From Lee Parks:

Fellow Sunfish racers,

I happen to be at the Sail Expo in Atlantic City when the flood of messages about Sailkote came thru the Sunfish list serv. The McLube booth was adjacent to ours so I asked Ron Rosenberg to provide some facts regarding Sailkote. Here's his response:

February 16, 1999

Dear Sunfish Sailors,

My name is Ron Rosenberg and I am the marketing director for Team McLube, the marine division of parent company McGee Industries, Inc. I am also and avid sailor and a sometime coach for the US Olympic Sailing Team and its members.

First of all, I'd like to thank you as a class, for your interest in Sailkote. I know there has been no lack of online activity in the Sunfish class recently... some relating to Sailkote. I commend you as a class for both your on-the-water activity, as well as your online activity. Unfortunately, I do not have much Sunfish racing experience personally, but a few of my friends do... so I have asked for their advice on some of my more 'class specific remarks'. Below, I have taken a moment to clarify a couple of key points and then I have listed a few suggestions on how one might use Sailkote to improve performance, and hopefully regatta scores as well.

For starters, I can tell you that Team McLube Sailkote is absolutely 100% legal to use in any way, shape or form on your sails, hull, spars and gear. There are no gray areas here. If you know the rule (#53, Skin Friction), and if you know the product, then there simply is no room for any confusion. If this were NOT the case, I wouldn't have won 5 world championships using the stuff, and nor would the winners of Olympic medals, Whitbread/Volvo, One-Design world championships and America's Cups have used it either. The legality question of this product is an important one for racers to understand, so I have reprinted the rule word for word belowso you can read it for yourself, if you have not already done so.

In the rule book, under part 4, rule #53, SKIN FRICTION reads:

"A boat shall not eject or release a substance, such as a polymer, or have specially textured surfaces that could improve the character of the flow ofwater inside the boundary layer."

Rule 53 is really stating two points here:

a) no substance is to be released into the water (like a polymer), and

b) a boat can NOT have specially textured surfaces to re-direct, channel, or otherwise improve the water flow across the hull.

Part (a) is clearly to keep boats from coating the surface of the water in front of the hull, with a substance so that the boat then runs over the polymer (believe it or not, this was actually tested by the Navy years ago).

Part (b) was written into the rules following the 1987 America's Cup whereby 3M had developed adhesive sheets of plastic panels with tiny riblets or grooves cut into them. When glued to the hull, the idea was to re-direct or channel the water flow along the lines off of a computer generated tank testing model. To my knowledge, this "specially textured surface" has never been proven to improve boatspeed, but it was clearly made illegal by this rule. If you know the Sailkote product, you will agree that Sailkote is not prohibited in any way by rule 53.

If you do not have prior experience with Sailkote, think of it as a teflon type bottom paint (it's not), or a wax finish (it's not)... only Sailkote is more slippery and surprisingly durable. We all know that there is

nothing in the racing rules that is illegal about bottompaint, no matter how slick it is. If applied correctly to a clean, dry hull (see our website for hull application instructions http://www.888teammclube.com) Sailkote may last an entire season. Anyhow, I hope I have explained enough about the racing rules and Sailkote to clarify the fact that Sailkote is entirely legal.

By the way, the main reason many of the world's top racers from dinghys to maxis use Sailkote on their hull is to keep it entirely clean and free of oily, grimy contaminants that may adhere to the hull while in the water overnight, or even while daysailing or racing. Sailkote minimizes that "ring around the waterline" for racers and cruisers alike. We all know that a clean hull is a fast hull.

Now you're still awake after reading through all that, I can attempt to reward you with a few of the Sailkote tips from the experts that you can try prior to your next big race. Try Sailkoting the following:

Sunfish Class

* boom to help sail slide freely from side to side

* mast step and bottom of mast to help mast rotation in light air

* entire mast tube so sail will slide freely (up and down and side to side)

* end of boom where outhaul ties down

* telltales and the surrounding surface area of sail (so they won't stick when wet)

* entire sail to minimize water absorption, and maximize longevity of the sail entire hull to keep clean and repel oil deposits, dirt and grime

* daggerboard to help slide up and down, and help shed kelp, seaweed, foreign matter

* rudder to help shed kelp and seaweed

* rudder head, so you can tighten rudder head more and minimize 'play' while still allowing rudder to easily pivot to the 'up' or beached position

If you are one of those 'still skeptical' types whom have still never used this product and still believe that it doesn't work, I can tell you that you are just the person we have designed our new 'trial size' small aerosol spray can for. Go to your local marine store, buy a can and try it. Chances are, most of the folks you're racing against are already using it to their advantage. At least then you will be able to make an intelligent decision for yourself. Oh yeah, I almost forgot... Peter and Olaf Harken (both ex-die hard skeptics) tried and tested Sailkote for the entire 1998 season in the heart of scow-country. They tested it on hulls, rudders, sails, telltales, mast tracks, turnbuckles, and of course all Harken deck gear. The results? They were impressed by the performance of the product, as well as the long lasting durability. They offered the following Sailkote endorsement: "RECOMMENDED BY HARKEN FOR EVERYTHING THAT MOVES..."

For more Sailkote racing application tips, hull or sail application information, or if you would like to leave me a message, I encourage you to please visit our website at: http://www.888teammclube.com I will personally respond to all messages left at the site.

Thank you once again for your interest in Team McLube Sailkote.

Sincerely,

Ron Rosenberg