So far I have only heard from 4 people who had spinnakers fail in the Tybe 500. If you had this problem please contact me at 949 645-6697. We will need you to send the spinnaker back to us. Please ship it to:

870 Production Place
Newport Beach, CA 92663

I don't know all the details yet because I haven't seen any of the sails but am trying to get a complete picture of the problem. What I do know so far is that somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 spinnakers failed. From the people I have spoken with I know that the age of the sails goes from at least 2 years old to the present, and the failures so far have been the result of the horizontal seam failing. Since the sails span that much time difference we can be fairly certain that it doesn't have anything to do with a bad batch of seam tape or a difference in the finish on the fabric. We are now leaning towards the idea that while the tape may have been strong enough for most sailing that it is not strong enough for the more extreme conditions.

Most of the people I have spoken with have indicated that the conditions for this race had much more time spent very tight reaching in breeze than previous races had. This would seem to indicate that while the sails were strong enough for shorter races and more downwind races, that under high loads for extended periods of time the glue seams were slowly creeping until they reached the point that they were no longer strong enough to hold the seam together.

Besides replacing the sails that failed we are also asking anyone that has one of our I-20 spinnaker to please send them to us to have the center seam sewn.

As a side note I have heard there has been a rumor going around that some of the sails are being built overseas. I can tell you without exception every sail from us is built here in our loft in Newport Beach.

Harry Pattison
Elliott / Pattison Sailmakers
949 645-6697