Highs, Lows, and Podium Glory at Brisbane Race Week

When roughly half of an entire racing fleet chooses to fly your logo, you are no longer just a sailmaker; you are a core part of that fleet’s competitive DNA. That was the reality for Andrew Turner and the team at Ullman Sails Brisbane at Brisbane Race Week presented by Porsche Centre Brisbane. Staged out of the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, five days of varied racing formats on Moreton Bay put local teams—and our custom loft engineering—to the ultimate test.

The Cruising Fleet: Custom FiberPath Precision

The cruising divisions saw an absolute clinic in managing changing conditions. Proving that performance and luxury go hand-in-hand, the stunning Saffier 33 Life, claimed a spectacular victory in her division. Her competitive edge came down to a brand-new, precision-engineered inventory of custom Ullman Sails FibrePath sails.

For a modern, high-end performance daysailer like the Saffier, standard cruising sails simply cannot manage the load without sacrificing the boat's refined handling characteristics. Our FiberPath technology solves this by mapping custom, high-tensile load path fibers directly along the primary stress lines of the sail before it is laminated. This creates an incredibly lightweight, low-stretch sail that holds its perfect aerodynamic draft even when the Moreton Bay breeze spikes, allowing short-handed crews to maintain maximum speed with effortless control.

The Monohull Performance Fleet: Grand Prix Endurance

The action was just as fierce in the elite Monohull Performance division, where the powerhouse Kerr 40, KERB (campaigned by the Whitbread team), secured a brilliant 2nd place overall. After a grueling week of racing, it all came down to a nail-biting final day pursuit race around Green Island, where KERB hunted down the leaders in a display of pure tactical speed. This podium finish comes fresh off KERB’s absolute masterclass performance at Easter, where they secured a historic double victory in both the IRC and PHS divisions at the grueling Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race.

Sustaining that level of grand prix performance across back-to-back major regattas requires sails engineered for ultimate shape retention. Our racing layouts utilize advanced membrane technology and meticulous hand-finishing at our lofts to withstand the punishing, repetitive shock-loads of hard tacks, aggressive sail changes, and high-speed downwind ocean reaching.

Living the Highs and Lows

Yet, ocean racing remains a sport of razor-thin margins and unpredictable drama. Proving that sailmakers live the exact same ultimate highs and lows as their clients, Andrew Turner and his family experienced the ultimate heartbreak on day one, snapping their mast during the heat of competition in heavy 28-knot gusts.

From the devastation of a broken rig to the triumph of watching their custom-built FiberPath and racing inventories dominate the podium, the Brisbane loft team lives and breathes this sport. It is that exact shared obsession and deep local understanding that goes into every single panel we design.