NORTH SAILS BLOG

LOOKING TO THE 2019 US SAILBOAT SHOW Annapolis Loft Manager Jonathan Bartlett Talks New Offers & New Looks North Sails has been a fixture at the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis MD for well over 40 years. And for 2019, visitors to one of the most popular boat shows in North America (October 10-14) will be able to come and meet the team of experts from the world’s leading sailmaker in a brand new space at booth Dock-F1. Visitors will be able to discover how North Sails has the technology, products and global loft network to match any needs, whether for One Design Classes, racing or cruising. And for cruisers particularly, seeking a game-changing sail, they will be able to take advantage of the special Annapolis boat show promotion on 3Di NORDAC or NPL Tour. In an Annapolis boat show exclusive, North Sails are offering a special promotion: any customer who buys a 3Di Nordac or NLP Tour main and headsail together will receive a free G1 gennaker as a bonus sail. 3Di NORDAC is a revolutionary cruising sail made of 100% polyester fiber. Tailored for small to medium sized cruising boats, 3Di NORDAC transforms polyester fiber into seamless, one-piece sails that are uniquely strong, marrying the shape holding technology of 3Di with the toughness and affordability of polyester sails. Commenting on their presence as one of the longest exhibitors at the show, Jonathan Bartlett who is site Manager of the North Sails loft in Annapolis, said, “We are very excited to unveil our sleek new customer space at the Annapolis Boat Show. We are still at our usual location on the floating docks, which is always popular, but we have a bigger and brighter space to welcome anyone who wants to discuss our range of products, technology and service solutions. The Annapolis Show is one of our busiest events of the year, with up to five North experts working the booth at any point throughout the day and we leave the show with a number of leads and sails sold . We have a really experienced team working in our Annapolis loft, from both our sales and service sides - and it is our people that really make a difference for our clients so the chance to meet with them here at the Show is a great opportunity.” JB concluded, “3Di NORDAC has been a revolutionary product which has been hugely popular at the show for the last couple of years, so we’re delighted to be able to have this special offer here on our flagship cruising product. Alongside 3Di NORDAC, our range of cross-cut Dacron sails are also ideally suited to meet the cruising needs of any size of boat. We expect to see strong interest in the latest NPL SPORT Xi and 3Di RAW 360 from our racing clientele here in Annapolis. And finally, there are a lot of offshore One Design keel boats on the water in the Chesapeake Bay region and we are confident we can offer these owners the best products available in the market.” Key representatives from North Sails at the show include Allan Terhune, Will Keyworth, Austin Powers, Scott Allan, Ron LaNeve, and Certified Service Manager Ridgely Mackenzie. READ MORE

Otvoreno PH neolimpijskih klasa Jedriličarski klub Marina Kaštela je od 13. do 15. rujna organizirao drugo ovogodišnje Prvenstvo Hrvatske za "male klase". Nakon ekipnog jedrenja za klasu Optimist ovog puta je bila riječ o Otvorenom PH za neolimpijske klase. Jedrilo se u Laser 4.7, Laser Radialu, 420 i Techno 293, a uz domaće jedriličare nastupili su predstavnici Crne Gore i Slovenije. Uvjeti na moru su bili takvi da su samo svestrani natjecatelji mogli računati da će se popeti na postolje. U petak se jedrilo u Kaštelanskom zaljevu po laganom burinu i sve klase su na kraju dana napravile konto sa po dve plova. Subotnja prognoza je obećavala puno više vjetra sa zapada, pa je RO flotu pozvao na regatno polje s druge strane Čiova. To se pokazalo punim pogotkom jer su tamo odjedreni puni programi za sve flote po uvjetima koji su uključivali jedrenje po malom i umjerenom valu, kao i laganom, te umjerenom vjetru. Jedino se nije jedrilo u nedjelju jer je vladala bezvjetrica s obje strane Čiova. Sve flote su jedrile na istom regatnom polju postavljenom u trapez, samo su surferi imali štap varijantu, a startali su po redu koji je predvodio dvosjed 420, a iza kojeg su slijedile 4.7, pa Radiali i na kraju daske. Pravu renesansu na ovom PH je doživjela klasa 420. Konkurencija je imala 11 posada iz 5 klubova od Istre do Splita. Posade su bile u svim kombinacijama, djevojke, momci i kombinirano, a od petka su liderski status preuzele članice Uskoka, Antonia Kuštera i Maris Bašić. One su prvenstvo započele s dvije pobjede, a u istom stilu su nastavile i u subotu kad su nastavile idealni niz. Ove dvije djevojke su ujedno jedrile u kategoriji U19. U mlađem razvrstanju, U17, najbolje su bile klupske im kolegice Eva Šiško i Marta Mavar. Njih dvije su inače zauzele 4. mjesto u generalnom poretku. Što se tiče laseraša, te dvije flote su bile najbrojnije. Lasera 4.7 je bilo ukupno 46, a prvog dana je najbržio bio gost iz Crne Gore, Nikola Golubović. On je regatu otvorio s dva prva mjesta, dok je oba puta prva iza njega bila naša trenutn najbolja jedriličarka u ovoj klasi, Ursula Balas. Idućeg dana situacija se okrenula i njih dvoje su zamijenili mjesta, a svoje pozicije su zadržali unatoč tome što je Ursula dobila BFD u 4. plovu, a Nikola što nije startao u 3. pa je dobio DNC. Srećom, zbog ukupno odjedrenih 5 jedrenja mogli su odbaciti ove rezultate. Zanimljiv podatak je i da je Nikola imao jednak broj bodova kao Lovre Bakotić koji je završio kao brončani, ali za konačni plasman je presudilo to što je Nikola pobijedio u dva plova, dok je Lovre uknjižio samo jedno prvo mjesto. Također je zanimljivo da su Nikola i Lovre, jednako kao i četveroplasirani Luka Fatović, u kategoriji U16. Na 5. mjestu je finiširala jedriličarka Eleonore Borgin koja je vikend prije osvojila Europa Cup u svojoj kategoriji na Balatonu, a iza nje je završila pobjednica u skupini U16, Lea Rakovac. Lasri 4.7 su u subotu imali i najproblematičnije starteve. Vjerojatno je razlog što je ovo bila prva ozbiljna regata mnogima koji su izašli iz klase Optimist i još uvijek nisu svladali ovu jedrilicu dovoljno dobro da je mogu staloženo kontrolirati na startnoj liniji. S druge strane veseli činjenica da neki od novopridošlih su se odmah ugurali u sam vrh klase i to sigurno obećava rezultatski zanimljivu jesen. I Laseri s većim jedrom, Radiali, imali su jednako efektivno otvaranje regate kao i dvije prethodne klase, bar po pitanju lidera. Dva prva mjesta u petak je napravio Roko Stipanović. Jednako dobro je nastavio jedriti i u subotu, ali mu je poziciju na vrhu ugrozio Božo Golubić koji regatu završava s jednakim brojem bodova, ali Roko u svojoj rubrici ima tri pobjede, dok je Božo imao "samo" dvije. U svakom slučaju vrhunsko nadmetanje za zlatnu medalju. Na vrhu ljestvice su dominirali stariji jedriličari. U prvih 7 svi osim Luke Vukovića su bili U19, dok je jedini senior u klasi, Krešimir Buneta, završio PH na desetom mjestu. I za kraj su ostali surferi, jedini koji su odjedrili 4 plova na prvenstvu. I ovdje je situacija definira prvog dana regate. Na vrh su se odmah smjestili naš Nikola Stipčić i mlada slovenka, Marina Vrščaj. Posebnost ove klase u odnosu na ostale je što je ovdje bilo i nekoliko natjecatelja u stvarno najmlađoj kategoriji, U13! To je i glavni razlog zašto je u subotu nije bila cijela flota na moru, jer je vjetar za najmlađe bio stvarno prejak. U nedjelju, na proglašenju pobjednika, podijeljeno je ukupno 17 kompleta odličja! Tko je sve nagrađen i u kojoj kategoriji možete pronaći na ovom linku. Ukupne rezultate Otvorenog PH za neolimpijske klase možete pronaći na web stranicama organizatora, fotogaleriju subotnjih jedrenja možete pogledati ovdje, dok se video izvještaj može pronaći u video galeriji. READ MORE

NUEVA MAYOR BI-RADIAL PARA OPTIMIST North Sails lanza una nueva mayor para Optimist: la serie MNR. Se trata de una vela bi-radial multiuso diseñada para incrementar el ángulo de ceñida y facilitar el trimado. De acuerdo con el diseñador Mike Marshall: "Queríamos crear una vela que proporcionara una ventaja a cualquier regatista de Optimist, y los comentarios que estamos recibiendo confirman que permite aumentar el ángulo de ceñida sin sacrificar velocidad, ni ciñendo ni de popa". La serie MNR está disponible en tres versiones en función de las características del regatista: MNR-1 (ideal para peso por debajo de 34 kg), MNR-2 (entre 34 y 42 kg) y MNR-3 (más de 42 kg). La gama North Sails para Optimist está disponible aquí. READ MORE

ALBACORE RACE SEASON ENDS ON A HIGH NOTE Solid Winds Make For Great Racing At St. James Town Sailing Club The final club regatta of the Toronto Albacore racing season was held on Saturday, September 14. Hosted by St. James Town Sailing Club, the racing was on Lake Ontario, south of the Toronto Islands, in steady winds blowing 15 to 20 knots through the day. The solid winds and long rollers made for planing reaches, great surfing and more than a few wet spills. 30 Albacores, each with two onboard, participated in the event. The racing was tight, with only three points separating the top four boats after five races. In the end, Darren Monster and Joel Yatscoff of the Outer Harbour Centreboard Club placed third, Paul Clifford and Mia Brandt of the Westwood Sailing Club placed second, and top honors were taken by George Carter and Robin Coady of the Mooredale Sailing Club. Thanks go to the many volunteers who, onshore and off, made the event a success. Special thanks to North Sails and the other local businesses who generously donated prizes in support of the fleet. The Albacore remains the most popular one design race boat in the Toronto area, and days like this explain why! READ MORE

CONSEJO NORTH SAILS Velas blancas, velas negras... La alternativa a los colores naturales de las velas se llama North Graphics, el departamento de North Sails especializado en personalizar velas con los mayores estándares de calidad del mercado. Nacido en 1991 para dar respuesta a las necesidades de nuestros clientes de America’s Cup, North Graphics cuenta con un equipo de expertos y artistas que utilizan la más avanzada tecnología de imprimación para garantizar la satisfacción del cliente. El cuartel general de North Graphics se encuentra en Estados Unidos, pero también produce en Sri Lanka y en la velería de Cuntis, responsable entre otros proyectos de la espectacular decoración de las velas de los Volvo 65 en la pasada Volvo Ocean Race. ¿Quieres personalizar las velas de tu barco? Habla con nuestros expertos; ellos te asesorarán mejor que nadie. Para más información, contacta con tu agente North Sails o escríbenos a info@es.northsails.com READ MORE

WIZARD GANA LA ROLEX FASTNET RACE CON NORTH SAILS El Wizard de Peter y David Askew se proclamó campeón absoluto de la Rolex Fastnet Race 2019. 📸 Rolex / Kurth Arrigo Imponiéndose entre la flota más numerosa de la historia de esta clásica oceánica de 605 millas náuticas: 388 barcos. El VO70 (ganador de la Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 como Groupama y de la Rolex Sydney Hobart 2016 como Giacomo) equipó inventario North Sails, incluyendo un nuevo Helix Code Zero que, según la tripulación, resultó clave para gestionar las zonas de brisas ligeras en su camino hacia la victoria. También equiparon velas North Sails los barcos más rápidos en categoría absoluta y en monocascos: El trimarán Ultim Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, copatroneado por Franck Cammas y Charles Caudrelier lo hizo estableciendo un nuevo récord absoluto de 1 día, 4 horas, 2 minutos y 26 segundos; entre los monocascos, el más rápido fue el potente Rambler 88 de George David, que tuvo que conformarse con la victoria en tiempo real y ver cómo se le escapaba el récord en el tramo final entre la roca Fastnet y la llegada en Plymouth. Los resultados completos de la Rolex Fastnet Race 2019 están disponibles aquí. READ MORE

CAMPEONES DEL MUNDO DE VIPER 640 La localidad californiana de Long Beach acogió del 19 al 24 de agosto el campeonato del mundo 2019 de Viper 640. 📸 Viper 640 Association El evento constó de 13 mangas con dos descartes, y reunió a 41 equipos para cuatro jornadas de competición disputadas en condiciones muy variadas. El campeón Cajun Underwriting, patroneado por Marcus Eagan, eligió inventario de velas North Sails, firma que dominó el campeonato al equipar a nueve de los diez primeros clasificados. La propuesta de velas North Sails para monotipos Viper 640 está disponible a través de este enlace. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS BRILLA EN PORTO CERVO La 30ª Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup reunió en Porto Cervo (Cerdeña, Italia) a medio centenar de barcos con esloras a partir de 60 pies divididos en ocho clases. 📸 Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi Cinco intensas jornadas de regatas en espectaculares condiciones decidieron a los campeones de la considerada regata más importante del mundo para monocascos de categoría maxi. Clientes North Sails dominaron siete clases, copando los podios de cuatro de ellas. Desde North Sails España felicitamos a los campeones: Supernikka (Mini Maxi Racer 2), Flow (Mini Maxi Racer/Cruiser), H2O (Mini Maxi Cruiser/Racer), Highland Fling XI (Maxi Racer), Nefertiti (Maxi Racer/Cruiser), Velsheda (Super Maxi) y Lyra (Wally). ¡Gracias por confiar en North Sails! Los resultados completos de la Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup están disponibles aquí. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ONE DESIGN: REFERENTE MUNDIAL La clave está en el detalle Melges Performance Sailboats 📸 Sarah Wilkinson for Beigel Sailing Media Un extenso catálogo con referencias para 320 clases monotipo y más de diez mil velas fabricadas y comercializadas anualmente en todo el mundo hacen de North Sails la referencia absoluta en velas One Design. Analizamos qué diferencia a la velería en un segmento en el que todos los barcos compiten con velas (prácticamente) iguales. El término One Design se traduce al español como monotipo, y en el mundo de la náutica se refiere a embarcaciones de dimensiones y forma normalizada de manera que todos los ejemplares tengan las mismas características para que sea la habilidad de los tripulantes la que defina su rendimiento en regata. Como concepto amplio, significa que los barcos son iguales. Pero incluso las embarcaciones más idénticas admiten ajustes para mejorar sus prestaciones, y las velas destacan entre los elementos susceptibles de marcar una diferencia. El departamento One Design de North Sails da servicio a 320 clases diferentes de barcos a vela, todo un universo de diseños y especificaciones en el que los matices marcan a menudo la diferencia entre victoria y derrota. El equipo de North Sails España cuenta con varios expertos especializados en monotipos. Es el caso de Hugo Rocha, con base en Barcelona. Tres veces olímpico por Portugal y medalla de bronce de clase 470 en los JJ.OO. de Atlanta 1996, cuenta con un extenso palmarés plagado de títulos en diferentes clases monotipo y es miembro de la familia North Sails desde 2008. Hugo gestiona todo el catálogo One Design en España, mercado en el que las clases más populares son Optimist, 420, 470, Patín, Snipe, J70 y J80. North Sails España comercializó más de 700 velas One Design en 2018. La cifra superó las 10.000 velas en todo el mundo. Pero si hablamos de monotipos,¿no significa que las velas deben ser iguales? ¿Qué margen de maniobra existe en diseño y fabricación? "Depende", explica Rocha. "Por ejemplo, en la clase olímpica FX, las velas son North Sails y todas iguales por reglamento, pero en la clase 470 tenemos diferentes diseños para diferentes pesos de tripulación. Lo mismo ocurre con las clases Optimist, 420, J70 o Snipe, para las que disponemos de diferentes modelos y diseños en función de las particularidades de cada tripulación". "Por norma general, las clases One Design dejan muy poco margen tanto en diseño como en tamaño para las velas", explica el medidor internacional Pablo Ferrer, encargado de certificar que los barcos cumplen las exigencias de sus respectivas reglas de clase. "Para limitar el tamaño, normalmente se limitan las medidas básicas, por lo que los diseños son generalmente los mismos, siendo la mayor diferencia el tamaño y la posición de la profundidad. Normalmente, las reglas de la clase establecen unos límites (muy pequeños) para evitar que una vela pueda estar fuera de medidas y declarada no válida, porque son tejidos que encogen y estiran en función del uso, la humedad y la temperatura". La clave está en el detalle Con más de seis décadas de experiencia en diseño y fabricación de velas, 110 velerías certificadas, siete centros de producción y un equipo de más de 1.600 trabajadores repleto de expertos en todo tipo de clases, North Sails es la referencia mundial en diseño y fabricación de velas One Design. Y no sólo por la calidad de sus productos, como indica Jorge Martínez Doreste: "Una buena velería se diferencia por tener un buen trato con sus clientes, por aportar diferentes alternativas y opciones a medida en cuanto al diseño y acabado de la vela, y por tener al mejor equipo desde la pre-producción de las velas hasta su entrega y prueba de navegación". Hugo Rocha coincide con su compañero. "Lo que nos diferencia es sin duda la parte humana. North Sails trabaja con muchas clases pero tiene diseñadores y expertos específicos para cada una, que acompañan y ayudan a los regatistas a conquistar sus objetivos deportivos. Las velas están en continua evolución, y el feedback de nuestros regatistas es muy importante para el desarrollo conjuntamente con el desarrollo de nuestros nuevos tejidos, por lo que el contacto con ellos resulta vital". El catálogo One Design de North Sails está disponible en www.northsails.com Principales títulos 2019 de velas North Sails en clases One Design: Optimist: Mundial 2019 femenino (María Perelló) 420: Mundial Open 2019 (Martín Wizner y Pedro Armenteiro) 420: Europeo Junior Open 2019 (Conrad Konitzer y Fernando Rodríguez 470: Mundial Open 2019 (Mathew Belcher y Will Ryan) 470: Europeo 2019 masculino (Anton Dahlberg y Fredrik Bergström) y femenino (Camille Lecointre y Aloise Retornaz) J70: Mundial 2019 (Paul Ward) J70: Europeo 2019 (Claudia Rossi) Snipe: Europeo Masters 2019 (Fernando Rita y Juan Magro) International Moth: Europeo 2019 (Francesco Bruni) Finn: World Cup (Andrew Maloney) Finn: Europeo 2019 (Giles Scott) Viper 640: Mundial 2019 (Marcus Eagan) Etchells: Mundial 2019 (Iain Murray) Dragon: Mundial 2019 (Andy Beadsworth) El palmarés completo de velas North Sails One Design está disponible en www.northsails.com READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ET BENETEAU, UN MARIAGE DE QUALITÉ Le First Yacht 53 de BENETEAU est équipé North 📸 Gilles Martin Raget Entre Bénéteau et North Sails France, c’est un mariage de qualité. Le dernier-né de la gamme BENETEAU First, présenté officiellement au Yachting Festival de Cannes la semaine dernière (10-15 septembre 2019), porte une garde-robe North Sails. Le constructeur vendéen et la voilerie vannetaise collaborent depuis de nombreuses années pour allier leurs compétences au service des plaisanciers et coureurs. Les deux entreprises, toutes deux leaders dans leur domaine, partagent le même engagement, à savoir offrir la meilleure expérience à leurs clients, et les mêmes exigences de qualité. North Sails se réjouit de poursuivre sa collaboration avec Bénéteau et d’accompagner le constructeur dans sa nouvelle ligne de bateaux de croisière performants. Ainsi, après avoir équipé les First 35 et 40, les Oceanis 51.1 et 46, North Sails réalise aujourd’hui les voiles du First Yacht 53 sorti fraîchement du chantier Bénéteau. Ce voilier de croisière rapide et luxueux marie confort avec un intérieur particulièrement soigné et performance pour une pratique à la fois familiale, amicale et compétitive. North Sails a confectionné un jeu de voiles qui répond aux subtilités de ce monocoque de 15,98 mètres de longueur à la carène épurée, dessiné par l’architecte naval italien Roberto Biscontini. La grand-voile et le génois sur enrouleur sont en 3Di Endurance, un matériau robuste et polyvalent, idéal pour la grande croisière comme pour la course au large. Le gennaker est en NPL, un tissu laminé stable et propice à de belles accélérations. Et enfin le Spi asymétrique, en Norlon, convient parfaitement aux bords de portant abattus. 📸 Gilles Martin Raget « First 53 a été l’occasion de travailler avec North Sails et les équipes de Bénéteau pour choisir les voiles les plus adaptées et garantir les meilleures performances pour un bateau d’Excellence, commente Edouard Vincent, chargé des achats projets voile chez Bénéteau. Ce partenariat fait suite à plusieurs collaborations préalables sur la gamme First et Oceanis. Ce rapprochement avec North Sails nous permet de renforcer l’identité de performance et de qualité sur nos bateaux à travers un choix de voiles haut de gamme. » READ MORE

30 JAHRE ERFAHRUNG IM SEGELSPORT Seit nunmehr 30 Jahren kümmert sich Daniel Schroff darum, die Wassersportler mit speziell auf ihre Bedürfnisse zugeschnittenen Segel zu bedienen. Die Segel sind der "Motor" für alle Segelschiffe, sagt man. Hochwertige Materialien, passende Schnitte und eine hohe Langlebigkeit sorgen für gute Leistungen, für Erfolge auf der Regattabahn und ganz generell für mehr Freude am Sport. Seit nunmehr 30 Jahren kümmert sich Daniel Schroff darum, die Wassersportler mit speziell auf ihre Bedürfnisse zugeschnittenen Segel zu bedienen. In der Kreuzlinger Segelmacherei North Sails Schweiz GmbH geben sich sowohl erfolgsverwöhnte Regattacracks, wie aber auch gemütliche Fahrtensegler die Klinke in die Hand. North Sails ist der weltweit führende Hersteller für Segel aller Art. Der Segelmacher mit Hauptsitz in den USA ist bekannt für die hohen Qualitäts- und Innovationsstandards. Nicht umsonst vertrauen die besten und erfolgreichsten Regattasegler weltweit auf die Marke North Sails, so auch sämtliche Teams im sagenumwobenen America’s Cup, der Krone des Segelsports. Aber auch Fahrtensegler kommen voll auf ihre Kosten, können sie doch von den Erfahrungen im Regattabereich profitieren. Dank der jüngsten 3Di-Technologie kann North Sails jetzt für alle Nutzungsbereiche Segel anbieten. Bei dieser werden die Segel über individuell einstellbare Formen hergestellt, sind nahtlos und eignen sich sowohl für den harten Regattaeinsatz mit maximaler Formstabilität wie aber auch für reine Fahrtenyachten mit hoher Langlebigkeit. Daniel und Alexander Schroff im Flying Dutchmann 1988 an den Olympischen Spielen in Seoul. Daniel Schroff startete seine Seglerkarriere früh und schaffte es in der Klasse "Flying Dutchman" zusammen mit seinem Bruder bis zur Teilnahme an den Olympischen Spielen 1988 in Südkorea. 1989 machte der gelernte Hochbauzeichner seine Leidenschaft zum Beruf, gründete in Bottighofen am Bodensee die Firma Schroff Sails & Elektronik und übernahm die Vertretung der dänischen Segelmarke Diamond Sailmakers, dem damals führenden Hersteller von Segeln in Europa. Zwei Jahre später hat dann Diamond Sails die Firma North Sails Europa (inklusive Name) übernommen. Heute führt Daniel Schroff die Segelmacherei North Sails Schweiz GmbH in Kreuzlingen am Bodensee zusammen mit seiner Frau Claudia Böhm, einer ebenfalls sehr erfahrenen Seglerin. Als freischaffender Mitarbeiter sitzt zudem Christoph Burger mit im Boot. Daniel Schroff 1991 nach dem Zusammenschluss von Diamond Sails und North Sails Kurzinterview: Drei Fragen an Daniel Schroff Daniel Schroff, Sie haben die rasanten Entwicklungen in der Herstellung von Segeln über viele Jahre miterlebt und mitgeprägt. Wo sehen Sie die heutigen Herausforderungen in dieser speziellen Branche? Die wichtigste Aufgabe wird für uns darin bestehen, auf das immer vielfältiger werdende Angebot an Segelbooten die dafür geeigneten Segel bauen zu können. Unsere Produktpalette entwickelt sich stark in die Breite und wir liefern Segel für alle Arten von Schiffen, von der kleinen Jolle bis zur exklusiven Super Yacht. Das heisst für uns: noch mehr Entwicklungsarbeit und noch mehr Individualität. Die grösste Herausforderung ist und bleibt aber, sich jeweils genau in den Kunden hineinzufühlen, um zu spüren welche Art Segel am besten zu ihm, zu seinem Boot und zu seinen Anforderungen passen. Denken Sie dabei auch an "fliegende" Boote, die jetzt mit Foils abheben können? Ja natürlich. Keine andere Technologie hat den Segelsport in so kurzer Zeit so stark geprägt und revolutioniert wie das so genannte Foilen. Durch die hohen Geschwindigkeiten von bis zu 40 Knoten und mehr, werden vor allem die Segel mit extremen Lasten strapaziert. Das verlangt auch von uns komplett neue Herangehensweisen mit neuen Materialien und neuen Schnitten. Mit der innovativen 3Di-Technologie kann sich North Sails von der Konkurrenz absetzen und hochwertige Segel noch effektiver herstellen. Ist das nun das Ende der Fahnenstange? North Sails hat sich auf dem Markt schon immer mit aussergewöhnlich innovativen Verfahren zur Herstellung von Segeln positionieren können. Mit der legendären 3DL-Technolgie, bei dem die Segel über individuell verstellbare Formen laminiert werden, haben wir uns einen weiteren markanten Vorsprung gegenüber unseren Mitbewerbern geholt. Diesen exklusiven Prozess haben wir in den vergangenen Jahren immer weiter verbessert. So werden zum Beispiel bei der heutigen 3Di Filament-Technologie nahtlose Segel hergestellt welche nicht mehr delaminieren können. Und ich bin überzeugt, es wird noch sehr, sehr viel mehr nachkommen! Daniel Schroff 2018 bei seiner Lieblingsbeschäftigung... READ MORE

INTERBOOT 2019 Friedrichshafen, 21. - 29. September Auch wenn wir es nicht wahrhaben wollen; der Herbst kommt unweigerlich näher - und damit auch die Zeit, sich um die Segelgarderobe fürs neue Jahr zu kümmern und zu sparen. Sollten Ihre Segel diesen Sommer gelitten haben, sind wir gerne bereit, diese bei Ihnen an Bord zu prüfen. Oder wir beraten Sie an der Interboot in Friedrichshafen vom 21. – 29. September 2019 am gewohnten Stand 101 in der Halle A1. Kontaktieren Sie uns: +41 71 680 00 80 oder schweiz@northsails.com READ MORE

Posada Marinović - Zelić najbolje na Split Snipe Pre-European Test Eventu Kombinacija znanja i sreće donijela je slatku pobjedu domaćoj posadi na regati za koja je bila uvertira za Europsko prvenstvo klase Šljuka koje je zakazano za točno godinu dana. Organizatori regate su članovi JK Split, može se reći trenutno najaktivniji po pitanju klase Šljuka u Hrvatskoj. Na ovoj regati su imali čak tri svoje posade od čega su se dvije popele na postolje! Ukupno je sudjelovalo 15 posada iz 6 Europskih država. Stvarno impresivan podataka s obzirom da je bila riječ o dvodnevnoj regati. Naime, planirano je bilo da su subota i nedjelja, 7. i 8. rujna, natjecateljski dani. Ali vrijeme nije baš bilo naklonjeno jedrenju, pa je subota prošla bez i jednog održanog plova. Lijepo sunčano vrijeme i nestabilan vjetar su jedino dozvolili sunčanje koje su spremno dočekale članice posada sa sjevera Europe. Zato je nedjeljna prognoza ispunjena u potpunosti i uvjeti na moru su riješili eventualne frustracije zbog izostajanja natjecateljskog segmenta prethodnog dana. Zapuhalo je jugo koje je dozvolilo jedrenje u Kaštelanskom zaljevu. Baza RO-a sa startnom linijom je postavljena ispred Kaštel Kambelovcai jedrilo se u kurso 160°, a snaga je oscilirala između desetak pa do 17-18 čvorova. Tijekom prve predstartne procedure jugo je vrlo brzo eskaliralo do svojih najjačih refula, a za vrijeme nastavka jedrenja je polako slabilo, da bi ponovno pojačalo za vrijeme trećeg plova, ali tada je stigao i oblak koji je donio pljusak koji je dosta ugušio vjetar. S obzirom na ove oscilacije postavljači regatnog polja su imali dosta posla s promjenama duljine regatnog polja, ali srećom dubine mora u ovoj zoni nisu pretjerane pa je taj posao bio obavljan na vrijeme. Što se tiče jedrenja na polju je dominirala španjolska posada Damian Borras - Jordy Triay Pons. Damian Borras je inače jedan od najboljih svjetskih jedriličara u Šljuci, a već je bio u Splitu početkom srpnja kad je bila organizirina klinika za naše jedriličare. Tada je svojim bogatim iskustvom i znanjem optimizirao sisteme na njihovim jedrilicama, poboljšavao postojeće sisteme, a također i treninzima na moru usavršavao njihove manevre i vještine. U nedjelju je na regatnom polju pokazao zašto je najbolji, ali u žaru borbe napravio je prijestup na drugom startu i unatoč dvije pobjede u preostala dva plova ipak ostao bez mjesta na postolju. Pobjednici regate, domaća posada Marko Marinović - Ana Zelić, svoj rezultat su ostvarili s jednim bodom prednosti ispred drugoplasirane i trećeplasirane posade koje su imale jednak broj bodova. Marko i Ana su najmanje bodova skupili u prva dva plova kad su završili na 2. i 3. mjestu, dok su u trećem plovu finiširali na 6. mjestu. Drugo i treće plasirani su imali po 12 bodova, pa je presudila pobjeda u drugom plovu posade Manli Hens - Maj Kristin Hansen Borgen. Na treće mjesto postolja popela se druga Splitova posada, Luka Jerčić - Josipa Prosinečki. U prvom plovu su imali najlošiji rezultat. Završili su ga kao 7. ali zato su u preostala dva plova u cilj ušli na 2. i 3. mjestu. Prva iduća naša posada je bila braća Grego iz YC Galeb, a zbog UFD-a u trećem plovu završavaju na 9. mjestu. Gdje su završili ostali, a ujedno i konačne rezultate regate, možete pronaći na ovom linku. Regata u Splitu je bila treća regata iz ciklusa 2019 Adriatic Snipe Series. Na početku godine su se još jedrile regate u Trstu i u Moščenićkoj Dragi, a njihovi zajednički rezultati su iznjedrili konačen pobjednike u posadi Jerčić - Prosinečki. Prigodno proglašenje je napravljeno u sklopu proglašenja pobjednika Split Snipe Pre-European Test Eventa. Uz klasu Šljuka, koju još nazivaju i malom Stellom, veže se i zanimljiv podataka s kojim možda nisu svi upućeni, a to je da se njihovi rezultati boduju vrednuju za globalnu ljestvicu koja se zajedno s ljestvicama nekih drugih klasa može pronaći na web stranicama Star Sailors League. Foto galerije s regate možete pronaći na ovom linku, a video izvještaj možete pronaći u video galeriji. READ MORE

INTRODUCING MARK ROBINS New Sales Expert in Western Australia Mark Robins Mark (“Skid”) Robins, a Sales Expert based in Western Australia, has been sailmaking since the mid 1980s. He started with Elvstrom Sails WA; when that closed in 1992 he started Robins Sails, and quickly claimed a healthy share of the Western Australian market. Mark started sailing as a junior at South Perth Yacht Club, which led to success at a state and national level in various dinghy classes. He won three consecutive Western Australian championships in the S80 class and represented Western Australia at a national level as crew and helm in the Ben Lexcen Cup. He also competed in the Australian keelboat championships in Victoria, sailed at Hamilton Island Race Week, and added his experience as both sailmaker and trimmer to a number of WA’s offshore racers. “I’m excited to be able to offer our customers the latest in sailmaking technology with the 3Di product,” Mark says. “I have seen sail construction evolve since the 1980s, and I’m looking forward to future developments with North Sails.” READ MORE

RACE TO VICTORY AT HOBIE 33 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS North Powered Rudie Takes It Home © Doug Haag North Sails expert Skip Dieball shares a recap of his winning weekend! The 2019 Hobie 33 North Americans were held at my home club on the North Cape the first weekend of September. The format was unique this year where windward/leeward courses were sailed on Friday and Sunday, with an 18-mile fixed course event on Saturday. The fleet completed seven races total. The racing on Saturday was tight as the wind was slowly dying throughout the day leading to an abandoned race in the afternoon. My team (consisting of George Sipel, Ernie Dieball, Mike Stark, Rob Fox and Dan Synowiec) put all of our little boat experience into play as we played the shifts and focused on good starts and clean roundings. The result for us was two bullets! We had very good battles with Al Michaud's Pink Panther from Monroe and Tim Arndrews's Holy Toledo from NCYC. "Straight out of the box, the 3Di sails were fast." Saturday's "medium distance" race was a lot of fun. The wind was, again, in the low teens as we started on a 6 mile run. Finding the puffs was hard in the morning sunlight, but we were able to beat Steve Attard's Viva Las Vegas to the government buoy, R18. Another six-mile fetch to Monroe's G1 buoy was uneventful, but quick. Speeds around 8 knots had us rounding for home well ahead of our projected early afternoon finish. Not much changed until the last mile of the beat home. The wind would shift 35-40* and the breeze would soften. Positions changed as Al Michaud nosed out my Rudie. The Hobie 33s took the top Overall in PHRF against a full field of boats ranging in size from 40' to 25'. © Doug Haag Sunday was overcast and brisk with breeze 8-12 out of the North, going East. Boatspeed was key. Our rehabbed speedster did not let us down. Fresh from the shop with new bulkheads and fresh North Sails 3Di 360 sails, the boat was dialed in. Strong tactical calls from Ernie Dieball and flawless crew work made this a day to remember for Rudie. Four races, four bullets. For the Hobie 33 class, as with other vintage OD keelboat classes, we struggled with attendance as the commitment to travel and time seemed to be the biggest obstacles. Midwinters were announced at the prize giving for February in conjunction with the St. Pete NOOD event. Make your plans now! I was asked often over the weekend what I thought of the sails and how we set the boat up. Straight out of the box, the 3Di sails were fast. With years of Hobie 33 design knowledge both within my office and with the design team at North, we zeroed in on a nice L/M genoa design that would go through the range of adjustment in the rig. We didn't have that much variability in the breeze, so we only stepped up one time on the rig. Most adjustments were via backstay. We were pretty constant on it and the headsail reacted to the tighter forestay perfectly. Matching the mast set up with that forestay tensioning was easy because the mainsail had perfect luff curve for a base setting, which yields about 2" of pre-bend. I thought I learned the most in the downwind legs. The boat fools you into wanting to sail it deep, but you can fall off the speed pretty quick as the pressure decreases, so you need to be pretty quick to heat up to maintain good speed. If you got caught too soft and too low for too long, you would lose boat lengths. For more info on H33 sails or set up, feel free to call or send an email. READ MORE

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS WITH HELIX J/145 Main Street Has A New Secret Weapon When J/145 owner Bill Schanen III was looking to gain that extra edge for racing this season he knew he wanted something cable-less. He contacted North Sails expert Tom Pease on what his options were. Lucky for him, Tom has just the thing; enter Helix, a new cable-less system from North Sails. Bill added a Code 75 Helix sail to his inventory with a Harken bottom up furler, which was delivered in time for the Queens Cup and Chicago Mac Races. Main Street finished 2nd in the Chicago Mac for section 2 and used their new Code 75 Helix extensively during the race. Tell us about the process in selecting the Code 75 Helix. Our boat, which is a 48 foot J/145 has an extremely long centerline spinnaker pole that's not supported by a stay to keep it firm. We've always wanted to have a Code Zero type sail, that we could fly from the end of the pole. We had others that we flew from other points, but to use the power that is inherent in our boat, we needed to get a Code Zero out on the end of the pole. But we didn't want one that had a torsion cable in it because it's extra weight and bother and plus we thought we couldn't get the luff tight enough to make it work. When we learned North Sails had developed a Helix system with a luff of a sail that makes it easy to furl, and that Harken had come up with a new generation of furlers to work with a sail like that, we just pushed the issue. I rang up Tom and said, look, we need to talk about this Helix sail and at the same time we touched base with folks that we know at Harken. We ordered the sail and Harken produced the furler . The best part of the story is that it worked great, and proved to be just what we expected it would be, which is a rather devastating weapon. You used it at the Queen's Cup and the Chicago Mac. Tell us what it was like. In the Chicago Mackinaw race. It was particularly effective there. We sail on a very competitive class and beginning of the race was sort of close reaching. We were doing okay with our North Genoa, but the wind just freed a little bit. And then we set that Code Zero slash 75 and immediately just zoomed to the head of the fleet. Everything made sense. The only question about it was really in this design of the sail. We had no problem with that. We figured that out long ago that that was going to be an effective weapon on our boat. But what was rewarding was the fact that the furling part of it worked. Frankly there were some skepticism about that, that it would furl in all conditions without a cable. And so that was the only question mark, we expected the sail to perform, but was it going to furl properly, when we needed it, and the answer to that is yes. "We figured that out long ago that that was going to be an effective weapon on our boat. But what was rewarding was the fact that the furling part of it worked." How long have you had this boat? It was actually one of the first J/145's, which is a carbon hulled boat, and we've had it since 2000. Tell us more about your crew. We have a crew of 12 and it just happens that a number of members of the crew are members of the family and that they're all terrific sailors. Some of them are sort of professional level almost. So that all fits in my daughter's husband, and my daughter and her husband are great sailors. My son is really, runs the boat and his wife is a terrific sailor and we've got some big strong grandsons who are here also. The crew is solid and we expect to do well, and often do. And these weapons, like the sail and the furling device make that easier. READ MORE

A MIX OF EVERYTHING: EYC OPEN 2019 North Sails and Etobicoke Yacht Club Join Forces To Focus On Sustainability And Sailing The weather treated the 2019 EYC Open quite well, with light air on Saturday and a heavier breeze on Sunday sailors had an opportunity to show their skills in both conditions. On the water, Notorious, Xoomer Xpress, Glenmorangie (EYC), Zingara, Hey Jude, Black Swann and Magic (EYC) all took home fleet titles. The rain stayed away and made for great après-sail activities on Saturday evening. With sights on fostering the next generation of sailor, the Saturday night entertainment took on a more modern feel with Big Furry Tractor playing songs from the 2000's with a dusting of 80's and 90's as well. This year’s EYC Open, with help from North Sails focused on encouraging sustainable practices in sailing. To do away with plastic water bottles EYC and North Sails partnered to ensure that competitors received steel bottles that they could refill throughout the event and reuse moving forward. The Regatta also served as an opportunity for sailors to find a second home for their less than race-worthy sails. North Sails was on site and collected sails to donate to not-for-profit organizations who use them for shelter, fishing and recreation such as sailing schools and racing. For many years EYC has used reusable plates and cutlery for the EYC Open and is now looking into ways to reduce the amount of single use plastics used at the bar. Leading up to the event, the number of posters produced to promote the event were reduced, while the club focused more on social media and web exposure in order to market the regatta. Posters that were used were printed with water-based ink on post-consumer recycled products. There’s still a long way to go in creating more environmentally friendly regattas. Copious paper copies of sailing instructions, amendments, results, scoresheets are still heavily relied upon in sailing, and EYC hopes to be a trend setter in helping to reduce the use of these products at events. While this year’s focus was on bottles and sails, moving forward, the regatta committee and EYC will continue to find ways to reduce regatta impact on the environment. With two marquee events in J-fest and EYC Open on the Horizon for 2020, you can expect that EYC will continue to work with North Sails and other partners to reduce the impact of regattas on the environment. Keep an eye on EYC and North Sails websites and social media to find out more about next season’s events and initiatives. READ MORE

BE PREPARED. KNOW THE WEATHER Complimentary Forecasting For The 2019 NYYC Invitational Cup North Sails is offering complimentary weather forecasts to all teams competing in the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. Sign up today for your free daily forecast delivered right to your inbox, prepared by our expert friends at Sailing Weather Service. READ MORE

Buba Pulek - prvak Hrvatske za 2019. Prvenstvo Hrvatske za klasu Optimist u apsolutnoj kategoriji, odjedreno je prošli vikend u Starom Gradu na Hvaru, a domaćini su bili članovi JK Helios. Flota se sastojala od 117 kadetkinja i kadeta podijeljenih u bijelu i crvenu skupinu, dok je regata trajala puna četiri dana. od četvrtka 29. kolovoza pa do nedjelje 1. rujna. Vremenska prognoza se svih dana pokazala točnom i jedrenja je bilo točno onoliko koliko ih se predvidjelo na prvom sastanku Regatnog odbora. NAjviše je puhalo prvog dana regate i tada su odjedrena maksimalna 3 dopuštena plova. Na moru je taj dan bilo fenomenalno vrijeme, sunčano, vjetrovito i jedini problem je bio s brodom na pinu koji je imao problema sa sidrenjem. Srećom tramuntane je bilo do 20 čvorova tako da je jedrenje išlo brzo, pa se vrijeme koje se trošilo na sidrenje brzo nadoknađivalo. Idući dan nije bio toliko sunčan, već je izmaglica najavila manje vjetra nego što je puhalo u četvrtak. Tako je i bilo, tramuntana je bila u rasponu od 6 do 18 čvorova, ali dovoljno da se odjedre i ovaj put maksimalna tri jedrenja. Subota, treći dan regate, donio je jugo koje nije okretalo na zapad. Na kraju se posljednji plov regate odjedrio po uvjetima za koje domaćini kažu da se rijetko kad desi u Starigradskom zaljevu, 90° okrenuto u lijevo u odnosu na prethodna dva dana. Dosta duže su mladi natjecatelji čekali da ih se pozove na more nego prethodnih dana. Na kraju je prvi start signaliziran oko 14 sati. Vjetra je bilo oko 10 čvorova i uspjela su se odjedriti još dva plova. I u principu to je bilo sve za ovo prvenstvo. Naime, u nedjelju, posljednjeg dana, posljednji mogući start je bio predviđen za u 14:30, ali sreće nije bilo. Flota je nakon 13 sati pozvana na more, ali vjetra ipak nije bilo dovoljno. Suma sumarum, 8 odjedrenih plovova uz dominaciju jednog jedinog jedriličara. Član JK Uljanik plovidbe iz Pule, Buba Pulek, odjedrio je maestralno i osvojio 7 prvih mjesta! Rezultatski najbliži mu je bio Omišanin Josip Tafra, 6 bodova iza, dok je treći na postolju, Bepo Duplančić iz Splitske Zente ujedno i najbolji jedriličar do 12 godina. Najbolja djevojčica je bila Mornarevka Petra Marendić koja je u generalnom plasmanu završila na 5. mjestu, dok je Bubina klupska kolegica Ema Grabar najbolja djevojčica do 12 godina. Pomalo škrt izvještaj, ali zato se puni doživljaj regate u Starom Gradu može osjetiti u foto galerijama na slijedećim linkovima: PH klase Optimist - prvi dan PH klase Optimist - drugi dan PH klase Optimist - treći dan PH klase Optimist - četvrti dan kao i u video izvješćima koje možete pronaći u video galeriji. READ MORE

Turo Nummi purjehtii 9.-16.9.Kiireellisissä asioissa yhteys Turun suuntaan 02 247 1000 tai mikko.rottluff@northsails.com READ MORE

NEW FLEET OF EXTREME 40 CATAMARANS IN AUSTRALIA Although the Extreme 40 is old-school compared to state-of-the-art multihull sailing, performance on windward/leeward courses is excellent. Airlie Beach Race Week 2019 📸 Andrea Francolini Back in 2016, I joined the Extreme 40 catamaran Boatworks for some local multihull racing in Brisbane. After watching videos of boats crashing and capsizing in the Extreme Sailing Series, I was surprised to find the boat more user-friendly than expected, and as we learned to sail it our speed turned quite a few heads. Although the Extreme 40 is old-school compared to state-of-the-art multihull sailing, performance on windward/leeward courses is excellent. When I raved about the simplicity of the boat and the relatively low entry costs, three of my customers expressed interest in owning a 40. We now find ourselves with four boats actively sailing in Australia, and we’ve just returned from some fantastic racing at Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island Race Weeks as part of the Multihull Racing fleet. Even though a couple of teams had very little opportunity to train beforehand, we came away with no capsizes. Over the past three years, we’ve seen only very minor breakages. The 40 has proved to be very robust, certainly capable of sailing in more open water than the boats were designed for. It’s also much less expensive to run than any of the full foiling catamarans. Best of all, it does not demand a full professional crew for owners to have some serious fun! Airlie Beach Race Week 2019 📸 Andrea Francolini Sail development Over the past three years, I’ve learned a lot about how to sail these boats and how to improve the sails to make them even more user-friendly. Before I started as mainsheet trimmer on Boatworks, I had assumed that the 1:1 hydraulic mainsheet had contributed to the many capsizes on the Extreme tour and expected it would be difficult to manage. To my surprise, I quickly learned that it’s very effective; both to achieve the required leech tension, and to dump power when required. Because the boats sail such tight apparent wind angles both upwind and downwind, the mainsheet is only eased significantly for bearaways or slow speed manoeuvres. Otherwise, the continuous traveler becomes the main control line. The original North mainsail design required reefing a little too early in the wind range and left us struggling for upwind speed if overpowered, due to the extra drag. We were also carrying additional weight (outboard, safety gear, a heavier crew) so the boat needed a little more horsepower downwind. And we weren’t as fast reaching against other multihulls optimised to the OMR Rating rule, since those boats had multiple forward sail options to cover all sailing angles. Not wishing to complicate the boat, we decided to ignore the reaching issue and focus on upwind and downwind improvements. I designed a new mainsail with increased head width and much less mid-leech roach, which helped improve leech twist control. That meant a less draggy feel in the higher wind ranges, and we could carry a full mainsail in more breeze. As the boats power up earlier than most, we felt sacrificing some light air performance was worth it for a more user-friendly wardrobe better suited to our east coast seabreezes. For the jib, we decided to keep the original geometry but added a little more depth. The Downwind Zero was given slightly more forward luff projection and depth, for increased and earlier downwind power. 📸 Andrea Francolini Heavy Air Jib Design for 2019 With four boats wanting to make the most of windy conditions up north, my project for this year was to develop a shorter hoist jib that would further increase our raceable wind range. Piggy-backing off the work North did with the AC45s and AC50s, we produced three paneled sails and one 3Di RAW jib. The new sails gave the boats great upwind speed with a lower center of effort, which reduced traveler movement. The other advantage was less power forward of the mast, giving the boats more control downwind even when wind against tide made for a challenging wave state. We used the heavy jib with both full and single-reefed mainsail configurations, something that will be tested further as we come into the summer months. 📸 Andrea Francolini Fleet Building From here we hope to continue building the fleet, working toward our own one design division with specialized courses at bigger events like Hamilton Island Race Week. We’d also like to continue racing in mixed Multihull events around the Asia Pacific region. All the Formula 40s come with their own 40ft container, so it would be fairly straightforward to attend regattas around the Pacific, and even get over the ditch to New Zealand. The current owners are now drafting a class constitution, and rules are being developed that will help keep a level playing field for new owners. There are four other boats for sale at various price points globally, and we are actively seeking new owners and crew to join the fleet. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch! Ben Kelly READ MORE

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OFFICIAL PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF SORC North Sails To Support The 2019-2020 Edition North Sails is pleased to announce that it will join the prestigious Southern Ocean Racing Conference for the 2019-20 edition. The series consists of four distance races that draws a fleet from across the country and includes a range of yachts from super maxis to corinthian cruisers. The series prides itself on accessibility for a wide variety of sailors and offers storied races from South Florida to destinations like Key West, Nassau, Palm Beach, and Eleuthera. As the Official Performance Partner, North Sails will be working with participants to help them plan their races and optimize their sail inventories. We will be hosting a seminar where North Sails experts and race veterans will be on-hand to answer questions and discuss sail choices based on anticipated weather routing for the race. Our next seminar will be held in Palm Beach, FL. Sign up today! We look forward to seeing you there. October 23rd | Palm Beach Sailing Club | 6:oopm North Sails has a long history with the SORC Series, powering a huge number of boats including many to race victories. Most recently, Stu Hebb's Thin Ice carried a full North Sails inventory when she won the combined Islands in the Stream Series, and the Key West Race monohull race record holder Wizard was fully outfitted with North Sails when she set the bar in 2016. North Sails has more offshore miles, around the world records and ocean racing victories than all other sailmakers combined and prides itself on having the best sail solutions for boats across the spectrum. READ MORE

EVENT SPOTLIGHT: EASTERN YACHTING CIRCUIT A July Gem Of A Regatta At North Sails, we don't forget the importance of supporting the club racers. The Eastern Yachting Circuit is a longstanding, friendly competition between ten Canadian and American clubs in Lake Ontario. EYC epitomizes what club racing is all about. Many of the sailors have lost count on how many EYC regattas they've attended. For some, they are the 2nd and even 3rd generation racing. It's a PHRF regatta with one-design classes, like the Sharks, getting their own start if numbers warrant. What began many years ago as a circuit like the Lake Erie Inter-club Cruise, has settled on one club hosting the regatta each year. Alternating between American and Canadian clubs, the 2019 edition hosted by Henderson Harbour Yacht Club lead by regatta chair Tom Tomlinson, Art Bronstein and their team of volunteers. A lovely understated club nestled in a well-protected cove in Henderson Bay, about 30 minutes southwest of Watertown NY. Henderson Harbour YC was to have hosted in 2017, yet high waters forced the last-minute change in venue to Oswego Yacht Club. It speaks to the camaraderie and spirit between clubs to step up and help each other out for the good of racing. The record-high waters returned in 2019, but the team at Henderson Harbour persevered. They made allowances and contingency plans so the show would go on. And it did! Everyone attending was from a club that was dealing with the same high-water issues. Enough said. Despite record-high water levels and the unpredictable weather of the spring season, nearly 30 boats came out to play. Henderson Bay so idyllic but it can be difficult to find lodging for crews and families. The solution for many is to travel with a 'mothership' or bunk boat. Not only does this add convenience but also provides a vibrancy on the docks before and after racing. This PHRF regatta is distinguished by a middle distance race of 20 to 30 miles on Thursday followed by two days of windward/leeward course racing. Small fleets of 5 or 6 boats get their own starts. The opening distance race provided a chance to see the local sailing waters; Association, Stony, Little Gallo and Calf Island to name a few while working out kinks and getting acquainted with new crew members. Old rivals duke it out. Newcomers jump right into the mix. The course racing was in the protected but windy waters of Henderson Bay. Of course, the competitive juices flow, yet it remains friendly. Protests were minimal with infractions settled by a quick circle, or later, a round off adult beverages bought by the offending crew. A number of North Sails clients found themselves at the top of the fleets, including Art Bronstein's Hambone, a well-trimmed C&C 35 and overall circuit winner, Tom Doran racing an immaculate J-24 Oz. As a sponsor to the regatta, North Sails, understands the importance of 'grassroots' regattas to sustaining our sport. The owners and crew want sails that are well built, fast that last more than a season or three. North Sails delivers every time. READ MORE

CANAM SERIES HEADS NORTH 2.4mR Great Lakes Regatta This past weekend, the 3rd regatta of the 2.4mR CanAm North Regatta Series was hosted by National Yacht Club. Participants travelled from Florida, Maryland, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Montreal and Ottawa to compete with the local NYC 2.4 fleet. The 15 boat fleet sailed 7 races to complete the regatta. In 3rd place was NYC’s Darrell Suderman, in 2nd place, Dee Smith of Annapolis, and in 1st place, NYC’s Allan Leibel. The 2.4mR Canadian Championship, hosted by NYC on Sept 7/8, will be the fourth and final regatta of the 2.4mR CanAm North Series. Initiated in Port Charlotte FL several years ago, the 2.4mR CanAm Series has been a fantastic venue for Canadian sailors to get competitive racing with minimal logistics over the winter months. This is the first year for the ‘North” version of the CanAm series. North Sails Toronto is proud to support such an interactive and vibrant fleet; congratulations to all participants! Full results READ MORE

SUPPORTING GIRLS ON THE WATER Broadreach Dazzles with Jilàsi for Girl's Regatta The Jilàsi for Girls regatta was held on Saturday August 10th at the Boulevard Club in Toronto, Ontario, with the generous support of North Sails. The regatta was in support of The Broad Reach Foundation’s commitment to further girls and women’s leadership in sailing, each boat being led by a female skipper. North Sails provided products that filled goodie bags for each attendee. After an incredibly joyful and rewarding day on the water, participants and attendees celebrated with drinks, dinner, and amicable bidding wars through a silent auction. North Sails generosity continued with their contribution of a gift basket and copy of the North Sails Story to the silent auction, raising $250 in support! All funds raised from the regatta through support of attendees, the silent auction, and the racers went directly into the Broad Reach Foundation’s programs engaging disadvantaged youth in the development of knowledge, skills and greater social belonging. The Broad Reach Foundation aims to increase responsibility, discipline, and teamwork by engaging youth in the sport, science and experience of sailing on Lake Ontario. Participating youth are from varying backgrounds and registered through community agencies across Toronto. Broad Reach provides youth an opportunity to learn and grow as a team members and leaders out on the water. Broad Reach’s work could not be as impactful without the help of our wonderfully supportive sponsors like North Sails, donors, and most importantly the sailing community. READ MORE

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT Saturday, 25 August 2018, was a significant day for prominent Hobart yachtsmen Stephen 'Rowdy' McCullum and Stewart Gray, and for worldwide sail makers, North Sails. McCullum has joined Gray as principals of 42ºSouth Marine which operates the Hobart loft of North Sales at Cambridge, (above Lewis Marine), combining their vast yachting, sail-making and business experience. In fact, when it comes to counting up sailing experience and expertise in the marine industry, in particular sail-making, it's hard to go past 'Rowdy' and Stewart. It's a combination that seems certain to benefit Tasmanian sailing, bringing the latest technology in making sails for types of boats, off-the-beach dinghies, one-design keelboats, ocean racers and cruising yachts. North Sails continue to be heavily involved in the America's Cup, the Volvo Race and international one-design yacht racing and are noted for ground-breaking design and sail construction technology, including the creation of 3Di™ moulded sails, claimed to be the world's fastest and most durable sails, for racing and cruising. Both 'Rowdy' and Stewart began their working lives as sail-making apprentices in Hobart and soon became involved in International racing campaigns that took them overseas for further design and sail-making projects, as well as expanding their sailing careers, mostly in maxis and America's Cup contenders. "As a sailmaker I later worked with Grant Simmer on America's Cup campaigns and with the late Graeme 'Frizzle' Freeman sailing on Windward Passage II," 'Rowdy' said on the eve of their commercial partnership coming into force yesterday, "The Windward Passage campaign took 'Frizzle' and myself to Europe and the USA to work with the Italian America's Cup challenge before returning to Tasmania to join Bob Clifford with the maxi ketch Tasmania which took line honours in the 50th Sydney Hobart," Rowdy added. McCullum, who is vice commodore of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, has competed as a key crew member including watch captain and sailing master, in 22 Sydney Hobarts Stewart Gray returned to Hobart six years ago after being involved as a professional yachtsman and sailmaker in two America's Cup campaigns and three Volvo Ocean Races. He also won two World Championships in Maxis and TP52's. "And like Rowdy, I did my apprenticeship as a sailmaker, but with Ian Ross at Hood Sails in Sandy Bay," he said. Back in Tasmania, I've owned my own business, 42ºSouth Marine, for the past six years, setting up the loft as a North Sails agency where we supply racing or cruising sails for anything from Optimists to maxi yachts. However, a big part of our business is making sail covers, canvas's and powerboat clears," Gray added. "By joining forces and combining our sailing and sail-making expertise, we plan to develop the business in line with the expansion of the sport of yachting, both in cruising and racing keelboats and in dinghy classes in Tasmania," McCullum said. "We will be in a greater position to not only supply a quality product, but to give an even greater level of advice and customer services to all areas of the marine industry," said Gray, expressing great confidence in the new partnership. North Sails, through its Worldwide resources and expertise can provide yacht owners with everything from cross cut dacron sails built from our in-house milled dacrons, through to 3Di™ sails. "3Di™ is the only sail like it on the market, it is stronger, lighter and more resistant to environmental factors than laminate string sails and we couldn't be more excited to bring it to the local market", emphasised Gray and McCullum. Written by Peter Campbell READ MORE

Još jedan trijumf Sirotice U Betini, kolijevci drvene brodogradnje otoka Murtera, u nedjelju 18. kolovoza odjedrena je 17. regata za dušu i tilo. Riječ je o posljednjoj regati ciklusa regata latinskog idra pred veliko finale koje će se odjedriti u susjednom Murteru za mjesec dana. I ove godine se okupila slična flota kao i lani, ukupno preko 30 leutgajeta i kaića. NAravno, gajete su i na ovoj regati dominirale po broju, ali kako se kasnije pokazalo za vrijeme jedrenja nisu se ni ostali modeli tek tako predavali! Vremenski uvjeti u Betini su bili idealni. Lijep sunčan dan uz lagani maestral koji je puhao s oko desetak čvorova, omogučili su dosta brzu regatu bez stresnih situacija praćenih s lomom opreme i paranjem jedara kao što je to bio slučaj prošle godine. Start je bio postavljen "na lancanu", premda su brodovi bili vezani za rivu, ali to je taj princip. Regatno polje je bilo identično lanjskom, a to konkretno znači da je prva bova bila postavljena u kanalu na oko pola puta prema Tisnom, zatim se morao obići otočić Sustipanac, potom druga bova koja je bila postavljena ispred rta Gradina (na ulazu u Murtersku luku) i za kraj je ostavljen sprint prema Betini. Vjerojatno najzanimljiviji dio regate je ovaj put bio sam start, odnosno predstartna procedura. Regatni odbor je odredio da će biti dan pripremni signal, zatim upozorenje na jednu minutu do starta i zatim start. Međutim, nekoliko gajeta postavljenih s lijeve strane startne linije je signal minute do starta shvatila kao signal za start i krenulo s povlačenjem po konopu od sidra. 10-20 sekundi su svi ostali gledali što se dešava i hoće li im kolege shvatiti da su malo požurili, ali kako već u takvim situacijama bude lančano su krenuli i svi ostali za njima. U principu ovo je najvažniji dio regate jer ako je sidro uhvatilo dovoljno jako da se po njemu može povlačiti svom snagom i da kad ga se prođe da ga se bez problema može izvaditi, onda se može osvojiti dosta dobra pozicija za nastavak jedrenja. Početna gužva koja je nastala u prvih stotinjak metar regate ubrzo se počela rijediti i najbrži se izdvajati ispred ostatka flote. Već od samog starta najuspješnija u tome je bila ekipa Sirotice. Već na prvoj bovi su bili na čelu cijele flote, a kasnije su tu razliku samo povećavali. Za kompletnu rutu im je trebalo točno dva sata jedrenja, a poredak ostalih najboljih po grupama je slijedeći: GAJETE: 1. Damir Čorkalo – MU 485 – Murter – SIROTICA 2. Hrvoje Jadrešić – MU 520 – Betina – CVITA 3. Ante Davor Turčinov – MU 887 – Murter – ILKA KAIĆI: 1. Ivan Čobanov – MU 906 – Betina – MARINKA 2. Ivan Crljenko – MU 790 – Betina – Bez imena 3. Šime Šoić – MU 186 – Murter – MARIJA LEUTI: 1. Grgo Jerat – MU 111 – Murter – JARUH 2. Dieter Schelinger – MU 84 – Murter – ORLIĆ 3. Tonko Skračić – MU 85 – Betina – GUŠTE Foto galeriju s ove regate možete pronaći na ovom linku. Dok video izvještaj možete pogledati u video galeriji za 2019. godinu. READ MORE

"FORMSTABILITETEN ÄR NOG DET SOM IMPONERAR MEST" Patrik Helgegren om sina tre år gamla 3Di NORDAC-segel NORDAC-segel 3Di NORDAC är ett bakat kompositsegel speciellt utvecklat för cruisingbåtar upp till cirka 40 fot. Det byggs på exakt samma sätt som världens mest avancerade kappseglingssegel, men det är baserat på polyester istället för på kevlar eller kolfiber. Resultatet blir ett segel med samma slitstyrka och livslängd som ett traditionellt dacronsegel, men med avsevärt bättre prestanda. 3Di NORDAC lanserades 1 juni 2017 och en av de allra första i Sverige att hoppa på tåget var Patrik Helgegren i Göteborg. Han och hans familj seglar en Nord 120, en bastant fyrtiofots långfärdsbåt ritad av Olle Enderlein. Familjen Helgegrens Nordac-garderob består av storsegel och rullgenua, och båda dessa segel är uppe i ur och skur under hela säsongen. Frågan man ställer sig är: Hur de står sig idag, efter nästan tre hela säsonger? Vi låter frågan gå till Patrik: "Formstabiliteten är nog det som imponerar mest. Jag kan inte se att formen har förändrats ett dugg på tre säsonger. Att de skulle vara slitstarka hade jag räknat med. Det är ju ändå en sorts dacronsegel." Nyfiken på våra revolutionerande cruisingsegel? Besök oss på båtmässan så berättar vi mer! Läs mer om 3Di NORDAC READ MORE

Otvoreno PH u ekipnom jedrenju za klasu Optimist Foto: JK Marina Kaštela Izvrsna jedrenja u proljetnom dijelu sezone i vrhunski plasmani jedriličara iz puležanskog JK Uljanik plovidbe nastavila su se i na ovogodišnjem Prvenstvu Hrvatske u ekipnom jedrenju za klasu Optimist. Jedriličarski klub Marina Kaštela je u svom novom impozantnom jedriličarskom domu ugostio 15 ekipa iz Hrvatske i susjedne nam Crne Gore, a jedrilo se za vikend 16-18. kolovoza. Unatoč popriličnom broju ekipa odziv klubova nije bio u jednakom broju, već su neki klubovi imali po nekoliko ekipa, a jedna ekipa je bila sastavljena i od jedriličara iz četiri različita kluba. Najbrojniji su bili članovi JK Uljanik plovidba koji su na natjecanju imali čak tri svoje ekipe! Idući najbroniji klub je bio JK Split s dvije ekipe, a po jedan tim su poslali iz riječkog Galeba, Sv. Nikola iz Zagreba, splitski JK Mornar, još jedan klub iz Pule - JK Vega, zatim JK Briva iz Biograda, zadarski Uskok i JK Spinut iz Splita. Međunarodni karakter natjecanju dale su ekipe JK Juga i ekipa Brius, a u taj otvoreni dio natjecanja svoj obol je dala i ekipa imena Pilići, a u kojoj su jedrili članovi JK Jugo, Zente, Omiša i Labuda. Program regate je predvidio jedrenje jednog Round Robina, sustava jedrenja svih ekipa jednih protiv drugih, kao i u dvobojskom jedrenju, a nakon toga najbolji su se susreli u polufinalu i finalu. Zahvaljujući izvrsnim vremenskim uvjetima tih dana program je realiziran sa 100 postotnim učinkom. Konkretno, da bi se odjedrio potpuni Round Robin za 15 ekipa potrebno je završiti čak 105 plovova! U petak je Regatni odbor kompletirao 56 jedrenja, dok su u subotu još i preostalih 49. Što se tiče nedjelje tada su odjedreno još 19 plovova da bi se dobili ovogodišnji prvaci Hrvatske, a evo što je o regati izjavio predstavnik domaćina: Sve u svemu imali smo sreće s vjetrom. Odjedren je puni Round Robin, odnosno dva prvenstva - zatvoreno i otvoreno PH, koja su se bodova odvojena. Pobjedu je odnijela jedna od ekipa Uljanik plovdbe čiji trener je Dario Kliba. Ta skupina je bila daleko ispred svih ostalih tako da su potpuno zasluženo odnijeli pobjedu, kako u otvorenom, tako i u zatvorenom dijelu prvenstva. Svaki dan je puhao maestral od 10-14 čvorova. Izašli bi na more oko podne, uvjeti za regatavanje bi se uspostavili oko 13 sati, a jedrilo bi se do 18-19. Polje je svaki dan bilo postavljeno ispred Slatina na otoku Čiovu i pozicija je bila stvarno dobra jer nije bilo valova, dok je vjetar bio konstantan i stabilan. Armano Zekan, JK Marina Kaštela Sustav ekipnog jedrenja je u principu flotna regata jer se na regatnom polju istovremeno nalazi 8 optimista. Za plasman u pojedinom matchu uzimaju se rezultati svih sudionika i prevagu odnosi konačna suma svih članova ekipe. Ovo je dosta zanimljiv element jer dozvoljava različite kombinacije poretka u cilju, tako da natjecatelji osim jedriličarskih vještina moraju pokazati i određenu dozu kombinatorike. Uglavnom, u Round Robinu je apsolutnu dominaciju u svim tim elementima pokazala ekipa Uljanik plovidbe 3. Oni su pobijedili u svih 14 matcheva. Najbliži su im bili sugrađani iz Vege. Oni su završili kao drugoplasirani s 12 pobjeda, a s jednom pobjedom manje treće mjesto zauzima miješana ekipa Pilića. S obzirom na karaktere otvorenog i zatvorenog PH u završne stadije natjecanja ušle su još ekipe Uljanika 2 i Mornara koje su imale jednak broj bodova, ali je Uljanik 2 imao bolji ishod u međusobnom matchu. Konkretan raspored, odnosno međusobne rezultate možete pronaći na ovom linku za zatvoreno PH, dok su na ovom linku rezultati za otvoreni dio regate. I polufinala i finala su se jedrila na tri pobjede s tim da su prvo odrađeni kompletni setovi za zatvoreni dio regate. U polufinalu su jedni protiv drugih jedrili Vega i Uljanik 2, a konačni rezultat je 3:1 za Vegu. Drugi polufinalni par je bio Uljanik 3 i Mornar, a ovdje je glatka pobjeda Uljanika 3 s 3:0. U finale su otišli Uljanik 3 i Vega, a konačni rezultat je 3:0 za Uljanik 3 koji tako postaje ekipni prvak Hrvatske za 2019. godinu. S drugim mjestom se moraju zadovoljiti članovi JK Vega, dok je u malom finalu pobjeda također otišla u ruke članova JK Vega. Nakon ove serije regata odjedren je i završni set otvorenog dijela PH. Ovaj put nije bilo polufinala i finala, već su se jedrile tri flighta sa po dva matcha svatko protiv svakog. Uljanik 3 je u sva tri odjedrena matcha bolji i tako se ovjenčao s dvostrukom krunom! Pobjednička ekipa je bila u sastavu Buba Pulek, Mija Močinić, Tristan Tol i Edi Jurman. A kako su bili posloženi ostali sudionici završnice možete pronaći u finalnim rezultatima, dok foto galeriju s regate možete pronaći na web stranicama regate. Iduća velika regata kojoj je domaćin JK Marina Kaštela je Prvenstvo Hrvatske za neolimpijske klase, a jedrit će se od 13-15. rujna. READ MORE

EVENT SPOTLIGHT: NATIONAL YACHT CLUB OPEN Big Breeze Shakes Up NYC Open The 4th annual NYC Open Regatta took place on one of the most beautiful summer days we’ve had this year and featured great sailing winds ranging from a short AP in the morning until to winds filled to strong shifty and gusty conditions challenging the most experienced of skippers! Thanks to North Sails for providing the skippers and the Race Officers with a needed accurate Weather Forecasting via SailFlow. The RO’s and volunteers managed to get four races off despite ever-changing conditions. The post-race Garden Party sponsored Beau’s proved to be a wonderful afternoon venue with great entertainment from Jenny Braund and band. Almost 100 participants joined in on the dinner and it did not disappoint. NYC’s F&B team presented an amazing Tandoori BBQ chicken and all the fixings. Compliments to NYC’s F&B abound for the awesome meal as well as the Beau’s Five for $20 draft! The party went on till dark with live entertainment and then shifted to members playlists continuing until the wee hours… With a 12% increase in participation of boats over last, this year’s regatta hosted 58 boats in seven competitive divisions. The majority of boats were One Design as we observe a continued shift towards smaller crews and tighter fleets. We also saw an uptick in participation in the NYC membership returning to numbers seen several years back, maybe due to the Humber Bay Challenge that we put out between EYC and us. The Rigging Shoppe generously contributed gift cards to the appreciative 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. Congratulations to all our winners: Mandate J 105 RCYC Terry McLaughlin/ Rod Wilmer Zingara Beneteau First 36.7 NYC Richard Reid Surprise Melges 24 NYC Dan Berezin Lifted J80 NYC Christopher Hobbs Wild deuces VX One RCYC Paul Currie Three's Company J 22 NYC Paul Davignon Warington Kirby 23 QCYC John Woolsey For the overall regatta results, visit www.lorc.org On Sunday, many raced in the first race of the AHMEN/PHRF Fall Series, hosted by NYC and raced for the Argosy Rose Bowl. For overall results, please visit www.ahmen.ca Thank you to our participants, volunteers as well as to the Rigging Shoppe, North Sails and Beau’s and to all sponsors who helped to make the LORC series a success! Lawrence Alexander Vice Commodore – Fleet National Yacht Club – Toronto READ MORE

DO GOOD. DONATE YOUR OLD SAILS. Putting Your Used Sails To Work North Sails and Etibicoke Yacht Club have partnered to help promote the recycling and re-purposing of used sails. Bring your old sails to the EYC Open and we will organize the donation of them to Friends Of Ile-a-Vache Haiti, where they will be re-purposed to benefit the lives of the local community. Questions? Talk to our team and find out more about this program. READ MORE

2019 TRANSPAC TALES Race Aficionado Patrick Murray Talks About His Favorite Offshore Event 📸Sharon Green / ultimatesailing.com We caught up with Local North Sails expert and Transpac aficionado Patrick Murray to get his personal download on the race. What makes this race so special to you and other sailors who keep coming back? This race has become my favorite race by far, globally, anywhere. 2019 was the fifth time I've sailed it and now on five different boats. So that’s five different styles and different teams every time. Every time I get more respect for what it takes to do the race, and the preparation that goes into being ready for the race. The Transpac is a small version of what the people in the Volvo talk about where, if you ask some crews on day three when they're heading out, it's cold and you're smashing upwind, and there's probably a few people that are not feeling all that well on the boat, you'd probably think they would never want to do it again. But in total, you get to Hawaii, the experience of finishing at Diamond Head, and the downwind sailing for days on end, of just ripping along, people want to do it again for sure. I think as far as this race goes, the results are one thing, but it's really just an accomplishment to be prepared and be at sea for nearly two weeks, handle all the conditions, the squalls, everything that gets thrown out at you out there. It's not your everyday race, and to see guys like Paul really excited at the finish, and the culmination of all the work, effort, and training, its extremely rewarding. How was this years race for you? The light air start didn’t favor breaking records but the conditions were nearly perfect; nice pressure, perfect reaching, and powered up sailing conditions the whole way. I think if you were to go through the fleet, it was a pretty windy and maybe just the tick above averages, in terms of how much wind. So it was a really proper offshore race and a proper offshore sail, that it put a few boats in tough situations and other boats and in a situation that they could thrive in really nice, heavy air conditions. I was on a Swan 60, Good Call. We started on Friday and had a perfect sail over to Catalina. Essentially we never had to tack, fetched on starboard tack, and made our way around Catalina, and then it was just beautifully windy the whole way across. 📸Sharon Green / ultimatesailing.com And on that note, how did you prepare your clients for this race? One thing I think people don't necessarily really think through or know if they haven't done the race, is that the beginning portion of the race is very hard, and it's more upwind and tight reaching. You have about 400 miles, and maybe up to 500 miles of pretty tight, cold, rough sailing, where you really have to earn that really beautiful downwind trade wind sailing. It's very different than the beautiful pictures we see with boats planing downwind off Diamond Head at the finish. You start upwind and it's a beat, medium to light air beat to Catalina, and then it's just off the wind, close reaching for some part of a 12 - 24 hour period. And then the breeze slowly goes from some version of west 270 and clocks through northwest. This is when you start seeing the wind up near zero out of the north and you're working through a full reaching inventory. That portion of the race is really critical, and which sail you use, and how you use them to get to different portions of the chart, is hugely important. What did you do personally and with your team to prepare for this race? On our boat, one of the things we did was try to eliminate having to carry too many sails. We would use our upwind sail and kind of an all-purpose upwind sail and heavier 3Di that could be used in heavy air. Then we were able to use a higher clew and a second clew, and a second configuration for that sail, so that we could use it as a reaching sail as well, which really helps in terms of gear management. You have to take so much stuff on this race, but if you can eliminate any of it, especially the upwind that goes away pretty quickly and then just turns into weight that you're carrying. On Good Call, we spent a lot of time working on the boat and getting everything ready, a lot of sailing time to work on those reaching configurations to see where they're the most efficient. How did you prepare your clients for this race? I had six clients in the race, in six boats that I worked with very closely in terms of preparation in their sail plans, and then just in sailing and preparation for the race, as well. That was the approach that we worked on with multiple boats so that we could keep the inventory as neat and clean, and efficient as possible, without having too many sails that you have to carry the whole way. And that's one of the benefits of 3Di, is that we were able to use those sails in a wider wind range, and also dual purpose uses in terms of a bit of a reaching sail, a Blast Reacher or Jib Top in some cases. With some of the other teams, I spent a lot of time with a few crews that were doing this race for the first time, working on their inventories in terms of what sails they had, and how to utilize them, but then also many hours out on the water coaching them. 📸Sharon Green / ultimatesailing.com READ MORE

NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW RSVP & Get Your Ticket Free RSVP by September 9th and include your favorite summer sailing 📸. We'll pick our favorite 50 and the winners will receive a North Sails hat and a ticket to the Newport International Boat Show. READ MORE

Dvije trećine sezone su gotove Srpanj, kolovoz i rujan su tri ljetna mjeseca rezervirana za sve ljubitelje tradicijskih brodica i jedrenja na način koji je vezan uz latinsko jedro. Ove godine prva regata/smotra tradicijskih jedrilica u Dalmaciji je bila 14. srpnja na 8. Ugriniću, okupljanju koje se organizira na otoku Pašmanu pod imenom "Đir po konalu". Nakon toga je organizirana prva od tri regate na otoku Murteru. Domaćini su bili Jezerani, također po 8. put kao i kolege im s Pašmana. Njihova regata je poznata pod nazivom "Lantina", a ovogodišnji termin održavanja je bio 21. srpnja. Slijedeća regata je bila najjužnija i održala se na otoku Krapnju pod nazivom Krapanjsko idro, a termin održavanja je bio 2. kolovoza. Zatim karavana kreće prema sjeveru i prva iduća je regata koja se odjedrila na Zlarinu, "13. Latinskim idrom na kureja". Prvi termin koji je bio predviđen za Zlarinsku smotru je 27. srpnja, ali zbog vrlo lošeg vremena čiji dolazak je najavljen na vrijeme dolazi do izmjene termina na 5. kolovoza. U principu riječ je bila o jedinom razumnom terminu, a da se regata ne odgodi na bar nekoliko tjedana, samo što je 4. kolovoza već odavno rezerviran za "Žensku veslačku regatu" u Betini. Iz logističkih razloga armavanja brodova koji za Betinsku regatu nisu trebali jarbole i ostatak opute, a i pratećeg efekta prigodne fešte, izostao je dolazak većeg broja sudionika s Murtera. Dvadesetak posada iz Brodarice, Zlarina, Prvića, Vodica i Murtera ipak je osiguralo kontinuitet održavanja, a ove godine su uspjeli startati "na lancanu" i dosta brzo prejedriti zadanu rutu unatoč laganim uvjetima koji su vladali na regatnom polju. Nakon starta flota je trebala lijevim bokom ostaviti plič Roženik, kao i hrid Galijola i vratiti se natrag u Zlarin. Puhao je lagani oštrin koji je omogućio spomenutu proceduru starta, a za one neupućene to je princip u kojem se svi sudionici vežu krmom jer su postavljeni niz vjetar i kad se signalizira start otvaraju se jedra i kreće se s regatom. Ovisno o portu iz kojeg se kreće i eventualnim dricevima koji bi mogli izazvati probleme u ovoj početnoj fazi jedrenja, u more se mogu baciti i sidra po kojima se natjecatelji povlače nakon što je dan signal starta. Osim ovog starta u primjeni je i klasični "leteći" start kao na ostalim regatama, ali to je nešto što nije baš najbolje rješenje za ovaj tip brodova i regata, prvenstveno zbog manevarskih sposobnosti ove vrste plovila. Konkretno tu je najveći problem naglo i često mijenjanje smjera, što iziskuje posebne manevre u kojima nerijetko je nužna upotreba vesla. Što se same regate na Zlarinu tiče, već nakon starta se izdvojila ekipa gajete Sirotica i svoju lidersku poziciju nisu ispuštali sve do kraja regate. Kako to obično biva na regatama, vodeći imaju malo više sreće s vjetrom, a ostali su upali u malo veće probleme u zoni između Roženika i Galijole gdje su se osim s bezvjetricom morali nadmudrivati i s vrlo neugodnim južnim kurentom. U svakom slučaju predviđene 3.5 NM svi uspijevaju proći za par sati i nastaviti se družiti u srcu Zlarinskog porta. Već krajem tog tjedna, u nedjelju 11. kolovoza nastavak je putovanja karavane prema sjeveru. Luka okupljanja je u Prvić Šepurini pod imenom "13. Burtiž". Termin regate nije mijenjan zbog vremenskih ili nekih drugih razloga, pa je i odziv sudionika bio dosta velik. Ukupno je jedrilo 35 kaića, gajeta i leuta. Puhalo je SW-W od oko 13-14 čvorova. Smjer vjetra i konfiguracija porta u kombinaciji s brojem sudionika zahtijevao je zadavanje starta letećom metodom, a nakon prelaska startne linije jedrilo se prema bovi postavljenoj ispred jugoistočnog rta otoka Tijata, rta Gaćice. Slijedeća točka obaveznog obilaska je bila još jedna bova, ovog puta ispred Logorunskih vrata, a nakon toga flota se trebala vratiti u Šepurine. Sunčan dan i vjetra taman koliko treba, stvorilo je impresivnu sliku tradicionalnih jedrilica u svoj njihovoj raskoši punih jedara i bijelih brazda. I ovog puta na čelu flote je bila Sirotica i tu svoju poziciju je suvereno držala do druge bove.tada se dešavaju dvije jedriličarske triler situacije. U stopu ju je pratio kaić Marinka koji je uspio održati pravu kombinaciju kuta i brzine i zahvaljujući tome što je Sirotica morala virati ispred bove da bi je mogla obići, Marinka preuzima vodstvo i bez opasnosti odnosi pobjedu na regati. Ali da bi sve bilo još zanimljivije, s desne strane regatnog polja, za vrijeme ove situacije na bovi, stiže još jedna gajeta, Baba Ivanica. Ona iskorištava to što je Sirotica trebala napraviti dvije vire da bi pravilno obišla bovu i s malom prednošću preuzima drugo mjesto u generalnom poretku. Međutim, iskusna ekipa Sirotice ne odustaje i uspijeva sustići Babu Ivanicu i s jednom dužinom prednosti ući u cilj ipak kao drugoplasirani. Iduća regata latinskog idra je na rasporedu u nedjelju 18. kolovoza u Betini, a nakon nje u rujnu slijedi veliko finale s najmasovnijom i najstarijom regatom koja se održava u Murteru. READ MORE

EVENT SPOTLIGHT: BYC CRUISE WEEK Camaraderie And Memories Along The Ottawa River Thank you once again for supporting "Cruise Week", a 30+ year-old, family-friendly tradition at Britannia Yacht Club in Ottawa. This event is a mid-summer, multi-day flotilla on the Ottawa River, which offers us 25 NM of ever- changing wind and a half-dozen rural anchorages. Cruise Week serves these purposes: Mentor new or inexperienced sailors in navigating the Ottawa River Meet new friends (new club members/boat owners, or first-time participants) Catch up with long-time friends Cruise Week 2019 (July 14-19) was once again a fun week in the sun and great heat - temperatures exceeded 30C every day. We had a record twenty boats join the fleet, and the highest number of “first- timers” in years. Crews were a diverse mix: new and seasoned sailors, aged 18-75; people who cruise and race here and around the world; and world circumnavigators. As is the tradition, Cruise Week started Sunday afternoon with an onshore BBQ at Pinhey’s Point, about 10NM upriver from BYC. At the BBQ, similar to last year, we distributed North Sails beverage cozies and sunglass keepers. Many people brought theirs from last year ashore! These items were put to good use all week in the incredibly hot weather. We shared food and laughter, and issued the 3rd edition of the Nautical Skills Challenge: those who complete any 4 of 6 skills such as heaving to, 2 COB drills (under sail), reefing/shake the reef, using the emergency tiller, steering with sails only, and 720 turns are awarded prizes. Always a busy group, we socialized long into the evening on several boats. On Monday, the fleet had a slow downwind drift upriver to Baskin’s Beach in a 2-5kn east wind. After watering and feeding, we headed ashore for the World Quyon Bocce tournament. The competition was fierce, including one injured player placing winning shots with her non-dominant hand. Eliminated players picked up additional North Sails drink cozies and frisbees, which were put to immediate use in the sweltering heat. After Happy Hour and dinner, (responsible) socializing resumed throughout the fleet. On Tuesday, the fleet made the 5 NM jump to Mohr Island. The 12-18kn west wind made for a fun beat. Many boats used this opportunity complete skills for the Nautical Challenge, including reefing (with North Sails ties handed out last year!) and shaking reefs. Beer cozies weren’t put into use until we landed at the island. We spent the afternoon swimming and relaxing, collecting our energy for a raft-up Happy Hour: a “blind” wine tasting. We sampled a great variety of whites and reds. No need for cooking dinner later; appetizers were abundant. That's Karen again. She loves her North Sails swag honestly and is the life of the party. And that is Jay, last year’s North Sails Grand Prize winner! On Wednesday, wind direction, great weather, and whim (ie a need for a rest) dictated that it was worth staying at Mohr Island. A few boats made the 4 NM jump to Quyon for a few provisions, and exploration of Pontiac Bay and the Chats Falls dam. Happy Hour was another raft-up. By this point in the week, we’re quite a good-looking group with our North Sails hats! Those who went exploring upriver shared tall tales at Happy Hour. That evening was a full moon. We had our own full moon island beach party, complete with a fire on the water. If you can’t go to the British Virgin Islands, you bring the BVI to Mohr Island! On Thursday, the group headed back downriver to Baskin’s Beach for more swimming and relaxing, and the grand finale – a rum tasting. Thanks to your support, we had great prizes to hand out for special moments such as these: Builder award - a North Sails book – to Harmonium, who built their own punt Cruise Week first-timers and gracious host awards: North Sails hats, T’s, and a book to Days Off and Carina II, who also hosted their first Happy Hour (and did their first raft-up) Creative sunshade - a North Sails hat awarded to Maelstrom, whose owner, an industrial designer, created a collapsible cockpit sunshade that’s placed over the boom while at anchor Good Samaritan award – a North Sails hat – to Skedaddle, who ran a line to another boat and helped winch them off a sand bar when wind shifted and increased unexpectedly overnight Mobile mechanic award – a North Sails hat – to Harmonium, for helping troubleshoot Inception’s engine problems First Responder award – a North Sails hat – to Inception, who did first aid on a rather deep foot cut Solo sailors award – North Sails T-shirts – awarded to Zephyr, Wind Rose, Bermuda, and Persistence for solo sailing, in the Spirit of the Golden Globe race which finished in the spring 2019 Nautical Challenge winner - boats who completed the skills were rewarded for their efforts. North Sails swag and T-shirts were distributed to those who completed the challenge We had a wonderful group this year and did a thorough exploration of the river. New friendships began, long-term friendships strengthened, and we made many memories. The people who attend make this such a great event, and support from North Sails makes it even better. Many thanks again for supporting our club’s tradition. Sincerely, Catherine Trinkwon BYC Cruise Week Coordinator READ MORE

« UN VÉRITABLE MATCH-RACE » Cammas et Caudrelier racontent leur course... et leur victoire ! 📸 Paul Wyeth Le maxi-trimaran Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana Team), skippé par Franck Cammas et Charles Caudrelier, est le premier bateau de la classe Ultim équipé de voiles North Sails à avoir franchi la ligne d’arrivée de la Rolex Fastnet Race 2019 à Plymouth dimanche 4 août. Il est suivi de très près par Macif, le maxi-trimaran de François Gabart (58 secondes d'écart). Sodebo Ultim 3 (Thomas Coville) et Actual Leader (Yves Le Blevec), également équipés de voiles North Sails, terminent respectivement 3e et 4e. En plus de décrocher la première place du podium, le multicoque Edmond de Rothschild s’offre un record de course de plus de 4 heures au passage du Fastnet rock. Recruté depuis peu par le Gitana Team, Franck Cammas signe un très beau retour en classe Ultim avec cette victoire. Pour le skipper de 46 ans au palmarès impressionnant, il s'agit de son 3e Fastnet. Quant à Charles Caudrelier, 44 ans, il compte quatre participations à son actif et remporte le trophée pour la 2e fois (VOR sur Dongfeng). Les deux hommes se connaissent de longue date et ont beaucoup navigué ensemble. Ils nous confient leurs impressions sur cette édition 2019. 📸 Paul Wyeth Vous avez offert aux spectateurs un très beau match-race entre Macif et Edmond de Rothschild. Comment c'était vécu de l’intérieur ? Cela force à pousser ses limites ? Franck Cammas : Oui, c’était un véritable match-race avec moins de 3,5 miles d’écart pendant toute la course ! Une régate à vue comme on peut le faire sur une Volvo Ocean Race ou en Figaro. C’était très excitant de pouvoir le faire avec ces grands multicoques très rapides. De plus, Macif étant une référence dans la classe Ultim, cela permet de trouver les bons settings et les bonnes configurations d’appendices. Vu de l’intérieur, l’équipage (Morgan Lagravière, Erwan Israël, David Boileau et Yann Riou) était donc très actif et concentré... On a poussé au maximum ! Je n’ai pas beaucoup dormi pour ma part ! Charles Caudrelier : Effectivement, on s’est vite retrouvé seul avec Macif dans notre option Nord, et dès la première soirée, on était au contact en permanence. À partir de là jusqu’à l’entrée dans la baie de Plymouth, c’était une course de vitesse avec quelques choix de voiles. Le duel a tourné rapidement au match-race. Pour nous, c’était très intéressant. On a pu découvrir de nouveaux réglages pour aller plus vite. Ça force à pousser plus fort, mais on n’a pas eu de fortes conditions et de gros risques à prendre. On a vu que Macif était plus manœuvrant et on ne pouvait pas trop jouer à ce jeu-là. On a juste essayé de se rapprocher un maximum de lui en vitesse et d’attendre une opportunité d’attaquer sur le dernier bord. Étant devant, il devait choisir le moment du dernier bord, et il s’est trompé. 📸 Paul Wyeth Vous battez le record au Fastnet rock (28 heures et 2 minutes). Vous pensiez battre le record à l'arrivée à ce moment? Franck Cammas : On pensait que le record était jouable au départ au vu des routages. Là, on le bat de 4 heures, bien plus que ce que nous espérions. Une bonne cerise sur le gâteau ! Et un clin d’œil à Loïc Peyron, l’ancien détenteur (32 heures et 48 minutes) qui m’avait pris de son côté le trophée Jules Verne ! Charles Caudrelier : C’est la météo qui décide si on va battre le record ou pas. Mais c’est toujours plaisant de battre un record. Avec qui travaillez-vous à North et comment cela s'est matérialisé dans l'approche du Fastnet ? Franck Cammas : On travaille avec Gautier Sergent et Yann Andrillon de North Sails Vannes. Depuis le début du projet, on s’est concentré sur l’optimisation en détail de notre ancienne GV et la définition de nouvelles voiles pour améliorer nos performances dans le vent faible aussi pour recouvrir mieux le range des voiles. Charles Caudrelier : Nous avons identifié des points faibles du bateau et on travaille tous ensemble sur les voiles avec comme objectif la Brest Atlantiques. Le Fastnet est la seule confrontation en course pour valider nos choix et nous avons eu de la chance de pouvoir valider le travail effectué et de nous conforter dans nos choix. Franck Cammas et Charles Caudrelier 📸 Paul Wyeth Est ce qu'il y a une voile en particulier qui ressort de cette régate et pourquoi ? Quelle était la plus utilisée (à part la GV) ? Franck Cammas : On a beaucoup utilisé les voiles de petit temps finalement. En Ultim, on se cherche encore sur la surface et la triangulation des J0 (génois) et J1. Entre Macif et nous, ça s'est joué entre ces 2 voiles... À explorer encore ! Charles Caudrelier : C’est aussi intéressant de voir les J0 des autres bateaux et leur performance. Macif avait un nouveau J0 et de bonnes performances. Combien de participations au Fastnet et comment cette édition 2019 se compare-t-elle aux précédentes ? Franck Cammas : C’est mon 3e Fastnet (en Orma 60, Volvo 70 (Groupama 4) et celui-ci sur Ultim. En Volvo, c’était en préparation de la Volvo Ocean Race, une course qui fut serrée entre Groupama 4 et Abu Dhabi avec une arrivée très proche, mais nous terminions 2e ! Une belle bagarre aussi dans des conditions très variées. C’est souvent le cas lors du Fastnet. Charles Caudrelier : Il s’agit de ma 4e participation. Mon premier à bord de Groupama 4 (avec Franck) qui était le premier test en course de notre Volvo 70. Un Fastnet dur avec du vent. Un double à bord de Gitana 15. Le 3e, c'était en préparation de la Volvo 65 avec Dongfeng où on finit premier quelques secondes devant les Espagnols de Mapfre. Je crois que l’écart était encore plus faible, un Fastnet avec peu de vent mais un gros combat entre sept VOR 65. Quel est le programme pour vous en particulier maintenant et pour la classe Ultim ? Franck Cammas : On va s’atteler à la préparation de la Brest Atlantiques, une course en double (avec Charles et moi-même) qui aura lieu en novembre et qui remplace en fait la Jacques Vabre pour cette classe. Et on continue à développer le bateau ! Charles Caudrelier: La Brest Atlantiques sera un grand test pour les Ultims volants : aucun Ultim volant n’a encore réussi à finir une longue course sans soucis techniques. READ MORE

ANOTHER FUNDRAISING SUCCESS AT TAHR Sailing & Fun For A Good Cause The 10th annual Toronto Area Hospice Regatta (TAHR) at Port Credit Yacht Club was another smashing success, raising over $47,250 for the Ian Anderson House Hospice (IAH). This brings our three-year total to over $152,000!! Mother nature played a huge role with beautiful warm sunshine and a moderate, albeit shifty, offshore breeze keeping the chop to a minimum for the forty four boats participating on either the one-design course or in the fun one-day pursuit race. When PCYC took over the reins of the TAHR in 2017 the goal, besides raising money for this incredibly necessary and worthy cause, was to bring some old fashioned fun back into the sport of sailboat racing. We reached out to everyone, including power boaters and casual family cruisers to try their hand at a less intimidating pursuit start race. Plus we threw in curve ball: the much dreaded/loved Noodle-Toss-Man-Overboard-Drill, making the results less predictable and the post racing war stories a lot more hilarious. This year we had three volunteer rib teams tossing noodles aft of participating boats thus beginning their MOB recovery. Keep in mind that the noodles are light and easily bounced out of reach by both wind and bow waves so while it may have been quite the reality check for some skippers, this was no ordinary drill! All boats crossing the finish line must wave their noodle to be scored. Mike Wolfs had his hand in everything from working with the PRO to make the vision of the fun race come to fruition, liaising with club management, getting some fantastic and highly coveted swag from North Sails, finding new sponsors and auction items and maintaining the sanity of the regatta chair and this author. North Sails Toronto was happy to support TAHR again with a silent auction item and donation of all SI folders for Skippers! READ MORE

NORTH SAILS GANA LA 38 COPA DEL REY MAPFRE North Sails ha copado seis de los 11 podios de la 38 Copa del Rey MAPFRE. 📸 María Muiña Incluyendo el campeón absoluto: el Estrella Damm patroneado por Luis Martínez Doreste, director comercial de North Sails España. En tierra, el servicio de velería North Sails reparó cerca de 100 velas durante la semana de competición. Un año más, los clientes North Sails han triunfado en la Copa del Rey MAPFRE. En su 38ª edición, la regata multiclase más importante del Mediterráneo reunió en la bahía de Palma a 132 barcos de 26 nacionalidades, que durante seis intensas jornadas de competición lucharon por el título en 11 clases. 📸 Nico Martínez La victoria absoluta correspondió al mismo ganador de 2018: el Estrella Damm patroneado por el director comercial de North Sails España, Luis Martínez Doreste. El DK 46 armado por Nacho Montes y Óscar Chaves dominó la clase BMW ORC 1 y además completó el mejor casillero de toda la flota, alzándose con el trofeo especial MAPFRE como mejor equipo en categoría tiempo compensado y el trofeo V Centenario como campeón absoluto. El Estrella Damm equipó inventario integral North Sails: velas de ceñida mayor 3Di 780 RAW, ligero-medio, medio-pesado 3Di 780 Endurance y 3.5; velas de popa A 1.5, S2, S4 y trinqueta de spinnaker. "Un buen inventario es fundamental para ganar la Copa del Rey, sobre todo tener velas nuevas", explica Martínez Doreste. "Una vela con un año o más ya no rinde al cien por cien, y en una Copa del Rey si no vas al cien por cien es difícil ganar. Nosotros pudimos utilizar un buen número de velas nuevas, y eso nos permitió aprovechar todo el potencial del barco. Es cierto que una 3Di dura más, puedes aprovecharla de un año para otro, como es el caso de nuestro foque ligero medio, que era de la temporada pasada. Aún así, creo que uno nuevo hubiese sido mejor vela". 📸 María Muiña También lograron el título de campeón de la 38 Copa del Rey en sus respectivas divisiones con velas North Sails el ClubSwan 50 Cuordileone (clase ClubSwan 50), el Swan 45 Porrón IX (Swan 45), el ClubSwan 42 Natalia (Mallorca Sotheby’s ClubSwan 42), el GC32 Oman Air (GC32) y el TP52 Team Vision Future (BMW ORC 0). Clientes North Sails coparon las tres primeras posiciones de ClubSwan 50, Swan 45, ClubSwan 42, GC32, ORC 0 y ORC 1, y ocuparon posiciones de podio en ORC 2, ORC 3 y J80. 📸 Sailing Energy "Para nosotros es una satisfacción que nuestros clientes elijan nuestras velas para competir en la Copa del Rey y en muchas otras regatas", continúa Luis Martínez Doreste. "Sólo hay que ver, por ejemplo, la clase ClubSwan 50, en la que todos los participantes equiparon North Sails; la clase ORC 1, donde los tres primeros utilizaron 3Di y velas de popa North Sails... Los comentarios de los clientes suelen coincidir: si una tripulación quiere ganar, la opción más segura es elegir North Sails. Sobre todo el 3Di, porque es una vela más estable, más duradera, más ligera y ofrece más rendimiento que las de la competencia. Además, navegan con la tranquilidad de contar con nuestro soporte en la propia regata: aportamos especialistas North Sails en cada barco, y ofrecemos el servicio cada día". 📸 Ian Roman Servicio North Sails Un año más, North Sails brindó su servicio oficial de recogida, reparación y entrega de velas a toda la flota de la Copa del Rey MAPFRE. Un equipo formado por siete veleros trabajó sin descanso en las jornadas previas y durante la competición para garantizar la satisfacción no sólo de nuestros clientes, sino también de barcos que equiparon velas de otras firmas. La furgoneta North Sails recogía al término de cada jornada de competición las velas que requerían servicio y las transportaba a la velería de Lluchmajor para que nuestro equipo pudiera trabajar durante la noche y dejarlas como nuevas antes de la primera señal de salida del día siguiente. A las nueve de la mañana, los clientes recibían sus velas listas para competir. Los números hablan por sí solos: a lo largo de la 38 Copa del rey MAPFRE, nuestros veleros completaron cerca de 300 horas de trabajo, 37 equipos requirieron los servicios de North Sails y un total de 93 velas pasaron por la velería. ¡Magnífico trabajo de North Sails Lluchmajor! READ MORE

LORC NYC OPEN Sign Up For Your Complimentary Weather Forecast North Sails is proud to support the 2019 LORC NYC Open. We have teamed up with our expert friends at SailFlow to provide professional weather forecasting for the event. Sign up below and have your forecast delivered right to your inbox. READ MORE

Everything You Need For The Big Event HIRW is shaping up to be the main event with a total of 225 yachts registered! Divided into six classes, it looks to be a fun and competitive regatta for sailors of all kinds. Get your team race-ready with our tips and tricks to guide you around the race course and prepare your team and your boat for the ultimate racing experience here at Hamilton Island. Make Sure Your Boat Is Race Ready With many variables in sailing outside of our control, it is important to make sure your yacht is cleaned, light, and ready to be used with ease once your sails and crew are added. For The Sake Of Strategy Familiarize yourself with the anticipated flow patterns around the islands during each race and can be done well in advance of even arriving at Hamilton Island. Get The Full Scoop On The Starting Area While it may be scenic, don’t get fooled into thinking it is an easy race track – the islands create localized wind shifts and pressure changes that differ from the big picture prevailing wind, as well as creating some interesting tide challenges. Know Your Job. Do Your Job. On board communication for racing yachts is a key factor for performance, no matter what type of sailing. However, when the number of crew increases, it becomes more and more important. READ MORE

HAMILTON ISLAND RACE WEEK: STARTING STRATEGY Pre-Race Homework Is Key Dent Passage is one of the world’s most picturesque start lines. Surrounded by the Hamilton Island Yacht Club, the Golf Club on Dent Island and the beautiful water the Whitsundays are famous for, it’s easy to understand why Hamilton Island Race Week has such a strong following. While it may be scenic, don’t get fooled into thinking it is an easy race track – the islands create localized wind shifts and pressure changes that differ from the big picture prevailing wind, as well as creating some interesting tide challenges. Let’s have a look at the Dent Passage starting line and think about some of the factors that will go into choosing the best starting strategy. Find out as much as you can before you get there. A quick look at the historical wind data for Hamilton Island in August shows 72% of the time the wind is in the South-Easterly quadrant. We can also find out what the tide times are for the week of the race, which you can see below. Putting together these two pieces of information, we can start to map out what the starting situation will look like well before we are even at the venue. Assuming that the start times are around the usual – 11am – there’ll be an incoming tide at the start every day except the last day, which will be slack tide. Around this area, the tide floods to the south, and ebbs towards the north. Let's map out the information we have so far. As we can see on the chart, with the wind coming from the South-East and us racing towards the North, the TWA will be anywhere from 170 – 100 on Starboard tack. This means we will be using either a spinnaker or Code Zero to get us to the top corner of Dent Island – our first turning mark. We also know that the tide will be pushing us backwards, so getting out of it will be important - especially in light winds. Here's a checklist of the things you can to do on race day to make sure you are as prepared as you can be: Wind Check For a Dent Passage start, it is always a good idea to motor over to the NW corner of Dent Island before the start to check how the start line wind compares to the big picture wind in Dent Passage. This is important because it will tell you which sail combo you’ll be using as you around the island and during the next leg. Tide & Depth Check On your way back to the starting area, take note of how fast the tide is moving. You’ll be able to tell this by comparing your speed through water to your speed over ground. If your speed over ground is faster than your speed through water, the tide is going with you and vice versa. You’ll often find that there is less tide pushing you backwards on the edges of the course, but it’s a very good idea to check the depth along the Dent Island shoreline if you think you might go that way, there are some shallow spot along the shore that you might not see on a chart – very important to know if your particular boat can go there or not! Start Line check Once we are back at the start line, check the TWA and distance to the first mark – either using a navigation program like expedition or manually by sailing to each end of the line and checking the wind. Comparing this information to the big picture wind will help choose which sails you’ll use at the start and into the next leg. It’s important here to take into account your crew’s ability, there’s not much point planning to peel from the Code Zero to A2 if you and your crew have never practiced it before. Getting a transit Well before your start, get a 4 boat length transit – that is – a transit that your bowman can use to tell you that you are 4 boat lengths below the line. Do this by slowly motoring up towards the pin end, when you think you are 4 boat lengths away get your bowman (standing on the bow) to look through the Hamilton Island Yacht club mast to the land behind. Remember the object, it could be a particular tree, or maybe a house. Once you’ve got this transit, keep motoring towards the eastern end of the line and get another transit when the bow of the boat is at the pin, this is your start line transit, so you’ll know exactly when the bow of the boat is on the line. Pre-start Get your strategy sorted nice and early, and make sure everyone on the boat knows the plan. There’ll be lots of boats around so stay out of the chaos of the people starting before you. Assign someone on the boat to keep an eye on how far from the line you are from at least 10 minutes until your start. With the tide pushing you away from the line, the last situation you want to find yourself in is 5 minutes away from the line with 4 minutes to go! The best strategy is usually a simple one... Don’t over complicate it! It is simply a matter of prioritizing the information you have to make the correct decision. Don’t forget, strategy is the fastest way to the next mark in the absence of other boats. Tactics are how you manage all the other boats in your way. There’s no point starting at the pin end with 30 other boats all going nowhere! READ MORE

FINISHING THE CIRCUIT ON A HIGH NOTE Crews Battle It Out In Competitive One Design Heats & Tricky Currents The Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta at Marblehead Race Week was the final event on the 2019 NOOD race circuit before the Caribbean Championship in the fall, and it did not disappoint. Light air at times and challenging currents had over 170 teams fighting it out in the blistering heat at one of New England’s most idyllic summer destinations. Kicking off the event, North Sails experts hosted a Local Knowledge panel on Thursday evening at Boston Yacht Club. Led by JB Braun, North's Director of Design & Engineering and one of the world’s leading sail designers, the North team set out to provide useful tips and insight for the weekend of sailing. Combining weather forecasts, tidal trends and their experience of racing in the area, Norths experts laid out their goals for the regatta, what to look out for on the water, and how they would be navigating the set courses. Joining JB Braun on the panel was local expert Alex Cook and One Design World Champion Mike Marshall. Alex, based in the North loft in Salem joined the North Sails team in May 2019 and brings a wealth of local knowledge to the Northeast team. North's Local Knowledge Panel (From left to right: Mike Marshall, Alex Cook, JB Braun) Temperatures topping 85 degrees added an extra layer of pressure to crews over the 10 One Design fleets. Wind conditions varied throughout three days--8-12 knots Friday from the East, 12-15 knots on Saturday from the ESE, 5-10 knots on Sunday from the SSE--a 1.5-knot current ripped across the course every single race, varying in strength and direction. Taking advice from the North Sails Local Knowledge briefing, held on Thursday at BYC, many crews watched the lobster buoys to learn as much as they could to use the current to their advantage. Many fleets had trouble crossing the line, and on Sunday, three fleets in a row had the left-most boat hit the pin, and most struggled to cross the line on starboard. At the beginning of the day, the current ran right to left, making layline calls relevant. Many teams found the key to a successful beat was short-tacking the port layline. Those boats that tacked on the layline from far out ended up overstanding the windward mark. For the boats tacking short of it, they ended up right on the layline by the time they reached the top-end of the course. As the current flooded, this made speed and time off the line crucial. "It was an atypical Marblehead NOOD in the sense that there was good breeze all three days, no drifters or Nor'Easters. However, it was typical Marblehead conditions, on the Halfway Rock Line, with the left side of the course being favored early in the sea breeze direction, along with the current running and affecting lay-lines. We also saw the usual chop/swell off axis from the breeze, making it much more challenging for skippers on one tack versus the other." Alex Cook, North Sails Salem Day one and three of the regatta where the wind was lighter, being in pressure paid off more than being on the lifted tack, so teams did not tack too much. At some points, it paid off, and gains were made by managing the fleet, and sailing on a header to match the other boats because there was more pressure. Trying to stay on the tack pointed directly at the mark (or jibe) also benefited certain teams. Speaking on managing the courses, North Sails Hillary Noble, tactician onboard the J/24 Sea Bags, had the following observations: “Downwind laylines were just as crucial as upwind. Tacking short of the layline upwind allowed us to get ahead of those who waited, as they were overstanding by the time they reached the top. Not jibing too early at the offset helped us by being one lane further downwind. The boats that jibed right away ended up fighting eachother to stay high, sailing more distance, an we were able to stay away from that. The current was strong, coming in for the better part of each day and was constantly pushing us away from the gates as the course was skewed. Jibing later for the gate, coming in with speed, and rounding the mark that had most pressure kept us clear ahead and allowed us to keep our speed for the mark rounding." "The entire time all I could think about was our boat speed. Our North Sails FR-2 spinnaker was a main contributor to our speed off the wind and allowed us to stay ahead of the fleet." The crew of the J/24 Seabags embarking on their fifth season together. North Sails client Bruce Stone & Nicole Breault on J/105 Good Trade took the win in their class, never leaving the top three positions in all nine races over the weekend. The 2.4m class saw North clients claim 1st and 2nd on the podium, with Charles Rosenfield on 2.4mr (Para) taking the win followed closely by Theodore Green on Magic Bus. North Sails JB Braun seemed to take heed of his own advice as he claimed six bullets out of nine races, winning the Laser class. In the J/70 Corinthian class, Brian Keane and his crew onboard Savasana finished on top of the leaderboard, adding to Brians many regatta victories over the years, including the J/70 U.S Winter Series and a second place at the 2017 J/70 World Championships. Full results from the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta at Marblehead Race Week can be found here. READ MORE

WIORA WEST COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019 North Sails Ireland Proud Supporters Class 1 IRC Overall Winners, Dexterity 📸 James Young/Young Productions North Sails Ireland were proud to support the WIORA West Coast Championships 2019 hosted by Foynes Yacht Club (FYC). Having sailed in several WIORA regatta's in the past, One Design Expert and founder of North Sails Ireland, Nigel Young looked forward to getting back into the fleet this year in Foynes at such a welcoming club. With the great opportunity to sail onboard the X-332 Dexterity, Nigel talks about their victory in the long race: “I had the pleasure of sailing the long race with Liam Madden and the crew on X-332 Dexterity. We had a cracking start and challenged for the lead around the course. Racing in the Shannon requires a good understanding of the tides and knowing when to change sides in the river to take full advantage of the currents. This is always tricky to get 100% right on the day, but the speed generated from the new North Sails fitted a few days prior to the regatta carried us through to the win. I was delighted to play a small part in the overall Class win for Dexterity.” “The speed generated from the new North Sails fitted a few days prior to the regatta carried us through to the win. I was delighted to play a small part in the overall Class win for Dexterity.” When not competing, Nigel and son James were on the water videoing the racing, using this footage to run a post-racing debrief session for competitors. James shot some fantastic drone footage of the fleet coming through the narrow channel between the club and Foynes Island. Congratulations to all involved for making the regatta a great success; we are already looking forward to a repeat session next year. See the full list of results or visit the North Sails Ireland loft page. 📸 James Young/Young Productions 📸 James Young/Young Productions READ MORE

CONSEJO NORTH SAILS Hoy Hablamos de Electrónica a Bordo Tanto en un barco de competición como en un barco de crucero, es importante realizar un correcto mantenimiento de la todo el sistema eléctrico. Para evitar sorpresas desagradables, conviene revisarlo con regularidad y asegurarse de que la electrónica está correctamente calibrada. El mantenimiento debe incluir desde la batería y los conectores, hasta el cable de conexión de la percha con el hardware del sistema, ya que cualquier defecto puede provocar una caída del sistema. Y recordad que el salitre es enemigo de la electrónica: evitar que se acumule es a veces tan sencillo como pasar un paño húmedo con agua dulce. Para más información, contacta con tu agente North Sails, visita www.northsails.com o escríbenos a info@es.northsails.com READ MORE

CALENDARIO AGOSTO El mes de agosto comienza para el equipo North Sails participando en la 38 Copa del Rey MAPFRE (27 de julio a 3 de agosto). Del 11 al 14 de agosto, expertos de la velería estarán en Melilla con la Semana Náutica de Melilla; del 14 al 17 de agosto, en Mallorca para la XXV Regata Illes Balears Clàssics; del 14 al 18 de agosto, en el Puerto de Santa María para la 48ª Semana Náutica; y del 27 al 31 de agosto en la Copa del Rey Clásicos. No dudes en contactar con ellos para resolver cualquier duda relacionada con las velas de tu barco. READ MORE

MARÍA PERELLÓ: TRICAMPEONA DEL MUNDO Desde North Sails España les Felicitamos 📸 Matias Capizzano María Perelló ha logrado su tercera corona mundial de clase Optimist en el campeonato del mundo disputado en Antigua (6-16 de julio). La regatista mallorquina (campeona en 2017 y 2018, y recientemente ganadora de la Copa de España) se impuso en categoría femenina y obtuvo un impresionante 25º puesto absoluto en la flota de 255 participantes. También equipó velas North Sails Javier Ojeda, duodécimo clasificado absoluto. Desde North Sails España les felicitamos por estos excelentes resultados y les agradecemos su confianza en velas North Sails. READ MORE

RUSIA GANA LA NORD STREAM RACE Sindicato Ruso Leviathan Sailing Team 📸 Anya Semeniouk La Nord Stream Race nació en 2012 con el objetivo de conectar a los países bálticos a través de la vela. Se trata de una regata de mil millas que comienza en Kiel (Alemania) y finaliza en San Petersburgo (Rusia), con paradas en Copenhague (Dinamarca), Estocolmo (Suecia) y Helsinki (Finlandia). Desde 2017 se disputa en monotipos ClubSwan 50 equipados con inventarios North Sails. La edición 2019 reunió a equipos de Alemania, Dinamarca, Suecia, Finlandia y Rusia, y fue ganada por el sindicato ruso Leviathan Sailing Team. READ MORE

DOMINIO NORTH SAILS EN LA 50ª TRANSPAC Excelentes Resultados para North Sails 📸 Ronnie Simpson La 50ª edición de la regata Transpac (entre Los Ángeles y Honolulu) finalizó con excelentes resultados para North Sails. Fue la vela elegida por el campeón absoluto (el J/125 Hamachi), por los ganadores de siete clases (BadPak en Division 1, Taxi Dancer en Division 2, Hamachi en Division 3, Oaxaca en Division 4, Good Call en Division 5, Blue Flash en Division 6 y Argo en Multihull). North Sails copó además los podios de Division 2, Division 6 y Multihull. READ MORE

SERVICIO NORTH SAILS EN PALMA El servicio de velería North Sails regresa a la 38 Copa del Rey MAPFRE 📸 Ian Roman Entre el 27 de julio y el 2 de agosto, personal North Sails ofrece recogida, reparación y devolución de velas a todos los equipos que lo necesiten. Seis veleros trabajan durante la noche en las instalaciones de Lluchmajor para garantizar que los clientes puedan afrontar la siguiente jornada de competición con su inventario en plena forma. Las velas son recogidas al final del día y devueltas a las nueve de la mañana siguiente en perfecto orden de revista. El punto de recepción y entrega es la camioneta de transporte North Sails aparcada en el parking frente a la entrada principal del RCNP. El servicio puede ser requerido igualmente a través del teléfono +34 628 174 113. READ MORE