Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. - Dr. Seuss

We get a lot of questions from people that want to learn how to sail, and want to learn the basics. I always tell people that just going out and trying to sail on their own is the best way to learn. However, there are other ways for our more prudent customers. Taking an ASA Sailing 101 class is always a good way to start. If you are short on time (or have too much time on your hands) check out ASA's new sailing simulator phone app! You can check out the app by visiting this link: https://asa.com/sailing-challenge-app/. You can even get a discount on the app for a short while (don't say we didn't tell you)! 

Last month I spoke about the boat Comanche making a go at breaking the monohull trans-Atlantic record. The record to beat was set in 2003 by a boat called the Mari Cha IV, she did it in 6 days 17 hours 52 minutes and 39 seconds.

Well, wait no longer! Comanche did it in 5 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes, and 25 seconds! They maintained an average speed of 25.75 knots (HOLY COW!

Be sure to follow the Olympics. I know there has been tons of controversy about the water quality and security, but the ratings only help the sport on a global level. I usually watch the races in awe as these guys follow hunches and conduct perfect tacks to get that last .01 knot.

BBC will be showing events live on their website: BBC Rio 2016. Also check out this Yaching Word article, they have all of the dates and times for all of the sailing races in this year's Olympics.

I want to share what resources that I use to predict weather and wind conditions. Below are the links to the sources I use to determine what to wear and what to expect once I get out to the water.

https://www.predictwind.com/ - I use the free version, I find it is more than I need in terms of information, they use two sources so you can use the law of averages to get an idea of what to expect in terms of wind and weather.

http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/buoy/Chesapeake%20Bay/buoy-xhtml.php - I LOVE this site, this shows all of the NOAA buoys at once and on a map. I am not sure why NOAA site doesn't have something like this, but it is amazing. Especially useful when looking at water temps at the turn of the seasons.

https://www.windyty.com/?39.340,-76.496,6 ; - This is a great phone app and website. This is a very to easy read map of the wind. it isn't always spot on accurate, but it is very useful to see depressions and wind currents. I use this to try and predict wind myself.

We have entered into the PSA Race to Rock Hall on September 24th and in the Rock Hall Race Back on September 25th. We will be racing on our custom MiniCat 420 Evoque. I am going to be racing solo, but I urge anyone local and interested to come out and participate. I can change my entry if anyone wishes to crew (we are registered to race in Multihull A class).

We are starting to plan on our entry into the WaterTribe Everglades Challenge. Stay tuned for more about this. We welcome anyone who wants to talk about/join us on this adventure in March 2017.

If you are in the Mid-Atlantic region and know about a race that we should enter, please let us know and we will try and fit it into our calendar, if you are interested in racing with us as crew on our boat please include that in your correspondence and we will make provisions to take you with us! No other sailboat company in the world would even think to make this kind of offer!

We are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative products in the boating world. If you should come across a product that you can't get in the US, but would really like it anyway, please don't hesitate to contact Alex - [email protected] or 410-925-7701.

We have decided that our old format for demos was confusing and was hard to maintain properly. We now have a demo calendar that shows all of our events. We will be adding to this as things get scheduled.

We have already input multiple races that we plan to participate in, as well as boat shows we will be attending.

Any day that is open on the calendar is open for a scheduled private demonstration for any of our boats. We are now scheduling private demos 7 days a week for our customer's convenience.

If you see a boat show that we are planning to attend in your area, please send us a note via email as we try to stay a day or two after the show for customers that would like to demo the boat in the water before their purchase.

Check out our calendar HERE.

Click on the images below to select from MiniCat 310 (top left), MiniCat 420 (center), MiniCat 460 (top right), Tiwal (bottom left), or X-Cat (bottom right).

Also be sure to follow us on Instagram @redbeardsailing as we are always taking pictures of our latest adventures!

We are proud to have partnered with Bread Finance. Bread is a new way to pay! You can apply for financing for our boats (up to $5000). If your desired boat or cart total is more than $5000, you can finance up to $5000 and the excess is all you'd need to pay up front!

We currently offer 24 month, and 12 month standard financing, and 6 month same as cash financing!

We think this is a great way to make sure you buy what you really want and pay as you go! This new payment option will help you pay for the things you didn't expect to need when looking for a new boat, such as life jackets, electric inflation pumps, and even outboard motors! 

Click the button on each product page, or at checkout to apply!

We are still working out the best format for these newsletters. If you would like to see more or less of a certain kind of content please let me know! I like writing about sailing, and you like reading about it. Your feedback is welcome, good or bad!