April 2010 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 7.
CASCO BAY SAILING PERSONALITY: STEPH HELMS
thought required at first, but it was an intro- lot of fun, even being last kid picked with
duction to the craft. Then Graham bought those guys. Ancient history. (laughs)
Hard Sails, a well-respected from Long Island
NY to sort of add a Cadillac to his Chevy line. SE: How and when did you move back to
When he bought their technology, things Maine?
got more interesting for me. SH: I continued to stay in touch with Win. He
saw the advantage of being affiliated with a
SE: How long were you there for? nationally recognized sail maker, and had a lot
SH: 2 years. of talent as a programmer that Bill was inter-
ested in bringing in to the Shore group. At the
SE: Then what happened? time, there was no off the shelf sail design
SH: With Hard sails, I got more in tune with software. It was only available to the big sail
the design and technological aspects of makers. Over time, it became clear that Merle
things, as well as the sailing performance of didn’t see Hallett Sailmakers’ future as being
the product. It was 1979, and some of the a Shore affiliate. Win, Bill and I began talking
Long Island guys bought a J/24 to race locally about opening Maine Sailing Partners as a
in Fleet 43, which was just getting going. I Shore Sails Maine loft. We found space at 202
wanted to make fast sails. It was a bad busi- Commercial Street in Portland, and opened
ness mix with Hard sails and Atlantic: Graham the doors on March 15, 1983. We eventually
really didn’t have a commitment to a top- rebranded as Maine Sailing Partners in the
flight product. Dick Curry, Jimmy Meehan mid ‘90s. I was there through September,
and Mel Fisher, all veterans of Hard in Long 2001.
Island joined Shore Sails based in Newport,
RI as a franchise in Huntington, NY. When SE: Since you left Maine Sailing Partners;
Steph Helms
Graham decided to return to a less sophisti- what’s going on for you? SE: What are your dreams for the future? resource for the sport that everyone in the
cated product, Hard was a bad fit for some of SH: I’ve done some free-lance computer SH: I don’t know, just surviving for now! I industry should get involved in!)
us as well. Three folks from the Hard Maine work, mostly web design. I helped Tom really don’t have any dreams, aside from
team wound up joining Bill and Doug Shore’s Crotty get his Frost Gully Galley’s website being happy and sharing that every day I can.
staff in Newport, and I looked around for online, and Nancy Lawrence with
other opportunities. Portmanteauonline.com. But what’s cap- SE: Do you have a favorite quote?
Win Fowler was the lead sail maker with tured my imagination passion most has been SH: “There is nothing absolute nothing half
Hallett Sailmakers at Handy Boat (in 1980), my work with SailMaine’s community sailing so much worth doing as messing around in
pioneering the use of computer aided design program in Portland. I redesigned and now boats” (EB WHITE from Stuart Little)
in sail making. I went prospecting for a job in maintain their web site. I’m also maintaining Steph Helms can be found most every
the area and Hallett was fully staffed. Coinci- their information technology infrastructure day at SailMaine. (SailMaine is community
dentally, at the time there was talk between and working with the program’s directors to sailing at its best. It is a place where people
Merle Hallett and Bill Shore about Hallett build on their outreach to bring new sailors to can share their passion for sailing with any-
Sailmakers possibly becoming a Shore loft. I the sport. Working with the five high school one who wants to get on the water. If you
figured landing a job with Bill could eventu- sailing teams we host, and the Junior sailing want to get sailing…you can! It’s the kind of
ally be a ticket back to Casco Bay as a sail programs, and our Adult instruction folks is
maker, so I eventually joined my Hard Sails a real treat. I’m not involved on the instruc-
friends down in Rhode Island at Shore Sails. tional level or in the sailing itself, but just
Bill was a noted one-design sailor with a being close to the programs and watching
slew of championships in the Lightning people develop new skills and discover the
class, and a building reputation in the then fun that sailing can be is really great. We’re
new J/24 class. He had a very keen eye for fast really building community by helping folks
sail shapes, and for how to create them. Shore find their way out onto the water. I’ve also
Sails was leading the industry in computer done a few special nuts and bolts infrastruc-
aided design and manufacturing at the time, ture IT projects for Win and the MSP team as
with a computer driven sail design program they’ve moved and grown. Every once and a
that produced X/Y offsets for what a sail while, if calIed, I pack up the shears and head
panel should look like. You didn’t need teams over to Vermont to snip and clip for Bill
of people rolling cloth out full scale on the Fastiggi at Vermont Sailing Partners, but
floor: you could lay each panel out on a table that’s always a rare treat. SailMaine keeps me
with a meter stick and shears. Materials were pretty busy. And sailing, I’ve been lucky to
changing. Mylar was being introduced, then be a part of Don Logan’s J/105 Keemah team,
Kevlar. Lots of wacky things going on, and and Andrew Carey’s J/24 Mr. Hanky and
Bill was always forward looking. Etchells Schadenfreude crews. All great fun.
The computer could only do offsets for
working sails, and didn’t have a CAD/CAM SE: What’s important to you in LIFE?
spinnaker program. So I thought to myself, SH: Finding a way to find and share joy every
(being fearless) I thought I could write a day.
spinnaker design program to run in basic to
run on their computer. SE: How do you do that?
SH: Good question. I don’t have an easy
SE: Did it work.? answer. But that’s what I try to think of when
SH: I pitched idea to Bill, and he said work on I get up every day. Focusing on the positive,
Moose Island
it. I did in my off hours. It worked. finding fun, healing what hurts I might have
caused, finding and sharing some humor in MARINE
SE: So there now Helms sails? the sheer absurdity of life. One way to do it,
SH: Not named after me! No, the designs were I guess. 853-6058
all produced from Bill and Bonnie Shore’s
Commercial and Recreational Boat Supplies
practice. I just translated the design method SE: What is your favorite job on a raceboat?
into something a computer could reliably SH: Laughs, smiles…with a bit of thought…
Boat Storage
reproduce. Once the Shore system stared Cockpit, tactics, helm probably in that order, INDOOR · OUTDOOR · POWER · SAIL
using it, it was a huge time saver. but sometimes not.
16 to 45 ft. Haul out to 40 tons
Boat Winterization
SE: What year was that? SE: Who do you admire most in your local
INBOARD · OUTBOARD · STERNDRIVE
SH: 1981. I also did more sailboat racing in Lil racing circuit?
Rhody. Shields Thursdays with Bonnie SH: Scott Smithwick. He’s a wonderful
Boat Repair ·Restoration
Shore, Ensigns Wednesdays with Moose sportsman, has a great relaxed approach to
WOOD · FIBERGLASS
McClintock and Mike Madeira, and handicap the sport, and is still keen to win. He knows Boat Repowering
racing on one of the first Pearson Flyers with his boat, and has put together a tight, coher-
Save on winter jobs.
Moose, Geoff Moore, and Ken Read. That ent team of people that know how to make that
Shrink Wrap
was just nuts. That Halifax race was with Bill boat go! Also, Eric Labelle, whose work orga-
on Hank Fretz’s WAHOO back in 1981 or 2 nizing the Special Olympics sailing folks is
Hours: M-F 8-4:30 · Sat. 9-2 Online store: www.mooseislandmarine.com
somewhere. We won our class. It sure was a just great.
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32