NORTH SAILS BLOG

The 2016 ONE Regatta (Offshore New England Championships) took place in late August out of Marblehead, MA. 13 J/105s competed as a one design fleet, and Dave Nelson’s team on Got Qi won the ten race series by posting only one finish out of the top four. We caught up with Dave after the event. What conditions did you encounter at this event? We saw fairly light conditions on day 1 of the regatta, probably around 5-10 knots. On days 2 and 3 we saw better wind, ranging from 8 – 15 knots. How prepared were you and your team and the boat? The core of the team (myself, owner Matt Pike, Dennis Bell, and Bill Collins) have been sailing the boat every Wednesday night in Hingham for the past eight years. We sail with spinnakers in a very competitive fleet in a challenging venue (lots of current, islands, shifty winds). Over the years, we have been able to perfect our boat handling to the point where we don’t have to think about it. Just prior to the event we hauled the boat to make sure the bottom was clean. We have black bottom paint and it is difficult for the diver to see where he has cleaned. I’m glad we did this because there were a couple of areas that the diver had missed, on the bottom of the keel and the bottom of the rudder (big clumps of grass growing off the keel and rudder). What was the biggest contributor to your success in winning this regatta? We had consistently good starts at or near the favored end. After that, our boat speed kept us in the hunt even when the wind didn’t quite go our way. We had one bad start and rounded the windward mark in twelfth, but were able to claw back to a fourth. Lastly, our team work and boat handling never cost us a place in any race. We heard from your competitors that you were quite quick; can you give us some insight on why you guys were so fast? We purchased a North Light Air Jib and a North spinnaker just prior to the event, and we think this was a big factor in our boat speed. We had used the sails in only one PHRF race before, so we were a little nervous about what to expect. Upwind the light air jib gave us the punch we needed to get through the Marblehead chop. Downwind, the new spinnaker really rotated to windward nicely, allowing us to sail low and fast. Also I think the light air design was the right sail for this regatta. There were other boats with all purpose jibs and I know of at least one competitor that switched from the AP to the light air sail. The J/105 class now allows for each boat to carry two jibs, so picking the right jib for the conditions is becoming a factor in the boat set-up decision making process. Can you let us know how you and your team were setting the boat up? I always check the morning of the first day to make sure the rig is at the tuning guide’s base setting. We adjust from there based on the wind conditions. On days 1 and 2 we sailed at the light air rig setting (0 – 6 knots). On day 2 the wind came up over 6 knots and we talked about tightening to the next setting, but decided against this since we felt fast. On Day 3 we tightened up to 7-12, one below the base, for the last race of the day. I’d say we were usually one setting looser than what the tuning guide called for. Can you give us three things that you and your team would do in making your boat go fast? Because the jib was new to us, we were constantly evaluating the jib car setting and in the end we set it a little further forward than what the tuning guide specified. The crew was constantly adjusting sails, while giving feedback to the skipper and trimmer about our relative speed and point. We were very conscious about where the crew was placed, especially downwind; we made sure the crew was grouped together and forward, heeling the boat to windward once the wind conditions made this feasible. Tell us about your team and their crew positions. All of the team members have college sailing experience and now sail a variety of other one design and PHRF boats. We have a very deep team. Dave Nelson, Skipper Matt Pike (owner), Pit/Jib Trimmer Tom Robinson, Mainsheet/Tactician Ken Delpapa, Spinnaker Trimmer Dennis Bell, Bow Bill Collins, mid bow (halyard jumper/sewer) As the skipper, can you tell us how you interact with the crew during a race? Upwind, I have a fairly constant flow of information with the tactician and the jib trimmer about boat speed and positioning on the race course. Downwind, I am in constant communication with the spinnaker trimmer about speed and pressure. When the boat speed or pressure is up, we sail deeper; when the speed or pressure is less, we head up. Lastly, what are some things you and your team would like to work on for future events? I want to try going wing and wing with the asymmetric spinnaker. We haven’t yet been able to practice this enough to try it in a race. READ MORE

HOW TO HANDLE A SQUALL Anticipate The Worst To Be Prepared A summer storm can hit with stunning suddenness, turning a languid late afternoon into a trial. While often short-lived, a squall’s sudden arrival requires a quick response. Squall Preparation Tips A little preparation goes a long way. Here are some things to do when you first realize a squall’s coming. Don lifejackets and harnesses (if you don’t wear them habitually). Have foul weather gear at hand. Clear loose gear from the deck. Close any open ports, prepare the hatch boards, and secure loose gear below. Plot your position by every means available. Determine where nearby hazards and safe water lie. If time allows, head for port, but beware: The worst place to be when a squall hits is almost in, caught in a constrained space amidst a crowd of boats all dashing for home. Certainly the preferred place to be is secured in your berth or mooring. The next best place is in open water, away from other boats. Prepare to shorten sail. One approach is to take a deep reef in the main at the first hint of strong wind, and then to roll the jib completely with the first gust. Make sure the jib reefing line is ready to go, with clean wraps on the furling drum. When the squall hits, ideally you’ll already be dressed in full foul weather gear and harnessed to the boat, with the boat buttoned up. The boat will hopefully be under reduced sail, with plenty of sea room. Two more squall tips: Practice your squall drill in benign weather to see how quickly you can shorten sail. Watch the weather and scan the horizon regularly, even on sultry summer days, so you won’t be caught off guard. How to Handle a Broach If you are caught with too much sail in a sudden squall, then the boat may broach (be laid over on its side by the wind) before you can shorten sail. It can take many eternal minutes to bring the boat back upright, and how you respond may affect your safety. First, hold on, and take your time. Though there is much sound and fury, there is not as much danger as it might seem—as long as everyone stays aboard. The greatest danger for the crew on deck is falling across dramatically heeling decks. For those below, the dangers are being thrown across the cabin and being pelted with unsecured equipment. To reduce the heel, you will need to ease sheets. The jib sheet may be difficult to get to, as the winch may be awash to leeward. Likewise, the mainsheet will be heavily loaded and difficult to release. Even with the mainsheet eased the boat may not come back upright if the boom hits the water, preventing the sheet from running out. Easing the boom vang will help. As the boat comes upright beware the flogging sheets, which can whip with remarkable force. Once you’ve shortened sail, survey the boat (on deck and below) for any gear that may have fallen or shaken loose. READ MORE

If the angle of the downwind leg requires an immediate jibe, you’ll need to learn how to do a jibe set. Jibe sets are more difficult than bear away sets, because they require carefully coordinated crew work. Also, you must wait until after the jibe to set the pole. Since the pole helps the spinnaker fill by holding it away from the boat and other sails, there are several details critical to a successful jibe set Many crew have two tasks in the process, so practice is vital. To keep it simple, we’ll assume we’re approaching the mark on starboard, bearing away, and jibing to sail the next leg on a port broad reach. Set Up (during final approach) Hook up the spinnaker on the starboard side, as far forward as possible. Set up the pole on the port side of the forestay—since it will be used once you jibe to port—with topping lift, downhaul, and guy in place. Make sure the guy is not fouled. The topping lift can be rigged under the jib sheets. (Alternatively, if it is long enough, it can be rigged outboard of the jib to port.) As you round the mark and bear away, start the hoist. At the same time, pull the sheet (on the starboard side) just far enough to separate the spinnaker clews. Next, jibe. Make sure you jibe the jib and ease out the old (port) jib sheet; then raise the spinnaker pole. Once the pole is up, trim the guy square with the wind. As soon the spinnaker is fully hoisted, trim the sheet and drop the jib. Variations No Pole You can execute a jibe set without rigging a pole. Sometimes it is faster and easier this way, particularly if the decision to jibe set was a late one, and you don’t have time to make sure the pole is hooked up cleanly. In this variation the foredeck crew acts as the pole, hand holding the guy outboard until the mast crew can hook up and set the pole. This is not recommended in heavy air. Tack Set Like jibe sets, tack sets do not allow complete preparation before the set. When tacking right at the mark, the spinnaker pole cannot be set until the tack is complete. Prepare the spinnaker as usual, and hook up the pole but do not raise it. As you round the mark, raise the pole and hoist the spinnaker simultaneously. Have the foredeck crew lift the pole while the guy trimmer tails the topping lift. Tension on the guy will prevent the pole from going up, so do not pull the guy until the pole is set. Meanwhile, the mast crew can jump the halyard while the pit crew tails. Building speed with the main and jib as you hoist the spinnaker is critical to a successful tack set. Proper trim can prevent you being passed by boats carrying a full head of steam into the mark. READ MORE

It happens almost without words. As the puff hits, Heidi and Jeff move off the cabin top to the rail. Tom trims back on the guy and David eases the spinnaker sheet. Jack eases the main. The boat bears off slightly and accelerates. As the puff fades, Heidi and Jeff slide inboard, the pole goes forward, and the spinnaker sheet is trimmed. The main comes in. The boat heads up and carries speed. Ron, at the helm, sits nearly motionless, the wheel moving in his hand as the crew steer the boat with weight and trim. Gradually we pull away from the other 37 footers, lower and faster down the run. You can use crew weight and sail trim to steer any boat downwind. Steering with weight and sails is not just for dinghy sailors; it is fast in big boats too. The less you use the rudder to steer, the faster you will be. Here’s how it works: To Bear Off In moderate winds, we can sail lower in puffs and still keep target speeds. Bearing off will also help us stay in the puff longer. To bear off, move crew weight to windward and rotate the spinnaker to windward. Ease the spinnaker sheet in any puff, because the puff will shift the apparent wind angle aft. Trim back on the guy as the sheet is eased to keep proper spinnaker shape and to rotate the spinnaker to windward. Ease the main to eliminate weather helm. You will need to move some crew weight to windward just to counter the heeling forces of the puff. It will take an additional increment of crew weight to actually help the boat bear off. To Head Up As the puff fades it is best to head up to keep apparent wind speed and to sail the new target angle. As the boat slows down, you will no longer be able to sail as low as you could in the puff. To head up, trim the spinnaker sheet and ease the guy. Trim the main and move crew weight forward and to leeward. The next time you are steering downwind in moderate air, stop steering. Use your crew weight and trim to steer the boat. You’ll steer faster when you are not steering downwind. READ MORE

PERFECT SPINNAKER JIBES Two-time World Champion Will Welles says that no matter how big your boat and crew, the key to perfect jibes is practice, practice, practice. There are two basic jibing techniques: End-for-end jibes for smaller boats and dip-pole jibes for larger boats. Photo Chris Howell Our divide and conquer approach provides a good framework for analyzing jibes. The job of the trim team—driving and trimming through the jibe—changes little from one technique to the other, while the foredeck squad’s job—the mechanics of jibing the pole—changes significantly. The foredeck team often gets the brunt of the blame when problems occur but, more often than not, it is the work of the trim team that makes or breaks a jibe. Regardless of method, practice is a key ingredient to develop the coordinated effort that lies behind any smooth jibe. We’ll look first at the driver’s and trimmers’ functions, and then address the two different techniques on the foredeck. Driving and Trimming through Jibes The driver must pace his turn to the crew work, while the crew must rotate the spinnaker and free fly it as the boat turns. This means trimming the (old) guy and easing the (old) sheet as the boat turns downwind. Here’s how to help make the coordination as smooth as possible. Helm Make a smooth turn from broad reach to broad reach. The turn must match the trim as the spinnaker is rotated around the boat. Do not hold the boat dead downwind. Stay on a broad reach on one jibe, and then turn smoothly to a broad reach on the other jibe as you pull the main across. Avoid centering the main and avoid a dead downwind course. Keep the air flowing across the spinnaker. Trimmer(s) As the boat turns from broad reach on one tack to broad reach on the other, your goal is to rotate the spinnaker around the boat as the boat turns to keep the spinnaker on the downwind side. This means trimming the guy and easing the sheet as the boat turns downwind. It is best to trim too far and over-rotate the spinnaker, then correct your trim. Why does the spinnaker collapse every time? When the spinnaker collapses in the middle of a jibe, it usually means the rotation did not stay ahead of the turn. Either the trimmers trimmed too slow, or the driver turned too fast. It usually depends on who you ask. When the guys in back can’t decide which, they compromise, and both blame the bow crew. Don’t Do This Often you will hear that the helm should “Keep the spinnaker in front of the boat” and “Steer to keep the boat under the spinnaker.” These suggestions are misleading, because you don’t necessarily want the spinnaker in front of the boat; you really want to keep the spinnaker on the downwind side of the boat. The only time the spinnaker should be in front of the boat is when you are dead downwind. Even more dangerous is the common advice to “Hold the boat dead downwind” while you jibe. In a dead downwind position, air circulates behind the main and can cause wraps in the spinnaker. Sailing dead downwind will also induce the boat to roll, making steering and crew work very difficult. In heavy air sailing, steering a course dead downwind can lead to a broach. Jibing Practice Start your practice without the pole, free flying the spinnaker. The goal is to complete the jibe without the sail collapsing. As the driver turns from broad reach to broad reach, the trimmer rotates the spinnaker to keep it flying. Trim both sheet and guy if the sail gets too far away from the boat; ease both if the spinnaker is strapped too tight to fill. Keep the spinnaker downwind of the boat, and keep it full. The key to successful jibes is coordinating the trim and the turn. Once you do that, it matters little what happens on the bow. Don’t forget to over-rotate It bears repeating: To keep the spinnaker full as you jibe, over-rotate the spinnaker to the new leeward side. This lets airflow re-establish luff to leech as the driver turns smoothly to the new broad reach. Jibes with the pole End-for-End Jibes The fastest and easiest jibe for boats without large numbers of crew is the end for end jibe. Once the helm starts to turn the boat downwind, remove the inboard end from the mast and the outboard end from the old sheet. As the mainsail crosses centerline, connect the old inboard end to the new spinnaker sheet and push it outboard until the new inboard end can be connected to the mast. A shout of “made” will alert the helm and trimmer that the pole is hooked up on the new jibe. If you can’t get the inboard end on the mast, ask for the guy to be eased. The trimmer should not square back the guy until you’ve said “made.” This technique depends as much on quickness as it does on strength. With good technique, and a little cooperation from the back of the boat, end for end jibes are pretty straightforward. Twings (used to choke down the spinnaker sheet to a lead block on the midship rail) are often helpful during end for end jibes. The twing is a line with a block on one end. The spinnaker sheet is lead through the block. One twing is rigged to each sheet. The windward twing is choked down to the rail to improve the working angle of the guy. The leeward twing is left free or trimmed down part way to create a proper sheet lead. During jibes, both twings can be snugged down to control the spinnaker and keep the guy within easy reach. Dip Pole Jibes Larger boats with unmanageable spinnaker poles must resort to dip pole jibes. A proper dip pole jibe requires two sets of spinnaker sheets and guys. When sailing under spinnaker the leeward sheet and windward guy are working, while the leeward guy and windward sheet are lazy. The spinnaker pole is rigged with an internal control so the outboard end can be released from the guy by a crew member working at the mast. During a dip pole jibe, the end of the pole attached to the mast remains in place, while the outboard end is “dipped” to clear the forestay as it swings from one side to the other. On the way through, the foredeck crew removes the old guy, inserts the new lazy guy into the pole end, and yells “made,” indicating that the pole can be hoisted to the new side. READ MORE

SETTING THE SPINNAKER How to Accomplish the Perfect Spinnaker Set Nothing takes as much teamwork and practice as spinnaker handling. Here we’ll cover the skills and techniques needed to handle and control conventional spinnakers, set from poles. Throughout the discussion the ‘Divide and Conquer’ approach to boat handling will be central: one team sails the boat as fast as possible with the sails you’ve got, while the other team handles the mechanics of the set, jibe, or douse. Spinnaker Sheets High tech line is so strong and light that the limiting factor is the ability to grip the stuff. For boats with double sheets and guys, attach both lines to a single shackle. The guy is so light you won’t have to concern yourself with dropping it off in light air, and you’ll save the weight of a second shackle. (The guy should have an eye splice in the end. Cow hitch it on to the shackle. And don’t fret about what to do with the money you save buying only one set of shackles rather than two. The high tech line will absorb all the extraneous funds.) Spinnaker Sets A trouble-free spinnaker set starts with careful packing and proper hook up. Most spinnakers can be packed by running the luff tapes to make sure the sail is not twisted as it is packed into the turtle. Large spinnakers and heavy air spinnakers can be set in stops that keep the spinnaker from filling before it is fully hoisted. Regardless of how the spinnaker is packed, the head and two clews should be secured at the top of the turtle. Before each hoist check and recheck to make sure the halyard and sheets are not twisted or fouled. Make sure sure your tack line is on top of the spinnaker sheets, for inside jibes. Tack goes under the sheets for an outside jibe, or blow-through jibe. These are most common on grand prix style boats. Bear Away Set A bear away set is the simplest style of spinnaker set. You raise the pole as you approach the mark close-hauled, bear away to a reach, and hoist. For asymmetrical boats, pre-feed the tack line. You can tack at the mark for a bear away set, or simply bear away when you are at the mark. On most boats the sail can be hoisted from the forward hatch. Alternately the sail can be set from the leeward rail, forward of the shrouds, or from the companionway. Do not hoist from the bow; that moves too much crew and equipment weight forward. Setting from the forward hatch has several advantages. First, the sheet and guy can be hooked up prior to the race, leaving only the halyard to set just before hoisting. Second, in rough weather a sail attached to the leeward rail might wash out of the bag. If you prefer to hoist from the bag even in rough weather, hook the bag in the middle of the foredeck rather than on the rail. Pre-Rig (Before Racing) Plan your first set prior to the start of the race. Position the spinnaker sheets and halyard to the appropriate side for the hoist, and attach the sheet and guy if you plan to hoist from the hatch. For a hatch hoist hook the guy to the tack, and attach the sheet shackle to both the clew and the head. Yep. (We’ll explain why in a moment.) To pre-rig the pole, attach the guy, topping lift, and downhaul/foreguy to the outboard end. The inboard end can be attached to the mast track if the track runs all the way to the deck (so it doesn’t interfere with the jib in tacks). Otherwise, attach the pole to the shrouds. Pre-rigging the guy simply means setting the guy through the pole jaw, making sure it is not twisted or macraméd through the lifelines. Pre-rig the downhaul with a preset amount of slack so that when you set the pole, it will be at a good height for the hoist. Attach the topping lift to the pole and then pull it back against the rig, to keep it clear of the jib during tacks. Secure the line through the jaw at the inboard end of the pole. If there is no inboard jaw (as on a dip pole rig), you’ll have to fashion another way to hold the topping lift aft. A shackle, velcro strap, or sail tie can work fine. Avoid hooks, which may grab things other than the topping lift. Set Up (just before spinnaker set) Hatch Hoist The final spinnaker set up should be carried out with a minimum of disruption. If you pre-rigged for a hatch hoist, then all you’ll need to attach the spinnaker halyard. Here’s how to do it. On your penultimate tack, ask the pit crew to bring the halyard tail to the rail so it can be eased as needed with a minimum of crew movement. The foredeck crew then attaches the halyard to the head of the sail. But wait, how do you quickly reach the head of the sail if it’s down the forward hatch? Remember how you pre-rigged the sheet by hooking the head and clew to the sheet shackle? Now you can retrieve the head by pulling up the sheet. Hook the halyard to the head, and then open and refasten the sheet shackle on just the clew. Be careful not to mix them up or twist them around each other. When you tack, the genoa may foul the spinnaker halyard. To prevent this, pull lots of slack in the halyard and hold it tight prior to the tack, to keep it from fouling on the spreaders. As you tack, ease out the slack again so the halyard can sag out to leeward, clear of the genoa. Leeward Rail Set Bring the spinnaker on deck, hook the turtle to the rail, and hook up the sheet, guy, and halyard. Your spinnaker gear should be pre-rigged to minimize crew disruption. If you need to ask the driver or trimmers to ease the spinnaker gear, then change the way you pre-rig. Hook up the spinnaker sheets and halyard while to windward. (Usually this means while on the final port tack for a starboard tack set.) When you tack, the genoa may foul the spinnaker halyard and pull it out of the bag. To prevent this, pull lots of slack in the halyard and hold it tight prior to the tack, to keep it from fouling on the spreaders. As you tack, ease out the slack again so the halyard can sag out to leeward, clear of the genoa. If it’s windy and wavy enough that the sail may wash out of the bag on a long approach to the mark, try securing the spinnaker bag to the middle of the foredeck or at the mast base, and tie the bag securely shut after the hook up. Open the bag as you bear off to hoist. Pole Up When you tack on the layline, do not immediately set the pole. If time allows, hike out (or lie still) until the boat is up to full speed. Once you are up to speed (and sure you will fetch), the foredeck crew can go forward and lift the pole into place. The pit crew, working from the rail with the topping lift tail in hand, pulls the slack out of the topping lift. There is no need to get off the rail to tail the topping lift if you bring it with you on the last tack and tail from the rail. Once the pole is up and topping lift is cleated, open the hatch and pull the three corners of the spinnaker onto the foredeck. If there’s time before the set, it is a good idea to review who will do what on the hoist, just to be sure. Also make sure the jib halyard is cleared, flaked, and ready to drop. The Hoist Be ready to hoist at the mark. Unless the tactician has called for a delay, hoist as the sails are eased and the boat stands up. Until then, hike as needed to maintain speed coming into the mark. Don’t stand “at the ready,” waiting to hoist. Except in heavy air, pre-set the guy as you approach the mark. On the hoist, the guy must be pulled to the pole to prevent twists in the sail. Take the slack out of the sheet, but do not trim enough to fill the spinnaker until the halyard is at full hoist. As you near full hoist, trim the guy off the headstay to a position perpendicular to the wind. During the hoist the main and jib must be eased to maintain proper trim and speed. Once the chute is up, drop the jib. In light to moderate air the genoa can be on its way down as the spinnaker hoist tops out. In heavy air, ease the jib sheet and wait until the boat settles with the spinnaker. When the boat is under control, go forward to douse the jib, or leave it flying as a staysail if it adds speed! Don’t forget to close the hatch. If there is a delay with the spinnaker hoist, keep sailing as fast as possible with the main and jib to minimize the loss. READ MORE

If you want to drive the boat, trim the sails, watch the instruments, read the compass, track the fleet, and call tactics—then race singlehanded. If you want to race with a crew, a careful division of responsibilities is the only way to succeed against other well-balanced teams. There are three basic building blocks of a successful race pyramid: boathandling, boat speed, and tactics. Your crew must be organized so each block gets the attention required. A crew boss is needed to orchestrate boat handling. Sail trimmers and a driver are needed to focus on boat speed, and a tactician is needed to manage the course. As soon as you have more than one person on the boat it is time to divide up the chores. On championship two-person boats, the driver drives and the crew does tactics. On a three-person crew, the forward crew and driver focus on trim, while the middle crew handles tactics. Crew assignments should be based on the number, skill, experience, and interest of your crew. Each crew position should have clearly defined responsibilities during each maneuver, and maneuvers should be executed the same way each time. Principles of Crew Assignments Divide and Conquer During each boathandling maneuver, divide the crew into two teams: one to sail fast with the sails you’ve got, the other to get sails up and down. No one should serve on both teams. Define Crew Positions Each crew position has a specific responsibility during each evolution or maneuver. First, figure out the correct number of crew, define each position, and then sail with a full complement of crew every time you race. Once positions are defined, you can plug new people into a specific position that has clearly defined responsibilities. Writing out and diagramming your standard maneuvers will help during routine maneuvers, and also during the inevitable ad lib. Create Crew Pairs Ideally, you would have the same people in the same position for every race (yea, right—if pigs could fly). Since you can’t expect that, work toward a nucleus you can count on, and then pair new (or less experienced) crew with a regular crew member. For example, a new mast crew can be paired with an experienced foredeck, or an experienced trimmer can watch over a new grinder. Do Your Job If one person is having trouble completing a task, that can create a problem. When the next person tries to help out, and leaves part of her job undone, the problem grows. Pretty soon the entire crew is out of place—each trying to help another—and you have a huge mess. Unless it’s a flat-out emergency, stick to doing your assigned job. Practice The key to developing good crew work is practice. It is simply impossible to train crew during a race. There is not enough time to teach and learn, and there is too much to do. You must practice to win. There is no other way. Practice Drills As you plan your maneuvers, keep the Divide and Conquer principle in mind. Always keep part of the crew focused on going fast, even when the rest are attending to a boat handling maneuver. Try a simple walk through on the dock, or at least with no sails, to figure out the rough details and positioning. Once on the water, go through maneuvers one at a time: tacks, jibes, sets, douses, reefs, sail changes, plus straight line trim and speed. Detail each person’s responsibility during each maneuver. Once you can run through each evolution smoothly in open water, try it around a closed course of buoys to add the element of timing. Another excellent drill is to perform maneuvers in total silence. A single word from the helmsman (or crew boss) is all that is needed to initiate the maneuver. In silence you learn to watch and work with your crew mates. Learning to work quietly keeps the airwaves open for the unexpected. Another effective practice tool is rotating crew positions. If the pit and foredeck, for example, switch places, each will understand better what is going on and can anticipate the other’s needs during a race. Similarly, trimmers and drivers who trade places will better understand how they impact each other. Find a Tuning Partner Once your crew work is smooth, find another boat to practice with. Sail parallel courses to work on boat speed. Use cat-and-mouse drills to improve boat handling. Try short match races to add competitive fervor. When you are confident of your boat handling and speed, then you are ready to race. The difficulty of boat handling increases with the wind, so keep practicing until you are confident in all conditions. Try to refine your techniques to reduce crew movement. Pay attention to weight placement all the time. Figure out ways to keep weight properly placed as much as possible. Your crew organization and crew assignments are dictated, in part, by your boat’s layout. If you find one crew member is overburdened during a particular maneuver, look into reorganizing the crew—and perhaps changing your layout, to redistribute the load. READ MORE

Sport boat asymmetric spinnakers (also known as “kites”) trim differently from conventional spinnakers. And due to their extended, fixed position bow sprit, they differ from a cruising asymmetric flown from the stem. Aside from the sheet and halyard, the only other control over spinnaker shape is the tack line, which runs from the end of the sprit to the spinnaker tack. Some boats also have twings to choke down the sheet. Reach Up to Go Downwind Asymmetrics don’t go downwind, at least not dead downwind. The fastest way to reach a downwind destination is to reach up and sail fast. The extra speed more than makes up for the extra distance. The optimum sailing angle is as much as 40 degrees above dead downwind – nearly as wide an angle as we sail upwind. Sailing at these high angles increases the apparent wind, which increases boat speed. The trick is to build speed at an aggressive apparent wind angle, and then to push down to a lower course, with the boat speed holding the apparent wind forward. The driver and trimmer must coordinate efforts. As load builds in the sheet, either from aggressive sailing angles or a puff, the trimmer should ask the driver to bear off, while easing the spinnaker sheet to unload the helm. As the load in the sheet drops, trim the sheet and head up to rebuild power and speed. Get speed, then carry it down. Work up to rebuild, and drive down again. You should always feel the breeze blowing across the boat – not over the stern. When you lose apparent wind flow across the boat, head up, rebuild speed and apparent wind, and slide down again. For best broad reaching performance the sheet must be eased to allow the sail to roll out to windward. As the boat bears off, ease the sheet to take pressure off the helm. As you head up, trim the sail to add helm and bring the boat up. Ease, Ease, Ease the Sheet We asked one expert trimmer for advice on sailing deep with a sprit boat, and he said: “Remember these three things: Ease, ease, and ease. Ease to a curl, pause and the curl disappears. Ease again. Carry a curl, and keep easing. Ease some more. Usually the sail stalls from being over trimmed. Ease.” At times on a broad reach it may also pay to ease the tackline a foot or two as well. This will allow the entire sail to rotate further out to weather. There are a couple of things to guide you in how far you ease the tackline: Does the sail rotate out to weather? Can you sail lower or faster? If the sail sags to leeward instead of rolling out to weather, then pull the tack line back down to the sprit. Likewise, if you lose control with the tackline eased, snug it down. Note: With refinements in design and A-sails purpose-built for VMG sailing, there is less need to ease the tack line. Marginal Planing Conditions As the true wind builds to around fifteen knots, you may be able to plane. Even for a downwind course, it will pay to reach way up to get on a plane and then carry the plane down. Your planing speed will overwhelm the extra distance sailed to get on a plane, and crush the competition. On the other hand, if you can’t plane, you will waste plenty of energy going the wrong way… only practice and experience will teach you the best angles for your boat in a given condition. Ease and trim Regardless of the point of sail, the basic principles apply: Ease to a luff and trim. Given the rapid acceleration of sport boats, the apparent wind angle is changing all the time. Aggressive trimming is required to keep up as the boat builds speed, and an equally aggressive ease is needed to prevent a stall as the boat slows. Overtrimmed is slow. On a close reach, trim to telltales, or keep a small curl. On a beam reach, the asymmetric is much faster than a symmetric spinnaker. On a broader reach force the sail out to a bigger curl. You will be surprised how far out it can go. Tack Line On a close reach snug the tack to the pole for a gennaker shape. On a broader reach, add power and allow rotation out from behind the main by easing the tack line a couple feet. There are a couple of clues to indicate how far to ease the tack line: The tack should pull to windward as the tackline is eased. If the tack sags to leeward, keep the tackline down. Easing the tack line adds power, so in light air you may want to ease it a little even on a beam reach. Broad reaching in a big blow, you probably will want to keep it tighter than you would in lighter air. Another valuable guide is the spinnaker telltales. Add telltales 1.5 to 2 feet aft from the luff at 1/3 and 2/3 height. When your tackline is set at the proper height, the telltales should behave similarly high and low. Let’s Go Fast Truth is, there is more to it than point and trim. Often you can use techniques similar to those described for upwind VMG sailing to improve speed on a reach. Here’s how: Rather than simply point and trim, head up slightly to build speed and apparent wind. As speed builds the apparent wind will build and move forward. As the apparent wind angle goes forward you can drive off, carrying the extra apparent wind speed and boat speed at a lower angle. When performance cycles down, heat it up (head up) again. Rebuild speed, and drive off. The trimmers and driver must coordinate efforts to optimize performance. If the helm loads up, it will be difficult to drive off. As speed builds the trimmers will need to ease to allow the boat to drive down without loading up the helm. Similarly, trim the sails to help head the boat up, rather than steering too much with the rudder. READ MORE

Mainsail Reefing Setup There are a number of effective reefing arrangements, but all have two common elements. The first is ease of use; the reef should be easy to set and shake. Second, the reefed sail must have a shape appropriate for the conditions, which means flat. The reefing system must pull the clew out along the boom, like an outhaul, as well as pulling down. When reefed, all the load should be on the reef tack and reef clew. The reef points along the belly of the sail are used only to tie up the loose body of the sail; they should not carry any load. Single or double line systems can be set up to allow you to reef without leaving the cockpit. Otherwise you will have to go forward to set the reef tack and/or adjust the main halyard. Regardless of the particulars, it is important that your system work well, so you are not reluctant to use it. When in doubt, reef. If you’re underpowered, shake the reef. Here are the basic steps to reef your mainsail: Assume a close-hauled or close reaching course. Set the autopilot to maintain your course under jib alone, or heave-to. Release the mainsheet and vang. Lower the main halyard. Pull slack out of the reef line so it won’t tangle. Secure the reef tack. Re-tension the halyard. Tension the reef line. It should be very tight, pulling down and out to flatten the reefed sail. Snug the vang and trim the mainsheet. What is reefing a sail? Reefing is a method sailors use to make the sail smaller when the wind picks up. Reducing the sail area gives you more control over the boat, helping it stay stable in stronger winds. It’s usually done on the mainsail by lowering a portion of the sail and tying off the excess with reefing lines. This not only changes the sail’s shape to handle the conditions better but also helps maintain boat speed while improving safety. Additional reefing tips: Mark the main halyard line relative to the mast, so you will know how far you need to lower it the next time you reef. If you expect to be reefed for a while, tie the reef clew down to the boom with a sail tie, to take the load should the reef line fail. Ensure that the reef outhaul is tensioned tightly to avoid any slack, which can distort sail shape and reduce performance. Don’t wait until the wind picks up too much. Reefing early reduces stress on both the rigging and the crew and keeps the boat balanced in stronger winds. READ MORE

When your destination is downwind on the opposite tack, then a jibe is called for. A jibe has three steps: Starting from a broad reach, initiate the jibe with the command “Prepare to jibe.” Release the preventer and turn slowly downwind. When the wind is dead astern, the jib will jibe itself. This is the signal to hold a steady course, pull the mainsail amidships, and then ease it all the way out on the new tack with the hail “Jibe Ho.” After the sails are across, continue the turn to your new course. Tips for Jibing Safely The jib is the clue to a successful jibe. Once the jib comes across on its own, trim the new jib sheet and hold a steady course while bringing the mainsail across by hand. Use a slow turn Keep control of the mainsail so the boom will not fly across. A slow turn allows time to trim and control the main. Ease the main quickly As the main jibes, ease the mainsheet all the way out—just let it run. Watch your course In stronger breeze, as the main jibes it will load the helm and try to turn the boat quickly up into the wind. Watch your course, and correct the helm to keep the boat from rounding up. In light air as the jib jibes, grab all the parts of the mainsheet and fling the main across to the new jibe. Don’t be shy about jibing In all but the breeziest conditions, a well executed jibe is a safe and effective way to change tacks. Prevent an Accidental Jibe If the jib jibes itself unexpectedly, it is a signal that the main may soon follow. To prevent an uncontrolled jibe, head up immediately. Straighten out once the jib returns to its normal position. As a precaution, always keep your head down when you see the jib cross the boat, and use a preventer to secure the boom. Gennaker Jibes There are a couple of ways to jibe a Gennaker. One method is to snuff the spinnaker, re-lead the spinnaker sheet to the new leeward side, and redeploy after the boat and mainsail have been jibed. The Snuffer and Gennaker go around the outside of the forestay on a jibe. The disadvantage of this jibing technique is that you must go forward to pass the Snuffer around the headstay. (Only if the Gennaker is flown from a jib halyard beneath the forestay would you take the Gennaker inside the forestay on a jibe.) The Gennaker can also be jibed while still flying. Square down to a very broad reach, tension the windward Gennaker sheet, and haul hard as you release the working sheet. Pull and pull and pull until the sail collapses, inverts, and starts to trim back on the new jibe; then finish the turn and jibe the main. The trick is to have the turn follow the trim – trim the Gennaker most of the way through the jibe before jibing the boat. If the turn is too fast (or trim too slow), and the boat is jibed before the sail is trimmed, then the spinnaker can blow through behind the forestay, or it can wrap on itself, or around the forestay. Spinnaker Jibes Short handed jibes are a challenge. The easiest technique is to snuff the sail, drop the outboard end of the pole to the deck, and pull the snuffed spinnaker around the bow with the sheets. Then jibe the main, reset the pole, and redeploy the spinnaker. You can also use a “dip pole” technique, but this requires at least one designated foredeck person as well as someone on the helm. For more, read Perfect Spinnaker Jibes READ MORE

Poor speed If boatspeed seems poor, you may need to add power. Try deeper sail shapes, and bear off a couple degrees. You can also be slow from being overpowered, in which case you’ll also have too much heel and lots of weather helm. Reduce power and balance the helm to restore speed. A fouled bottom can also have a big impact on speed. Poor pointing If your boatspeed is good, but the boat is pointing poorly, try sheeting harder. Trim the jib until you get a hint of backwinding in the main, and trim the main to the verge of stalling the top leech telltale. Too much weather helm Reduce heel to reduce weather helm. Try flatter sails, and more twist. Also, feather up to reduce angle of attack. Weather helm may also be solved by better balance between main and jib: too much power in the main, and not enough in the jib. Add power to the jib, and/or ease the main. If weather helm is a constant problem, try tuning your rig with less rake. Jib telltales hard to read If both inside and outside jib telltales are constantly dancing, create a wider entry angle and more forgiving steering groove by easing the sheet and/or tightening the halyard. With the draft properly positioned, the telltales will settle down. Too little weather helm If you have no feel in the helm, add power. Try deeper sails, and bear off a few degrees. Also try moving weight to leeward to increase heel. In light air, a lifeless helm may be a sign of being overtrimmed. Ease both sheets, and bear off to add power and speed. If a lack of helm is a consistent problem, consider retuning your rig with more rake. Pounding and pitching in waves Sailing into waves requires power to punch through the waves. If the boat is pounding, then foot (fall off) slightly and add twist to keep from being overpowered. Also, moving weight (like anchors) off the bow and out of the forepeak can significantly reduce pitching. Overworked Autopilot If your autopilot is constantly searching, and can’t seem to settle on course, and your boat is upright and underpowered one moment, and overpowered the next… add twist. Twist creates a more gradual onset and release of power. If your autopilot is working too hard, retrim for better balance. Add twist to smooth out the transition from overpowered to underpowered. Also, if you have the option, set your autopilot to sail to the apparent wind angle when sailing upwind, rather than your compass course. Overpowered A small jib and reefed main provide a balanced rig for best performance in heavy air conditions. For more details, read Heavy Weather Sailing Techniques. READ MORE

LESSONS FROM KINGSTON A conversation between J/22 World Champ Mike Marshall and class newcomer Zeke Horowitz What a pleasure it was to be a part of the J/22 World Championship in Kingston last week. As a newcomer to the class, it took no time at all to realize what an awesome group of people sail in this class, and how deep the talent pool is. I had a lot to learn about making the boat go fast and improving my boat handling so I was extremely grateful for the daily debriefs where the top performers of the day shared lots of tips. My team and I had a tremendous amount of fun, we learned a lot and made many new friends – all of whom I look forward to seeing at the next J/22 regatta! As a first time helmsman in the J/22, I had lots of opportunities to try different techniques and learn what worked best for me but I was very interested to compare what I thought was working to what the new World Champion, Mike Marshall, was doing to keep his boat speed up. Mike was kind enough to listen to my thoughts and help clear it all up for me in the interview below: ZEKE: This was a pretty “breeze on” event with most of the races sailed in 16 to 20+. Early on, one thing I learned from all the experts in this class was that once the breeze is into the teens, it is fast to center the traveler and forget about it. This leaves you with the mainsheet and backstay to play along with the jib sheet. I found that I liked the main set so it was just about to the point of inverting. I noticed lots of the fast boats were maxing out the backstay to the point where the main was totally “washed out” and appeared to be luffing with big wrinkles pointing from the mast down towards the clew. I found it faster to get the main to this point, but then ease the backstay just a couple of inches to get rid of those inversion wrinkles. Though I don’t think my pointing ability was particularly special…Tell me your thoughts on this and, in particular, how hard should I have been trimming my mainsheet to match this “inverted” main look with the backstay maxed out? MIKE: Interestingly, I was trimming the main in Kingston a bit differently than I would trim it for most other venues. Because the waves were pretty square, it was important to keep the boat moving at all times. So, while there are conditions when inverting the main is fast (big breeze and flatter water), these weren’t the Kingston conditions. In Kingston, we found that the backstay had to be much looser than we normally would have it. I think the reason was that we needed the power and return in the leech of the main to keep the bow up and pointing and to keep the boat powered up. I generally consider the backstay a coarse adjustment for the boat’s heel. Once we had that set properly, I’d trim the mainsheet so that the main’s top telltale was stalled at max 50% of the time. Stalled more, the boat would stop in the waves; any less stalled, and we’d be giving up height. I think that may have been the reason we had a slight edge with pointing over some teams so, while it can work to “wash out” the main we tried hard to make sure we had some “kick” in the leech of the main. ZEKE: Well, that’s the first thing we maybe weren’t quite doing right and that makes a lot of sense as to why we didn’t feel all that special in the pointing department. So, on our boat, we had a lot of discussions about jib lead positioning. We found that when the breeze was in the mid-teens, we liked the jib car 2 holes back from “base” because it would flatten the sail up top, but left a little bit of “punch” in the bottom of the jib to power through the waves. But once the breeze was up in the 20’s, we felt better moving the car back to 4 or 5 holes back from “base.” What visuals can I use to know that my jib car is in the right place, and how much is based on the feel of the helm or “return” on the main? MIKE: My easiest visual guideline for the jib car position is how the front of the jib’s foot sits on the deck. I look for the “Big Foot” sticker area of the jib to be on or just inside the toe rail when the jib is trimmed correctly for the condition, the heel of the boat, and how much the main is eased. Our goal in trimming the jib was that it be in as tight as possible as long as the top jib telltale wasn’t stalling and the main wasn’t luffing when it was eased. If we eased the main to keep the boat upright, we’d ease the jib to match. When all of this is correct, the foot of the jib in the area around the “Big Foot” sticker should be on or just inside the toe rail. If it was trending outside the toe rail, we’d move the car back. If it was trending well inside the toe rail, we’d move the car forward. This is a pretty good rule of thumb for the jib car position in almost any condition. In addition, I also use the feel of the helm. If the boat wants to turn up and I want to trim the jib tighter to balance it out but the top jib leech telltale is stalling, I’ll move the jib car back to be able to trim the sail tighter without the top telltale stalling. I try to sail with a pretty neutral helm in all conditions. ZEKE: That’s a great tip and one I can easily remember. As you know, and as predicted, CORK gave us big wind and big waves. At times, we were sailing in 3-4 foot waves that were fairly square and close together. In other boats I race regularly, I would be steering aggressively through this type of wave condition to try to minimize the slamming of the bow and keep the boat moving through the water as smoothly as possible. But in the J/22, I found that when I moved the tiller too much, it was quite difficult to maintain a steady level of heel and a balanced helm. And isn’t that what it’s all about? Tell me how you find the balance between maintaining steady heel and helm, and steering the boat through the waves as smoothly as possible. MIKE: You are certainly right about the sailing conditions at CORK. It was breezy and wavy, so having a solid game plan for those conditions really helped our team. I was lucky enough to have Todd Hiller do the bow for me. As anyone who has sailed in the J/22 class the past 20+ years knows, Todd is an extraordinary sailor. His main job going upwind was to call the breeze and waves. He was spot on for the whole event and this was a game-changing asset for almost everything I had to do. When I heard there was a puff or a lull coming, I could preemptively adjust the controls to be set for it and keep the heel of the boat constant. Even more importantly, when Todd called the waves, he was descriptive, calling flat spots, waves, chop, and big waves. When I heard flat spot and I could see it in my field of view, I’d pinch to keep the boat flat. When I heard waves, I knew I had to drive normally to keep the boat at full speed. When I heard chop or big waves, I’d wait until I could see them and then make a split-second decision to either put the bow down and power through them or try to steer around them, working the sails in conjunction. If the waves looked organized, I’d try to steer around them, which at times required a lot of tiller movement to stop from slamming (remember: up the front, down the back). I’d also trim the main pretty aggressively to keep the heel constant. If the waves looked disorganized, I’d ease the main and jib a little to keep the heel constant and simply power through the waves. Of course, there’s a lot going on in the back of the boat, and everything isn’t going to be perfect all the time. The ultimate goal is to keep the boat flat and up to speed. For that, I mostly use a combination of tiller and main trim because I have only two hands. ZEKE: That is a great point about how important teamwork and communication are in being successful in sailboat racing. It makes a lot of sense that having great information from your bow person (who is a top flight skipper in his own right) helps you keep the boat going fast. Certainly an important aspect for any team to work on is communication and it sounds like it really helped make your job a little bit easier. So my next thoughts are on overall game plans and how you guys worked through your strategies. I think the fleet was very fortunate to have a top quality race management team, led by David Sprague, and they did an absolutely stellar job setting a course and a starting line totally square to the breeze. On such a long course with a very long starting line, it is very difficult to decide on the game plan for the first beat. My team was always focused on picking the side of the course where we thought had the most pressure and then starting at the end that would get us to that side of the course the fastest. We did NOT want to go in the middle, though we ended up there more often than we wanted. How did your team decide which side of the course you wanted to go to and where to start? Did you ever change your game plan based on the start you ended up with? MIKE: I don’t think our overall process was much different from yours. Generally the decision of where to go rested on the shoulders of my trimmer, Luke Lawrence, and wow, did he impress! Luke really was dialed into what was going on around us which allowed me to focus on spending my time and energy making the boat go fast. Luke was correct about the side to go to almost every time, which really made the rest of the jobs easier. That said, it sounds like our strategy was very similar to yours. We’d look up the course at 4-5 minutes before the start and decide which side had more pressure. If we weren’t expecting a shift, we’d plan to head that way. Knowing that it was important to stay out of the middle, we went to our chosen side as fast as we could for almost every one of our races. We were a bit less conservative at the start than you were depending on how confident we were about the side. If we were very confident, our goal was to win the same side of the line as the side of the course that we wanted to head to. If we were less confident, we’d start near the boat so that the option to tack was still open if we didn’t like how things were unfolding. I also have to reiterate what you said about the fantastic job that David Sprague and the Race Committee did. It was one of the best jobs I’ve seen in quite a while. They set very square lines, moved marks when needed, and had almost no downtime between races. There’s not much more you can ask for. ZEKE: As important as it was to stay out of the middle of the beats, it seemed it was even more important to stay out of the middle on the downwind legs. My team learned that it was easy to get into trouble by doing an early jibe around the offset because you end up in the “cone of death.” With the fleet so tight at the weather mark, how did your team decide your exit strategy from the offset to set yourself up for success on the downwind? MIKE: Downwind is pretty exciting for me because it’s one of the few times that I’m actually allowed to look around! We’d always have a decision on whether we were gybing after the offset mark before we got halfway down the offset leg. From there, it became my job to execute the plan. If we were rounding and going straight, my job was to keep us in a clear lane while Todd and Luke had their heads in the boat. If we were gybing, my job was to jibe and keep the boat going fast as we sailed through the upwind boats. The only time we jibed in the “cone of death” was when we were already on layline to the next mark. Even if there were only 400 yards of starboard on the downwind, we’d sail them first to extend away from the cone of no wind under the mark. Otherwise, our strategy, much like yours, was to stay out of the middle on the downwind because there was always more breeze on the edges. Air doesn’t like to flow between objects where there’s lots of resistance, so when you go downwind with a large mass of boats, the air tends to flow around that mass, not through it. This is why the best wind is on the edges. ZEKE: Speaking of going downwind…. That was certainly exciting! I learned a lot about sailing downwind in big breeze and big waves and the biggest lesson was – do whatever you can to keep surfing! When the boat is surfing, the sails are much more unloaded which makes them easier to trim, and the boat is less likely to get “wobbly.” I found myself using a lot of rudder to try to steer the boat down the waves while surfing, and to prevent it from crashing into the next wave in front of us. I know it is slow to use lots of rudder. Tell me the secret to helping the boat stay on the waves downwind without using too much rudder. MIKE: Yes, in big breeze, the J/22 can be quite a handful downwind, but you can use a few tricks to keep everything under control a bit better. I think that the time when things get the most “sketchy” is when you try to go too low or get caught in a bad wave and the boat heels to windward. But the J/22 is just an overgrown dinghy, so if Luke gave the sheet a quick pump when we heeled to windward and I gave the main a sharp pump, the boat would settle back out. Both pumps help to make the bow turn up, which aids in keeping the hull under the top of the mast and the boat from falling over. Beyond using the sails, Todd was always on his feet downwind, moving from side to side to keep the boat flat. Because he was facing aft already while calling the wind, he could just look at the end of the tiller, and whichever way it was pointing was the direction that I needed him to move. As far as the amount of rudder is concerned, you’re going to have to move the tiller, but less is better as long as you accomplish the goal of keeping the hull under the top of the mast. ZEKE: So it sounds like at least we were doing that right! You mentioned pumping the main and spinnaker to help steer the boat. It had been a while since I’d raced a boat that was so rewarding to pump downwind. The boat seemed very responsive to a pump of the mainsheet to promote surfing. We thought that pumping the spinnaker sheet and the guy together was OK too, but I wasn’t sure it was totally necessary. With so much load on the spinnaker, do you really need to pump it downwind when there is that much breeze? Or is a pump of the mainsheet enough? Maybe you can help me decide where that line is. Can you tell me how you decide when it is time to pump? MIKE: Yes, the boat is very lively downwind and reacts very well to pumping. We’ve tried a lot of different ways to pump the kite, but we’ve found that the fastest is just to pump the kite sheet. Since you’re already sailing such a low angle, trimming the guy further back seems only to pull the boat sideways and not down the wave. I think that in the bigger breeze conditions a pump of the mainsheet might be all that’s needed but a kite pump too certainly doesn’t seem to hurt. As it gets lighter, pumping the kite gets more and more important because there is less power in the main alone to get the boat on the wave. It seems that as long as you can pump and initiate a surf on a wave, it’s important to be pumping. If the waves are small enough that you’re not steering to be surfing on them, then pumping isn’t needed. ZEKE: Mike, thanks and congratulations again on being the 2016 J/22 World Champion. MIKE: Thanks Zeke and congratulations to you and your team on a great regatta. Considering this was your 1st J/22 event ever, I think we are going to have to work even harder to keep you behind us at the next event! Lastly, before we wrap, I’d like to thank my team of Luke and Todd for all their skill and hard work as well as the PRO and Race Committee again for doing such an excellent job. Thanks are due as well to the entire staff in Kingston for putting on a wonderful event: the regatta chair and regatta team, the measurement team, and everyone else involved. Finally, I need to say once again how much fun and what a pleasure it is to sail in the J/22 class. Although I really love sailing these boats, it’s the terrific people in the class who make the racing experience so awesome! NORTH NOTES: North-powered boats finished 1,2,3,5,6,8,9,10 at the 2016 J/22 Worlds. Both Mike Marshall and Zeke Horowitz are members of the North Sails One Design team. Mike is a sail designer based in Newport, RI and can be reached at (401) 965-0057 or by e-mail mike.marshall@northsails.com. Zeke is based in Annapolis and services the Mid-Atlantic region. He can be reached at (410) 269-5662 or zeke.horowitz@northsails.com. Photos © Chris Howell / One Design Association Management READ MORE

B14 UK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP After a great close event, the B14 National Champions for 2016 are Team Harken with Team GUL/North Sails 2nd and Troublegum/North Sails 3rd. For daily reports and full results please see here. North Sails Results 1. Nick Craig & Toby Lews 2. Mark Barnes & Charlotte Jones 3. Alan Davis & Rich Bell 4. Peter Knight & Jane Reeves 6. Stephen Hollingsworth & Elliot Holman * 7. Kathy Sherratt & Dec Clamp * 9. Alex Horlock & Jim Pearce * 10. Henry Metcalfe & Jasmine Husband *Denotes partial inventory READ MORE

Olympians Return For The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Toulon I think for all of these programs, having a home regatta is really important for two reasons: one, is to gain notoriety in your home country for the team, the sport of sailing and the America’s Cup in general; and secondly, for many teams it is about fundraising – bringing new corporations and publicity to your team and the event. Knowing that Groupama Team France was late to the party with regard to organizing their program, I have a sneaking suspicion that this event is as important to them as any of the other events have been for the home teams. On the competitive side of things, Groupama Team France is also showing signs of life, especially in lighter air. On the first day of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth I believe they were ahead at the end of every single leeward mark before getting a first and second place finish, which is a massive improvement for them. Now with that said, they have been struggling in foiling conditions. When it’s lighter air, displacement mode, Franck Cammas and his team seem very comfortable. Once they get back into foiling mode, it was back to the drawing board, especially on Day 2 of the Portsmouth event. I know they have been doing a lot of sailing on GC32s, which are foiling catamarans, and hopefully a bit of practice on their AC45 prior to going to Toulon. The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Toulon will also be known as the event where all the A-Team sailors show back up again. Fresh from a Gold medal in Rio in the 49er Class come Peter Burling and Blair Tuke to jump back into the Skipper and Trimmer roles on Emirates Team New Zealand. Also back fresh from the Olympics with a Silver medal, losing to the Kiwis, are Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen. On the one hand I’m sure they were bummed not to win a Gold medal but, on the other hand, they made a last minute push to go from Bronze to Silver on the final day so they have got to be really pleased with that. Then, of course, there is a Gold medal for Giles Scott in the Finn Class, with a totally dominant performance. He will be back after a fairly lengthy lay-off with Land Rover BAR as their tactician. And then finally, Jason Waterhouse returns with a Silver Medal from the Nacra 17 Class in Rio to race with SoftBank Team Japan. I say “A-Team” with some trepidation because when your B-Team includes Glen Ashby, who might just be the most heralded multihull sailor on the planet, it’s not exactly a low-end B-Team! But there’s no doubt that getting everyone back in position, which includes Ashby as Wing Trimmer on Emirates Team New Zealand, has to be not only more effective for these Louis Vuitton World Series events, but also better training for their long term solution once they move up to the AC50s. So I’m sure everyone will be very excited to see all the top teams back together in one piece. And finally, we’ve had a bit of a shake up at the top of the leaderboard. Emirates Team New Zealand, for the first time since the beginning of this Series, is not leading overall going into Toulon. So let’s see where the learning curve is with some of the teams that have struggled at times and let’s see how quickly the big boys respond to get their A-Teams back together and up to the top of the leaderboard. READ MORE

HEAVY WEATHER SAILING TECHNIQUES How to Sail Well in Strong Winds We covered the Basics of Heavy Weather Sailing already; now it’s time to look at techniques to help you sail well in strong winds, which will increase your range and confidence. Harnessing the power of the wind and battling the waves while maintaining control can be exhilarating; some consider it the ultimate sailing experience. How to Depower The challenge in heavy weather is to depower enough to keep control, but not too much to fight the waves that come with heavy winds—and to maintain sufficient speed. The slower you go, the longer it will take you to get to your destination. Depowering techniques include flattening sails, increasing twist, and reducing angle of attack; these are the first steps in dealing with increasing winds. When these methods are not sufficient, stronger measures are called for. The waves that accompany strong winds can be as big a problem as the wind itself. Waves make depowering tricky, as sailing underpowered in waves can leave you at their mercy. The challenge is to keep enough power to handle the waves, while still maintaining control. And pounding upwind against building seas can be more than unpleasant; it can be dangerous, as the motion batters the crew and equipment. There are several ways to reduce pounding. First, add twist to your trim for a wider steering groove. This will allow you to steer around the biggest waves. Next, change speeds. Sometimes sailing faster will smooth out the ride, as you power through the waves. Ease sails a bit, and bear off a couple degrees. Another option is to slow down. If the boat is leaping off the waves, then shorten sail and slow down to keep the boat in the water. You can also improve the boat’s motion through the waves by moving weight out of the bow and concentrating it amidships—as low as possible. Before going out in big seas, consider moving the anchor and rode off the bow and stowing them below, perhaps in a couple of big canvas bags. Another option to consider is picking a new destination. Do you really need to go upwind in these big waves? Let’s reach off and go somewhere else! Adjust Your Speed As mentioned above, sometimes slowing down a little can dramatically improve the motion and comfort of the boat. At other times, adding power and speed to help you steer around the biggest waves can improve the ride. Often adding twist by easing sheets just a couple of inches will help the boat find a wider steering groove which will, in turn, help you find a smoother path through waves. If the motion is bad, then experiment to improve it. Shorten Sail: Smaller Jib First If depowering the sailplan is not enough, it’s time to shorten sail. In heavy winds, a well-trimmed reefed boat can provide much better speed, control, and comfort than an over-canvased boat. And the first step in reducing sail area is to reduce your jib size. Generally, less sail area in the jib with a full-sized main means better speed, higher pointing, and more control in waves or gusts. Depending on your set up, you can reduce jib size either by changing to a smaller sail or by roller reefing your genoa. Roller Reefing Roller reefing genoas make it possible to shorten sail without changing jibs, a nice convenience especially when short-handed. Foam or rope luffs and other refinements have vastly improved reefed sail performance, but the shape of a reefed genoa will still not be as good as an unreefed one. And to protect the life of your sail, be sure to leave a portion of the tack patch exposed to handle the loads along the foot. As the genoa is rolled, adjust the jib lead to maintain proper sail shape. To remove the guess work from heavy air lead position, make marks on the foot of the genoa for your first and second increments of rolling—after perhaps 3 and 6 rolls on the headstay—and then mark the jib track at a position that makes the telltales break evenly top to bottom for each setting. Two Jib Inventory A sail inventory that includes a full sized genoa and a smaller working jib can provide a great boost in performance, control, and comfort in heavy air. Of course it means buying an extra sail, which will require the room to stow whichever sail is not rigged— and it means an occasional sail change. But the shape of a smaller jib will provide better performance and control than a rolled up genoa. Change Early Whatever your setup, make the change to a smaller jib early – as soon as the thought occurs to you – and while it is still relatively easy to do so. If you anticipate a breezy day, a smaller jib makes it possible to change while still at the dock or at anchor. And while it is only a small compromise in performance in moderate winds, it keeps sailing comfortable and fun in heavy air. Reef the Main Still overpowered with the smaller jib? The next step is to reef the main. Tacking and Jibing in Heavy Air The waves that come with big winds can make basic maneuvers challenging. When tacking, look for a relatively smooth spot, and start your turn as the bow climbs a wave. Push the helm over so that the next wave will push the bow down onto the new tack. In extreme seas you may not be able to tack at all. In that case, you will need to wear ship or jibe. Of course, jibing in heavy air is no picnic. Often the best way to handle the jib is to roll it up. A heavy air jibe is best accomplished at speed. As the boats surfs down a wave, loads on the sails are reduced. Use extra hands to jibe the main, and ease it quickly once it crosses centerline. Watch your course and steer to control the boat as it tries to round up coming out of the jibe. Once under control, unroll the jib again. Use a winch to control the roller furling line while easing it out, as the load will be too great to handle barehanded. Another Alternative: Motor Sailing Perish the thought! This is a sailboat! Well yes, but we’re not racing! If you’re sailing under reefed main and rolled genoa and you are still overpowered, stow the jib and crank up the “iron genny.” Motor sailing into wind and waves under main alone provides a much better ride than motoring with no sails. (Save that for days with no wind.) Motor sailing lets you point high, making better progress to windward, without the violent pitching of motoring into seas with no sails set. Trim the main, head up high enough to control your angle of heel, set the autopilot, and keep a lookout. What to Watch Out for When Motor Sailing Make sure cooling water is pumping through the engine. On some boats, the water intake will lift out of the water when heeled. Violent pitching can also allow air into fuel line, which can stall the engine, and may require a bleed to get it going again. The pitching motion may also stir sediments off the bottom of the fuel tank, which may then clog the fuel lines or fuel filter. Motoring with no sails set will probably not work in big seas. Sails are needed—at least a reefed main—to provide some stability and extra power. Also to be avoided is motoring across a beam sea, as that can lead to violent rolling, or even a broach. READ MORE

Your course and speed are factors. In a moderate 12 knot true wind, a boat sailing close-hauled at a speed of 7 knots is really in a fresh wind of about 17 knots. READ MORE

HOW TO TRIM A GENOA Three Sources Of Power There are three sources of genoa power: angle of attack, sail depth, and twist. Our goal is first to get the correct total power and, second, to achieve the correct mix of power from each source to suit the conditions. Angle of Attack Trim the sail in, and you increase power by increasing the angle of attack. Ease the sail out and you reduce power. Once the sail is sheeted in, then the primary control of angle of attack is the helm. Bear off to add power, and head up to reduce power. Depth Deep sails generate more power, while flat sail shapes generate less power (and less drag). Genoa depth can be adjusted through a variety of controls, including headstay sag, lead position, and sheet trim. Twist A closed leech generates more power. A twisted or open leech spills power. Genoa twist is controlled through lead position and sheet trim. Genoa controls Your jib will have some or all or the following controls to help achieve the desired amount and mix of power: Halyard Set the halyard to hold the shape of the sail in its designed position. Tension the halyard to remove wrinkles from the luff. If the luff is stretched, ease the halyard. In light air, an over-tight halyard hurts performance. As the wind builds, increase halyard tension to keep the luff firm. When rolling up the sail after sailing in strong winds, ease the halyard to relieve luff tension. Genoa (or Jib) Sheet Trimming the sheet adds power by increasing angle of attack and by reducing twist. Initially, the sheet’s primary impact is on angle of attack as it pulls in the sail. As the sail nears full trim, the sheet pulls the clew down (more than in), and the primary impact of trim is to reduce twist. For proper close hauled trim, the middle leech should be parallel to the boat’s centerline. The foot should be a little rounder than the foot of the main, but otherwise the overall shape should match the main. (LINK TO mainsail trim) As you trim in the jib, you will be able to point higher (sail closer to the wind) without luffing. When additional trim no longer improves pointing, the sheet is overtrimmed. Ease slightly to optimize jib sheet trim. Headstay Sag The amount of sag in the headstay can be controlled with an adjustable backstay. A tighter headstay flattens the sail, while extra sag adds power. In light air, set the headstay just firm enough to keep it from flopping in chop. Add tension as the wind builds. In strong breeze tighten the headstay as much as you can. Genoa Leads Moving the genoa lead fore and aft changes sheeting angle. As an initial setting, adjust the lead so the sail luffs along its entire height as you pinch up above close hauled. From this initial setting, the lead position can be fine-tuned to the conditions. You may want to move the lead forward to add shape to the foot of the sail, which will reduce twist and therefore increase power. This lead-forward shape is best for light air or choppy conditions. Moving the lead aft reduces power for better performance in stronger winds. An aft lead position flattens the foot of the jib by letting the clew rise. (Think of it like tightening the outhaul on the main.) Moving the lead aft also increases twist, spilling power from the upper part of the sail. For heavy air sailing, we want the top of the sail to luff before the lower section. Leech Cord The leech cord does not control sail shape. It is intended to prevent leech flutter, which can damage the leech of a jib. Tension the leech cord just enough to stop flutter, and no more. If your sail has a foot cord, the same principle applies. Do you need a genoa? Large overlapping genoas are difficult to handle, hard to tack, easy to damage, and impossible to see around. A smaller jib is much easier to handle. On boats with large mainsails, a genoa is an unnecessary burden. In all but the lightest conditions, a working jib provides comparable performance (hey, we’re not racing!), and in moderate to heavy air the jib performs better. READ MORE

The following tips are taken from the North U Cruising and Seminar Course book written by John Rousmaniere, author of the Annapolis Book of Seamanship. These tips are meant to be helpful reminders and reference for the cruising sailor. All subjects are covered in greater detail in the North U seminars and course materials. Wing and Wing A good breeze behind you makes covering long distances a pleasure. A common and safe cruising setup is to sail wing and wing under jib and main, with the jib poled out and the boom secured by a preventer. Sailing in strong winds requires strong gear. You need a spinnaker pole (not a whisker pole) supported by a topping lift (or spare halyard) and secured by an after guy and foreguy. The genoa sheet should run through the end of the pole; don’t attach it directly to the clew of the sail. The mainsail preventer is separate from the boom vang (which is there to control twist). The preventer runs forward, holding the boom out. In rough weather the preventer should run from the end of the boom through a block on the foredeck, and then aft to the cockpit for easier control. A preventer-vang combination attached to the toerail can cause problems, particularly as seas build and the boat rolls. If the boom dips into a big wave, the pressure of the water against the preventer can bend or break the boom, or it might cause the boat to spin out of control. One danger of a preventer is the false sense of security it can provide. As you wander on deck, do not assume that the preventer will stop the boom from jibing. Always keep your head low. Spinnaker Sailing Under spinnaker in heavy air – are you crazy? It’s true that if not properly trimmed in heavy winds, a spinnaker can overpower the boat. As you learn better trim, you can raise the wind speed at which you can carry the sail and still maintain control. In heavy air, if the spinnaker rolls out to weather, then it will probably roll the boat to weather too. In more moderate conditions it can work well to square the pole aft, to get the spinnaker out from behind the main. In heavy air, this same trim creates problems. Likewise, if the spinnaker flies too high or too far in front of the boat, then it will wander from side to side. As the spinnaker swings, the boat rolls, making steering difficult and control tenuous. To keep control of the boat, you need to control the spinnaker. Choke it down directly in front of the boat by lowering the pole and over trimming the sheet. This “short leash” prevents the spinnaker from wandering and pulling the boat out of control. Gennaker Sailing Sailing under Gennaker in fresh breeze and following seas requires careful attention to trim and steering. Ease the tack line and Gennaker sheet to allow the Gennaker to roll out from behind the mainsail, and steer actively to keep the bow pointed “downhill.” To prevent a broach in gusts, ease the Gennaker sheet. If things get out of control, snuff and stow the Gennaker and switch to a jib. Learn More North Sails Cruising Sail Types North U READ MORE

There are a number of guidelines to help you steer effectively upwind. There is also information you can learn from the feel of the helm that will help you find the correct trim and apparent wind angle for the conditions. Steering Upwind Depending on conditions, a good driver will consider some or all of the following when steering upwind: Jib Telltales (Are the jib telltales flowing, luffing, or stalled?) Balance of the Helm (Is the helm balanced, with just a slight weather helm, or are you wrestling to hold the boat on course?) Angle of Heel (Is the boat sailing at a comfortable angle of heel? Is it overpowered and heeled too much, or underpowered and too upright?) Boat Speed (Is the speed steady, rising, or falling?) Apparent Wind Angle (Is the boat pointing well?) “Feel” of the boat (Does the boat feel lively or sluggish? Is the boat pitching in the waves, or punching through the chop?) Steering to Telltales For starters, try to steer the boat with the telltales flowing. With the jib trimmed for a close hauled course, use the lower jib telltales as a steering guide. Steer so the telltales are streaming aft. Head up just short of the point when the inside telltales luff. The range of angle you can steer through with the telltales flowing—a few degrees—is the steering groove. By paying attention to the feel of the boat’s power, and the boat speed, you’ll be able to tell how far up in the steering groove you can point while maintaining power and speed. If you head up too high, the inside telltales will luff, and soon thereafter the sail will start to luff as well. Aim to steer as high as you can while still maintaining full power. If you bear off too far, the outside telltales will stall, and you will lose power and speed (and of course pointing ability). When overpowered the boat will be heeling too much and hard to steer. Head up slightly, and let the inside telltales dance; the narrower angle of attack will reduce power and the boat should feel more balanced. Longer term, you can reduce power by lowering the traveler, tightening backstay, outhaul and halyards, and/or by moving the jib lead aft. If the telltales are flowing, but the helm has no feel and the boat seems sluggish, try adding power by bearing off a couple of degrees. You can also raise the traveler, ease backstay, outhaul, and halyards, and/or move the jib lead forward. In big chop, add power by bearing off a couple of degrees until the outside telltales dance. (Be careful not to bear off too far; the outside telltales will stall and performance will suffer.) If it is difficult to keep the boat in the steering groove, the jib may be over-trimmed – ease it a couple of inches. Once the telltales are flowing again, check your other guides. Helm and Heel Weather helm and angle of heel are key guides to upwind performance. If you are battling the helm, or the rail is in the water, reduce power. Flatten your sails, or head up to reduce angle of attack. In moderate to heavy winds, you can use the angle of heel as your primary guide; steer to maintain a consistent angle of heel. As you heel over in puffs, feather up (head up slightly); in the lulls, foot off a few degrees to maintain full power. Battling Chop If you are pitching excessively when steering through waves, bear off a few degrees to add more punch. If you are overpowered when you bear off, increase twist by easing sheets or moving the jib lead aft. The extra twist will spill some power, and it will also increase the size of your steering groove by giving you more consistent power as you pitch, roll, yaw, and steer through the waves. Chop can stop you dead in your tracks if you feather up in fresh breeze. Adding twist will spill power so you can keep the bow down. Trimming for an Auto Pilot Before you turn the steering over to an autopilot, you may need to adjust the sails to reduce load on the system. Self-steering works best with a well-balanced boat and a wide steering groove. Set the boat up with slight weather helm, and trim your sails with a little extra twist to provide more steering latitude. Tacking When coming about or tacking, think not about how quickly you can get the boat onto the new tack. Think instead about carrying as much momentum as possible with you through the change in course. Too fast a turn—which is common—will reduce momentum. Too slow a turn, and you’ll lose all your speed. “Ready About” Although we say “hard-a-lee,” “soft-alee” might be more apt. Prepare to tack by checking that the working jib sheet is flaked and ready to run. Remove any slack from the lazy jib sheet and load it on the winch with two full turns. Steering Through the Tack Start with a slow smooth turn into the wind. This initial turn will help maintain speed, and it will also carry you briefly at nearly full speed toward your upwind destination. As the sails begin to luff, turn more quickly to pass the bow through the wind. Once the bow crosses head to wind, slow the rate of turn again, and bring the helm back to centerline before you are down to the new close hauled course; the boat’s angular momentum will finish the turn for you. Position yourself well to windward (or to leeward in very light air) so you can see and steer to the jib as it is trimmed. Come out of the tack just a few degrees below your regular close hauled angle, and then head up to course as the boat accelerates to full speed. For best performance, it also helps to ease the mainsail a few inches to accelerate out of the tack. Trim in again as you reach full speed. Handling the Jib While you may want to take excess wraps off the winch, be sure to keep the working sheet fully trimmed until the jib luffs half way across the foredeck. As the jib luffs, ease a full arm’s length of jib sheet to reduce load, then spin the rest of the sheet off the winch and make sure it runs. On the trim side, keep the lazy sheet taut. As soon as the jib clew passes the mast, pull in full armloads as fast as you can. When the sheet load is too great to pull, add wraps and grind the sail in the rest of the way. Stand up over the winch to grind, and use two hands. Tacking in Waves If time allows, look for a relatively smooth spot in which to tack, rather than tacking in the middle of a big set of waves. Use a quicker turn than in smooth water, as the waves will quickly slow the boat’s momentum. Time your turn to start as you run up the face of a wave, and turn quickly enough to get the bow around so the next wave pushes you down onto the new tack. Since big waves are generally accompanied by big wind, use the following heavy air tips to guide you in finishing your tack. Heavy Air When coming out of a heavy air tack, you can make it easier to trim the jib by slowing your turn. Turn just far enough to get the jib past the mast and shrouds, and then hold course with the jib luffing over the side deck. Don’t bear off to fill the sail until it is nearly sheeted home. READ MORE

MICHEL VAUCHER: "NORTH SAILS POUR NOUVEAU CHALLENGE" C’est désormais officiel, Michel Vaucher rejoint l’équipe de North Sails Suisse en ce début de septembre 2016 ! Après 29 ans chez Voiles Gautier, Michel souhaite « rejoindre North Sails pour sa technologie » et y voit l’opportunité d’un « nouveau challenge ». Celui que l’on décrit comme généreux et humain revêt désormais chaque matin la tenue au logo bleu et blanc surmonté des deux lettres « NS ». Pierre-Yves Jorand, associé chez North Sails Suisse : « Il est dans le métier depuis plus de 25 ans, ses qualités sont multiples. Michel est tout d’abord un excellent navigateur et régatier reconnu en Suisse et à l’étranger. Il a également l’avantage d’avoir su transposer son expérience pour devenir un parfait technicien et designer et ainsi proposer des voiles qui ont conquis les podiums durant de longues années. En intégrant notre équipe au 1er septembre, Michel sera au plus près de nos clients et vient renforcer la dynamique d’animation et de promotion de nos voiles dans plusieurs séries monotypes suisses, ainsi qu’une présence sur les lacs romands ». A la question « à part les voileries, quelles sont tes autres passions ? », Michel répond « naviguer » ! Il complète tout de même par « skier quand je trouve le temps d’y aller et faire de la moto ». Il décrit ses nouvelles missions North comme « multiples et transversales sur le terrain ». Au niveau du design et de par son expérience, il collaborera avec les designers pour le développement des produits lémaniques. Enfin, quand Michel se prête au jeu de définir son job avec des mots simples et en 140 caractères, il conclut par : « contact, collaboration, service, disponibilité, technique, vente, eau, vent, sourire et efficience ». Un bon programme en perspective ! Extrait du parcours de régatier de Michel Vaucher : Michel débute la voile en Optimist à l'âge de 7 ans et tire ses premiers bords en compétition à 10 ans. Puis il navigue en Laser dès 14 ans jusqu'à ses 19 ans. Il croise ensuite le chemin de nombreuses séries monotypes en monocoque (Surprise, Toucan, 5.5JI, 6 et 8m JI, Esse 850, Star etc) et en multicoque (F18, F20, D35, M2). Michel a dans son escarcelle une AG2R (transat en double) et plusieurs Tours de France à la voile. Il est aussi équipier sur des circuits internationaux, à l’image de l’America’s Cup (1999-2000) et du championnat du monde de match racing (2000-2005). Depuis quelques années, Michel a décidé de mettre ses prétentions sportives de côté pour se consacrer au métier de voilier et prendre soin de sa clientèle. Il n’en reste pas moins actif en M2 et complète régulièrement des équipages sur les régates des lacs suisses. Du côté du plancher de Meyrin, toute l’équipe de North Sails Suisse se réjouit d’accueillir Michel et d’agrandir la famille North Sails. Michel Vaucher (+41) 78 898 20 24 michel.vaucher@northsails.com READ MORE

North Sails 3Di RACE takes patented technology tested by the most competitive sailing programs in the world and translates them into your everyday race solution. 3Di RACE is engineered and designed specifically for boats up to 40’. Proven performance, durability, and value packed into a single sail. Call a sales representative today. Go North. Go Beyond. Why is 3Di RACE different? RACE is attainable performance. With a unique, specialized layout, 3Di RACE sails will deliver optimized performance through wide wind ranges. Without surface tapes, RACE boasts an impressive strength to weight ratio – offering you a lightweight sail that has the capacity to perform, and the flexibly for you to trim, handle, fill, and flake it with confidence. RACE takes our celebrated 3Di technology, tested by the most competitive sailing programs in the world, and translates them into an everyday race solution. Proven performance, durability and value packed into a single sail. – Ken Read, President, North Sails In a general sense these sails are extremely adjustable and are able to power up and de-power through the range, thus their shape holding and performance through the range is tremendous. – JB Braun, Aero Design, North Sails Sail Scans show the impressive shape holding ability of 3Di RACE, especially as wind pressure increases. In 7 knots of wind a 3Di RACE sail will look similar to a comparable string sail. When the wind picks up and put some load on the sail structure (10-12 knots) you will see a significant difference between a “string” sail and a 3Di Race sail structure. You will easily see a delta in cord depth by up to 2% and up 5% in draft location with the 3Di Race sail holding its sail shape over a wider range. – Per Andersson, Head of Design, North Sails Gone are the days of throwaway plastic sails that break down far too quickly. 3Di RACE will substantially outlast any string sail and will give racers much more time on the water with optimized performance. The dedicated RACE tape layout makes this sail user-friendly, lighter, low-stretch and more forgiving to trim and tune. As the segment leader for Club Race, I’m confident introducing 3Di RACE is a big step in changing customers’ perception that 3Di technology is out of reach for everyday sailors. – Sam Richmond, Club Race Segment Leader, North Sails Go North, Go Beyond. Read our Quick Guide, or contact an Expert today. You better hurry – our first sets have already hit the water running. READ MORE

A 46 year old trimaran wins the 2016 Bayview-Mackinac Race with a new custom sail package. On July 17, 2016, Adagio won her class in the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race—thanks to her latest upgrades and a new set of North Sails. “Old Adagio has taken on a new life,” said designer and builder Meade Gougeon. The 35 foot trimaran, built in 1970, was the first to be constructed entirely with WEST SYSTEM epoxy, which Meade and his brother Jan developed. Adagio won her first Bayview-Mac in 1999. In 2000, she celebrated her thirtieth birthday by winning the race again—and then also took both line honors and first overall in that year’s race from Chicago to Mackinac Island. The crew was Meade and Jan Gougeon, Butch Babcock and JR Watson. “In 2000 the crew was at the peak of their sailing wisdom and in excellent physical condition,” reported project manager and 2016 Bayview-Mac crew member Matt Scharl. “Adagio was also at the peak of technology for that era.” Adagio was again the first multihull to finish both races to Mackinac Island in 2006. But despite several upgrades to appendages and rigging, she couldn’t produce another race win. “In recent years she had gone downhill,” Meade Gougeon explained, “with both the boat and crew aging out. This year we decided to tackle the problem.” Toward the end of the 2015 sailing season, Meade asked Matt Scharl to oversee the upgrades needed to bring the boat back up to race-winning speed before the 2016 race. Matt grew up sailing locally on his grandfather’s Tartan 41 Naiad, and to him the project felt like “coming back home.” “We only got one opportunity to sail Adagio before it came out of the water ,” Matt explained, “but that sail was telling.” The boat’s sails, which were only a year old, made it so difficult to stay in the groove that only Meade, with his forty-five years of experience driving the boat, could keep things rolling. “The sails weren’t right for the boat at all,” Matt said, adding that the genoa’s entry was too fine. The spinnaker was “simply what I describe as a beach ball—too deep to promote any flow across the sail.” In contrast, the mainsail was so flat it was hard to trim properly. The result was very little overlap between sails, and very little forgiveness on any point of sail. “The old suit had very definitive wind and angle ranges,” Matt continued. “It was hard to obtain and maintain optimal trim. Getting the boat up and running was achievable, but keeping it there was very finicky.” So in addition to helping his race teammates, brothers-in-law Ben Gougeon and Alan Gurski, with their ongoing modernization of Adagio, Matt brought in North Sails designer Magnus Doole to work up a new sail inventory. “Matt agreed to help us do a makeover of Adagio,” Meade explained, “but only if we included Magnus to consult on the rig, and design a new set of sails.” “The Gougeon organization could not be happier with the North Sails effort, which has helped our beloved Adagio to carry on a competitive effort for more years to come.”And those designs, Matt says, were “spot on.” Magnus came up to Bay City from New Zealand to help Matt accurately measure the boat. Then the sailmaker created a 3D model from the measurements using Desman, which is part of the North Design Suite. Back home again, Magnus designed a sail package that would maximize crossover and make the boat easier to sail fast. The sails included a North Sails 3Di ENDURANCE mainsail, solent genoa and trinquette staysail, a North Panel Laminate (NPL) code zero and North Paneled Cloth (NPC) yellow gennaker. They were built at two separate North facilities according to strict manufacturing standards, and then shipped directly to Michigan. Meade Gougeon was impressed with both the seamless process and North’s attention to detail. “The sails were delivered on time and fit like a glove, due to the careful job of measuring. The collaboration between Matt and Magnus was like magic, and Magnus went beyond the call of just being a sail designer, engaging with both Matt and us on any number of related sail handling issues.” As for performance, Matt noticed one key difference as soon as they raised the new sails: a wider groove. “The boat was lively, responsive and accelerated fast.” Adagio’s crew for the 2016 Bayview-Mac (Matt, Ben, and Alan) wasn’t able to practice as much as they would’ve liked before the start, so it wasn’t until they had already started the 259-mile course that they realized just how much range each of the new sails had. “The race started out as a one-sided beat on starboard,” Matt said, “so we started with the genoa, with great boat speed on the other boats. When we got lifted we switched to the Code 0, an hour late.” They were still learning the crossovers for the new sails. When the wind lifted them even more, they switched to the spinnaker—”again an hour too late,” Matt said. “Clearly the new sails had larger ranges than we had expected.” The thirty-five footer was able to keep pace with the Santa Cruz 70s, though until Adagio rounded the Cove Island mark, they lost some distance to the multihulls behind them that were sailing in better breeze. “After rounding,” Matt explained, “we sailed with the genoa and jib on a beam reach.” It was here that the boat (with Ben Gougeon on the helm) reached her top speed of the race, which Matt described as “17-ish” knots. He believes it was on this leg of the course where the team gained enough distance on the boats behind to secure the class win. “I’ve never sailed a small trimaran that is able to hold apparent wind so well.” “We were passing lots of the Santa Cruz 70s along the way,” Alan Gurski added, “so we had a good feeling that we were near the front of the fleet.” Adagio won the multihull division with an elapsed time of 28:46:04. “It was a hoot!” said Alan afterward. Having sails that were easy to trim and fast to sail also made it easier for the three man team to gel so quickly. Alan and Ben had sailed Adagio with Meade for the past five years, but this was Matt’s first season on board. “We all can do every job on the boat,” Matt said, “so roles are interchangeable.” As for sleep, “we all got about two hours.” This winter, Adagio has one more major upgrade scheduled. And then, Matt says, “she is good to go for the next fifty years, we think.” Meade Gougeon agrees. “The Gougeon organization could not be happier with the North Sails effort, which has helped our beloved Adagio to carry on a competitive effort for more years to come.” READ MORE

FRANK REEG AND JONATHAN PRINS WIN 2016 MC NATIONALS Top Nine Teams Powered by North Sails! Imagine this 101 MC Scows, championship racing and Crystal Lake, Michigan one of the world’s nicest lakes. That was our setup for this year’s MC National Championship. This regatta was almost three years in the making with preparations by Regatta Chair – Kelly Winter and her team of over half of the yacht clubs family membership joining in to help get ready for and to run the championship. The efforts simply put were incredible. Every single detail you could think of was handled with servant volunteers at every turn this past week on the water and off the water. More about that in a bit further down in the article. Let’s get right to some results. I will break this down into results right away. Then conditions for the races. Some key learnings for the races. Also, Race highlights , Social Activities and Future Class News. RESULTS Incredible line-up of sailors. Average age is falling in our class which is great for our future as we see a large younger group of sailors joining our class. For full results go to www.2016mcnationals.com RACE WINNERS – Powered by North Sails! Race 1 – Cam McNeil Race 2 – Frank Reeg Race 3 – Scott Harestad Race 4 – Frank Reeg RAce 5 – Andy McDonald Race 6 – Scott Slocum Race 7 – Eric Hood DIVISION WINNERS – Powered by North Sails! Top Youth – Frank Reeg Top Woman – Emily Oltrogge Top Master – Scott Harestad Top Grand Master – Matt Fisher Top Mega Master – Mike Keenan Top Old Salt – Ed Schindler TOP TEAMS POWERED BY NORTH SAILS 1. Frank Reeg Spring Lake, MI 30pts 2. Cam McNeil White Lake, MI 43 pts 3. Scott Harestad Spring Lake , MI 53pts 4. Ted Keller Torch Lake, MI 61pts 5. Brian McMurray White Lake , MI 70 pts 6. Eddie Cox White Bear YC, MN 72 pts 7. Tony Pugh Crystal Lake, MI 74 pts 9. Daniel Guidinger White Bear YC, MN 88 pts READ MORE

North Sails partners with Warrior Sailing Program Competitive Team for the J/22 Worlds in Kingston, Ontario Since 2013 the Warrior Sailing Program has introduced 165 wounded veterans and active military athletes to the sport of sailing. Continuing to surpass all of the original expectations, the program is expanding to provide it’s training camp graduates with opportunities beyond just ‘learning how to sail’. An option for graduates is to earn a spot on the competitive race team. Other options include sailing certifications, big boat racing, small boat racing, and regional sailing. This year the Warrior Sailing team made a decision to compete in the J/22 world championship in Kingston, Ontario. With the tremendous support of the USMMA Sailing Foundation and partnerships with companies like North Sails, we are ready to take on the WORLD. Competing in the event on the WS team is Scott Ford (Navy), Sammy Lugo (Army) and team head coach Ed Norton (sailor not actor!). Additional team members, David Caras (Coast Guard) and Josh Agripino (Marine), made the trip up to learn from this experience on a spectator boat. A new suite of J22 sails will help enhance boatspeed. Program director Ben Poucher says, “Without the support of North Sails, our team was going to start out at a disadvantage on the World stage. The J/22 sails North provided on short notice has helped our team generate positive results and pushed our team to be more competitive during each race. Thank you North One Design!” The Warrior Sailing competitive team is looking to continue in the J22 class and also expand its horizons to provide more spots on the competitive team in the near future. We are always seeking ‘ready to race’ boat donations and monetary support to offset event costs. The support of the donation allows us to use the boat for our team for 3 years, and then sell the boat to help fund new and promising initiatives. Learn more about the program READ MORE

Accomplished One Design sailors Phil and Wendy Lotz have embarked on a new project: a liveaboard multhull. We caught up with them after their first two regattas on their new Gunboat 60 Arethusa. The Fort Lauderdale-Key West Race is considered a feeder race for Key West Race Week, and in 2016 it was also the shakedown event for the Gunboat 60 Arethusa and her owners Phil and Wendy Lotz. According to Phil, the 160-mile sprint down the Keys was a great way to figure out their new offshore catamaran. “We got a chance to put the boat through its paces, on all points of sail and in varying wind conditions.” Once they arrived in Key West, they made the transition to day racing, even though “it is not really a ‘round the buoys’ boat.” And that was actually a nice plus in a location where housing costs are typically a large part of the team budget: “We lived on her at Key West and plan on doing so at all our race events.” Arethusa raced with 8-10 crew (though only six stayed aboard), and they’re still settling into an exact number for the team. “We think 8 to 9 (depending on skill set) is needed for day racing with any frequency of turning marks or sail changes.” Transferring racing skills from offshore one design monohulls like the Swan 42 class, where Phil and Wendy were national and KWRW champions, required several adjustments. “The rig is very powerful, so we are getting used to the rig and the sails and how to handle them.” And then there’s the high speed. “That takes a little getting used to, especially approaching maneuvers and sail changes.” The couple’s favorite sail is the A4, which is launched from a snuffer. “it is a very large chute so the snuffer helps control the sail. Plus it would be very hard to pack as the sail is bigger than the working space onboard.” And during the weeklong race series, “we used almost everything—we really think the inventory is great and found a real need for every sail.” Arethusa is equipped with North Sails 3Di ENDURANCETM working sails (Main, J1, J2), North Sails NPL DOWNWINDTM R1 and R3, and an NPC DOWNWINDTM A4. The original plan was to head from Key West to the Caribbean for the racing season there, but instead Phil and Wendy have decided to spend the winter/spring in Fort Lauderdale, to “get the boat perfect.” Phil added, “We look forward to finishing up the work list early to mid-March and conducting some sea trials off Lauderdale.” After that, the racer-cruiser benefits of their new boat will again be a plus. “We want to do some cruising in the Bahamas in late April before returning back to Newport late May.” Summer racing plans include Annapolis-Newport, NYYC Race Week, the NYYC Cruise, and the Vineyard Race. So by next year’s Lauderdale-Key West Race, the new Arethusa will definitely be a racing veteran. READ MORE

In late 2015, childhood friends Vincent Moeyersoms, Olivier Moeyersoms, and Marc Vander Stricht bought the 53’ aluminum, French-designed exploration sailboat, Alioth. Why? Because these Belgian cruising sailors share a love of extreme latitudes—now they have the vessel to get them there. Built in 2009, Alioth is fully kitted-out with a lifting keel, water ballast, twin rudders, and crash bulkheads in the bow and stern. She is an ocean-goer with some miles in her wake, having completed a circumnavigation with her previous owners. Alioth came with sails that Vincent describes as “old” since they have 50,000 miles on them and her year-old North Sails spinnaker is a “keeper.” Next month she will receive North Sails NPL TOUR heavy-duty cruising sails. For Vincent and crew, expedition sails might be a better term. For 2-3 months out of the year, Alioth will serve as home for Vincent, Olivier, and Marc. Within five years they hope to lap the Americas on a zig-zag route reaching far North, and far South. In May, the crew delivered Alioth from Belgium to Norway. Over the next few months they will make their way from the Lofoten Islands, down the coast of Norway, and start ticking the boxes on the Atlantic. “Next summer we should be coming up the coast of the US to Maine, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland,” Vincent said. “If the conditions are right, we could then attempt the Northwest Passage. If not, we will delay a year.” Completing the Northwest Passage would leave them in Alaska. From there, the planned route would deliver them down the coast of Canada, across the Pacific to New Zealand, across the South Pacific to Chile, then onto Antarctica, South Georgia, and back up to Europe “I sailed professionally years ago and I took part in the Round the Word Race and raced maxi boats,” Vincent said. “Later I ran a few campaigns in the Maxi class and America’s Cup. In 1992, I managed the winning America’s Cup team America3.” Five years aboard Alioth is the next challenge. Alioth’s name signifies the brightest star in the Big Dipper. “We decided to keep the name,” Vincent said. This decision is a nod to the crew’s shared ambition to add a greater purpose to their exploration. “We would love to adopt an environmental aspect of the journey, to contribute toward trying to find a solution to the ocean’s plastic pollution problem we’ve seen growing for so many years. In 40 years spent on the water, we have seen trash accumulating on the ocean, and we want to be part of the solution.” READ MORE

Looking to take your team to the next level? Off the back of J/111 Worlds, North Sails catches up with Martin Dent on how he and the team on North-powered JElvis played their strengths to secure a world-class win in this highly competitive class. Narrowing it down, Dent shares 5 tips to up your game and approach the next regatta ready to win. IT ALL STARTS WITH A GREAT TEAM Most of us have now raced together since the 2014 Winter Series, add in some practice, and then finally some good fortune. We were especially lucky with the windy conditions, which played to our strengths. Last year my wife and youngest daughter sailed on the boat in Newport, this year my elder daughter and 16 year old son did the bow and pit respectively. No Worlds places are guaranteed for family members (!) but these two both did the full training during July and earnt their spots. My wife did an amazing job this year, catering for the whole team in our house in Cowes and also being out on the rib for each race. MASTER THE FAR ENDS OF “SAILABLE CONDITIONS” We started training with the Round the Island Race on July 2nd. This was the windiest conditions that we’d sailed the J/111, and it is hard to imagine deliberately going out for a practice session in 25 to 35 knots. So when we found ourselves round the back of the island, wiping out on every other gybe, the process started to develop techniques that would ultimately pay for us in the Worlds one month later. Then in mid July, North Sails organized a training weekend. As it turned out we were lucky that during this training it was also blowing 20+ knots: again, the exact same conditions we were to face in the Worlds. BRING YOUR A-GAME It was noticeable, as with previous Worlds, that everybody raises their game. Whether it’s new sails, A-teams, a bit of practice, or just the general focus and concentration that everyone puts in, every team was sailing well. You get boats and teams from all over the world coming together at the warning signal and the true one design of the J/111 makes the racing so tight. KNOW YOUR COMPETITION Peter Wagner’s team, Skeleton Key, from San Francisco, were a hot ship. They always seemed to be in the right place going fast, and they were very competitive tactically: the tacking duels started on Day 1. Going into the final day, we were hanging on to a 2-point lead but we were carrying a much higher discard (15) than Skeleton who had only discarded a 5. So we knew that they would try to sail us down the fleet, it was just a question of whether they would do the damage in Race 1 or 2… Whilst we ate our pancakes at breakfast, Ruairidh, Annabel and I were drawing sketches of the various boat-on-boat scenarios that might develop… Sure enough Skeleton came at us in the pre-start on the first race. We went into a match racing dial-up, which then turned into a dial down. Somehow we got out of there ok and got a reasonable start, so going into the final race it was back to fleet racing. KEEP YOUR LID ON The final race was underway and we needed a top 5 finish, yet we had to work our way through the fleet having struggled to hold our lane off the start. We’d worked our way to 3rd at the leeward mark, only to get a bonner in the jib and let 3 boats through. After all that work it was a basic boat-handling mistake under pressure! So we’d have to work our way back up through the fleet a second time, which was no easy task as everyone was fighting for places. In the end we fought back to a second place finish, granting us the overall win with four points to spare. Want more tips? Check out our full-length interview with Martin on OffshoreOneDesign.com READ MORE

INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN DENT SKIPPER OF JELVIS THE 2016 J/111 WORLD CHAMPION North Sails Jeremy Smart caught up with Martin to find out the secrets to their success. What were the key ingredients of your World Championship victory? That’s easy: it’s all down to a great team, most of which have now raced together since the 2014 Winter Series, add in some practice, and then finally some good fortune. We were especially lucky with the windy conditions, which played to our strengths. How did you prepare for the Regatta? We started with the Round the Island Race on July 2. This was the windiest conditions that we’d sailed the J/111, and it is hard to imagine deliberately going out for a practice session in 25 to 35 knots. So when we found ourselves round the back of the Island, wiping out on every other gybe, the process started to develop techniques that would ultimately pay for us in the Worlds one month later. Throughout July we spent time refreshing the boat handling basics. Then in mid July, North Sails organised a weekend of with some video training practice with starts, upwind tuning and downwind techniques. As it turned out we were lucky that during this training weekend it was also blowing 20+ knots: again, the exact same conditions we were to face in the Worlds. How competitive was the racing during the Worlds? It was very tight racing in each of the races throughout the four days. It was noticeable, as with previous Worlds, that everybody raises their game. Whether it’s new sails, A-teams, a bit of practice, or just the general focus and concentration that everyone puts in, every team was sailing well. You get boats and teams from all over the world coming together at the warning signal and the true one design of the J/111 makes the racing so tight. The starts were intense, it was a challenge to hold a lane, and the mark roundings were congested on each leg. If you made a mistake you’d immediately let through boats and it was a truly international final podium…the top 6 boats were: UK, USA, UK, USA, Netherlands, Cornwall. There was high drama on the final day and it was all on until the last race? Peter Wagner’s team, Skeleton Key, from San Francisco, were a hot ship. We knew this from their US performances and from when they flew in and with just one day’s acclimatisation white-washed the Pre-Worlds giving us an exhibition in nailing every shift and slick boat handling. The weather during the Pre-Worlds was closer to “normal”, but as the Worlds got underway in heavy Solent conditions, that favoured us, it seemed like Skeleton were getting faster throughout the week as they worked out both the conditions and the Solent. They always seemed to be in the right place going fast, and they were very competitive tactically: the tacking duels started on Day 1. Going into the final day, we were hanging on to a 2-point lead but we were carrying a much higher discard (15) than Skeleton who had only discarded a 5. So we knew that they would try to sail us down the fleet, it was just a question of whether they would do the damage in Race 1 or 2… Whilst we ate our pancakes at breakfast, Ruairidh, Annabel and I were drawing sketches of the various boat-on-boat scenarios that might develop… Sure enough Skeleton came at us in the pre-start on the first race. We went into a match racing dial-up, which then turned into a dial down. Somehow we got out of there ok and got a reasonable start, so going into the next and final race it was back to fleet racing. We needed a top 5 finish, and yet we had to work our way through the fleet having struggled to hold our lane off the start. We’d worked our way to 3rd at the leeward mark, only to get a bonner in the jib and let 3 boats through. After all that work it was a basic boat-handling mistake under pressure! So we’d have to work our way back up through the fleet a second time, which was no easy task as everyone was fighting for places. How did the 2016 Worlds compare with the 2015 Worlds in Newport, USA? Conditions were completely different. In Newport there was a 25 boat fleet but it was light and shifty winds: a lot of J1 upwind and A1.5 downwind sailing, soaking low to target VMG numbers. This year was pretty much all 20+ knots so it was J2’s and J3’s, and on the downwind legs it paid to get the boat up and ripping on the plane asap. How many family members did you have on the team? Last year my wife and youngest daughter sailed on the boat in Newport, this year my elder daughter and 16 year old son did the bow and pit respectively. No Worlds’ places are guaranteed for family members (!) but these two both did the full training during July and earnt their spots. My wife did an amazing job this year, catering for the whole team in our house in Cowes and also being out on the rib for each race. You bought your J/111 in 2014. Why did you pick the J/111? As a family we had spent the previous decade doing a lot of blue water cruising on an Oyster. The displacement Oyster was perfect for its task but when, in 2014, we switched the focus to racing we didn’t want another boat that went downwind at the same speed as it went upwind. So it had to be a planing boat, and a one-design fleet with a future, that we could grow into. I noted that the J/111 fleet was strong in the UK and was growing world wide, with an ISAF international class status. The J/111 has surpassed our expectations. I was delighted that the first year, we were firmly at the back of the fleet; this was a fleet of good sailors. The fleet has been great, there’s a good bunch of friendly owners, who share ideas and knowledge freely. Cost-wise the J/111 is not expensive, it’s just the same as any other 35 footer, and yet you get a different league of performance and racing. You can’t modify your boat so you can’t spend any money even if you wanted to, and there is a sail tag system that limits the numbers of new sails you can buy. Most importantly sailors enjoy sailing the J/111. Finding crew is not difficult: the boat is so responsive to even minor trim adjustments and to body positions, it sails like a dinghy, and downwind it is truly exciting sailing, and this keeps everybody coming back! How have you found the North Sails product? I had North Sails on my Oyster, but if I am honest, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you, in 2014, which of the sail-makers were building the best sails for the J/111. The 2014, 2015 and 2016 J/111 Worlds have all been won by different sail-makers. But what made the difference for me was that from the minute I bought the J/111, I received so much help and support in terms of actually sailing the boat from the North team. Over the last three years we have had 8 different North Sails sailors help us! The North team has led the development and transfer of knowledge across the fleet. This was great for us when we were starting out, and it continues to help us today and to help the fleet keep improving. We use the standard North Sails tuning guide and targets. In three years I have only bought two sets of sails, despite doing a lot of sailing and 3 World Championships. We switched from 3DL to raw 3Di and this included a different sail design and undoubtedly we had a step change in boat speed. In Newport (2015) with our 3di sails hung on a local US boat that we chartered, we had good boat speed on the US teams, including the Quantum boat that ultimately won, but we were just out-sailed, ending up 7th out of 25. It is therefore no surprise to me that, this year, North Sails have monopolised the J/111 podiums on both sides of the Atlantic in the respective Nationals, and Worlds: just deserts, in my opinion, for a full service effort. Will you continue with the J/111? Undoubtedly, yes. It’s simple: there isn’t any better racing. As an example and in complete contrast to the Worlds, immediately following the Worlds this year we did Cowes Week. Given some understandable fallout after the Worlds, there were only six J/111 entries and all with family and friend type crews. And yet despite this and the typical Cowes Week round the can races, it was still nip and tuck all the way; after 3 and a half hours, just 3 seconds separated McFly and us on the first day and each subsequent race the finishes were matters of seconds not minutes. To find another boat that planes downwind, the alternative in the UK fleets is to go to the Fast Forty fleet, which is a massive increase in price and a much more complex proposition. Whilst the Ker 40’s etc look awesome, and it is great that this fleet has developed, I do notice that after every event the Fast Forty fleet talk is generally about rigs, keels, etc. I’ve got great admiration for the boat development, but I prefer the J/111 post race talk, which is simply about shifts, tactics and boat handling. The 111 racing is just about the sailing, and it is exciting to the finish with boats seconds apart. What do you think of the J/111 Class Rules? They all make sense: the 650kg weight limit, for Class events, is perfect and most teams sail with 8 comfortably. Without the weight limit it would be a competition in finding 6 big guys for the rail. With it, we find a few teams that manage to get 9 on board with either young nippers and also it is great to see women who are typically lighter weight, amongst the teams. There is a one Cat 3 (professional sailor) limit: this is also about right, keeps the cost down, and keeps it from becoming too serious. There are IRC events where Class Rules don’t apply and in the UK we have adjusted Class rules per local events to accommodate various teams and this has worked well. Final question, will you go to the US to defend the Championship next year? It’s one of the great benefits of the class that the World Championships move around to great sailing venues. I can’t think of a better holiday than a week racing in San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and seeking tide relief from Alcatraz on the America’s Cup race track. We will be there. READ MORE

Hugo Rocha of North Sails Spain recounts Olympics past and present, plus the tactics that got him through three editions of the Games in the Men’s 470, ultimately medaling in Atlanta, 1996. You were a young guy when you first went to Barcelona in 1992. Can you put into words what a first Olympic experience is like? The scale, the excitement, the camaraderie, etc. How did this affect you and what impact did it have? I have been a very big fan of sports since I was a little child. When I was eight I used to practice gymnastics and I remember watching on TV the Moscow’s Olympics Ceremony, and obviously being there was something unthinkable. At 10, I started sailing in the Optimist class, and by that time the idea of attending the Olympics was definitely on my mind. So when I finally could attend, my excitement was huge. Living in the Olympic Village, sharing the facilities with your sport idols, those whom you had seen only on TV, was an unforgettable experience. I still remember the inauguration day and the walk we did from the Village to the Stadium, I was astounded at how incredible everything was, surrounded by police, helicopters above us, like in the movies, I felt really important. Being there during the ceremony in the Stadium was a breathtaking and incredible experience. You must be extremely proud of your Bronze Medal in Atlanta (well, Savannah!) in 1996. Can you describe your emotions on the podium and the memories you now have looking back? Reaching your goal after 4 years of hard work represents an enormous joy. However, sailing in Savannah helped us to focus on the Olympic racing just as we would any other, since we stayed in the local Olympic Village which was far away from the hustle and bustle of the Olympic Games. For Atlanta, the real excitment came when we arrived in home in Portugal. A country with just a few Olympic medals, we had won two medals that year: Fernanda Ribeiro won gold in Women’s 10000mn, and us with bronze in the Men’s 470. Overnight, we became famous. Everybody stopped you on the street, the restaurants. Suddenly you felt a strange but nice pressure. “…That’s why it is important to follow a methodology and, above all, to build your strength based on psychology, which means that you have to work hard at what you believe, feel and want.” From your three Olympic Games, other than the medal, what stands out from the different cities, teams and experiences that are all part of the world’s greatest sporting event? Barcelona was my first Olympic experience and I still remember some special moments like it was yesterday. I will never forget the image of Olympic flame cauldron being lit by a flaming arrow, and listening to the athlete’s oath of my friend Luis Doreste during the opening ceremony. In the Atlanta Games, sailing was hosted at a location far from the Olympic environment so it felt more like a common international competition rather than the biggest sporting event in the world. A curious thing was the giant platform where all the sailboats were standing, only accessible by boat. Everyday we had to take a 30 minutes ferry ride, enjoying the beautiful landscape. Sydney was the first time that I felt sailing was valued by the crowds, just as much as the other sports. It was amazing to see the great involvement of the city during the races. In fact, it was one of the few occasions that we could see such big crowds supporting a sailing event. The match racing finals in front of the Opera House had incredible and unprecedented participation from the public. Even today I ask myself why match racing does not have a place in the Olympic Games. Where do you keep your medal? I keep it along with all my trophies and sailing items in a personal work room. Tell us about the emotional and physical journey required to compete at the Olympic Games? Years of training, dreaming and pushing yourself must require a lot of discipline and dedication… It is a minimum of 4 years with just one goal on your mind: winning the medal. Obviously it’s not an easy journey. The competitors are tough and all of them are struggling hard to reach the same reward. That’s why it is important to follow a methodology and, above all, to build your strength based on psychology which means that you have to work hard at what you believe, feel and want. Having a good team around you that can give support and advice is another key factor for success, because they must know you very well, giving you the confidence to destroy your fears. The level of competition at the Olympics is so strong in all fleets – with an experienced eye, what is your assessment of the Men’s 470 Class? Who are the top podium contenders? The 470 has always been a very strong Olympic Class both in the number of participants and the level of the athletes. In this Class, everyone struggles to get the best tuning and use the right materials to achieve the fastest boat. It is a very complete boat that requires a broad understanding of all tactics and technical items to compete on the top. It is definitely an incredible boat and it will push you to become an experienced sailor. From my point of view, the top podium contenders are from Australia, Croatia, Argentina and Great Britain. How do you think the Class has changed since you raced? How have the sails also evolved to improve performance? During the last years, the class has faced several changes, the most important in my opinion is allowing the pumping from eight knots which demands a major physical effort. Regarding the evolution of the sails, I have seen important advances on the tuning guide directions, and the rake as well, besides a much flatter mainsail – especially on the bottom. Have you ever sailed in Rio? What do you make of the courses? The race area inside the bay is more tricky due to all the changes in pressure and currents. Outside the bay, there is a pretty nice course with good conditions and a nice swell. Finally, which country do you think will emerge at the top of the sailing medal table? Great Britain. READ MORE

Thirty six J/Boats hit the water to ring in the area’s inaugural J/Fest regatta. Sponsored by North Sails and hosted by Bristol Yacht Club, the inaugural J/Fest New England kicked off Friday, August 12th with afternoon practice led by North Sails Offshore One Design, followed by a local knowledge weather briefing at the club. Working with the J/105, J/109 and J/88 classes, North Sails experts Chuck Allen, Bill Gladstone and Jack Orr helped teams tune up and stretch their legs in 12-15 knot southerly winds. Heading in a little early due to incoming weather, sailors were met with a local knowledge briefing by North Sails experts Charlie Enright and North Sails President, Ken Read. A review of local weather trends including current, obstacles and wind direction was complemented by burgers and an open bar, all sponsored by North Sails. “If it weren’t for the rise of J/Boat racing, I would still be in Bristol Harbor sailing Mercuries,” said Read, a multi-world champion in the J/24, acknowledging the impact of J/Boats on competitive One Design racing throughout North America. Saturday brought the first races to fruition slowly, with a wind delay at the club and on the water. In the 90 degree heat and humidity forecast, soon more sailors were swimming than waiting patiently aboard. Nevertheless, the sea breeze filled mid-afternoon and the race committee squeezed in two quality races in a fairly stable southerly at 12 knots and ebb tide. Early on, boats starting off the pin end who worked the left shoreline fared well before the wind began to shift slightly right toward the end of the day. Sunday brought a light southerly gradient breeze. Hopes for a bolstering seabreeze were eventually burned off with the high heat, and pressure was generally up and down with big oscillations. Three to four races were completed by all fleets. North Sails sponsored three awards for the event which were presented by NA Sales Manager, Kimo Worthington, who sailed onboard J/109 Vento Solare for the event. The North Sails Overall award was presented to Ted Hearlihy’s J/109 Gut Feeling, the Sportsmanship award was presented to Brooke Mastrorio on J/109 Ursa, and most improved went to Kevin Dakan on J/110 Memory. Looking back on the long weekend, local North expert Charlie Enright commented that J/Fest New England is “a great event with a bright future. It’s wonderful to see a new regatta surrounded by such enthusiasm. Events like J/Fest will strengthen local classes both on the water and off.” READ MORE

FIREBALL UK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Tom Gillard & Richard Anderton first with a day to spare North Sails Tom Gillard with crew Richard Anderton has won the Fireball UK Nationals at Hayling Island with a day and two races to spare. The regatta saw mixed conditions with the the first two days raced in 12 to 18 knots and days three and four in lighter winds of 4 to 12 knots. Other top scoring North Sails powered boats were Kevin Hope and Russell Thorne who finished in 5th place and Peter & Tom Kyne who finished in 9th place. Overall results can be seen on the event results page. To read a full report see yachtsandyachting.com READ MORE

DISCOVERING SRI LANKA A Fresh Perspective It’s not every day you get to see where your sails are made and we had heard a lot of good things about the loft so we’re quite excited to see it all. During our visit many things stood out giving us a fresh perspective on the manufacturing loft in Sri Lanka. Scale North Sails seek to manage everything in-house meaning the sheer scale of the operation immediately impressed us. But more than that, what really stood out was the combination of technology, skilled craftsmanship and quality control. Everything from sails for dinghies to large offshore racing yachts were being made with the same meticulous level of detail. Machines using bobbins of thread that took a week to set up weaved away, plotter machines precision-cut sail panels, yet more machines laminated cloth and carbon using hi-tech adhesive. At the top end, machines followed by a person suspended in the air laid out carbon on huge automated platforms modeled to replicate the exact shape of a sail. Expertise Alongside the technology, each and every sail was being made with some element of human craft and skill. Spinnaker panels were laid together by ladies with an eye for precision, looking up and down the panel to determine where it needed to be laid before gently but confidently pressing it down. People sat in pits in the midst of huge platforms with sewing machines carefully stitching sails or sewing parts into them. Even top of the range carbon sails were hand finished by a professional with a pair of scissors and an eye for detail. Pride It was all carried out in a calm focused manner, people going about their jobs, knowing what they needed to do. Stopping to ask any Sri Lankan supervisor a question soon made you realise these people took pride in their job – quite often they would lose us as they leapt into intricate detail! Quality And then there was the quality control. Each sail is accompanied by a ‘ticket’, essentially a number of pages explaining the make-up of that individual sail, what needed to be done, what parts would accompany it and a list of checks to make sure it was delivered as it was designed. The name of the yacht was given and the sail’s destination – literally sails being made for the world! As an owner of a set of North Sails sails, it really did give us the assurance that our sail had been made to a very high standard by a factory well equipped, by talented people and that it had all been quality checked. We now look at our sails with a different eye. On our sail is a little label that has the North Sail logo and states ‘Made in Sri Lanka’. It should read ‘Made with Pride in Sri Lanka’. A loom sits loaded in Building 2 at North Sails in Sri Lanka. North Cloth takes up one of nine buildings at the North Sails complex in Sri Lanka. Dilki Kumari lays nylon spinnaker panels on a small-boat downwind sail in building eight. READ MORE

North Sails J/111 expert Jeremy Smart re-caps the recent world championship regatta on the Solent. The Pre-Worlds were hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble on the mainland side of the Solent. Six races were sailed over two days with breezy conditions on Friday and calmer conditions on Saturday. Peter Wagner and the crew on Skeleton Key made their mark, winning five of the races and discarding a second. In second overall were Martin Dent’s JElvis on 10 points and in third Stuart Sawyer’s Black Dog on 22 points. All of the top three used North Sails 3Di RAW upwind sails. On Sunday 31st July the 14-boat fleet moved across the Solent to Cowes for a day of weighing in and race briefings. North Sails was a sponsor for the Pre-Worlds and Worlds and provided weather forecasting each day with Libby Greenhalgh, who has forecast for the British Olympic Sailing Team and Team SCA in the Volvo Ocean Race. North also donated daily prizes and had planned some drone filming but the weather proved too windy to allow this. North representatives at the event were myself on McFly, Ruairidh Scott on JElvis, Seadon Wijsen from North Sails San Francisco on Skeleton Key, Aaron Cole from North Sails Melbourne on Kestrel and Wouter Kollman from North Sails Holland on Lällekönigl. The first day of the championship proved to be the light wind day of the regatta, with the breeze between 8 -15 knots. Three races were sailed. JElvis were the winners of the day followed by Skeleton Key and McFly. For the remaining three days the wind rarely dropped below 18 knots and topped at around 30. Day Two proved to be the windiest and was to be dubbed ‘Big Tuesday’! It was the Dutch boat Sweeny who showed their form in the windy conditions taking two firsts. Video footage from the day can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3nThVJc-1M By the evening of the third day a gap was opening up between the top three boats and the rest of the fleet. In first place was Skeleton Key with 11pts, followed by JElvis with 13pts and McFly with 19pts; while the next placed boat was Sweeny at 27pts and then Kashmir with a total of 29pts. On the morning of the final day, with two races to go, these three had it all to play for! Skeleton Key didn’t get off to a good start in the first race and then struggled to fight their way back. This gave JElvis a five point lead going into the last race, and Skeleton Key nine points ahead of McFly. Skeleton Key made a good start in this race and led most of the way around. Behind them places were changing rapidly meaning the final result wasn’t certain until the second run of the race when JElvis fought back from 6th to 2nd. The final race win for Skeleton Key, however, was not enough for them to take the overall title. JElvis had sailed incredibly consistent and were counting all top three scores, securing the win by four points from Skeleton Key. McFly was third, Kashmir fourth, Sweeny fifth and Black Dog sixth overall and first Corinthian boat. North Sails is proud to have outfit 13 of the 14 boats in the fleet with a complete sail inventory for the Worlds. Martin Dent’s winning team on JElvis began sailing the J/111 in 2014 and, during their short time in the class, have shown massive improvement. Martin commented that whilst the sails are undoubtedly fast, it’s the support and advice that they have received from North Sails that has enabled them to improve so quickly. Congratulations to the crews of JElvis, Skeleton Key, and McFly; and to all the fantastic sailors throughout the J/111 fleet, on a week of exceptional racing. Full results READ MORE

WHAT WE LEARNED AT THE 2016 THISTLE NATIONALS Tuning Tips from Mike Ingham Eugene Yacht Club is a special place both on and off the water. We have raced the last two Nationals there, so we immediately signed up again this year, barely consulting our calendars. Everything else could take a back seat. When I’m asked what it is like, I say “The wind comes in like clockwork (no foulies required), the RC is spot on, the club members are gracious hosts, the camping is perfect, the scenery beautiful and there is never a drop of rain.” Fortunately, the 2016 Nationals lived up to those expectations. We got all seven races off in Northerly winds 12-15 kts out of the north: the thermal direction. This is the long direction on the lake, so the legs were full Nationals length, meaning a lot of hiking. The water was relatively flat, and the shifts pretty big. The high end of the puffs blew into the low 20’s and the low end was light where we had to sit in. Tricky stuff! The reaches were full-on planing. It was good, fun racing! The challenge to going fast was shifting gears. Those who shifted well usually finished well. It was one of the keys to our win. Here are some of the things we did: Constantly looking out for puffs and lulls and communicating. Delia counted down the puffs and lulls: “puff in 3, 2, 1 puff on”, or just as important “big lull in 3, 2, 1, lull”. She was relentlessly observant. I was clear about what mode we were in. If it was marginally overpowering, I would say: “full hike” and I would balance the helm by easing just the right amount. But if it got lighter I would say; “I am fully trimmed” so Dan and Delia would know to balance the boat by moving their body weight and I would trim to the top telltale. Dan played the vang a lot with the increased wind. The more it blew, the more he would put it down to match my easing the mainsheet to keep the mast bent. He would make his best guess at where he thought it should be and then we would talk to fine tune it. Same with the jib. If I eased the main enough to get a big bubble up front, or even flog it, Dan would crack the jib just enough to get that bubble down a little. We found if we eased too much, we would lose height, so the ease was subtle. In the lulls, when we were in that mode where Dan and Delia balanced the boat, I was very careful to trim to the top mainsail telltale. It was easy to sheet too hard because having just come off a puff, I would trim in as it got lighter. So I kept looking up at that telltale and Dan would too. He would take a quick look every time the wind changed significantly and we would talk about how much trim was right. In the flat water, I could stall it a good amount and still keep the boat moving. We adjusted the cunningham and outhaul a little, but not much. Things happened quickly and getting the “big lines” (main sheet, jib sheet, vang) and boat balance right was more important than fine tuning of the “little lines” (like the cunningham). Most of the fleet camped together, enjoying the perfect weather. The yacht club served dinner every evening. Afterward we hung out by the fire and “karate chop” sailed through the evenings. Then we started it all over again breakfast together in the morning. There was no reason to leave the grounds. We all are looking forward to the Nationals in NY next year. Those making the trek: keep in mind that there are two other regattas in NY, one in late August and one the first weekend of September. Feel free to leave your boat at Rochester Canoe Club and stick around or fly back for those. Let me know in you’re interested and I will set you up! Learn more about North Sails’ fast Thistle designs.Learn more about North Sails fast Thistle designs. NORTH NOTES: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10 Powered by North Sails! READ MORE

Doug Newhouse and his team on the J/88 Yonder won the 2016 New York Yacht Club Race Week, posting three firsts and three seconds over the eight race series. We caught up with Doug to collect some words of wisdom and reflection on racing. What conditions did you encounter at this event and how prepared were you and your team? The Race Committee really gave us the full range of sailing experiences—a stadium course, round the island, racing up the bay, and racing in the open ocean. The breeze was strong for most races, including a driving rainstorm—but in the strangest race, the breeze changed from a 10-12 knot southerly on the first four legs to zero on the fifth leg, and then to an 8-10 knot northerly in about five minutes! Our tactician wisely realized that even though we had just dropped the kite we needed to hoist it again; his quick thinking plus great crew work allowed us to win that crazy race. What was the biggest contributor to your success in winning this regatta? It all starts with the team. We have a good core group and almost everyone is a twenty-something ex-college racer. They provide energy and are excited to have fun on a new boat like the J/88. Importantly, we participated in the Sail Newport one design regatta the weekend before Race Week, and we were able to work out some issues. Everyone is talking about your incredible downwind speed. How did you guys go so fast downwind? We need to give a salute here to North Sails. Last year we had a first generation kite, and when we switched to the newest North design it made a huge difference. The shape and overall performance was a game changer. Also the crew works the weight aggressively, like a dinghy, which allows me to keep a calm tiller and focus on keeping the boat balanced. How did you set up the boat? North tuning guide all the way. Can you give us three things that you and your team would do to make your boat go fast? It’s important to keep a balanced boat—heel angle makes a big difference. Crew consistency. Practice, practice, practice… Tell us about your team; they always looked to be well positioned on the boat. Most of the crew comes from smaller boats. They are always trying to give us the best boat balance. Hopefully everyone is choreographed and can handle every situation. As the owner, driver and skipper; can you tell us how you interact with the crew during a race? No yelling—it adds stress and is counterproductive. Before we go out every day, we have a team meeting to discuss every issue that might come up. I ask everyone their opinion, starting with the youngest. After each race, we debrief if time permits. Also everyone has a defined role and mine is to drive—I don’t call tactics, I don’t trim sails, I only try to focus on moving the boat forward in the most efficient manner. What do you and your team plan to work on for future events? We need to get better. Our competitors are really great sailors and every race is up for grabs. We need to go faster—great tactics are easy with great speed. We want better sail shapes—always working to refine the sails. Crew work is always ongoing. Lastly, better starts—we were never over early but seldom first. The playbook is never finished. READ MORE

SADLER & SAULT ENTERPRISE NATIONAL CHAMPS Winners Tim Sadler & Richard Sault with Commodore David Faithfull © Gareth Fudge Congratulations to Tim Sadler & Richard Sault who have retained their title – winning the Enterprise UK National Championship for 2016! Well done also to Alice Allen and Sharky who took the prize for first Lady’s helm. Our ‪North Sails‬ powered boats dominated the top 20 coming in at 1,2,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,15,17,19. Enterprise Fleet Nationals 2016 © Gareth Fudge Johnny Allen & James Hobson © Gareth Fudge Ladies National Champion Alice Allen & Sharky with Commodore David Faithfull © Graham Fudge READ MORE

Christopher Sheehan purchased Warrior Won, a new XP-44, in 2014 with the express goal of competing in the the 2016 Newport Bermuda Race. Warrior Won took the St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy in the historic race, and we caught up with her skipper after he returned to the east coast. Approximately one third of the fleet dropped out of this year’s Newport – Bermuda Race because of the forecast (upwards of 40 knots and an especially rough sea state in the Gulf Stream). What was your thought process before leaving the dock? The decision to race was never in question. We are all seasoned offshore racers and the boat was extremely well prepared. The fact is the conditions were near perfect. I respect the owners who did withdraw out of concern for crew who may have not been prepared for even thirty knot winds, or because they had boats that may be prone to expensive breakage in sustained high winds and seas. Who was on the crew? I have always felt that the individuals with small one design racing experience are the best crew on a big boat. The final 11 were: Skipper Christopher Sheehan; Watch Captains Paul van Dyke and Doug Lynn; Navigator H.L. DeVore; Bowmen, Ryan Zupon and Chris Simon; additional crew, Peter Carpenter, Roland Schulz, Andres de Lasa, Joost-Olan Sheehan, and Carter Holliday. Collectively we had extensive ocean racing experience on board. Reviewing the tracker, it looked like Warrior Won worked hard to get east on Saturday morning, and then stayed relatively close to Rhumbline through to the finish. Was working the eastern edge your game plan from the beginning or did you improvise? Between 36 and 12 hours before the start of the race, Commanders Weather and many others suggested going S-SW to capture breeze and avoid a huge high pressure system forming over Canada and northern New England. That was sound advice, however, by Saturday morning a few very astute navigators noticed that the wind was crashing to the SW and all boats were getting severely lifted. We and a few others gybed out crossing the back of half the fleet for 25 miles heading perpendicular to the course due east, giving up a top five position to be middle of the fleet. It paid off tremendously to get east of Rhumbline and send it 161 degrees to Bermuda. Thirty miles from the finish the wind got very light but our position favored us as we stayed on Rhumbline and found ourselves in a small rain squall that carried us to the finish. In the words of our navigator, it was a “slow motion knife fight” with the four boats ahead of us. We gybed dozens of times and picked up three spots passing Siren, Maximizer and Crazy Horse. Only High Noon crossed the line before us in the St. David’s Lighthouse Division. Many boats finished under very light conditions. What was the discussion like onboard when making the decision to gybe east? Ultimately every course heading for the entire 89 hours was determined by H.L. He deliberated methodically with the watch captains and bowmen based on data gathered from various weather sources and would put Expedition Software to use to come up with an optimal course based on the data. I would say that a mere 30% of the time the computer models were right. H.L. would therefore constantly observe, with his own eyes from on deck, the condition on the water and ahead and finally would reconcile the two to make his own decision which ultimately was the winning decision. “We raced one boat length—44 feet— at a time, despite 635 miles to Bermuda. Each person would focus intensely on his role every minute whether driving, trimming, navigating, calling tactics, or observing the weather.” Which sails did you use the most and why? Once H.L would determine our course, the on-duty watch captain (Doug or Paul) would decide exactly which sails we should use. We were sailing downwind or broad reaching probably 60-65% of the race. Percentage wise we used the Jib Top and Genoa Staysail and the A1 the most amount of time. In addition we used the A0 and Staysail quite frequently as well as the A4. We had the mainsail double-reefed any time winds exceeded 18 knots, which was for a solid third of the race. The boat and sails performed fantastically under these conditions. Any other secrets to success? We raced one boat length—44 feet— at a time, despite 635 miles to Bermuda. Each person would focus intensely on his role every minute whether driving, trimming, navigating, calling tactics, or observing the weather. Even when off watch, we’d concentrate on eating, hydrating and sleeping in order to be fresh and strong in four hours. Our navigator focused intensely for the hundreds of hours before and during the race to stay on top of the ever evolving conditions and make hundreds of brilliant decisions. Unnecessary chatter is a huge distraction which slows the boat down almost immediately. A lost half a knot over 100-150 miles potentially means the difference between 1st or 4th. It’s not a cruise we are on. We all wanted to win. Our definition of fun is doing our absolute best every time we leave the dock, and winning is the only satisfactory result when you put in maximum effort. Finally, were there any stand-out heroes among the crew? I am extremely appreciative of Chris Simon who looks after Warrior Won twelve months of the year, and H.L DeVore for the thousands of hours of preparation that he put into setting us up for victory. Additionally my son Joost-Olan, age 16, deserves a great deal of credit for having the courage to race in any conditions and the mental focus to commit to the program, all while playing spring sports and attending to his school work. They are the stand-out heroes. READ MORE

Silver medal 470 sailors Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills are ready for their most challenging venue yet in Rio de Janeiro. “We use North Sails from Japan for our full suit and have found the reliability and attention to detail of the product better than anything else out there.” For those not familiar with dinghy sailing, what are the characteristics of 470 racing? The 470 is a great mix of what sailing is all about. At the lighter end, the racing is a close, tactical battle. The boats are moving quite slowly, so there is time to think through your strategy and tactics like a game of chess. As the wind increases the boats get planing, becoming more physical. You need a more dynamic technique through the waves and the decisions on strategy need to be made faster as you react to the wind and your competitors. Going in with good form must give you some confidence? We are pleased with the process we have gone through this four years and feel we are a better, more competitive team than in 2012. Winning the final two World Cups in the run-up to the Games has given us a clear indication of the areas we have improved on and what still needs to be done, but at this point in time, we are pleased with where we are. What are the biggest challenges with Guanabara Bay concerning tide, the wind, etc.? It’s a hugely tricky venue, surrounded by high land which the wind has to find a way through and lots of bays and headlands for the tide to flow and eddy around, which is massively affected by the amount of rainfall. So lots to think about! What changes have you had to make to your boat set-up to account for the conditions? It’s a hugely varied venue from the flatter water inside the harbor to ocean swell outside so learning how to adapt and optimize our equipment over this range has been critical as we only measure in one set of equipment. Have you had to change anything else significant, for example in your training program? We have changed hulls this cycle from the Mackay to the Zeiglemayer. Programme wise, it varies as to where you are in the cycle and the priorities but this cycle we have spent a significant amount of time on breaking down and rebuilding our race observations and communications, so they are robust under the stress of the Olympic competition and venue. Who do you see as your biggest competition? Are there any dark horses in the fleet? There are obviously a few key contenders that have a good track record either in Rio or at the big events. However, Rio is an opportunistic venue and the Olympics inspire and stress people out in different ways so we expect that any number of people could get themselves into contention. What is the dynamic like between helm and crew and therefore you and Hannah? Hannah and I are lucky that from the beginning we just got on well and enjoyed the challenge and journey of an Olympic campaign together. We’ve managed to drag each other through some lows and enjoyed the highs together and will go into this Olympics with a great understanding of how we both enjoy working as individuals and how this feeds our team dynamic. What were the key factors behind your decision to be powered with North Sails? What products are you working with? We use North Sails from Japan for our full suit and have found the reliability and attention to detail of the product better than anything else out there. In that sailing will be much closer this time, do you expect to see any other events or hang out with any other members of British team? Ironically now that sailing is in the heart of the city, most of the action is happening at the Olympic village which could be up to a two-hour drive away with traffic (even though it’s not that far)! Until we have finished our racing, I expect it will be much the same as the other Olympics I have been to. Hopefully, afterward, we can get a taste of all the excitement of being in the center. What is your final run-in plan to Rio? We leave for Rio on Sunday (7/24) and have the potential for 15 days training before we begin racing. So there is still a lot of time to refine things. We are pretty clear on what we need to get done in that time. It will focus around short course boathandling and set pieces which are easier to do in a confined space when all the race courses are occupied around us. How do you think this Games will be different from the others you have done? Rio is the hardest venue of all so dealing with that under pressure will be key. Most of the course areas are very tricky and even if you are out in front you can’t relax and think that you’ve got that race in the bag. It really won’t be over until the finish line of the medal race. Finally, what are you looking forward to the most about the Rio Olympics? We just LOVE the Olympics! I love watching it, love competing in it, it’s just so exciting! It’s an absolute privilege to represent Team GB, so we’re looking forward to getting out there, racing and delivering. READ MORE

I think this ACWS Portsmouth will go into the books as an all-around style regatta – it has had a little bit of everything. A bit of light air, medium air and then some breeze- on yesterday. I wouldn’t say that we got to ‘heavy air’ per se yesterday but certainly we got into a good fun foiling day. And you know what, the best team won with the second best team coming in second. Its not actually often that you can say that in a regatta format like this but there is no doubt Land Rover BAR looked smooth. They get themselves out of jams when things weren’t going their way or they had a not-so–perfect start and they just didn’t make mistakes… Jimmy Spithill will be kicking himself for one race on Saturday which was held in quite light air and they made a series of mistakes at the bottom gate that turned into a 6th place, they are going to look back on that race and think what could have been. But also, what is it going to take to win one of these regattas? Its not that they aren’t trying but they just aren’t converting to wins. Britain and specifically Portsmouth came out for this event, there were literally tens of thousands of people there, the grandstands were packed, the waterfront full and you could hear the cheers when Land Rover BAR did something well, went into the lead or won! This was crowd noise and cheering in a condensed space that made stadium sailing real. It was impressive. The roar of the crowd was really something else – you did have to stop and remind yourself that we were at a sailing regatta not a hockey or football game. It was really fun. There were a few other notable things from this regatta – Groupama showed incredibly improved form in the light air but as soon as it went to foiling with a bit more breeze on they weren’t to be seen. They are the dark horses and certainly have potential but not up to the consistency and pace of the other top teams at the moment. Artemis and Emirates Team New Zealand were being steered by people who have never steered a foiling catamaran in a regatta like this before – their number one helmsmen are on Olympic ‘duty’ so their tactics were a bit different. Emirates Team New Zealand tried to cling to a podium position in order to keep their overall series lead and got nipped in the end at this regatta. They have never not been in first since the start of this years ACWS so it is not a natural place or feeling for them. Glenn Ashby said many times during this event (as he was lowering expectations) that they were here to ‘survive it’ and in a way they did but they lost a full 20 points to Land Rover BAR and Oracle which is a fair chunk of points. So they are still on the podium for the overall series but with two (or maybe three) regattas to go, its a shame for those guys to lose quite so much. With regards to Artemis, Francesco Bruni is an amazing sailor, one of the best in the world but he was thrown into the hot seat. At least Glenn Ashby, as the Olympian replacement, has been sailing on the boat nonstop for three years and is quite possibly the most heralded multihull sailor in the world. I’d say officially there is no better stand in than that right there! But for Artemis, Francesco sailed these boats when they are non foiling in the lead up to the last AC and of course, he was then Prada’s tactician, but he is new back into the game with these foiling machines so its not really a shock that they found it harder going. Oracle must be just really, really annoyed now. Listening to Jimmy’s interview at the end of the regatta he was putting a good spin on it and they didn’t do badly, don’t get me wrong. But they didn’t win and I have sailed with, and against, Jimmy enough to know that he wants to win. He will be downright angry. It will be interested to see the rebound into France. They are just sick of coming second or third so they need to find that extra gear somehow. But from a sporting perspective it was great to see the home team win, it just lifts an event and it certainly was the icing on the cake for Portsmouth. The energy, enthusiasm and wild scenes on the waterfront were expanded dramatically as the home town hero won again. There was a great vibe that couldn’t be matched if any other team won. And as a final moment, the royals were out on the water yesterday which was great. Anytime the royals show up at a regatta, sailing is doing something right! It is exposure that is amazing for the sport. It was a awesome to see. And also the Duke of Edinburgh was out on the water on Saturday – at 90, he looked in his element! William and Kate looked very comfortable out there yesterday and there is no doubt it was pretty bouncy! Anyone with a slightly weaker constitution might have not enjoyed the experience so much but they were in the right boat in the chase boat with Land Rover BAR, the winning team in their home port. Its an exciting and interesting time in the history of the Americas Cup and Im looking forward to seeing what happens next. READ MORE

US Paralympics Sonar coach, Mike Ingham, is leading Doerr, Kendell, and Freund off a World Championship win into the highly anticipated Rio Games. Tell us about your role with the US Paralympic Sonar team? I am the team’s coach. I started a few years ago helping US Sailing with some clinics, and it grew from there. Now I am full time focused on the team of Ricky Doerr, Brad Kendell, and Hugh Freund. I help organize their training, and have been with them every step of the way for the year leading up to and including the Paralympic Games in September. The US team must feel confident going into the Rio games after their recent world championship victory and a strong run of results. What are the success factors for the team within such a competitive Sonar fleet? Yes, we have had a good run and, with that, confidence. The team is talented, and their strengths diverse. Ricky Doerr has the ability to focus on driving fast for long periods of time. Brad Kendell is a highly competitive guy with a knack for seat-of-the-pants tactics. Hugh Freund is more methodical and is the glue that organizes the team both on and off the water. That combo is pretty powerful. My job is to be the objective observer that focuses them on the most important things. That’s usually reinforcing what they do well already, and constantly working on just a few of the key things that need improvement. For those people not familiar with the Sonar, can you give us an insight into the racing, boat characteristics and Paralympic classification? The Sonar is a small keelboat with a lot of cockpit room – perfect for the Paralympics. There are minor modifications based on the disability. For example, in our boat, Ricky is a Paraplegic so we have a bench that spans from seat to seat in the cockpit and a stainless bar that goes from rail to rail so Ricky can pull himself across. Brad is a double leg amputee above the knee and wears “stubby” legs to get across the boat with no additional equipment. Hugh is a single leg amputee below the knee and wears a giant eraser-like cover to his leg. He has an additional set of purchase on the jib so he can trim without the stability of two legs. The Paralympic Sonar has no spinnaker, and instead uses a pole mounted on the boom to hold out the jib downwind. Other than the bench, extra purchase on the jib sheets, and no spinnaker, the boats are standard Sonars. A team of international doctors runs classification. Each sailor is given a classification from 1 (Quadriplegic) to 7 (an 8 would be able bodies if there were such a classification). The max number is 14 total for the 3 athletes. On our team, Hugh is classified as a 7, Brad as a 4, and Ricky as a 3. How has north sails worked with the leading teams in the class and what cloth materials are you working with to deliver optimal performance? As a strict one design class, we can’t use North Sails 3Di, mylar, or anything else like that, so we are “stuck” with standard polyester cloth. That is a good thing for the class as it limits the arms race. There are two mainsail cuts for the Sonar. We have chosen the flatter version because the Paralympic athletes sail with three people and only two are allowed on the rail, so we don’t have a lot of righting moment. We can measure in two jibs; one flatter and the other fuller and we switch depending on the conditions. A couple of the teams have worked with North for special designs, most notably using North Sails Radian TM cloth in a radial design. Most of the fleet uses the standard crosscut North Sails. All but one of the Paralympic teams at the games will be using North Sails. We have not modified these cuts,. We use the standard off-the-shelf designs because they are solid and it is more important to learn to use what we have than develop something. Part of our “secret” to success is that we spent much of 2015 learning the subtleties of tuning so we can go fast. Hard to do well without going fast! The Paralympics has a unique and inspirational atmosphere – what do you find special about working with these athletes? I have done a lot of coaching in other classes, but before this, almost no Paralympic. Most of the time it is just the same as coaching anyone else. Sure there are some equipment differences like Ricky’s bench, but that is really no different than coaching say hiking vs. trapeze. Those are just details that need to be sorted. What IS different though is that these guys have a broader view on life than most sailors. I was told when I first started coaching Paralympic athletes that, for most athletes, chasing the Olympic dream is the hardest thing they have ever done – not so for Paralympians, many have already been through something much harder. That perspective is hard to put a finger on, but I can say they enjoy life, and don’t get rattled easily. To coach them, you have to show them that it matters; you can’t just go the tough love route! How has training been going in rio? what insights can you give us to racing in Guanabara Bay? I have to start with all the negative publicity because the press has made it on top of everyone’s mind. Sure it is not perfect there, but it is pretty cool in Rio. The scenery is spectacular, the people could not be friendlier, and we have yet to miss a day of sailing due to weather. It’s a pretty nice place to sail. The bay itself is tricky, the most likely courses for us are “Naval” and “Pao”, each near the mouth of the Bay. The tide can come in on Naval really hard. I just last week measured 10 boat lengths a minute before one of the starts. There is an island just upwind of the course that looks like something out of a James Bond movie, and it offers some current relief –but it is not always clear exactly where. On Pao, there is current too, but not as much. It is just to the West of Naval with the windward mark often tucked under the huge rock known as Sugarloaf. So the start is in current and relatively steady wind, but by the top 1/3 of the course it is shifty like a small Midwest US lake. We need to study the course more so are heading back down to spend time on the water, get used to the ripping currents, and the fluky winds. That all said, it is really nice sailing. Mountains surround the bay blocking all but the strongest systems, so there is a reliable thermal that comes in early afternoon almost every day. What are you most excited about for the Rio Games? Lots can happen in sailboat racing, but we are in the hunt to do well and are proud to represent our country as a legitimate competitor! Some will argue that a World Championship is just as hard and should be treated the same, but having just won the Sonar Disabled World’s last month I can tell you first hand that yes, it is just as hard, but the Games are different because the non-sailing world watches. You are part of something bigger – nothing can match representing your country in the same place and time as all the other sports. Catch up and stay in touch with Team USA One: Follow US Sailing Team Sperry on Facebook Ricky Doerr, Brad Kendell & Hugh Freund – UNCHARTED WATERS: https://youtu.be/GT5r1fbgfVo World Championship Title for USA Sonar, Medemblik 2016: https://youtu.be/PO15rct-Z-k READ MORE

The most unpredictable event yet in the America’s Cup World Series. Why? An interruption of Olympic proportion. A few of the America’s Cup teams will temporarily lose key players as we build up to the Olympic Summer Games next month in Rio de Janeiro. Many of the young America’s Cup studs will compete for medals – Peter Burling and Blair Tuke from Emirates Team New Zealand, as well as Nathan Outteridge and Ian Jensen from Artemis Racing, will all compete in the Men’s 49er. Competing in the Finn class will be Giles Scott, tactician on Land Rover BAR. Scott has missed the past two ACWS events for Olympics practice, however, making his absence less of a shock to Ainslie and the BAR crew in Portsmouth. With these sailors chasing Olympic glory, new talent will step onboard the boats. It makes sense the teams have put Veteran leaders in crucial on-deck positions – making the crew arguably as strong as before, now with an added element of surprise. When Glenn Ashby (ETNZ) is your stand-in skipper, a 15-time multihull world champion, you are in pretty good hands! The same for Francesco Bruni, filling for Outteridge on Artemis Racing. Bruni was the tactician on Prada for the last cup, he is one of the most talented sailors on the planet! Even outside of the Olympics commitments, there are interesting crew rotations happening with all of the teams. Lets see how they play out before we make any judgements. In addition, Portsmouth itself provides an interesting twist for this weekend’s event. Last July we witnessed a fantastic show from the town, region and wider nation. Huge support, massive crowds. Of course there will always be home town pressure, and interestingly for some reason it always seems enhanced with Ainslie and England. Ainslie’s sailing success has built up a super human quality – he can’t loose. But in the past few events he was not first – he did lose. I know his supporters and the amount of passion among English sailing fans. They all mean exceptionally well. I have to ask, is it too strong a praise that they expect him to win? Does the expectation rule anything else a failure? The pressure was on after New York, their poorest finish to date, from which they retaliated in Chicago. It will be interesting to see how Portsmouth plays out for the home team. Plenty of intrigue, plenty of mystery. Portsmouth will be different, but the million-dollar question is: How different? READ MORE

NORTH SAILS CLIENTS DOMINATE MELGES 32 RACING IN EUROPE Congratulations to North Sails Melges 32 clients for sailing exceptionally well in the European circuit. North Sails powered every overall podium position in the 2016 Sailing Series®. The fourth and final act in the Series also served as the Melges 32 Europeans, with North outfitting the top three boats. 2016 Sailing Series Results 1. Richard Goransson – Inga From Sweden 2. Matteo Balestrero – Giogi 3. Vincenzo Onorato – Mascalzone Latino 2016 European Championship Results 1. Vincenzo Onorato/Cameron Appleton – Mascalzone Latino 2. Matteo Balestrero/Andrea Casale – Giogi 3. Richard Goransson/Vasco Vascotto – Inga From Sweden The North Sails class leaders for the Melges 32 are Cameron Appleton, Daniele Cassinari, Chris Larson and Federico Michetti. Class leaders are committed to increasing performance through sail design and tuning. Feel free to reach out to them if you have questions on the recent Melges 32 results or the North Sails Melges 32 sail inventory. Inga From Sweden – Federico Michetti, Giovanni Cassinari, Marco Capitani Giogi – Andrea Casale, Danielle Cassinari Mascalsone Latino – Cameron Appleton 3Di RAW™ was the sail of choice for all winning teams. The recent Melges 32 results are another testament that RAW’s speed without compromise is the choice of champions. Next up for the Melges 32 class is the US Nationals in August followed by the Worlds in September. READ MORE

Richard Dodson, two-time America’s Cup Winner and former owner of North Sails in New Zealand, was forced to stop competitive sailing due to MS. Here he tells us of his journey into Paralympic sailing, and the motivation to claim New Zealand’s first-ever Paralympic gold. Richard, please tell us about your journey from the America’s Cup to the Paralympics? I progressed from AC sailing to the J boats which was a good progression for the changes MS was having on my sight and balance (my two worst symptoms). Sailing with MS got a little tricky especially at the top level. One World was my last AC Campaign. It took a little convincing to try Para-sailing, as I didn’t appreciate the high level Para-sailing was at. David Abercrombie, CEO of Yachting NZ, suggested David Barnes (my previous team mate who is also ex AC and has MS. David’s MS has progressed to the stage he had to pull out of the campaign) and I give Para-sailing a go as they felt it was not recognized enough in NZ and having two well known yachties involved would heighten the profile of Para-sailing in NZ. NZ is top in the world at sailing and blind sailing, but has never really been recognized in Para-sailing. After our first Para-sailing regatta in Ireland three years ago we realized the incredibly high caliber of the sailors we were to start competing against. After that first regatta I was blown away by the positive, happy, upbeat attitude of the Para sailors. However, they are still highly competitive and as tough as any in the protest room. At this regatta, which was the Para-Worlds in Ireland, I thought we would either come first or second. We finished eighth. The competition was so much higher than first anticipated. That wiped the grin off our faces, and got the competitive juices flowing again. How has Paralympic sailing influenced your life after such a successful sailing career before you were diagnosed with MS? You either embrace it and take it on or you don’t, and you let life pass you by. How does it feel to represent your country once again at the highest level? It feels great to be representing New Zealand at this level again. There has been a massive amount of interest and support for our team. Quite mind blowing, and makes us feel extremely humbled. For instance, last night we had a meeting with Russell Coutts, Joey Allen, Matthew Mason and my brother Tom Dodson. Amazing line-up of talent coming out on a wet winter night to debrief our Rio test event and give us words of support and advice for Rio. As we told them, the support from the NZ yachting community and NZ AC yachties is astounding. Once we had to wet sand the bottom of the boat and Matty Mason said he would rally some guys to help us. This was shortly after the AC in San Fran. We had Simon Daubney, Warwick Fleury and Matthew Mason from Oracle sanding alongside Richard Meacham and James Dagg from Team NZ. We also often will have mixed crew from different AC teams on our number two boat. The New Zealand Sonar crew looks to be a very strong team. What are your goals, who are the big threats and where do you see your strengths on the water? We have a fast boat. North Sails New Zealand, with technical advice from our coach Don Cowie, have built us FAST sails. Dimension Polyant has kindly supplied cloth free of charge during the whole campaign. Until very recently we had our office at North Sails in the Auckland Viaduct which they gave us at no charge. We have had the top sailors in the world to train against. However, being on the other side of the world means we have not competed in many overseas regattas. So whilst we have tough opposition here it is still only the two Sonars to line up and start against. So we really miss not having one design fleet racing. We sail against the RNZYS Youth fleet in their Elliot 7ms and they like nothing better than to give the “old boys” a hard time. Our goal is the same as the whole fleet. To podium. It’s in the lap of the Gods (or Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio :). The difference is we are the new kids on the block. Almost the whole fleet is capable of winning Gold. And they have all competed in Paralympics at least once. We have a great team around us. Between them and Paralympic NZ team they have everything in place we could possibly need to take any stress or unexpected issues out of play. Have you had a chance to train in the bay in Rio? What are your expectations for the racing conditions and will this play to your strengths? We have just returned from Rio where we had 14 races in 7 days. The Paras will be 11 races over 6 days. The tides are extremely tricky and frustrating, but it’s the same for everyone. We are lucky that our coach has spent a great deal of time in Rio coaching Torben Grael’s kids so knows the area well. On the start line you can have one end of the line with the tide going out and on the other end the tide coming in. Takes a bit of getting used to. It’s a beautiful venue to sail, and we’re really looking forward to September. We know it’s going to be light, which suits us as we are a light crew. The winds are quite fluky which we are OK with. The Paralympics has a unique and inspirational atmosphere – what are you most excited about for Rio 2016? We’re staying at the village which sounds amazing and will be great to get involved in the atmosphere and see all the other teams and NZ Paralympians who have achieved so much. I’m looking forward to the opening Ceremony which should be exciting. New Zealand has a proud sailing heritage and has huge support. What will it mean to claim Gold in Rio? I couldn’t begin to tell you how many people have supported our team, not only financially but also morally. It would be great to be able to pay this back and be the first ever NZ Para-Sailing team to win a medal. We are extremely disappointed that Para-sailing has been dropped from Tokyo, as there is a very large disabled sailing community in NZ. We just hope this doesn’t make anyone drop the sport for another. It is always great to have a goal to work toward and it will be hard for those that don’t have the pinnacle of all sport, the Olympics or in this case the Paralympics to work toward. It’s a hard road being disabled but this is just another unnecessary hurdle. You have had a long relationship with North Sails in New Zealand, which boasts some of the best sailors in the world and brightest minds in the sport. What makes North Sails stand out and attract such talent? I have been involved with the North Sails family since I was 27 sailing Finns against my brother Tom. We became involved when Tom Schnackenberg was in Perth working with Alan Bond’s Australian AC campaign, and he needed someone here in NZ as his partner to run the loft, so brother Tom and I bought half off him. That’s approximately 30 years with the company. There is no doubt North Sails is the leading sailmaker in the world which makes me proud to be involved. For any sailor or sailmaker it is the most prestigious company to work for. We imagine you still follow the Cup closely – what do you make of the current state of the oldest trophy in sport? I love the fact they are sailing cats now, it’s extremely exciting to watch. Just because we’re getting old and a little fragile and can’t stay involved, that’s fine. We can be armchair admirals. Follow Rick, Andrew and Chris via their website, kiwigoldsailing.co.nz All images © Ainhoa Sanchez / courtesy of Kiwi Gold Sailing READ MORE

US Men’s 470 Olympic contenders Stu McNay and Dave Hughes take up final preparations for the Rio Games. Hear from Dave on the importance of training, drawing from experience, and setting goals for the Big Event. With your first Olympics as an athlete just around the corner, how are you feeling? After an impressive run of podium finishes over the last few seasons, you must be approaching the Games with a certain level of confidence? Those medals do hold importance. They prove to ourselves and our competitors that we have what it takes to win big events. More importantly, repeat medalling shows it’s not just a fluke. That said, you can never rest on past successes. Yes, they give confidence, but the real confidence comes with focused training and processes, and the calmness with which you can execute on game day. What are your goals for the Games? Which other teams will be pushing you hard? Our goal has always been the same — race a solid regatta at the standard we expect from ourselves. If we do that, we will be rewarded with an Olympic medal. Every team will be pushing hard. That’s what makes the Games so special. We are looking forward to competing within that vibe of excellence. You’ll be racing with an experienced Olympian in Stu McNay, tell us how important this is. Stu is a true champion. Being a veteran of the Olympic experience is an irreplaceable asset. Even now during our final preparations, Stu clearly has the mature perspective that can only come from having danced the Olympic dance before. You were part of the coaching team for US Sailing at London 2012 – what were you able to learn and take away from this experience? It must have given you an insight into the scale of the games? Yes, I was the US Olympic Team coach for the 49er. Similar to Stu’s Olympic experience, having been on the coaching side also gives awesome insight into the entire Olympic experience and, specifically, managing the Olympic regatta as a stand-alone event. Coaching forces you to take a holistic approach to the regatta. I lean on that experience almost daily. Give us an update on your final training? We’ve just completed two longer stints in Rio during May and June. Each training block culminated with a coaches’ regatta (“Acts”) with all or most of the Olympic players on the water. These were excellent formats for testing final equipment, learning more about the courses, and executing against teams at their best. We were fortunate enough to win both Act-1 and Act-2. In July, we are back in Rio for two weeks for Act-3. Final US Olympic Team processing takes place in Houston at the end of July, after which we’ll fly down for the Big Event. For those not familiar with dinghy sailing, what are the characteristics of 470 racing? Frankly, I love the 470. It’s a lively boat. I’m constantly learning new ways to make it sail faster. It performs in 5 knots to 30+ knots. It races well as a light-air displacement boat or heavy-air planing dinghy. There are so many technique modes both upwind and down, so it’s never one-dimensional. The overall level of the fleet is extremely high, ensuring tight racing at every regatta. Sail the 470 in a Mistral in Southern France and you’ll be hooked! What were the key factors behind your decision to be powered with North Sails to give you a competitive advantage? What products are you working with? Our entire inventory is North Sails – main, jib, spinnaker. It has been that way throughout our campaign. The sails are smooth and consistent. The finish work is superb. We’ve taken on a variety of special projects and testing, and the North team has always been a pleasure to work with. Their knowledge and technology are second to none. We love the products and saw no reason to go elsewhere. The US Sailing Team for the Olympics looks one of the strongest rosters in recent memory – do you think dinghy sailing in the States is in good shape? Do you get to hang out with the wider team in the build up to the Games? Most of us have been traveling together to the same World Cup events for years. The same has been true with our training in Rio, although each fleet might hold slightly different schedules. As we lead into the Games, the entire team is logging time down in Rio. Bigger picture, dinghy sailing in the States is in fine shape, particularly with youth classes and established classes, like the Snipe. Even with all the foiling options out there these days, one design dinghy sailing is still by far the best bang-for-your-buck racing available. I’d love to see more college graduates find their way into local fleets. I wish the 470 would make a comeback as a local, non-Olympic-path, racer in the US. Dinghy sailing enthusiasts, like myself, always want to see more growth. Finally, what are you looking forward to the most about the Rio Olympics? Being at my personal best and attacking the Olympic Regatta with my good friend, Stu!! Images (c) Sailing Energy/ Jesus Renedo READ MORE

“The purpose that we all share is to access places where one cannot normally go by boat, no charters available, those that are less explored and, coincidentally and fantastically, at extreme latitudes.” In late 2015, childhood friends Vincent Moeyersoms, Olivier Moeyersoms, and Marc Vander Stricht bought the 53’ aluminum, French-designed exploration sailboat, Alioth. Why? Because these Belgian cruising sailors share a love of extreme latitudes—now they have the vessel to get them there. Built in 2009, Alioth is fully kitted-out with a lifting keel, water ballast, twin rudders, and crash bulkheads in the bow and stern. She is an ocean-goer with some miles in her wake, having completed a circumnavigation with her previous owners. Alioth came with sails that Vincent describes as “old” since they have 50,000 miles on them and her year-old North Sails spinnaker is a “keeper.” Next month she will receive North Sails NPL TOUR heavy-duty cruising sails. For Vincent and crew, expedition sails might be a better term. For 2-3 months out of the year, Alioth will serve as home for Vincent, Olivier, and Marc. Within five years they hope to lap the Americas on a zig-zag route reaching far North, and far South. In May, the crew delivered Alioth from Belgium to Norway. Over the next few months they will make their way from the Lofoten Islands, down the coast of Norway, and start ticking the boxes on the Atlantic. “Next summer we should be coming up the coast of the US to Maine, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland,” Vincent said. “If the conditions are right, we could then attempt the Northwest Passage. If not, we will delay a year.” Completing the Northwest Passage would leave them in Alaska. From there, the planned route would deliver them down the coast of Canada, across the Pacific to New Zealand, across the South Pacific to Chile, then onto Antarctica, South Georgia, and back up to Europe. “I sailed professionally years ago and I took part in the Round the Word Race and raced maxi boats,” Vincent said. “Later I ran a few campaigns in the Maxi class and America’s Cup. In 1992, I managed the winning America’s Cup team America3.” Five years aboard Alioth is the next challenge. Alioth’s name signifies the brightest star in the Big Dipper. “We decided to keep the name,” Vincent said. This decision is a nod to the crew’s shared ambition to add a greater purpose to their exploration. “We would love to adopt an environmental aspect of the journey, to contribute toward trying to find a solution to the ocean’s plastic pollution problem we’ve seen growing for so many years. In 40 years spent on the water, we have seen trash accumulating on the ocean, and we want to be part of the solution.” We look forward to keeping in touch with Alioth throughout her journey on the globe through North Sails Waterlogs – composed by a tribe of adventurers powered by North Sails. More at northsails.com/water-logs READ MORE

North Sails is pleased to announce that Vince Brun has accepted the role of Director of Offshore One Design (previously called Class Sail Development-CSD). Brun, a renowned Brazilian-American Olympic sailor, brings a lifetime of one design experience to the position including a 35 year career as President of North Sails Small Boat One Design division. North Sails President Ken Read said: “Class Sail Development has always been a focus for our company and this will mark a fresh start for the division now called Offshore One Design. From Farr 40s to J/109s, we consider all One Design Keelboats a major part of our sail development and customer service here at North Sails. Having a leader like Vince, who will focus 100% on creating class sails that can win at every single level, is imperative for our company and our clients. It is great to have Vince back full time. He is exactly the right person for the job.” North Sails Offshore One Design division will support teams in the following classes: BENETEAU 36.7 C&C 30 BENETEAU 40.7 FARR 280 FARR 30 FARR 40 J/30 J/88 J/105 J/109 J/111 M-32 MC 38 MELGES 32 SOTO 40 SWAN 42 Vince will work hand in hand with current Offshore One Design leaders at North Sails such as Chris Larson and Cam Appleton, two of the world’s best sailors who have helped raise the level of design and tuning in a large number of classes. “In my 38 years of sailmaking experience with North Sails, my focus was small dinghies and keelboats in the one design market,” said Brun. “Moving to larger classes is a natural progression and I’m honored to be asked to lead North Sails’ Offshore One Design division. Because I have worked for North Sails for nearly four decades, I am familiar with the people, product line, and company culture, which will be a tremendous help in my new position,” said Brun, whose tenure as Small Boat One Design President culminated in a record year of client regatta wins in 2013. In addition to his proven business leadership, Brun’s on-the-water success includes nine collective world champion titles in the Soling, Star, J/24, Melges 24, and Etchells classes. “For the last 15+ years, North Sails has been the sailmaker of choice for the majority of the Offshore One Design classes. We will continue using our experience, design knowledge and technology to further our position with both product and sail care for all classes,” Brun concluded. Managing the confluence of sail design with market trends, the outflow of information on tuning and technical trim to clients, and coordinating regatta and organizational support for key classes will be central to the new role. Brun will work with a team of hand-picked “class leaders” to monitor activity and effectively manage designs, ensuring North Sails products are consistently on the cutting edge. READ MORE

HAVING TROUBLE POINTING? Tim Healy’s Tips to Help You Get More Height When You Need It There are times where you may find yourself struggling to either keep your upwind lane, or just can’t get that height to pinch off a boat to weather. We all know that speed creates point, so the faster you go the more lift your keel or centerboard will create giving you better height, point and VMG. That said, there are still times when you think you are doing it all correctly and still aren’t matching your competitors. Here are a few “tips” that Tim Healy has picked up sailing a variety of boats through the years that he found has helped him. Try one or more of the following tips on your boat next time you are looking for better pointing. TIM’S QUICK TIPS: Check your backstay Is it pulled on in light air? If so make sure it is loose. Also, check to see if you may have too much pre-bend in the mast. Prebend helps your mainsail match it’s designed shape in lighter air but a mast that is set with a lot of prebend will make for a sail that may end up too flat for your sailing style. Less prebend will make your mast straighter which will make the main deeper and can help create the power needed to point higher so try a slightly straighter mast to push some depth into your main and create a more powerful shape. Did you pull your outhaul too tight? Try easing it some to get some depth in the bottom of the main. A “slightly” looser outhaul will add depth to the lower ⅓ of the main and and create more depth in the back of the sail down low which will add a little “kick” and help with some height. Just be careful not to ease it too much as the sail can get too deep quickly and add a lot of drag. Less than an inch can make a difference.. Where is your traveler set? Try moving the traveler a little higher on the track and concentrate more on where the end of the boom is and not where the traveler car or block are on the track. Most sloop rigged boats can sail upwind with the boom on centered, or even a few degrees higher, in light to moderate wind without creating too much drag. Setting the traveler so the end of the boom is as much as a “boom width” above centerline can help balance the boat and make it want to sail closer to the wind. Are your jib leads too far back? Sometimes we don’t think of the jib lead position as helping to point higher but it certainly can keep you from pointing higher so making certain that the leads are set far enough forward will make for a fuller jib and can help create the power needed, especially in choppy conditions, to increase forward drive and allow you to sail closer to the wind. These are simple tips that can make a big difference. Feel free to e-mail Tim Healy or any member of the North Sails One Design Team if you have other questions on how to make your one-design boat GO BEYOND. READ MORE

DRAGON LINKERS IINTERNATIOANL DE DEAUVILLE Last weekend twenty five Dragons from five countries raced at the Linkers International de Deauville. After 6 races, in varied weather conditions, Paul Hoj Jensen won the regatta. North Sails powered boats dominated the top 10 scores. North Sails Results: 1, 2*, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 © Michel Tréhet © Michel Tréhet READ MORE

2016 420 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Portuguese Costa brothers win Last week the 420 Championship was held in San Remo, Italy, with the attendance of 262 boats from 23 countries. In the Open class, Portuguese brothers Diogo and Pedro Costa won the Championship using a full inventory of North Sails. Besides the Open class, North Sails achieved outstanding results in other classes taking first in the U17 category with the Greek sailors Athanasopoulos Yogo and Dimitris Tassion, and second position in the Ladies class with the Spanish sailors Maria Bover and Clara Llabrés. All of them used North Sails full inventories during the regatta. Congratulations to all and we wish you good luck in the next international event – the European Championship in Hungry. Results 420 Open 1. Costa/ Costa 2. Rogers/ Parkin 3. Gourgiotis / Batsis 420 Ladies 1. Russo Cririllo / Linussi 2. Maria Bover/ Clara Llabrés 3. Marchesini / Fedel U17 1. Telis Athanasopoulos Yogo / Dimitris Tassios 2. Eduard Ferrer / Carlos De Maqua 3. Enzo Balanger / Gaultier Tallieu For more information about the Championship see the event website. READ MORE

After 100 nautical miles and almost exactly 23 hours at sea, Moon struck Too, Gordon Lawson’s J122, took victory at the inaugural St Kilda Challenge. Organized by North Uist’s Comann Na Mara, the challenge brought together 27 yachts from all corners of the UK and beyond to a far nook of the Western Isles with a long-held and shared common goal – to reach the alluring, mysterious, rugged cliffs of St Kilda. Of those 27 boats, 15 of them went in the racing fleet and the remaining 12 cruised in company. Despite having been at sea for such a prolonged period, it was a nail-biting finish between Grant Kinsman’s Sigma 400 Thalia and Port Edgar Yacht Club’s Moonstruck. The fastest boat on handicap, Moonstruck was the only one of the racing fleet to make the return journey in under 24 hours – 22 hours and 59 minutes to be precise. Dublin Bay-based Thalia, meanwhile, sailed in after 24 hours and 31 minutes. Thus ensued several hours of nervous waiting for the final yachts to arrive and the much-anticipated results – and when they came, they were exceptionally close. In the end, Moonstruck prevailed with a tiny corrected time margin of five minutes and 50 seconds over her rival. An astonishingly tight result after such distance, and so many vagaries of tide, swell and fickle breeze; a real testament to a very long night of grit and determination in some very difficult conditions. And Fraser Gray’s First 40.7 Pippa VI from Helensburgh rounded off the top three with a respectable time of 24 hours and 57 minutes. In all of the hundreds and hundreds of hours of planning which had gone into this short 24 hour race, it had been expected that the yachts would probably have to dig deep to overcome some perilous seas and howling wind – so typical of even summer weather in this notoriously exposed and blasted outpost of the UK. There were strict guidelines in place about how much wind could actually thwart even a start. Inclement weather could have seen the flotilla shorebound while the racers were set free to pit their wits against the elements. They could all have made the journey for nought. What had not been expected was yachts peaking at a mere seven knots, struggling against a sometimes unpleasant swell, crews toiling from fatigue and occasional seasickness as windless conditions made pacey progress impossible. “Sailing in conditions like that is much harder than racing hard in heavy weather,” said race officer John Readman. “It is very hard work to keep morale up and attention span lively when you are wallowing in the sea like that with barely a breath of air and no real sign of any to come.” Of the 15 racing yachts which started, seven of them judged that discretion was the better part of valour and joined the cruising flotilla – allowing the luxury of switching on the engine. Of the cruisers, just a single one – Sea Fever – actually made the determined journey to St Kilda under sail. And yet, despite a voyage which had clearly taken its toll and after a well-earned nap, there was universal praise ashore from the participants – both the racers and the cruisers. Phrases like ‘a mission accomplished’ and ‘a real sense of pleasure and achievement’ pervaded across Lochmaddy’s packed marina. It was an epic in ways few had considered, but an epic nonetheless. Most regattas are run by yacht clubs or sailing organisations – the St Kilda Challenge, however, was run not only by sailing experts, but by a whole community. A community which had a vision many years ago and has worked tirelessly to bring it to fruition. “We are exhausted but thrilled,” said Comann Na Mara chairman Gus MacAulay. “The intention is to make this a biennial event, so we will start planning for 2018 shortly. “There was great camaraderie among the sailors and a tremendous buzz on North Uist. We simply could not have asked for more and I would like to thank all those who helped and collaborated to make it happen.” Perhaps the greatest achievement of the St Kilda Challenge was for a small community in what cannot be described as anything other than a remote area, to pull together a dream so fascinating that the rest of the country (and a few more besides) wanted to join them. This content has been shortened from its original version. To read the full-length article, please visit the St. Kilda Challenge webpage. READ MORE