on to use the shifts and extend their lead to win by an impressive 1 minute and 33 seconds.

In the other races so far today, ETNZ took a win over Mascalzone Latino after the Italians suffered gear failure; In race 3 Azzurra beat Synergy and Artemis beat Aleph in race 4.

A short delay to today’s racing allowed the wind to settle in from the South West and be blowing at 7 knots at the time of the first start. The first warning signal was fired at 1245 lining up TEAMORIGIN with All4One. A still building breeze and an incoming tide made for challenging conditions, where neither the wind nor the tidal choice was clear. From a spectator’s point of view however it was perfect as the course was laid within the confines of the Waitemata Harbour and Auckland City’s waterfront, race fans on the Okahu Bay waterfront to the South and the Devonport waterfront to the North listening to the FM radio commentary had front row seats.

TEAMORIGIN skipper Ben Ainslie controlled the start beautifully leading All4One into the start box, judging perfectly the return and final approach to the start line to win the right hand side of the course in spite of the Franco/German team’s posturing in the final countdown. The right side of the course proved to be strongly favoured with a stronger tide in the deeper water, something that then put the British boat in a position to benefit first from the wind oscillations before its opponent could get to them. The pair were split for most of the first beat converging only twice before TEAMORIGIN rounded the first mark with a healthy 26 second lead.

At the first mark, All4one did a gybe set to get to shallower water and less adverse tide and TEAMORIGIN quickly gybed to cover. The pair worked hard on the downwind leg with the trailing boat attempting to cast some wind shadow on TEAMORIGIN, initially making some inroads but with both teams very polished with their manoeuvres downwind, it was all about not making any small mistakes. At the approach to the gate ALL4ONE may have gybed a little late allowing the leading boat to gain some more ground to start the second lap with a lead of 24 seconds – all still very close.

Up the second beat however, TEAMORIGIN kept to the right side and played the shifts with precision. At the first cross TEAMORIGIN was ahead by 80m and seemed to be totally in phase, extending in the building breeze and shifty conditions. At the approach to the second windward mark, TEAMORIGIN tactician Iain Percy, talked of right hand windshifts for the last downwind leg. The British team made impressive gains down the final leg building the lead to almost 320m (13 boat lengths) and took the race by more than 90 seconds, the biggest winning margin of the regatta so far.

Iain Percy, TEAMORIGIN tactician, was talking about a big right hand windshift for the last downwind leg, the two teams headed down to the finish. TEAMORIGIN made impressive gains down the final leg building the lead to almost 320m (13 boat lengths) and they took the win by 1 minute and 33 seconds – an impressive final leg to say the least.

Iain Percy, TEAMORIGIN Tactician, commented after the race, “We had a great start, Ben and the boys gave us a nice advantage off the line and picked the right side of the first beat. Despite being in the lead throughout the race, it was a scary one as we were seeing 30-40 degree wind shifts. We kept our cool and sailed a good race, in those conditions it is easier from the front!”

Jochen Schumann, Skipper of the French/German All4One team added, “We sailed a good race but were behind from the start which was critical. We tried to stay close playing the shifts but really the race ended at the start. TEAMORIGIN sailed really well and they deserved the win.”

Mike Sanderson, Team Director and doing runners on the race boat, gave his input to the day’s performance, “A very satisfying race after a bit of a frustrating race yesterday. Beautiful timing on the committee boat at the start between Ben, Ian Moore and Matty Mitchell on the bow and we got the side we wanted and won the first cross. The guys then did some tight tactics and solid crew work to seal the win.”

In Race 2, the Italian Mascalzone Latino team took an initial lead over the Emirates Team New Zealand local favourites, the Kiwis managed to get back into them and shortly after a lead change, the Italians suffered headsail halyard clip failure and trailed to the finish giving a 2nd win to ETNZ.

read he full stor here

Boat Antifouling Guide


Boat anti fouling is extremely important for the maintenance and lifespan of a boat. Antifouling paint is great for protecting and keeping the exterior of your boat strong and tough. Threats from the elements are put at bay when antifouling boats. This must be done safely though, as chemicals involved can be harmful. For more tips on boat anti fouling, see the following advice.

You Will Need:
• Antifouling paint/marine paint (such as International Paint)
• Primer (suitable for your choice of paint)
• Paintbrush, roller or spray (such as Harris brushes and rollers)
• Sanding equipment
• Protective gloves and respirator mask (extremely important for safety)

Antifouling Boats – The Paint
The type of antifouling paint that you will need depends greatly on your individual boating use. Faster boats will need hard epoxy paint. The paint also differs depending on the material you use it on. Aluminium and fibreglass have separate paints.

Antifouling Boats – The Preparation
When painting, make sure you are in a very well ventilated space and wear protective gloves and a mask. Keep the area protected from possible spillage as it is extremely difficult to remove this kind of heavy duty paint. Make sure you use a brush that you do not mind throwing out as antifouling paint can ruin brushes.

Boat Anti Fouling - Surface
If your boat was painted with marine paint before, you should try to remove as much of this as you can. You could do this by:

• Using heat paint remover (eg. Sand blasting)
• Chemical stripper and then sand it down manually

The idea is to get the primer and new coat of paint to bond nicely as this will last much longer.

Boat Anti Fouling - Primer
If you are using a paint that does not include primer then you will need to put on primer first separately. Every antifouling paint works differently so be sure that your primer is compatible. Before applying primer, some prefer to use a self-etching acid first with a spray gun.

Paint
After you have put your primer on you are ready to apply the first coat of paint. Use a sprayer, or a roller and brush combination. Make sure your fist coat is thin: too much could ruin the surface of your boat. Apply your second coat of antifouling paint the following day as it will take a while to dry due to its oily base.

The British Leisure Show

As you may have seen from previous posts and from the Mailspeed Marine website we are attending this years British Leisure Show at Windsor Race course which takes place from Friday the 19th-Sun the 21st of March.

Never heard of this new show before? here is 10 things you need to know

•A Great Value Family Day Out!


•An outdoor event designed for outdoor people


•A feast of entertainment with demonstrations, features, activities & workshops to help you get the most from the great outdoors


•In a great location west of London with easy road, rail, train, boat and even helicopter access


•An awesome venue with FREE parking, food and beverage outlets, disabled facilities and even onsite camping


•A fantastic Family Mini-Break with superb weekend camping options


•A great start to the year with lots of new ideas and products for the Summer Season


•A huge collection of leisure related retailers and products


•A Show with lots of EXTRAs with an award winning information service and Charity Challenges


•A show with wide family friendly appeal with dedicated features for children, teens, parents, grandparents and adventurers.


With adult tickets just £10 and Family tickets just £20 (2 adults and up to 4 children) why not give this fresh and exciting new show a go this spring?

Charlie Pitcher wins Ocean Rowing Race

You may remember back in January I blogged about Charlie Pitcher (a local to Burnham on Crouch that Mailspeed had helped out with some kit) who had set off to row solo across the Atlantic, well below is the press release announcuing that not only did he finish, but he won and not only that but he beat several double handed crews.

A fantastic achievment and of endurance. Well done Charlie. Read all about his adventures here on his blog.

Having rowed a colossal 2548nm across the Atlantic Ocean, Charlie Pitcher made history this morning by becoming the first solo competitor to win a multi class ocean rowing race. Charlie, in his boat ‘JJ’ crossed the finish line at 2017hrs GMT, in a race-winning time of 52 days 06 hours and 47 minutes. In doing so he has also set a new British record, having eclipsed Sam Knight's record by almost a week.



Back on the 4th January 2010, following a 29 day weather delay, the Atlantic Rowing Race finally got underway. Charlie initially led after the first day, but was soon overtaken when bad weather put pay to the fleet’s progress with many crews, including Charlie, using their para-anchors to avoid losing ground to the finish. However a week later Charlie was back at the front and continued to lead the fleet all the way to the finish line.



In the first few weeks of the race Charlie was showing pace that could have seen him surpass the current solo record of 42 days, but further adverse weather saw him lose too much time in the middle of the race.



After crossing the finish line Charlie had both his young sons join him on the boat to enjoy his final moments at sea having now joined the handful of people that have successfully rowed across an ocean.



Congratulations Charlie on a phenomenal win and a successful crossing from all at Woodvale Challenge Ltd.

Checking Marine Safety Equipment

Marine safety should be of paramount importance and you should check marine safety equipment regularly. Not only is this important to your safety, but it reduces the chance of other people having to risk their life to attempt a rescue. Marine safety checks should be part of your routine before you head out boating and this guide outlines some of the marine safety checks you should carry out.



• Make sure that all marine safety equipment is working; radios and navigation equipment should be tested before heading out onto the water.

• Life jackets are on the most important pieces of safety equipment on any boat. They need to be in tip top condition and should be kept somewhere that they can be quickly reached. Although expensive, tagging systems massively increase marine safety for people on a boat. Checking that life jackets are in good condition should be part of your marine safety test before every trip.

• If you have a big vessel, consider buying a multiple person life raft, they are expensive but you cannot put a price on safety. Checking marine safety equipment, once in a routine will not take very long.

• Consider purchasing plenty of smaller safety equipment such as flares. Make sure that they are kept in good condition and in a safe but accessible place. This should be part of your marine safety checks to ensure that they are in the same place and everybody on board knows where that is. Make sure that there is no chance they will go off accidentally.

• Fire extinguishers are an important piece of marine safety equipment and you should have them onboard. You may need to have different ones do deal with different types of fire. For instance an electrical fire requires CO2 while a wood fire could be put out with water.

• One of the most obvious marine safety checks is to make sure the boat itself is in seaworthy condition. The engine and the hull should all be in tip top condition. Make sure it has plenty of fuel, a lot of people get into trouble because they didn’t realise there wasn’t enough fuel in the boat.

• Don’t forget to check the weather; this is one of the most important marine safety checks and one that often gets overlooked. Even if the weather looks good at the moment, it can change very quickly out at sea.

If your not confident to check your own marine safety equipment or you are unsure of what you need for your specific boat then the RNLI offer a fantastic free service called Sea Check where a safety expert will pay a visit to you on your boat and run through everything you need to know.

Is your safety kit out of date or in need of replacing/updating then check out our special offers on boat and personal safety kit here.

Job Vacancies at Mailspeed Marine

We have some exciting new job vacancies available here at Mailspeed marine office, some are strictly Mailspeed and some are more diverse as part of the larger retail division of The Friday-ad group these are well worth a look.

Key account manager- You’ll be working in partnership with our customer service team and Operations manager to truly pamper our best customers. Any order above a certain value will be your responsibility to follow up and get service feedback for as well as incoming quote requests (don’t worry, for the really technical quotes, we have expert back up too). You’ll contact our trade account customers regularly to show them we are going the extra mile for them, making their life easier. You’ll also be recontacting our best customers on a regular basis to find out how much more business we could do with them. You’ll be working 5 days a week on a rota Monday to Saturday, between the hours of 8am and 6pm, including some Bank Holidays. Occasional attendance to retail events/exhibitions might be required (incl. overnight stays /Sunday /Bank holiday work). ). You need to have proven customer service experience for at least 12 months for that role, excellent telephone manners and a hand on attitude. Most importantly, you’ll be passionate about caring for your customers, delivering a top level of service way above their expectations. Knowledge of the marine equipment/ equestrian equipment market a bonus for that role.

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New business executive (telesales)- Marine industry- You’ll be working on developing new business relationships with trade account customers. Your playing field? Local Marina, sailing holiday companies, professional crew teams,....You need to be self motivated and extremely driven to grow your own revenue stream . You’ll also be committed to create long term relationships with new customers. For this role, you must have in depth knowledge of chandlery . You’ll most probably be a keen sailor with your own network of contacts to bring to the business. Sales track record a bonus but not essential as we can provide all the relevant training to the right person. You’ll be working 5 days a week on a rota Monday to Friday, between the hours of 9am and 5pm. Occasional attendance to retail events/exhibitions might be required (incl. overnight stays /Sunday /Bank holiday work).
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Senior Customer service- you’ll be working in partnership with our existing senior customer service agent so you can cover for each other and provide support to the team. Main duties include answering customer enquiries , taking customer orders over the phone, taking and resolving escalated calls, proceeding refunds and returns, buddying up with new recruits and admin tasks such as weekly activity reporting and devising weekly rota /holiday calendar/attendance. You’ll be working 5 days a week on a rota Monday to Saturday, between the hours of 8am and 6pm, including some Bank Holidays. Occasional attendance to retail events/exhibitions might be required (incl. overnight stays /Sunday /Bank holiday work). You need to have proven customer service experience for at least 12 months for that role, excellent telephone manners and a hand on attitude. Knowledge of the marine equipment/ equestrian equipment market a bonus for that role.



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For all positions above, perks include a nice discount on all our retail goods, 25 days holidays and the chance to grow with this young division of Friday-Ad. We are located near Gatwick airport, 10 minutes off M23 in a semi- rural location so you’ll need your own transport.



Interested or know someone who might be?



Get in touch now:



laure.moyle@friday-ad.co.uk



Send me a cv and a short letter explaining why you believe you are the right person for this role.

Boat Cleaning Guide

Along side news and events we will be posting some handy "how too" guides on the blog from time to time to help those less experienced among us with getting to grips with owning a boat and life afloat.

Here is the first, not every ones favourite job but essential all the same.


Cleaning and maintaining your boat is not as complicated as you might imagine. This article should give you some basic tips on how to keep your boat clean. There are lots of boat cleaning products that you can use if you feel your boat needs an intensive clean.

How to Clean a Boat – Top Tips

1. Rinse with Fresh Water – you should wash down your boat after every trip with fresh water to get rid of the salt. If your boat has an outboard motor you should also rinse this off. If you do not remove the salt residue then you will notice your boat’s finish deteriorating.
2. Wash the Superstructure – using marine soap and a soft sponge make sure you wash the exterior part of the boat on the top deck in small portions and rinse off well. You will also need to wash off the vinyl seats, windscreens and deck boxes etc.
3. Scrub the Decks – to scrub the decks you will need a biodegradable, pH neutral marine soap and a deck brush with medium stiffness bristles. To clean a boat properly you will need to scrub the deck, fittings, hull and outboard motor. Be careful when you are selecting a brush to use for boat cleaning, if you choose one with bristles that are too stiff it can ruin the boat’s finish.
4. Dry the Superstructure – knowing how to clean a boat is essential and you ought to be aware that you will need to dry your boat’s superstructure as well as wash it. The best way of drying a boat is with a soft dry cloth.
5. Windows and Upholstery – to do this you can use commercial boat cleaning products or use a simple vinegar and water solution. All vinyl should be treated with a commercial vinyl product to preserve and protect your boat’s upholstery.

Great Deals this month

The homepage on www.mailspeedmarine.com has been updated with some great offers for this month, keep an eye out for the Flag antifouling with free overalls and the Dinghy and outboard package we have as the offer of the month for March.

There are also some great new products for 2010 and some great offers to help you get back on the water this spring.

Round Britain with a Brain Tumour Challenge

Below is a copy of a press release from Josie and Roger Phillips detailing their plans of a round Britain trip to help raise awarness and funds for Brain Tumour sufferers and research programs. It's well worth a read and a donation if you can.

For more info follow the link below

Round Britain with a Brain Tumour Challenge www.contessa32.co.uk

Dear Sir / Madam,

Our Story
I was diagnosed with a “slow-growing” brain tumour 5 yrs ago, at the age of 21 after suffering a grand-mal seizure. I underwent several “awake” craniotomies to remove the tumour. However, after an operation in September 2008 I was told that the tumour had turned malignant. I went on to have radiotherapy and chemotherapy. A year later I am doing well with a recent “clear” MRI scan. I have returned to my work as a junior doctor at the local hospital, am fit and active, but my future is now very uncertain.

I am keen to make the most of life and am passionate about sailing. As a result I have decided that sailing round Britain would combine a huge personal challenge with an opportunity to raise awareness and vital funds for brain tumour research. More children and people under 40 die from a brain tumour in the UK than any other cancer and yet funds for research are seriously lacking.



Josie awake during her first operation to remove her tumour







The Challenge

I will sail 2,000 miles round Britain with my husband Roger and aim to raise £20,000 for Brain Tumour Research and £5,000 for The Big C Centre, a local support centre that has helped me tremendously over the past 2 years. We will start our “Round Britain with a Brain Tumour Challenge” in May 2010 with a publicity start from Ipswich and sail anticlockwise around Britain over approximately four months with several media opportunities around the coast. We have received donations in kind of equipment for the boat which is necessary for the challenge all other costs are being covered by ourselves.

Our offer
We are looking for a company that is interested in supporting the chal-lenge by making a significant contribution to go directly to one or both of our charities. In return we are happy for you to use our story in the positive advertising and can offer our main sail for branding. We hope to get photo-graphs and stories in both yachting and medical publications. We would of course also acknowledge your support on our website and in any other publicity.

Our website (www.contessa32.co.uk) contains more details of the challenge and the
charities we are supporting.

If you are interested in discussing this opportunity further please do get in touch, we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards

Josie and Roger Phillips

nordlys@contessa32.co.uk
www.contessa32.co.uk
www.justgiving.com/roundbritainwithabraintumour-braintumourresearch
www.justgiving.com/roundbritainwithabraintumour-bigc