NORTH SAILS BLOG

CRUISING MULTIHULL Q+A Loads, Sail Selection & Recommendations 📸 Amory Ross Q: How do sails for cruising multihulls differ from that of a cruising monohull? A: Because a multihull does not heel and release the wind load when the pressure hits, multihull sails must be able to handle higher wind loads than monohull sails. This means every aspect of multihull sails and rigging must be up-specked compared to a monohull. Mainsails generally have more roach, spinnakers are a little flatter in cut, and headsails tend to be smaller and more substantial, as it is the one sail used across the wind ranges. Q: Why is sail selection important for a cruising multihull? A: The wind load increases quickly on multihulls, and you need sails that are built to handle the load spike when the apparent wind moves forward. Know the limits of your sails and their intended wind range and angle of sailing. Every boat will be different, but understanding your sailing angles and crossovers are vital to getting the most out of your boat and also having a safe and more enjoyable sailing experience. Q: What are some of the go-to sails that you recommend for a performance cruising catamaran? A: The G-zero is an excellent versatile downwind option. It has a massive range of use and can be sheeted in quite hard for lighter wind well forward of the beam and used right through the wind range up to say 25 knots true when eased out and tweaked forward. With such a wide range of use, the G-zero cruising gennaker makes it perfect for cruising multihulls. Plus, it is easy to furl away and small to stow. The G2 cruising gennaker is a great running option with plenty of horsepower; if you want to cover miles, this is the best sail to get downwind. Square top mains with head release systems get you low down horsepower, great for coastal cruising and reaching and downwind. The automatic twist of the head can assist when going to windward in more extreme or gusty conditions. 📸 Amory Ross Q: Can you have too many sails? A: Yes, you can have too many sails. Ideally your sailmaker would design a wardrobe that gives you crossover points and sailing angles that cover the full sailing range. It would be best if you also had a plan for how to stow the sails onboard. Ideally, you will create your plan before getting your inventory so you can organize them below deck to protect them from the elements and access them with ease. Q: What about storm sails for multihulls? A: Even though they hardly ever get used, storm sails are important. Again, a plan is required so you can access this sail if you need to. For example, if you have three reefs in the main and can easily set up and deploy a storm jib, you will gain more balance and be able to control the boat in 40+ knots of wind. A storm jib can get you to a safe harbor to ride out bad weather if needed. Q: How do you decide on sailcloth for various sails on a cruising catamaran? A: The first thing to consider is the environment the sails are going to be subjected to in particular humidity. The strength of breeze for the region the boat is planning on sailing can have an impact also. For instance, global cruisers who want to cross oceans short-handed need super durable sails and engineered for the worst, but someone spending most of their time in the light winds of Asia would appreciate a lighter suit of sails. Q: Some of our multihull owners have 3Di sails. What are 3Di sails and why are they a great product for my type of boat? A: 3Di sails are very lightweight, easy to handle, have a long lifespan, and excellent shape retention. Best of both worlds! 3Di sails have a monolithic structure. They’re made over a 3D mold with special materials that don’t delaminate (ever) because of the unique fabrication process. Q: What other sail technologies can I get for my performance cruising catamaran? A: 3Di Downwind sails are evolving from racing technology and making a very light and durable downwind option, which is excellent in tropical conditions. Performance sails that are suitable for both extended cruising and racing in all climates is a considerable shift in the cruising multihull market. The traditional compromise to make a choice, either way, has almost gone with 3Di ENDURANCE and 3Di OCEAN products. Sail hardware continues to evolve, and there is a trickle-down from the French racing boats. Reef locks are a useful feature that is suitable for ocean passages when you need to relieve the load from the reef lines and prevent wear. Q: What can multihull sailors do to make sailing easier for short-handed crews? A: User-friendly furling systems and partial furling can be a great way to step down the horsepower. Correctly sized torque cables make a big difference to downwind furling sails and can be added to older sails. Reef-able headsail structures give you more options to balance the boat quickly and reduce power. Look for well-spaced reefs to help your team; smaller, incremental changes in reefing are not suitable for short-handed setups. Q: How about sail trim? What key tips can you offer to trim sails on a cruising catamaran to get optimal performance? A: With the mainsail, there isn’t a vang, so it can over twist easily. Watch your leech telltales, and in a moderate breeze sheet in until they fly at least 50% of the time. A tweaker outboard on the boom can help control excessive leech twist and stop boom pump and accidental jibes. With the headsails, slide tracks forward when the sails are eased, or tweak the sail outboard and down to control the leech, just like the main. Stop pumping and over twisting to avoid the upper leech shaking and fatiguing. Q: I need new sails for my boat. What are your recommendations on how to get a new suit of sails for my multihull? A: Talk to your sailmaker. Discuss your needs and wants and how your current sails have performed and any aspects that you would like to improve. Tell them about your planned sailing and common conditions you experience. With that information, they will evaluate your entire sail wardrobe. Your sailmaker will look at what you have, assess what you need for what type of sailing you are doing, and plan when you will need to replace any sails in the future.From there, they’ll design your new multihull sails to best suit your ideal wind range and sailing angles. Every sail is custom designed and built, which gives your sailmaker the opportunity to truly optimize your inventory. Be open-minded to your sailmakers’ suggestions as everything keeps evolving and improving. There may be gains to be made that ultimately will result in a safer and more enjoyable cruising experience. Interested in cruising sails for your multihull? Contact your nearest North Sails expert today! READ MORE

OPTIMIST V-SERIES QUICK TUNING TABLE Important Settings for Key Performance Power your new North Sails Optimist V-Series mainsail for speed following the recommendations on this quick tuning guide. BASE SETTINGS Sail ties can be adjusted in the range of 1-5mm in light wind and heavy wind to have comfortable depth and shape. LIGHT WIND: Smaller space at the middle so that leech becomes easier open. HEAVY WIND: Wider space at the middle so that you can make the shape comfortably flat enough to reduce the power. Sail Ties Top 2 mm Middle 2 mm Bottom 2 mm * Parallel to the mast. Distance of space distribution to be made from top to the bottom. Adjustment is required only for suitable sail shape (depth) for each condition and to be done only when needed. These are sometimes required depending on mast stiffness and sailor’s weight, but only when if needed. BASIC TRIM Wind Range 0-8 knots 8-12 knots 12-16 knots 16-24 knots 25+ knots Mast Rake 2780 – 2800 mm 2770 – 2790 mm 2770 – 2780 mm 2750 – 2760mm 2790±10mm Sprit Wrinkles Some Wrinkles A Few Wrinkles Wrinkles Wrinkles Vang No tension in upwind Light tension in upwind Tension Lots of tension Cleat with main sheet trimming harder Prebender 2 turns / Some Slack at Luff 2 turns / Some Slack at Luff No Wrinkle at Luff Tension on Luff Tension on Luff Center Board Max Max Max 0-50 mm up 30-70 mm up OUTHAUL CONTROL – VERY IMPORTANT FOR KEY PERFORMANCE! You have to pay attention to the outhaul to adjust it properly according to the conditions and sailors weight. You need to find the best position that fits your weight, mast rake( boom position), sea status, weather helm feeling for each condition. Playing outhaul in the range of 20mm at the boom end. Ease it maximum in 10-14knots and clew end has to be located 30-40mm away from the boom end. FLAT WATER – Trim 10mm more than the normal position. LIGHT / VERY STRONG WIND – Bottom to be flattened comfortably. READ MORE

‘HOW TO’ WITH BOUWE BEKKING Introducing a 7-part Video Series Geared to Cruisers We’ve teamed up with our friends at X-Yachts and are excited to release an all-new ‘How To’ video series aimed at every type of cruiser. All seven videos are now live and available to watch on the North Sails YouTube channel. As a seasoned eight-time Volvo Ocean Race sailor, professional Dutch sailor Bouwe Bekking turns his hand to the world of cruising to share his knowledge onboard an X-Yacht. Joined by North Sails Expert Jesper Feldt, Bekking talks us through the key aspects of sailing a cruiser, from boat maneuvers to trimming every sail in the inventory. Filmed throughout the summer on the waters of Øresund near Copenhagen, Denmark, these videos provide tips and tricks on handling a cruising boat fully equipped with North 3Di ENDURANCE. READ MORE

ARC PREPARATIONS & SAIL SELECTION FOR OFFSHORE North Cruising Experts Join the World Cruising Club for a Live Webinar North Sails cruising experts Jeremy Smart, Bob Meagher, and Ridgely MacKenzie join World Cruising Club’s Andrew Bishop to discuss sail selection for offshore bluewater sailing and ARC Preparations. This webinar is a particularly beneficial watch if 2022 is your year for the ARC. For those who missed the live stream, catch up on the topics covered, including why sail design matters, the North upwind and downwind cruising products range, and critical features of an offshore cruising sail. Service expert Ridgely MacKenzie also explains how to make the most of our global network of service lofts.   READ MORE

INVENTORY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LIGHT AIR CRUISING Top Picks, New Additions, Rigging and Tuning Tips 📸 Amory Ross / North Sails Being prepared for whatever Mother Nature serves up is key to maximizing your cruising adventures. Our cruising experts share their inventory top pick, which sails to consider adding and light air rigging and tuning tricks. An all-purpose cruising gennaker is a great first step. It offers a broad range of horsepower and can be used for higher and lower angles off-wind. Cruising gennakers are great for both tight reaching and broad reaching. The Helix Furling Gennaker is North’s new option that is a reliable, top-down furling sail. The Helix Furling Gennaker is lighter weight and meant to be furled, providing easy, accessible horsepower that isn’t problematic. Most cruisers don’t sail upwind as often as they sail off-wind, which is why gennakers have become more popular and highly recommended as the perfect all-around sail choice. Code sails are another great inventory option for more experienced cruisers. Code Zeros and G Zeros offer an extensive amount of power, which a lot of cruisers don’t realize until they’ve sailed with one. The convenience of a full-batten mainsail outweighs the performance. It’s a quick option for boats with a lazy jack set up so at the end of your sailing day, you come in, simply let the halyard go and secure it to the boom. Enjoy your cocktails sooner! Full-batten mainsails also offer more support when it comes to sail shape. With standard cruising mainsails there is more time at the end of your day making sure your sail is put away properly. Keep in mind, your local North Sails service team can retro-fit any cruising mainsail with battens to help extend the life of your sail, improve sail shape, and make the derigging process quicker and easier. It’s standard to have reef points, especially in cruising sails, which will give more flexibility when it comes to reducing sail area which is key in long distance cruising, especially if weather is expected (or unexpected!). Foam luffs on genoas also aid with flying shape if you are not ready to add a spinnaker or gennaker to your inventory. Foam luffs have more side to side symmetry and can assist with flying shape, especially for DDW angles. There are an array of different sail options that can support cruisers of all kinds depending on their needs. Contact your local expert to get help deciding which options may be best for you.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by North Sails (@north_sails)   Upwind inventory top choices 3Di OCEAN is a great step up from traditional materials. It lasts longer, is lighter weight, has lower stretch, and provides more stability– which makes cruising more comfortable. NPC CROSS-CUT is the preferred dacron option for everyday cruising. NPC RADIAN would be our recommendation for in-mast furling system setups. When it comes to headsails, a 135% genoa is a great place to start. Keep in mind, no sails want or like to be furled, so 3Di OCEAN is the most robust product that will last the longest and withstand furling. Our Favorite Inventory Additions For cruisers willing to leave the comfort of the cockpit, a spinnaker snuffer is the way to go. They are easy to hoist and when it comes time to douse, you simply pull a line, the sock comes down, and it drops on deck. This can be set up too where the sock drops directly into the front hatch. If you are not up for going to the foredeck, that’s where the furler comes into play. Both options are affordable, but all depend on what you are willing to do and your set up. Furlers are also convenient when you want to leave the sail up for extended periods of time. Simply unfurl or furl whenever you want. External cables come into play depending on the furler you have and the sail type you choose. With North Helix Structured Luff, there is no external cable. Rig Settings and Tuning Moving the fairlead forward will allow for a more powerful sail shape. Halyard tension should be tighter in stronger wind and more sea state, looser in flatter water and lighter air. When it comes to weight placement, if you know you’ll be on the same tack for a long time, adjust things below deck accordingly. It’s good to accept a bit of heel, as this helps keep the sails powered up and keeps them full as the breeze dies off. Once you’re set up for speed, all you need to do is keep an eye on the instruments. Outhaul should be eased, as well as cunningham and vang which controls leech twist. Too much twist in lighter air conditions will de-power the boat. For downwind sail settings, you can float the tack when you are running. As the wind lightens up, you want the tack lower. Ease outhaul, cunningham, vang to control leech twist. You don’t want too much twist because that de-powers the boat Floating the tack is an option: Running in more breeze you can raise the tack up Light air day you want the tack a little lower than you normally would Attachment points for non-conventional rigs: Sometimes the headstay doesn’t go all the way to the bow, so we install a pad eye in front of the headstay and a free floating block. You can purchase a keeper that will keep the tack from floating from side to side. Acts as a bowsprit with a fixed tack point. Tack will sit just above the bow pulpit, 3-4 feet from the headsail and with two snap shackles in the back and the right lines leading back to the cockpit makes an affordable/ simple option. 📸 Amory Ross / North Sails READ MORE

HOW LONG DO 3Di SAILS LAST? North Sails expert Mark Bradford explains that 3Di sails last “longer than you might think” 📸 Cate Brown Most sailors shopping for a new 3Di sail ask, “how long will it last?” Based on years of record-keeping, I can honestly say that the competitive life of a 3Di sail is far superior to any other technology on the market. It’s also much better than 3DL, our previous molded technology. There are far too many variables to predict precisely how long a sail will last, but we now expect race sails to remain competitive for several seasons. That’s a significant change from a decade ago, and it makes perfect sense once you understand how 3Di sails are constructed. The biggest killer of sails is UV. 3Di sails contain zero Mylar (the main culprit of delamination, use environmentally stable thermo-set adhesive (as opposed to thermoplastic hot-melt) and have a UV protectant added to the outermost surface. They’ll stand up better to the sun than any other sail material. The surface might degrade a bit, especially in the tropics, but those top layers protect the basic structure. As a result, when older sails come into our loft for annual maintenance, we often have trouble finding any damage at all. One great example of 3Di’s extended life comes from the annual race from Sydney to Hobart. I sail on Black Jack, and before 3Di, we often carried a spare main in case we blew up the first one. Now we’re doing two or even three races with the exact same sail, all thanks to the longevity and reliability of 3Di compared to either 3DL or our competitor’s so-called high-performance options. Our customer’s buying habits have changed, too. Before 3Di, whenever a customer bought a new race boat, they’d buy three mains: inshore racing, offshore racing, and deliveries. If they took outstanding care of their inventory, they might get three years out of the offshore and delivery mains and one to two years out of the inshore main. But changing mainsails can be a day’s work for several people, so after seeing how fresh the VO65 3Di sails looked after at the end of the last two Volvo Ocean Races, some of the hundred-footer crews got savvy and delivered the boat home again with the race sail. When they realized the main looked exactly the same even after all those extra miles, that one-mainsail trend trickled down to the smaller race boats as well. Today, even our most particular racing customers with new boats are only ordering a single mainsail. So that’s the best vote of confidence we could imagine about how well this product lasts. And it’s also a lot less hassle for them because once they get the sails set up on their boat, they’re not tweaking and adjusting and switching one in for another and vice versa. They’re simply pulling up the sail, using it, and then putting it away. And 3Di isn’t limited to racing boats. In 2020, North Sails introduced 3Di Ocean, a full product line engineered to deliver the benefits of 3Di to the cruising community. For example, we used to tell offshore cruisers that Dacron sails would last for one circumnavigation. Now we tell them they could do two or three laps around the world with the same sail inventory, as long as they have them serviced at one of our worldwide lofts. Whether you race or cruise, your new 3Di sails will undoubtedly last longer than you think. And it will last longer than any of our competitors’ products. What you’ll experience is a greatly extended lifespan, the longevity of a stable sail shape, and fewer replacement sails less often. Yes, 3Di is a premium product and may initially be the more expensive option, but its cost of ownership over seasons is unmatched. For more details, contact your local North Sails expert today. 📸 Cate Brown READ MORE

LET’S TALK MOTH WITH TOM SLINGSBY, IAIN JENSEN & ROB GREENHALGH 2021 Moth Italian Nationals and Foiling Week Recap Having claimed victories at the 2021 Moth Italian Nationals and Foiling Week, both Jensen and Slingsby are at the top of their game in the class. Learn from this panel of Moth experts and look ahead to the upcoming World Championship in Malcesine, Italy. READ MORE

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE HELIX FURLING GENNAKER – PURPOSE-BUILT FOR CRUISING North expert Bob Meagher gives his first-hand experience and explains why you should consider adding this sail to your cruising inventory. I’ve been fortunate to serve hundreds of cruising multihull sailors in the past 20 years, often with downwind sails designed to eliminate the terrible feeling of performance loss when these boats bear away under mainsail and genoa. Apparent wind, boat speed, and the sense of freedom all plummet when the upwind sail plan just can’t make the boat go past a certain point, and you can almost hear the engine key whispering, “turn me!” Most owners have learned how cruising Code Zeros offer very convenient “ beam reaching” performance but require larger-than-zero asymmetrical spinnakers for sailing deeper angles. I was always happy to offer two sails to cover wind angles from close reach to broad reach/run. And while this is still the best choice for those wishing to have optimum performance over the greatest possible wind range (ie. long-distance cruisers), I’m honored to have been part of the North Sails development team for a new “single-sail” solution – the Helix Furling Gennaker. I’ve experienced the Helix Furling Gennaker on various catamarans, from high-performance cruising McConaghy 60 to a more traditional Lagoon 46. I have been thrilled to learn its benefits and satisfied with its inevitable limitations. At the dock, you’d think you’re looking at a Code Zero. It lives up, and furled, on the bowsprit or bow, ready to deploy. Looking more closely, you see a very tight roll in the top third, an area where other Code Zeros can roll too loosely. Unlike standard Code Zeros, North designed the Helix Furling Gennaker to roll from the top-down, not the bottom-up, eliminating a loose furl toward the head that tends to catch the wind and sometimes even shake loose in a big breeze. And once unrolled and sailing, other differences compared to a Code Zero become clear. A cruising Code Zero has a straight luff, supported by a thick (12mm – 19mm) cable in a sleeve up the luff, and a relatively straight leech, approximating a Genoa, but fuller. The Helix Furling Gennaker is cut more like an asymmetrical spinnaker, with a curved, forward-projecting luff and a rounder leech, resulting in a deeper sail, but one carefully designed to strike a balance. It has a very light, skinny, and flexible (8mm – 10mm) anti-torque cord running along the luff – but this cord has to carry only about half the load of an old-style luff cable. The sail itself features a structured luff to shoulder the other half of the load; allowing this lighter, smaller diameter cord to do a superior, trouble-free, job of top-down furling. When sailing closer to the wind, the halyard is tensioned tight like a Code Zero, enabling apparent wind angles of 70 degrees or a little better. The boat will perform exceptionally well when the sail is used like a traditional reacher (though the added shape in the sail does make it look a bit “knuckle-forward” when in Code Zero mode). It’s when you turn downwind that the real magic happens. Our goal was to make a sail that can point and perform like a Code Zero, and furls easily like a Zero – but with a significantly deeper downwind range. Bear off with the sail’s luff pulled tight and the sail suffers from the exact thing Code Zeros do: it ends up blanketed by the mainsail, and power is lost. But this isn’t a straight-luffed Code Zero – it’s an especially agile Gennaker, whose superpower activates when easing the halyard and sheet. Easing the halyard, so the sail takes its “spinnaker” shape, transforms the luff into a large, positive curve, deepening the center of the sail. Easing the sheet simultaneously allows the whole sail to rotate to windward, capturing more breeze, undisturbed by the mainsail. What was previously a beam-reacher just became a powerful broad reaching sail. If you want to sail even deeper on a cat, you can move the furled sail to a pad-eye on the windward hull and unroll it there, gaining another 10-12 feet of windward projection. We’ve sailed deep and stable to 125-130 degrees apparent wind angle (about 160 degrees true wind angle) in 18 knots of true wind speed. We didn’t need to sail above 90 degrees AWA in that much breeze because at that angle and higher, the main and genoa drive the boat just fine. When sailing deep with the halyard eased, the head will have a mild tendency to move around a bit. We experimented with achieving the same luff projection by allowing the tack to raise, but this meant allowing the furler itself to rise to maintain furling ability. It doesn’t make sense to have the furling unit bounce around two to three feet up in the air. Furling the sail does require a bit more attention than furling a cruising Code Zero. The thumb-thick cable in a code zero is always pretty tight, and it’s a skinny sail without much roach in the back, so furling a Zero can be almost as simple as a genoa (as long as you take care to not let it get too loose up top). With the Helix Furling Gennaker, the halyard should be re-hoisted fully, if it had been eased for broader angle sailing. A firmer halyard/cord transmits torque to the head better, and even more critically, a loose cord could be damaged if it kinks at the bottom when furling. Simple advice: get it tight before starting the furl. With larger sails of this type an electric winch is almost mandatory – not because there’s extreme load on the furling line, but due to the much greater number of rotations needed to furl a top-down system versus a bottom-up. Finally, unlike a straight or hollow-leech code zero, there’s more area toward the leech of a Helix Furling Gennaker, so you will want to keep an eye on the leech to ensure it furls without folding under or over on the way into the roll. If it does, stop furling and trim a bit of sheet — it will unwind some of the sail, and you can ease it back and try again. Learning the relative sheet tension to use when furling takes a time or two, but it’s pretty straightforward. And remember, if you’re furling in a hurry, ignore “neat and tidy” and just roll it up if you need to get the sail away. By far, the most gratifying successes of these sails came after I left the boat. All these owners sail with few crew – usually it’s just a couple enjoying their retirement, not interested in hassle. Following up with each of my clients some weeks later, I was thrilled to hear that the sails worked as well for them as they had during our trials. They remembered to tighten the luff before furling, had determined the ideal sheet tension when rolling the sail in, and were already playing with relative luff tension at various points of sail to get the most out of the sail. For each, gone are the days of struggling to get a large asymmetrical up out of a bow locker, or going forward in too much breeze to struggle with a snuffer sleeve on a pitching deck. Instead, the Helix Furling Gennaker offers a single-sail, from-the-cockpit solution, for sailors wanting more power. This is a terrific new sail type for a wide array of different boats around the world. READ MORE

2021 IC37 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Pacific Yankee Takes the Title 📸 Melges Performance Sailboats / Felipe Juncadella / UP TOP MEDIA Three days of offshore buoy racing tested IC37 competitors at the 2021 National Championships, and the last race of the event determined who would take home this year’s National title. Drew Freides and Bill Ruh’s Pacific Yankee made only one major mistake (race 6, an OCS) and were the swiftest boat out there, racking up only 15 total points after seven races and one discard. Skipper Drew Freides says they pride themselves on having a really good team. “We’ve got the crew work down pretty well. But it’s more of shifting gears and always keeping the boat going fast . I don’t think we’re faster than anybody, but we’re better at getting up to top speed more quickly.” John Brim’s Rima improved each day which put them in second overall with 22 points. John commented, “This is our first full season with a steady crew, and we feel like we’re learning how to sail the boat.” Jay Cross, Ben Kinney, and Hannah Swett’s Members Only showed great speed and perseverance, taking third overall with 30 points. In fourth was team Sertl on Das Blau Max, with the most consistent scoreline of all teams, throwing out an 8th place with a total of 35 points. Close behind with 39 points was Peter McClellan’s Gamecock. 📸 Morgan Kinney / IC37 Class Association Like all one designs, time in the boat was vital. All boats in the IC37 fleet are set up identically, so it’s up to the crew to adapt to changing conditions and how that affects each role. Here are some tips to help you at your next event: Communicating boat speed out of tacks. The main trimmer can communicate this to the crew so they know when the boat is up to full speed. This helps the helmsman know when to put the bow down, and allows the runner and the jib trimmers to coordinate trimming efforts. This is not only crucial to starts but can be big in port/starboard crossing situations. Get familiar with your mast settings. Adjusting the mast shims is crucial for maintaining boat speed and set up as conditions change. Depending on how much power you’ll need and the wind speed you add or remove the mast shims which control shroud tension and headstay. If the headstay tension isn’t right you’ll have a hard time going upwind at full speed. Boat Handling & Crew Communication. From the beginning of the race to the end, there should be constant conversation about what is happening. Mainsail trimmer communicates to the runner trimmer when more power (or less) is needed. Jib trimmers are listening in, making sure they can adjust leads if needed for more power in the foot, and where they are as far as trim angle with where the leech hits the spreaders. Designating one person to communicate crew weight downwind with wave state was huge and big gains were made on jibes and working up and down on the waves. Congratulations to Chris Culver’s Blazer II for qualifying for the NYYC Invitational Cup which will take place later this year. Big thanks to Moose McClintock, IC37 fleet coach. His support for the class and sailors has been above and beyond. The daily debriefs have been helpful, and the feedback he’s provided to teams on the water has helped elevate the competition and contribute to the class’s success. FULL RESULTS 📸 Melges Performance Sailboats / Beigel Sailing Media READ MORE

FULL-BATTEN VS. STANDARD Two Great Mainsail Options For Different Cruising Needs 📸 Amory Ross For North Sails Cruising Mainsails, full-battens or standard battens each provide different cruising benefits. Here’s a summary of the differences to help you understand which sail type is best for you. First, what’s the difference? Battens in a sail support the area of fabric located behind the straight line between the head and clew, called the “roach.” Without support, this area would flap loosely like a flag (except where the shape is self-supporting at deeper sailing angles). On a full-batten mainsail, all the battens run the entire width of the sail, from leech to luff, usually parallel to the boom. Partial battens just run a few feet in from the leech, typically perpendicular to the straight line between the head and the clew. Benefits of Full-Batten Mainsails North Sails full-batten mainsails provide smooth performance and easy handling for sails with larger roaches. Full-length battens help reduce the flogging of a luffing sail that can damage its fibers and fittings and maintain the designed sail shape. They can also make the sail easier to stack on the boom or into a sail cradle, benefiting shorthanded cruisers. Multihulls and other boats without backstays almost always use large-roached, fully-battened mainsails for the extra power they provide. Benefits of Standard Cruising Mainsails with Partial Battens As mainsails pull forward into the mast, compression loads at the forward ends of full-battens increase friction between their mast cars and the mast or track. Without low-friction or ball-bearing cars, this friction can be difficult to overcome on larger boats that may have trouble lowering the mainsail if not directly head-to-wind. If your boat has a backstay and there’s no room for the added area enabled by full- battens, full-battens may be an unnecessary expense as partial battens can easily support smaller roaches. If you’re a person who enjoys tweaking your sail shape with an adjustable outhaul, partial battens can give you more direct control over the sail shape in the bottom third of the sail. 📸 Amory Ross Tapered Battens Sails are three-dimensional wings designed to create lift that propels the boat forward, with the deepest part of their curves (the “draft”) in the forward third of the sail and the back third designed much flatter. As sails age and stretch, the draft moves aft, and the back of the sail gets rounder and more profound, making the airfoil “engine” less efficient. In addition, non-tapered full-battens bend symmetrically – push the two ends together, and you’ll see. This symmetrical curve in a sail immediately counteracts the draft-forward sail design, moving the draft aft slightly and more so as the sail loses its stretch resistance over time. Tapered battens are stiffer in the back and bendier in the front, producing a bend similar to the draft-forward sail design. North Sails matches the bend profile of full-battens to the designed shape of the sail, supporting the airfoil instead of altering it, maintaining sail efficiency over time. Even partially-battened sails can benefit from tapered leech battens because the flexible tip eliminates the “hinge” effect. The sail can fold vertically on a line along the front of each partial batten pocket, weakening the fabric with repeated flexing at these points. What’s Required for Full-Batten Mainsail Setups? Unless your boat is smaller (under 30 feet or so), you’ll need a low-friction slide at the front of each full-batten that fits into the mast or onto a mast track for the full-batten mainsail system to work effectively. Your North Sails expert can help you make sure that you’ve got what you need. Full-batten mainsails often require chafe protection on the pockets, especially if your boat has swept-back spreaders or shrouds that rub against the sail on the leeward side. North Sails has a great product line with durable material to protect against this. Reefing in a big breeze can be challenging when your sail is pressed against the rig and sideloaded on the mast. Ask your North Sails expert about the best methods for reducing sail area, so you can be prepared when the time calls for it. 📸 Amory Ross Why Full-Battens? Full-batten mainsails enable more roach on your sail plan, which is why multihulls use this type. As smaller self-tacking jibs become more popular, more mainsail power is needed. Full-batten mainsails are great for shorthanded sailing and boats equipped with custom luff systems, single-line reefing, and lazy jacks or quick covers. Battens in Other Sail Types The benefits of full and partial battens extend beyond conventional mainsails. For example, in-mast furling mainsails can benefit from flatter leeches and slightly more sail area with partial or full-battens designed parallel to the luff that rolls into the mast. However, this requires an understanding of their unique usage parameters in these sails. Similarly, vertical battens in self-tacking furling jibs, growing in popularity with today’s boat designs, can help align the airflow on the leeward side of the mainsail and provide more power. Square-top mainsails on boats without backstays, usually multihulls, use a diagonal gaff batten at the head to support the flat edge aloft. However, headboard systems are required to allow the gaff batten to collapse onto the flaked sail when lowered. Battens can even be used to add area to the foot of a jib or genoa when the desire for sail area exceeds the incremental maintenance requirements this adds over time. How to Choose? Like everything on a boat, the added benefit comes with added cost, so weigh the advantages of full-battens against their incremental cost. While large-reached sails almost always require full-battens, moderate-roach sails can split the benefits and costs by making only the top one or two battens full and the lower ones partial. This reduces car friction and expense, along with some flaking ease, while protecting the top of the sail against flogging when twisted off on a windy day. As always, your North Sails expert can make recommendations after discussing your sailing plans and help you determine how you can enjoy your boat more.   REQUEST A QUOTE TALK TO AN EXPERT LEARN MORE   📸Amory Ross READ MORE

Ken Read dives into sprint sailing, and how to best manage what little time you have to the finish line.  📸 Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team / The Ocean Race First of all, you can really break sailing into three categories: around the buoys or laid marks, sprint sailing, and full blown offshore distance sailing. Around the buoys sailing is everything from your dinghy sailing, weeknight Beer Can racing, TP52 events or America’s Cup. Full blown offshore events are a minimum of three days, in the ocean, mostly away from land. Events like the Ocean Race Europe are classified as “sprint sailing.” But what exactly is sprint sailing and how is it different from the other type of sailing we do? For a lot of us, it’s a fine line between sprint sailing and offshore sailing. So I’ll classify sprint sailing as typically 1-3 days, around a lot of headlands and other natural features that you wouldn’t find in the middle of the ocean. With sprint sailing you have to manage your time and you have to tweak a crew to really be able to withstand lack of sleep. It’s all about not losing a meter when the opportunity comes and gaining a meter when the opportunity presents itself. In this type of sailing, very often races are won and lost by very small distances. 📸 Sailing Poland / The Ocean Race I personally think that sprint sailing is as hard or in some ways harder than full blown distance racing. And the reason is simple: You can’t really find your rhythm. You can’t find a good watch pattern and sleep pattern so you can replenish your batteries. In these short races, often you do it with very, very little sleep. And when the sleep that comes, it comes due to true exhaustion. Therefore, as soon as you start to wake from your sleep, you’re panicked that you’ve missed something really important because, frankly, in sprint sailing, those little things are really important. Building a crew around sprint sailing is probably a little different as well. In our last article here, we talked about the need for fixing things and having a crew who is very adaptable to several different types of boat maintenance or types of jobs on board a boat. Well, in sprint sailing, you really can’t afford to slow down and fix things. So you’re either full bore, 100% or you’re not. Which makes it even more about speed and trimming and navigation than your typical offshore racing. Finally , sprint sailing is reliant on navigation and often local knowledge; how and when to use the shoreline, how and when to use sea breeze, how and when to get away from shorelines and sea breeze. Local knowledge might affect a race course too, especially around headlands. And then of course, current and how current affects the race course. Because again, you’re going around places where current is probably far more of an opportunity or deterrent than what it would be in the middle of the ocean. 📸 11th Hour Racing Team / The Ocean Race I personally think it is really hard and that’s why I love it so much. The double handed sailing that I did this past summer on Alchemist was classic sprint sailing, where you really just couldn’t sleep. Not only were you under manned onboard the boat, but the race was going to be short enough that any meter you could gain was a good meter. For the Ocean Race Europe, my final thought is that quite a few of these teams are using this event as a try out for the main event next year—around the world. This sprint sailing is a bit of a teaser for what an individual sailor or entire team is like on board the boat. With a three day race, you start to get a good feel about what a crew person is going to be like for the long haul, out in the middle of the ocean when the chips are down or when things are good. And it’s a great opportunity for the skippers and team leaders of these programs to get a feel for who is good at what. However, they have to remember that this is still a sprint and that it is a different world once you get out, offshore, in a 20-plus day leg. I guess at the end of the day, a little bit of an interview, no matter how short the time may be on board the boat, is better than nothing. Linked Out / The Ocean Race READ MORE

NPL TOUR Day Sailing vs. Coastal vs. Bluewater One of the many great things about sailing is the ability to choose how long you want to be out on the boat. Day sailors prefer to sleep on dry land, while coastal cruisers might go off for a weekend or even longer. Bluewater sailors like to get away from land altogether, some for as long as they can. Free time and sailing experience do play a big role in determining the type of sailing you do; often, beginners start off as day sailors and increase their time on the boat as their skills improve. Though a wide variety of sailboats could be adapted to fit any of these time-based sailing specialties, some will obviously be better qualified than others for each one—especially if you’re looking to head offshore. The same is true of your sail inventory. For maximum enjoyment, it’s important that both boat and sails match the time frame you choose, which is why the North Sails cruising experts put together the following summary of what you’ll need for each type of sailing adventure. Best Equipment for Day Sailing Cruising daysailers are typically 25-40 feet long, though there are some purpose-built models as big as 50 feet. Day sailing is a great starting point, because it prioritizes a relaxed time on the water without the added challenges of darkness or bad weather. Most daysailers have a fairly simple sail plan that includes a mainsail and jib or genoa. These can be built of NPC Cross-Cut materials. (If your boat is one of the recent performance daysailer designs, you may want to step up to 3Di OCEAN. Struggling with sail handling? Consider adding a furling system for jib, main, or both. NPC CROSS-CUT Best Equipment for Coastal Cruising Coastal cruising boats need enough cabin space for the crew to sleep comfortably and have bad-weather shelter, so they are generally in the 30-55 foot range. Both boat and sailors need to be ready for a wider range of weather conditions, as well as the occasional after-dark arrival, and both increase the focus on efficient sail handling systems. You’ll also need a sail inventory that can handle winds over 25 knots. We have several sail materials that match this type of sailing, including NPC CROSS-CUT or Radian, NPL TOUR, and 3Di OCEAN. The key is to match the sails to your boat and preferred type of sailing. If you’re heading south for the winter, Radian will provide the best combination of longevity, durability, and ability to handle high heat and UV. For performance cruisers, 3Di Ocean is a great fit. Your local North expert can help determine which materials would best match your boat and cruising plans. 3Di ENDURANCE, the racer/cruiser crossover. Best Equipment for Bluewater Sailing Bluewater boats and crews will sail away from the conveniences (and stresses) of shore life for many days at a time, so they need to be fully self-sufficient. Purpose-built bluewater cruisers are generally larger than 40 feet, with sail-handling systems designed to handle any kind of weather. For a bluewater sail inventory the priority is durability, because despite the worldwide coverage of North Sails lofts, there’s no off-season—repairs will always slow down the next voyage. UV is also a big concern. Dyneema has very high strength and toughness, and our NPL TOUR ULTRA paneled sails have been setting the bluewater standard for many years. 3Di ENDURANCE is a great crossover option that provides both offshore durability for cruising and high-level racing performance. 3Di OCEAN will provide performance without sacrificing durability, which is the best option for cruising sailors. To figure out the best materials that will help you achieve your bluewater dreams, talk to your local North expert. Bottom line– no matter what upwind sails you choose, you will not be disappointed. 3Di OCEAN Easier sailing Whether you’re a first-time day sailor or a seasoned offshore cruiser, there are many innovations that will help make sail-handling easier. Mainsail luff track systems, inner forestays for heavy weather jibs, and small bowsprits for setting downwind sails are all increasingly common in harbors and marinas around the world, because they reduce the time and aggravation in changing sails. For day sailing and coastal cruising, furling jibs are standard. More and more boats are adding furling or full-batten mainsails as well. Another innovation that can help ease mainsail stowage is the Quickcover. As the name suggests, it’s a cover that’s always right there when you need it—and that means a longer lasting sail, because you won’t forget or find it too much trouble to protect your investment from UV. Another addition that will help your downwind enjoyment is a cruising gennaker, along with a snuffer to make it easier to set and douse. Helix Furling Gennaker Increasing your boat’s possibilities If you are a day sailor who aspires to coastal cruising, another important upgrade would be to add an inner forestay for a second jib. Another great addition is the Helix Furling Gennaker. It combines the power of an asymmetric spinnaker with the convenience of a Code Zero. Hoist it once and you have an easy-to-fly sail that will take you to that next harbor fast, even when your apparent wind angle is too far aft for your Code Zero reacher. Plus, this new gennaker is top-down furling, giving you a tight, neat furl that protects the sail.This addition will add versatility to your sail plan and allow you to carry less sails onboard. If you are a coastal sailor who aspires to head offshore, there are several sail upgrades we recommend. You’ll definitely need a heavy weather jib, a storm jib, 3 reefs in your mainsail, and at least one versatile downwind sail that can be furled. Reefing the main will be easier if you add mainsail luff tracks and cars. For longer-distance downwind cruising, we recommend either a Tradewind or a Helix code sail on a furler. Sailing is a lifestyle, and many of our customers who started out as beginner day sailers are now off on life adventures, cruising the world. Whether you’re keen to do more day sailing, go off on a coastal cruise, or head offshore to bluewater, the most important key to an enjoyable cruise is to have the right boat—and the sail inventory of your dreams.   FIND A CRUISING EXPERT REQUEST A QUOTE   Tradewind READ MORE