NORTH SAILS CLIENTS DOMINATE DRAGON EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

5- 30 Knots of Breeze - Competitors Faced it all in Sanremo

📸 Sanremo Yacht Club / Elena Razina

A fleet of 63 Dragons from 18 countries raced in Sanremo, Italy, to determine the 2022 European Champions. Crowned after five races are Wolf Waschkuhn and his team Charles Nankin and North Sails expert Ruairidh Scott (SUI 318). With Wolf at the helm and Charles trimming the genoa and spinnaker following their regatta win, we caught up with Ruairidh, mainsail trimmer, and tactician onboard to hear how they did it. Joining the team for the ‘Paul and Shark Trophy’ just three weeks before filling in for Joao Vidina, Ruairidh, Wolf, and Charles raced the Italian Championships (also held in Sanremo) in very windy conditions before going on to race for the European title in the more traditional lighter winds of Sanremo. “Our speed was excellent in the varied conditions we had all week. We raced with the A-14 Mainsail on a standard petticrow mast alongside the V-6L, V-6M and V-6H Genoas. However, we mainly used the V-6M as we were never sure if conditions would change during the race.’’

📸 Sanremo Yacht Club / Elena Razina

“We sailed with lots of twist as the conditions were quite choppy all week. Careful adjustment of the runner and mainsheet ensured we were fast as the wind fluctuated. A key ingredient to our speed throughout the week was the work rate from our headsail trimmer Charles Nankin. He stayed active on the headsail sheet in light, choppy and shifty conditions. When a gust hit, we responded quickly by easing the genoa sheet and trimming back in as the boat pointed higher. The sheet ease allows the boat to accelerate and naturally turn up to point higher, so the result was sailing higher and faster than before. In these conditions, little mainsheet adjustment was required until we were sailing at the new angle, which allowed me to get my head up and look around more often. Charles and Wolf did this very well all week, and the constant communication between them meant we were quick all the time.’’ Between the two regattas, Wolf’s team showed excellent speed in 5 - 30 knots. “Thanks to the nice, big crossovers with the North sail designs," Ruairidh explains, “we were fast even if we were not on the perfect sail for the conditions all the time.’’ Congratulations to all North clients who raced at the Europeans and Wolf, Charles, and Ruairidh for fighting through the pack to finish with the title. Shop the North Sails winning Dragon sail designs today.

RESULTS