Point Loma Outfitting - sailing clothing, outdoor performance wear, foul weather gear in San Diego

OK, I think I am definetely getting lazy by just posting some video footage! Believe it or not though I actually learned something about the Puckerwear cloth:

This year the American Alpine Institute presented six awards at the annual Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City last week. The equipment and clothing awarded the AAI Guides Choice designation have proven to be of the highest quality in their product category. The awards are determined on the basis of excellence in design, performance, and durability demonstrated in rigorous international field tests conducted by professional guides of AAI. Evaluations are made throughout the year in desert, cold weather, rain, snow, high wind, and high altitude environments. The American Alpine Institute has no financial ties or financial interest in any manufacturer or distributor. All testers and their expenses are paid by AAI.

A core group of AAI professional guides conduct Guides Choice field tests year round, throughout the world. Tests may be completed in a single long season (for example five summer months of intensive climbing in South America), or over several seasons (for example McKinley expeditions in the spring and Himalayan expeditions autumn). Because of the intensity and constancy of use, the wear and stress that gear receives during these tests corresponds to many years of use by a recreational climber.

The following products won this year’s Guide’s Choice Award:

Patagonia Guide Pant

The guide pant is comprised of a tough, weather-resistant nylon/polyester/spandex blend that both breathes well and retains its shape. The guide pant is a lighter alternative to many of the other options on the market, but not too light. Patagonia found a great compromise in the epic balancing act between weight and warmth. This product is just about the right for everybody.

Many of our female guides found that these pants fit better than any of the alternatives. The cut of the women’s guide pants is both feminine and comfortable. AAI Guide Mary Harlan felt that they were the best option on the market for female climbers.

Patagonia CSS Technology

Like all new products, two to three years ago the stitch-free composite seam system technology (CSS) had a few problems. Patagonia worked to eliminate these problems and this year after extreme testing in a variety of environments, our guides found absolutely no problems with the CSS technology.

Patagonia’s CSS technology provides for jackets that are streamlined without extra bulk, weight or material. Sewn seams are far more vulnerable to abrasion, wear and leakage than the durable non-stitched seams found in Patagonia’s modern jackets.

Buff for Buff Original Headwear

The Buff is a multifunctional article of clothing that may be used as a scarf, a neck cover, a face cover or a hat. Many guides find a variety of other purposes for the product. Over the last couple of seasons our guides have begun to wear these on a regular basis. Indeed, it has become almost a part of the AAI guide’s uniform. “When it’s too warm for a balaclava, but too cool to go without, the buff is the perfect piece of clothing,” Senior AAI guide Justin Wood said. Such a sentiment is common among the guide staff.

MontBell Ultralight Thermawrap Parka

The MontBell Thermawrap Parka is an incredibly well designed and functional mid-weight layer. The Exceloft synthetic insulation stays warm even when wet. The combinations of fabric and insulation are designed to dry extremely fast. This makes the jacket a valuable piece in warm and wet environments like the one that we have in the Pacific Northwest.As part of a layering system, our guides found that the jacket performs extremely well. Some of these light to mid-weight jackets are too warm to be used as a part of a layering system. This particular model doesn’t have that problem. On Denali our guides found this to be a good top layer low on the mountain and a phenomenal mid-layer as the temperatures dropped higher up.

Black Diamond Quantum Pack

Our guides found the 55 liter Quantum Pack to be an exceptionally well-designed backpack. This stream-lined pack feels bigger than other packs of the same volume. This has to do with its longer/taller profile. It’s built with ultralight, durable and water-shedding VX 21 Polyant laminated fabric and lined with lightweight 30d SillNylon. In other words, the pack is tough, light and carrys loads well. There are no extra bells and whistles. It is a good pack.

Black Diamond Anarchist Ski Pack

The 42 liter Black Diamond Anarchist Ski Pack is a durable well designed pack with the multi-day backcountry skier in mind. There is enough volume in the Anarchist to cover the minimalist skier for up to four days in the field. The pack’s expandable top-loading design features a side-access panel for easy admission. Its sleek design allows it to compliment the skier’s movements.

Like the Quantum Pack, the Anarchist is tough. The 420d nylon fabric and 1300d Ballistic reinforcements offer water-shedding, long-wearing performance. Our ski guides put this pack to the test, working it through day after day of deep powder in the Sierra and the San Juans and brushy wet approaches in the Cascades.

Mountaineers Books Outdoor Experts Series

A few years ago Mountaineers Books introduced a new series of “how-to” texts. The books took off in a way that went far beyond anyone’s expectations. This series of books now includes some of the most well-known outdoor education writers and climbers in the field. Kathy Cosely, Mark Houston, Craig Luebben, Jared Ogden, Molly Loomis, Martin Volken, Margaret Wheeler, Scott Schell, Andy Tyson, and Will Gadd are just a handful of the well-known mountain guides and climbers that have contributed to the series.

Voilé Telepro T6 Avalanche Shovel

One might think that a shovel is a shovel. But when our guides are up on Denali in -30 degree temperatures, trying to dig out a tent platform during a storm, a good shovel may make the difference between frostbite and comfort. The T6 Avalanche Shovel was the only model not to break or become damaged during our eight expeditions to the tallest mountain in North America this year. If that isn’t enough reason to give this product the Guide’s Choice Award, then we don’t know what is…

 ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, July 30 /PRNewswire/ — A new metallocene based polypropylene (PP) fiber produced under the trademark Dryarn from Italian synthetic fiber manufacturer Aquafil has been selected by Italian sportswear manufacturer SLAM to create a jersey for the national sailing team that will compete in Beijing 2008.

SLAM chose the PP fiber, based on a Metocene PP resin produced by LyondellBasell Industries, due to the unprecedented levels of comfort and performance it achieves in skin-contact textile applications. “We believe this is the first time that a PP resin has been used to produce nautical sportswear, which has historically been the domain of polyester and polyamide synthetic fibers,” said Bernd Schuetz, Global Business Manager for LyondellBasell’s Metocene resins.

The wicking effect

The Dryarn fiber was chosen by SLAM to produce the “Area 51″ jersey due to its wicking effect, which conducts perspiration away from the skin to the outside where it evaporates. This leads to a sweat expulsion rate that is nearly eight times higher than polyester, which leaves the wearer dry and comfortable. The fiber does not allow humidity to collect close to the skin, and it retains none of the microorganisms that create odor in garments made from synthetic fibers.

As climatic conditions at the Beijing 2008 regattas typically exhibit high temperatures and high humidity in the port of Qingdao, where the competitions will be held, tests were carried out to assess the performance of different fibers. The results confirmed that the jersey kept the wearer significantly cooler and drier than cotton or other synthetic materials. Athletes who participated in the tests reported that they felt dry 30 minutes after completion of the test. These trials have shown that Dryarn out-performs competitive materials in terms of wearability and comfort.

Lightest yarn in nature

Metocene resin can also be used to produce yarn with outstanding lightness characteristics. With a specific weight of 0.9 g/cm3, Dryarn is an extremely light yarn, which provides 20 percent weight savings compared with other fibers on the market. In addition, the fiber’s excellent resistance to sea water conditions and abrasion makes it a good choice for the demanding nautical environment, as sea water can cause fading and brittleness.

Metocene resin provides a narrow molecular weight distribution that improves the mechanical properties of the fibers, which enables up to 30 percent higher tenacity over other PP-based fibers comparable to polyester and polyamide fibers.

LyondellBasell sees nautical sportswear as just one of a growing range of applications exploiting the outstanding skin-contact characteristics of Metocene-based fibers for use in demanding conditions.

Aquafil (http://www.aquafil.com) is an Italian company with headquarters in Arco di Trento (Italy) and about 2,000 employees working in 11 factories in Italy, Slovenia, United States, Croatia and Thailand. There is a strong synergy between the activities of the three Business Units (carpet yarns, textile yarns, Plastics Engineering/Polymers), characterized by a high level of innovation and product diversification. http://www.aquafil.com - http://www.dryarn.com

SLAM, founded in Genoa in 1979, is the Italian leading company in technology clothing for sailing and is well established in the sportswear sector with expanding collections for men, women and children. http://www.slam-shops.com

LyondellBasell Industries is one of the world’s largest polymers, petrochemicals and fuels companies. We are the global leader in polyolefins technology, production and marketing; a pioneer in propylene oxide and derivatives; and a significant producer of fuels and refined products, including bio-fuels. Through research and development, LyondellBasell develops innovative materials and technologies that deliver exceptional customer value and products that improve quality of life for people around the world. Headquartered in The Netherlands, LyondellBasell (http://www.lyondellbasell.com) is privately owned by Access Industries.

By Brian Hindo

BW Magazine

There’s no place on a company’s balance sheet for garbage, so most executives don’t think much about it.

But with oil and other commodity prices surging, some companies are reconsidering trash. They recognize that used-up products are the sum of their raw materials, energy, and labor: With another wring of the sponge, more value can be extracted. So they’re essentially running their supply chains backward, a process called “reverse logistics.”

Genco, a privately held company in Pittsburgh, has lately seen brisk reverse-logistics business. It helps retailers such as Best Buy, Sears, and Target find buyers for products that are returned as defective or broken and would otherwise be landfill fodder. A recent KPMG study suggests companies can recover up to 0.3% of annual sales this way. (That’s $100 million in the case of Best Buy.) Genco has even spun out a reject-pile brokerage business, called Genco Marketplace, that connects sellers and buyers with $5 million a day in junked goods.

Some companies are keeping the efforts in-house. Carpet makers Interface and Shaw Industries collect used-up materials to feed back into production. The hurdles have been numerous, they say, but both expect to enjoy cost advantages over others that produce from scratch.

Outdoor gear maker Patagonia is one of the most ambitious reverse-logistics pioneers. Its Synchilla Vests consist of fiber recaptured from old fleeces and T-shirts—even those sold by rivals. Customers drop worn duds at a Patagonia store or mail them to a distribution center. A subcontractor turns them into new fibers. More than 90% of the fabric is spun into new clothing, says Patagonia; the rest becomes a cement additive.

Patagonia concedes that its process costs more than virgin polyester, but there’s an environmental mandate from Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s founder and majority owner. “[He] really wants us to plan for the end of oil,” says spokeswoman Jen Rapp. For most companies, though, it’s all about money. “The real value of reverse logistics is turning trash into cash,” says Curtis Greve, a Genco senior vice-president. There’s a clear spot on the balance sheet for that.

I meant to write this Friday morning, but it appears there is always something popping up. Thursday evening we celebrated the Grand Opening of our new 6500 store in Liberty Station. I would like to thank all of the representatives from our vendors that attended, as well as all of those that showed up. By the looks of the floor when I came in Friday morning a good time was had by all. Besides celebrating our opening, this past weekend 10% of our sales will be donated to San Diego Coastkeepers. it is our way of trying to give back to the waters we enjoy. So stop on by and check us out.

As a present to myself, I took Saturday off and went sailing. It was the San Diego Yacht Club One-Design Weekend so we dusted off old Etchells Hull #1000 and participated in the three races held. I thought this would make an excellent opportunity to test drive some of the new gear we just go in from Atlantis as well. I wore the Microburst Vest all day, and it was subjected to its first test on the tow out to the course. We were hit broadside by some powerboat wake, I will say I was glad the vest had a low sweeping back, and was waterproof! All in all I think this vest is perfect for those temperate days when you need a little protection, but not a full set of waterproofs. I think this vest might have found a permanent spot in my sailing backpack. Until next time…

By SW Editor at 2008-07-16 15:15

This weekend ESPNU broadcasts the 2008 Gill College Nationals Sailing
Championship presented by Rolex. The program airs Sunday, July 20, 2008, at 11:00 p.m. EST on ESPNU.

For the fourth year the ESPNU program features the top young sailors competing for a trophy that dates back to 1937. Onboard cameras and microphones highlight the action of the 18 teams from across the United States. Georgetown University came from behind on the final day to take the championship.

Special features include interviews with recent All Americans who are now heading to China for the Olympic Games, a segment with former College Sailor of the Year Ken Read as he discusses his participation the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race, and interviews with college sailors who went on to compete in the America’s Cup when it was held in Newport, R.I.

The program will re-air on Tuesday, July 22 at 12:00 a.m. EST, Sunday, July 27 at 12:00 a.m. EST, Sunday, July 27 at 9:00pm EST, and Monday, July 28 at 3:00am EST.

SLAM was official sponsor of the first ever “Golden Gate Cup”, a regatta organised by the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco. 

An inter-yacht club challenge, it featured Fleet regattas and Match Races; an original formula to which many Yacht Clubs appear to have taken a liking.  Participating in the sailing were some members of the BMW ORACLE Racing Team. 

Victory in the Match Race went to the crew of the GGYC, which included Sgannon Falcone and Gilberto Nobili, sailors from BMW ORACLE.  The crew wore SLAM foul weather gear oilskins from the RC line.

SLAM, the Fraglia Vela Malcesine sailing club and the RC44 class sailboats were protagonists, over the past few days, at an event which could best be defined as “sailing par excellence”.  The big names in international sailing, top skippers from the Americas Cup and, naturally, the presence of SLAM clothing worn aboard the most competitive boats at the Malcesine SLAM CUP.  Five days of superb sailing and outstanding performances especially as the boats often passed just a few metres away from the shore, under the amazed gazes of the tourists who flock to Lake Garda at this time each year.

SLAM on-board BMW ORACLE, which won the Match Race with Larry Ellison making a real mark as helmsman and Russell Coutts on tactics (and with official announcement made at last Tuesday’s event launch press conference of an agreement, between the two parties, for SLAM to be the Team’s official apparel supplier at the 33rd Americas Cup).  SLAM clothing also featured aboard Banco Espirito Santo which won the “Trofeo DHL” long race with an exchange of tacticians: Dean Barker went onto BMW ORACLE and Russell Coutts took his place on-board Banco Espirito Santo.  Both crews wore New Hissar Bermuda shorts and Bistrow and Grig t-shirts.  New Mistral shoes featured as Russell Coutts’ preferred footwear.

Lake Garda lived up to expectations, over the first few days, with the wind and sun enabling a series of extremely technical and tactically difficult regattas.  Only on the last day, yesterday, did the thunder storms, which began on Saturday night, stop the wind which usually blows relentlessly from the south from early afternoon.

The event was divided into three competitive episodes: during the first two days Larry Ellison (with Russell Coutts on tactics) won the match race on BMW ORACLE.  On Saturday, the Trofeo DHL was awarded to the Portuguese “Banco Espirito Santo” (where Russell Coutts took on the tactician’s role) in the “long” 14-mile regatta.  And on Sunday it was the turn of Italy’s Armando Giulietti, owner of Hiroshi-Città di Milano, to win the fleet regatta class, an award arrived at by totalling the points achieved at Thursday’s 3 trials and adding them to the points from Saturday’s long distance race.  An outstanding performance for Giulietti who also won a place on the podium in the match race, for finishing 3rd overall.

“Even if with the enforced stoppage on the last day we were unable to complete the planned number of trials, we are happy to have been able to organise an event of such high standing without any real problems.  Everyone was stunned by the top conditions during the first few days, evident from the boats passing just a few metres from the shore and putting on a real show.  The technical demands of champions like Russell Coutts, James Spithill and all the other sailors, who have superb Americas Cup experience, taught us a great deal.  I believe that the entire staff of the Fraglia Vela Malcesine reached a good organisational level… enough to leave an excellent impression of this Malcesine SLAM Cup,” said, Gianni Testa, President of the organising sailing club, shortly after the prize-giving ceremony.  The sailing club originally played host to Russell Coutts in 2005 for the very first tests on his new craft.

July 7, 2008 (MARBLEHEAD, Mass.) – Atlantis WeatherGear, based in the sailing town of Marblehead, Massachusetts, is thrilled to announce that Point Loma Outfitting in San Diego, CA has become their newest dealer. Point Loma Outfitting was started in 2007 by Tom and Katie Carruthers, passionate San Diego sailors who are focused on bringing great gear to their customers for all of the things they do on and around the water.  Their new 6,500 square-foot store, located at 2885 Perry Road in San Diego’s new shopping and dining destination, Liberty Station, is sure to be a haven for boat lovers and outdoor enthusiasts, as it specializes in high performance sailing gear, outdoor performance wear and foul weather gear, chic sportswear, and stylish footwear for men, women and kids. As a member of the “1% for the Planet” initiative, their goal is to translate business success into support for the environment.  In addition, from July 17 - 20, Point Loma Outfitting will donate 10% of sales to San Diego Coastkeeper, a local non-profit organization that protects the San Diego region’s bays, oceans, beaches and waterways.The new 2008 line from Atlantis continues the Atlantis legacy of blending technical outdoor fabrics and styles into performance sailing apparel to deliver a level of modern design and construction that racers, cruisers and powerboaters demand on the water yet transitions easily once ashore. New 2008 products include the Numbers Collection, a series of mid-weight softshell jackets in both men’s and women’s styles based on a line of custom gear developed for the Numbers sailing team, as well as great new styles and colors in the wildly successful Microburst Collection of lightweight waterproof/breathable apparel.  These new products join the Grand Prix line of softshell jackets and vests and the Aegis jacket, the core of the line that was introduced in 2007. “San Diego is a sailing town, and the folks who live there are passionate about the outdoors,” Atlantis’ president, Chaz Bertrand said, “With Point Loma Outfitting, Tom and Katie Carruthers are creating a destination for sailing and outdoor enthusiasts, and we’re thrilled to partner with them to bring the Atlantis brand to San Diego.”According to Point Loma’s Tom Carruthers, “Atlantis’ unique combination of performance and style make the brand a great fit for our stores and our customer.  It’s terrific gear for Southern California sailing and boating, and we’re looking forward to a successful partnership.”To learn more about Point Loma Outfitting and Atlantis Weather Gear, visit http://www.pointlomaoutfitting.com/c/atlantis.html

Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts have exploded a myth about lake Garda aboard BMW ORACLE: winning with the “Ora” (wind which blows from the south) by tacking along the opposite shore to the Verona side of the lake.Another perfect day of sun and wind made it possible to complete the first part of the Malcesine SLAM Cup with a final which was a close run thing to the very last.

“Today’s final and decisive regatta was extremely difficult, and very exciting.  We knew that tacking around the centre of the lake does not usually pay; but today the wind was particularly variable and we took a risk on the second close haul in the ninth match against Banco Espirito Santo (with Dean Barker at the helm… the helmsman of Team New Zealand at the last Americas Cup). The decision turned out to be a winning one.  The truth of the matter is that this is one of best places in the world for competitive sailing: extremely close to the shore with perfect winds” – declared Larry Ellison shortly after stepping back on dry land.

James Spithill, helmsman for Team Ceeref, but a team mate of Ellison and Coutts at the 33rd Americas Cup on BMW ORACLE Racing, took second place ahead of Team Hiroshi - Città di Milano, which had been leading the field yesterday, but which still managed to hold on to a place on the podium.

Tomorrow the event will move into the fleet regatta phase, which will continue through Saturday and Sunday.

Tremendous satisfaction for all the staff of Fraglia Vela Malcesine, the sailing club which is hosting the event and which has placed at the disposal of the event a structure and organisational skills worthy of the best sailors in the world.  

With the evening came the prize-giving with the SLAM CUP, the Trophy designed by Getulio Alviani, being awarded to Russell Coutts and his BMW ORACLE Racing Team.

Match Race rankings for the Malcesine SLAM Cup
1. BMW ORACLE, Larry Ellison
2. Ceeref, James SPithill
3. Hiroshi-Città di Milano, Sebastian Col
4. Banco Espirito Santo, Dean Barker
5. Sea Dubai, Markus Wieser
6. Aqua, Cameron Appleton
7. Organika, Philippe Presti
8. Beecom, Isao Mita

Elena Giolai
SLAM press office
cell.340-1169973
elena.giolai@slam.com