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copolymer resin melts and seeps around the carbon fibres and then down through the unidirectional weave cloth, and then all of a sudden the whole becomes substantially greater than the sum of its parts. What’s happened here is that instead of applying the load path structural members to a pre-made sail membrane, the sail skin and load path structures have been fabricated as one integral product. Now you have a sail that is formed to exactly the right shape, as stiff as cross-grain plywood thanks to the unidirectional panels, as strong as the carbon load-bearing fibres can make it, and – here’s the bonus – not subject to UV degradation. Quite the opposite, in fact. Along with heat, ultraviolet light is part of the process that bonds everything together. Outdoors, UV merely serves to bond the sandwich together even more strongly. UK maintain that their Titanium sails are their “lightest, strongest and most high performance product ever”. They should know, after all, they have been building sails since 1946. The group has grown enormously since then, but UK are proud that the individual lofts that make up the group still retain the personal touch that sailors expect - all UK lofts are owned by local sailors who know the needs of their sailing communities. That’s why each loft prides itself in providing quick, high-quality service along with well-designed,
long-lasting new sails. Out on the race track, one of the most easily-spotted versions of UK Uni Titanium is probably the black-skinned sails on board Marcel Leidts’ GTS43, Electra. At the China Coast Regatta 2013, Elektra rounded off the six-race series with three consecutive first places to take top honours in IRC 1. Leidts said afterwards, “the sails took a little getting used to as they really are very, very stiff. But that didn’t take long, and the results speak for themselves.” Frank Pong’s Reichel Pugh 76, Jelik, is also using UK Uni Titanium sails, and made quite an impression at the Royal Langkawi International Regatta in January 2014. After a rocky start to the regatta – tactics, not equipment – Jelik chased hard, taking six first places in ten races, and finishing just two points off the trophy. If you talk to the UK people for more than five minutes you quickly realise that the company celebrates ‘unity in diversity’. It’s been described “a group of strong-minded independent operators with an enormous depth of specific talent spread through the whole group that any member of the group can call upon”. It’s that strength in depth that has come together to produce some of the finest racing sails in the world: UK Uni Titanium – strong, light, stiff, practically bulletproof, and beautifully engineered.
clockwise, from opposite page Top Left: Sea Wolf 2 in raced mode, China Sea Race 2014; production of mylar film; checking film thickness; mixing the “science, art and black magic”
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T
he Italians have been making wine for 3,000 years, and the Roman Empire exported the technology and the vines all over Europe, even as far north as Britain. It is strange then that Italian wine is relatively unknown. The industry is enormous: there are over 500 designated denominations and over 50,000 wineries making wine for over 770,000 growers; altogether the Italians make 20% of all the wine in the world. This is the Italian Paradox. Wine is omni-present, fundamental to Italian culture, and is in plain fact taken absolutely for granted. While the wine was little exported until the 1970s, almost all those exports were to expatriate Italian communities in North and South America. Not even local drinkers showed much real appreciation for what was available. For much of history, Italian wine was white and sweet (Falernian from the Pompeii area was one such: the famous 121BC vintage is still spoken of amongst scholars) - and it was not until the mid 19th Century that a handful of people decided to break away from the customs of the past and re-make Italian wine from the ground up. This intense development effort happened alongside, and was part of, the Risorgimento movement that eventually united Italy in 1871. The wine reform movement centred on Piedmont and Tuscany and in each case the reformers decided to make dry red wine, not the traditional sweet whites. Piedmont, dominated by Turin and served by the port of Genoa, was the centre of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The Marchesa Falletti
of Barolo, born a Frenchwoman, hired French professionals led by Count Oudart of Reims to transform her wines. Oudart’s second client was the Conte di Cavour, first Prime Minister of Italy, and a neighbour to the Marchesa. Oudart’s problems were that the wine was sweet, unreliable, short-lived, a poor traveller and utterly characterless. Extensive experimentation with local grape varieties in vineyards throughout the area, matching variety with terroir, led to the creation of Barolo, an intense, complex dry 100% Nebbiolo red with colossal aging properties. Barolos are typified by full flavour, intense tannin and high alcohol at 14-15%, with a dense texture but curiously light colour due to its Pinot Noir-like clarity. Barolo is made up of 11 communes and altogether over 1,100 growers. The two communes of Monforte and Serralunga make the “big, bold” Barolos, and the Conterno families have been making wine in the area for over 100 years. One major branch, headed by the famous Giovanni Conterno in the 1920s, became one of the most famous wine-makers in Italy under Giovanni’s son Giacomo. In turn Giacomo’s two sons, Giovanni and Aldo, succeeded their father in 1961, but parted company over differences of opinion in how a true Barolo should be made. Both men were intensely conservative, and an outsider might be hard put to determine the difference between their opinions. Aldo acquired his own estate, and it is his Poderi Aldo Conterno Granbussia Riserva that requires your attention. It is made in the long-established style: very long fermentation, and very long aging.
opposite page, clockwise from top: Selection of wines from the Barolo region; Marchesa Falletti di Barolo; the town of Monforte d’Alba; Giovanni and Roberto Conterno; Marchesi di Barolo cellars Above: Vineyards in Barolo, Piedmont
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he legendary Maserati brothers from Bologna were involved in motorcars from a very early age - the eldest brother, Carlo, built an engine to power a bicycle in 1898 at the age of 17. He won a race with his machine, and was instantly catapulted into the new world of motor cars and aeroplanes when Fiat hired him as a test driver. Moving quickly through several new firms, he continued to design engines and cars while participating in the new motor racing craze. Eventually he formed his own company, to design and develop a new rotary engine for aircraft, but died in 1910, his career barely begun. Meanwhile, his other brothers were also in the fledgeling car business. Younger brother Alfieri worked in a service centre in Bologna, but it wasn’t long before he and two more brothers decided to branch out on their own: the Maserati Service Centre opened for business in 1914. Mario Maserati, however, was not engine-mad. He was an artist, and in 1920 designed Maserati’s famous trident logo, based on Bologna’s famous statue of Neptune. Bologna’s colours were adopted as Maserati’s, and the logo and colours remain as company emblems to this day. Also in 1920, Alfieri got back into motor racing, driving a variety of cars built by others, and eventually a hybrid car, an Isotta Fraschini-Hispano Suiza-SCAT-Italia, using a chassis from one firm, wheels from another, engine from a third and so on. Early success led to work with the eminent automobile firm Diatto, but racing results were disappointing so the Maserati hybrid was resurrected with a completely redesigned engine. Success returned to their racing endeavours and Diatto’s name was made. Then the money ran out: Diatto stopped racing in 1925 and closed its doors
altogether in 1929. The Maserati brothers, supported by a wealthy friend, bought 10 Diatto chassis and started all over again - these were the chassis that became the platform for the first Maserati marque cars. In 1926 the first Maserati to bear the firm’s name, the Type 26, was produced and won immediate notice on the track. 1926 also produced the first outright victory: the Bologna Speed Kilometre during which youngest brother Ernesto reached a speed of 167 km/h. The gentlemen drivers of Bologna began to queue outside the Maserati workshops, and the brothers began to sell the Type 26. Three years later a Maserati won a 10km race at an average speed of 246 km/h, a record that stood for years. In 1930 international success followed, and a head-to-head with Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix. Maserati cars finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd - and Alfieri Maserati received a knighthood. In 1932 Alfieri died at the tragically early age of 44. The whole of Bologna stopped for the funeral as the great and the good of motor racing came to pay their respects. Under sustained pressure from German newcomers Auto Union and Mercedes Benz, Maserati (the company) decided on a collaboration with a successful industrialist, Adolfo Orsi. In 1937 they sold the Maserati businesses to Orsi who sorted out their tenuous finances and left them to continue building spectacularly successful and beautiful motor cars. In 1939 and in 1940 they won the Indianapolis back-to-back, leaving the state-supported Germans in the dust. By 1940 Maserati, together with other parts of the Orsi Empire, had moved to Modena. Production switched to producing batteries and spark plugs for the war effort, so it was not until 1946 that
PREVIOUS PAGE: Classic cars in a classical setting Maseratis fill the Piazza Grande in Modena Opposite Page: A ‘Gran Turismo’ through the streets of Modena; 82-car line-up (count ‘em!) above: The Collezione Maserati Classico
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to connect with the local community and with the cruise industry on a regional level. The man running the operations of KTCP is Trevor Moore, a much-respected figure in the Travel Retail industry. Moore says that he is “keen to engage with the community, and to breathe some life into this historic venue.” Aside from the plethora of duty free and highend brand name shops, he is in charge of the 1925 Club champagne bar and the Plaza Café. “Kai Tak airport opened in 1925,” Moore reminds us, “so that gives us the name. We have here an exceptional range of fine wines and champagnes, supplied exclusively by Key Wines. We stock over 300 labels from more than ten countries.” The 1925 Club is strategically situated right at the southeast end of KTCP, looking out through picture windows towards the Lei Yue Mun gap – a flight deck view of a take-off from Kai Tak. Plaza Chairman K.K. Mui, an internationally respected wine connoisseur, adds, “Come here to find your favourite Bordeaux chateau, all the
prestigious labels from Burgundy, and some fascinating wines from Austria - along with 30 Champagne ‘names’ and sparkling wines from 20 more houses. One of the unique aspects of the 1925 Club and Plaza Café is that the wine for sale at KTCP can also be consumed on the premises - so you can enjoy a glorious selection of wines in a great environment at very reasonable prices. We actively encourage customers to buy from our shelves and enjoy the wine in our restaurant without any extra charge. This allows customers to experience new wines and enrich their knowledge of what is really a very important aspect of life.” Adjacent to the 1925 Club is the Plaza Café. It is an elegant space with a lot of natural light, and fronting on to an outdoor space which also has sea access at the end of the former runway. Yachts can tie up here, and guests can be dropped off for a spot of designer shopping or a leisurely lunch or restocking the boat cellar.
Opposite Page Clockwise from top: Artists impression of the Cruise Terminal; Duty Free shopping; plenty of famous brand names on offer this Page from top: The outdoor terrace and iconic ‘bulb’; 1925 Club champagne bar and wine collection; the Plaza Café
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The Way We Were
O By guy nowell
Guy Nowell is a marine photographer and journalist who has sailed all over Asia from Japan to Phuket and most points in between. He has a strong dislike of Panglossy press releases and a natural aversion for dissembling. He also covers the Asia beat for the world’s most widely-read marine news website, Sail-World.com.
n 22 October 1707 four Royal Navy ships, under the command of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, ran onto the rocks of the Scilly Isles some 27nm southwest of Land’s End All ships were lost, along with some 2,000 seamen. It was later determined that “the main cause of the disaster was the navigators’ limited ability to accurately calculate their longitude.” In other words, they didn’t know where they were. Fast forward to 29 November 2014, and one of the competitors in the Volvo Ocean Race, Team Vestas Wind, ran onto a 35nm-long reef in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Team Vestas Wind knew exactly where they were – modern hi-tech navigational aids using GPS can pinpoint and report a vessel’s position on the globe to within metres. Vestas just didn’t know that there was something else in the same place – the Cargados Carajos Shoal. How on earth can this happen? The most common verdict among the sailors we know is “lack of seamanship”, meaning in this instance that the navigator should have known the obstruction existed and therefore had not done his preparation sufficiently well. After all, the shoals are clearly marked on both paper and electronic charts. You just have to look closely. We know people who think that navigation is not any sort of a skill, but merely a matter of identifying a position on the globe with a click of a mouse. We know someone who sailed – successfully – clean across the Pacific using nothing more sophisticated than an iPad with a GPS app installed. Is it possible that instances such as this might lead to over-confidence when it comes to sailing offshore? Once upon a time, and my dinosaur friends will agree, we took going to sea really quite seriously. Some people still do. Back then we checked the Walker Log against the Measured Mile (there was one in Junk Bay), and we learned about currents and DR (dead reckoning). Some of us studied celestial navigation, and learned how to use a sextant and Sight Reduction Tables to plot a fix on a chart, and woe betide the sloppy student who produced a ‘cocked hat’. I never managed a perfect seven-star fix as demonstrated to me by the legendary Chas Blundell one balmy dawn in the middle of the China Sea, but I did learn to keep a log, update the deck slate, look beyond the chart table,
and take notice of the prevailing (and anticipated) meteorological conditions. I also learned to take notice of a sailor’s ‘sixth sense’, that unquantifiable vibe that says something is wrong… Sailing into Port Shelter in the dark, and there were no obstructions on the (photocopied) chart – except the two sheets of the photocopy had a sliver missing in the middle, and that’s where Duck Rocks were hiding. The helm was uneasy, so I went forward and then I saw the breakers - “Tack now!” was the yell from the foredeck, and the helm obeyed immediately. Pumped up and racing along at 19kts, even a call from the foredeck might not have saved Team Vestas Wind. There’s a whole bunch of other stuff that us oldies used to do. Less serious than navigation, but it coloured the way we conducted our sailing. We raftedup after racing, to share a salty tale along with the cold beers and the burnt sausages. We cruised to Double Haven (and rafted up there, as well). We raced to invisible finish lines and recorded our own times as we crossed a specified transit. We were less constrained by regulations, and fully prepared to be responsible for our mistakes. You cannot regulate against mistakes, and you cannot regulate against stupidity. And you cannot regulate the novice sailor with lots of cash and a big new boat who wants to go offshore racing. You can give him (and his tyro crew) all the electronic aids in the world, but you cannot give him experience. Campbell Field, professional navigator, says, “Software does not make someone a navigator. First you must be a navigator, and then know and understand the strengths and limitations of the tools you have.” Will Oxley, navigator on board VOR Team Alvimedica, likes his paper charts. “Everyone says that I have the paper charts there for a photo opportunity! But they give you so much detail. It also comes with being an old guy. Paper charts are what I grew up with.” Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s disaster highlighted the need for accurate timekeeping at sea – which led to James Harrison and his series of marine chronometers with which to calculate longitude. 307 years later, and Team Vestas Wind’s ‘misadventure’ (all praise to Tin Hau, nobody was hurt) will lead to… what? Encouraging navigators to look at their paper charts and rely less on the electronics? ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. As the astronomer Jean-Dominique Cassini said in 1170, “It is far better to have absolutely no idea of where one is - and to know it - than to believe confidently that one is where one is not.”