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What Our Clients Say
Here's a sample of what clients of Zern Rigging have
had to say about our work. Following each client
comment is a short comment from Rick on the work that
was done.
It is reassuring that the marine industry has someone
available with your integrity and work ethic, and
knowledge and capability that delivers a quality
service on schedule. …enough
said
Capt Bob Kriegel
Rick -- Thanks for the professional attention that
you gave to Satori (Shannon 51 Ketch) after her transatlantic
passage, a season in the Caribbean, and a bout with
hurricane Ivan. Her rigging and sails have
never felt better!
Tom Patterson
SV “Satori”
Tom is the owner of Shannon Yachts
and an avid sailor. He has been a joy to work
with and I always look forward to working with him
on the projects since I know that they will be incorporated
into the high quality boats that his company manufactures.
"Zern Rigging is the real deal. They keep
our boat sailing at top efficiency and speed. I can't
think of anyone who knows more about boats than Rick
Zern".
John Guy, Jr.
S/V Hot Toddy
John has won the West Florida Ocean
racing Circuit multiple times on a variety of boats;
he is always one of the competitors “in the hunt.” He
is truly “a student of the discipline.” I
have thoroughly enjoyed working with John on each of
his boats during the past 25 years.
Rick is always a great source of advice. He
has done rigging on my Pearson Flyer and acted as
broker my broker for the purchase if a Morgan 43. It
is obvious that he has the experience to back up
his opinions.
John Funk
We fitted John’s Pearson Flyer
with a Profurl R-25 System so he could switch from
racing to cruising. John keeps his Flyer on Lake
Lanier in the Atlanta, GA area and now has a big boat
for the coast. We are happy to travel to his
boats wherever they are to give him the service that
he deserves.
My wife, Innes and I have always found Rick Zern's
work to be of the highest quality performed in a
timely and always courteous manner.
Ron Richards
Navarre, FL.
We have completed a number of projects
that include halyard replacement, rigging replacement,
and spinnaker pole track simplifications for Ron and
Innes on their various boats.
Rick has handled the rigging on our Evelyn 42 and
our Pyramid 45. He has always done what he said he
was going to do on time and under budget. The reasons
I like dealing with Rick is he will take his time
and teach you about the job that he is doing on your
boat. He is always willing to share his knowledge
in order to make you a better informed sailor and
sailboat owner.
Oscar Bryan Denham
Pyramid 45 "Animal"
We have done a plethora of projects
for the “Animals.” They race offshore
to Mexico as well as the PHRF inshore races. We
strive to keep their boats safe and fast for the sort
of sailing they do.
Rick Zern’s boat work is the best there is.
Whether the boat is large or small, racer or cruiser,
Rick's work does not fail. He gets it done on time
and in budget. You can trust his advice. I have for
over 30 years.
Captain Ira Rowe
I have worked on sailed on a variety
boats with Ira over the last three decades. They
have just finished “refurbing” an old S&S
36 and will do local PHRF races and some offshore races,
too. Our goal with this boat was to make it safe
and keep it cheap.
"As a Marine Surveyor, I've sailed on several
vessels that have been fitted out by Zern Rigging,
and feel a degree of confidence in the quality of
their work. I'd go offshore in a Zern-rigged
vessel; that's as good a testament of their work
as I can give."
Joe Godard
Boat Insurance Inspections, Inc.
Joey and I go way back to the early ‘70s
sailing Flying Scots in Gulf Yachting Association interclub
events. Now we sail together on Beneteau 47.7s,
Farr 36 ODs, and others. There are very few that
know more about boats than Joe Godard!
Thanks for all your hard work. You are very
professional and prompt, and you do and outstanding
job.
Fred Bundy
Bell Steel Shop Superintendent
Zern Rigging installed a new furling
system, new halyards, and other gear on Fred’s
1993 Hunter 30.
Rick --This is just a short note to say thanks. The
job you and your folks did on replacing both of my
masts and rigging on my boat was super. The
patience you all showed in helping me make decisions,
the right choices to save money and have the best
rig possible for my needs and in working with
my erratic schedule was just outstanding. Once
again “Tramica”, our Cheoy Lee 41 Ketch,
is under sail, and the rig is a dream, easy to sail,
well balanced and strong. Thanks for a job
well done and your great professional attitude. It
was really a pleasure to work with folks like you.
Dewey Mauldin
Colonel, USMC (Ret)
We fitted Col. Mauldin’s boat
with new masts and a Harken Furler.
We were able to lead many of the controls aft
so that he would be able to reef and furl the mainsail
and mizzen from the comfort of his cockpit. The
only problem in working with Dewey was that he kept
trying to recruit our folks into the Marine Corps!
As life long sailors and long time Pensacola residents,
we have had the pleasure of sailing with RZ, utilizing
his talents as a sailmaker and also having him do
rigging work on our boats. Rick is an asset
to the sailing community and with his extensive sailing
back-ground, all of his boat work is first class. I
would highly recommend anyone with any sail or rigging
questions on boats of any size to contact
Rick Zern for his professional help.
Jim Oyler
Jim & Linda Oyler have had a variety
of boats over the past three decades; they have raced
Capri 25s, J/29s, and a C&C 34R. Now they
have a beautiful Beneteau 411 that they have raced
and placed to Mexico on multiple occasions. Frankly,
Jim and Linda are more than capable of doing the majority
of their own repairs and replacements due to their
extensive knowledge and experience.
Prior to starting out on our life long dream of
cruising we contacted numerous boatyards, lofts and
rigging specialists throughout the southeast. We
were in need of new rigging, sails and perhaps a
new sailplan on our 20 year old sloop. After
a years research we went with Rick Zern based on
personal recommendations and the job proposal. We
ended up with not only new sails, rigging and a sailplan
makeover but solutions to a number of previous poor
designs on our boat. We couldn't be happier
with the finished product that not only exceeded
our expectations but came in under budget.
Ace & Suzy Carlson
SV “Ace’s Wild” - SeaMaster 46
Ace and Suzy are avid cruisers with
tens of thousands of offshore miles. They are
starting on a trip to the South Pacific and wanted
to be certain their boat was ready. We totally re-rigged
the mast with new stays, new halyards, and new electrical
wiring. We also corrosion proofed it and added
mast steps added so that Ace and Suzy could go aloft
more easily to spot coral heads. We modified their
deck layout to permit total sail control from the cockpit. A
Tides Marine Strong Track was fitted in place of the
antiquated mainsail furler and the Harken Headsail
furler was rebuilt. We also installed a Storm
trysail track and new Schurr Sails specifically designed
and built for their round-the-world trip.
Zern Rigging has been a key ingredient in
helping me create a competitive racing yacht. Rick
and his crew installed and tuned a custom carbon
fiber mast and boom on my Beneteau First
47.7, “Pretty Woman”. Zern Rigging
also supplied and installed Custom Hydraulic cylinders
and integrated controls for the backstay, inner
forestay and vang, Three Speed Harken Winches and
Vectran running rigging and Vectran Backstay. With
this setup we were able to win the GORC (Gulf Ocean
Racing Circuit), Pensacola Bay Championship Series
and our class at Key West Race Week. With
all of this success we then selected Zern Rigging
to rig and tune our new boat “Wicked Woman”,
a Farr 36 OD. We have enjoyed the same level
of success with Wicked Woman as we did with “Pretty
Woman” winning WFORC on our first time
out. All of these successes can be attributed
to the care and attention to detail that we received
from Zern Rigging. We have had no failures
and as a result no DNF's!!! Thanks RZ and Crew!!
George Gamble
George showed up in Pensacola with
a beautiful Beneteau that he purchased in Europe and
a dream to race it. We had sailed against each
other in little boats decades before but George got
busy building a business empire and that kept him out
of boats for a little while. After having sailed
the Beneteau 47.7 design in Europe for a season he
had a real good idea what was needed to maximize it
for PHRF and IRC racing here in the States. A
new carbon mast, boom, and other gear were ordered
from Offshore Spars and thus began the 2.5-year program
with the goal of winning at Key West Race Week. To
make a very long story very short, we had a few “bumps
in the road” (such as Hurricane Ivan!) but we
made it to Key West, won our class by 10+ points and,
having realized that goal, put the boat up for sale
and sold it immediately. The all-carbon Farr
36 OD “Wicked Woman” was the next project. It
was several months late but we were able to put it
all together and win at the West Florida Ocean Racing
Circuit in 2005. We have an aggressive schedule
planned with this boat over the next two years and
we are integrating that with the newest project, George’s
latest boat, an IY 60. We sail in our first race in
St. Martin early in March ’06. The saga
continues...
Rick -- Thanks for your help solving my
main sail issue with my Hunter 38.6. When I purchased
the boat in 2002 I knew the main sail was going to
be a challenge in that this 38.6 had a roach main
and was larger than the other Hunter 38.6. After
sailing a awhile and trying to manage securing the
main I realized it was close to impossible to single
hand. The sail was all over the boat and 2 hands
were not enough. I was thinking about modifying the
main to a furling system but as we spoke about that
solution the cost and loss of sail efficiency (losing
the battens) was not the way to go. Your solution
of modifying my existing sale cover into stack
pack and replacing the main sail track with a Strong
Track has work perfectly. With your expert help handling
the main is no problem for me now. If Hunter Marine
had you designing their rigging systems they would
have a lot more us putting the main sail back to
bed with ease. Thanks!
Glenn Windham
Glenn had some real issues with his
sail slides and his mast. The factory supplied
slides just did not interface with the mast and the
full length battens. That, coupled with his single-handed
sailing style, made for a recipe for disaster. We
retrofitted a Strong Track system and did a custom
lazy jack
& “automatic” sail cover arrangement
that was personally tailored for his sailing style. His
sailing became efficient and effortless.
Rick Zern is the best all around boat person I
have ever dealt with. He is expert rigger,
sail maker, boat-sailing consultant, broker, etc. His
knowledge and skill in all of these topics is outstanding. Most
important, his honesty and integrity are beyond reproach. I
would be happy to provide personal reference to any
interested party.
Ronald Bruce
100-ton Coast Guard Master, Ham amateur operator, Professional
Engineer
Ron probably has more cruising miles
than any ten other folks that I know. He and
his wife, Joanne, cruised thousands and thousands of
miles on their Morgan 43 and then opted to “go
multihull.” They now have an absolutely
beautiful PDQ Antares 42. We worked extensively
getting the boat set up for safety, ease of handling,
and performance cruising. Ron and Joanne are
some of my “go to” folks when I need more
information in the world of multihulls and long distance
cruising. As this is being written they are off
the coast of Columbia headed south.
I first met Rick in 1985. I needed
work done on my Ocean Voyager and Rick came highly
recommended. He's been my man of choice for any of
my boats needs ever since. If he can't do it, he knows
someone who can. He's honest, dependable and does good
work. I'm looking forward to many more years of reliable
service.
Michael Adkinson
United States Merchant Marine, 1600-ton Master
Michael spends a tremendous amount
of time offshore on commercial vessels and chose the
Ocean Voyager as his sailboat of choice for recreation. We
discussed what Michael’s goals and expectations
were for the boat’s use and came up with a simple
modification plan. We installed a Profurl on
the forestay and fitted it with a Yankee. The
inner forestay was set up with a self-tacking staysail/storm
jib arrangement. The mainsail controls all led
aft to the cockpit so that the boat is easily and safely
single-handed in a blow. Sail-wise, he has a
cruising spinnaker in a sleeve, high-clewed Yankee
on the furler, the above mentioned staysail and a traditional
mainsail with three reefs. This fine little boat
could sail around the world!
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