Parasailors on 30 ARC boats

Over 30 ARC boats this year chose the Parasailor as the easy and safe to use downwind sail for the 2,700 mile tradewind passage.

Volker Lamp from ISTEC’s head office in Germany and a team of Parasailor professionals are here to make sure everyone is happy with their set up before the start and to wish crews safe passage:

“The Parasailor is such an easy to use downwind sail because of the wing that is built into it. This wing stabilizes the sail dramatically. It works well in the gusty conditions that you can expect during tradewind squalls. The Parasailor is very user friendly and that’s why many people in the ARC chose it as their downwind sail option. If the tradewinds kick in the way they are supposed to, yachts with Parasailors will use our product for most of the time. What’s very important is to have the rig set up properly, especially watching potential chafe areas and so making sure the halyard and blocks are in order. That’s what our team are here to do in Las Palmas and we are also happy to celebrate this great sailing experience with our customers during the week before the start,” comments Volker.

The ISTEC team provide training for new Parasailor owners, and on Wednesday went out with Maunie of Ardwall to get their new sail set-up and the crew confident with launching and flying.  The photos below clearly show the benefits of a Parasailor over a spinnaker - even with the snuffer only partly hoisted, the 'wing' is stablising the sail which is pulling and under complete control.  Also unlike a spinnaker, the Parasailor can be safely hoisted on its own - no more worrying about the boom when sailing deep downwind.

Parasailor sponsored Tuesday's ARC Sundowner which took place in the Federacion de Vela dinghy Park near the ARC Office. It’s a great place to mingle with other crews and to relax after a day’s work preparing for the Atlantic crossing.