Winter has finally set in and temperatures are dropping fast here in Amsterdam. Many boats are out of the water, ready for some love an care before they go back into the water again in spring. But work at Aries Vane Gear has not come to a standstill. For many sailors preparations for next season are well underway and we are overwhelmed by the amount of interest in our self-steering gear. Luckily Arnoud Dekker has joined the team to keep the production up and running as fast as we can. His skilled hands are a welcome addition.
We love sailing and we love nature. We are happy to say that we have made an important switch because of that. Our packaging material is now made from biodegradable material, so less waste will pollute our wonderful oceans as we distribute the Aries all around the world!
A while ago, we have been approached by two sailors who are planning to sail the Twostar, a transatlantic race (Ostar and Twostar) from east to west in the cold and gruesome North-Atlantic. They told us they are having troubles with their current vane. It couldn’t keep up with the boat on nastier weather they encountered during a trial. We look forward to see them sail safely from Plymouth to Newport Rhode Island 5 months from now and we are sure that the Aries is a perfect fit.
In November we were honoured with the visit of Abhilash Tomy, the Indian sailor who competed in last year’s Golden Globe Race. We gave him a little tour through the workshop and spoke about ocean sailing, boats and of course the Aries, who has been the best crewmember of both Mark Slats and Mark Sinclair during that same race. Tomy seemed especially interested by the way you can adjust the vane to the wind. Simple, efficient and very easy to do, even with the vane gear being out of the reach from the cockpit. We’ll stay in touch for sure and hope he will succeed in getting to the startline again in 2022.
Take care of your boats and I wish you all a wonderful and festive December.
Fair winds,
Lean