NORTH SAILS BLOG

SUNRISE DOWN UNDER Off the back of their successful 2021 season, longstanding North Sails customer Tom Kneen and his team are heading “Down Under” to take on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. North Sails have been working with Tom and the team from the start and are proud to be part of the next chapter. Tom Kneen and his team have been making waves on the international stage recently, winning the Rolex Fastnet Race Overall in 2021, infamously coming second in the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2021, and winning their class in the Caribbean 600 in 2022. Their scoreline in the 2021 Royal Ocean Racing Club Championship was unprecedented in its 21-year history. As a result, there is ‘plenty of hype’ already around the first British-based yacht and team to make the trip to compete in the Great Race for over 10 years. North Sails Expert Mike Henning has been working with Tom since 2014 when he bought his first yacht, a cruiser/racer Elan 350. By his own admission, Kneen’s first Rolex Fastnet Race in 2015 was “a comedy of errors” but a great introduction to yacht racing that left him thirsty for more. Seven years down the line, the team and the boat have evolved quite significantly. Tom’s first move was into a new JPK 1080 before taking delivery of the current Sunrise, JPK 1180 Hull #2, in 2018. 📸ROLEX | Kurt Arrigo The JPK 1180 was initially designed with a symmetrical setup. The team at North worked to optimize the sail inventory, with the initial targets being a mix of inshore and offshore racing. After the first season, the team began to focus more on offshore racing, so the next challenge arose. The North Sails design team was tasked with optimizing for offshore by transitioning to a longer bowsprit and a fully asymmetric setup, which the team are still racing with. This setup, along with a new rig and taking some weight out of the boat, has brought Sunrise to where she is today. We spoke to Tom just before he headed south, “For North – “When I started my sailing journey, I was skeptical and didn’t understand or appreciate the massive value that working with North Sails would bring to the Sunrise project. We have been working with the team at North for almost 6 years and, given our tight budget, have invested time in developing the relationship so designs are optimized. The quality of the product is second to none, and the results speak for themselves. When taking on challenges such as the Sydney Hobart Race, it’s good to have peace of mind that our sails are the best they can possibly be!” With a full new wardrobe on the way for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, Sunrise will be sporting a new 3Di mainsail, 3Di Helix™ upwind jibs, 3Di Helix™ Code Zero, and a Full Nylon Inventory including a new design A3. The Gosport team has been working with the Mona Vale loft in Sydney to ensure that Sunrise’s sails are delivered, IRC measured, and ready to race when they touch down in Sydney next week. Mike Henning said, “We at North Sails have had great pleasure in working with Tom over the years and, more recently, refining and developing his sail inventory in collaboration with the Sunrise crew and our design team. The new sail wardrobe should put them in a great position to challenge in the race, and they will be serious contenders.” A strong fleet of 115 yachts are entered for the 2022 edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. The renowned 628 nautical mile (1,163 kilometer) offshore race begins with a journey south from Sydney, taking competitors on a challenging racecourse comprising a long passage down the New South Wales coast and then across the easternmost edge of the exposed and infamous Bass Strait. The race begins at 1300 (GMT+11) on Monday 26th December in Sydney Harbour. 📸Paul Wyeth | RORC READ MORE

MANGE TAK FOR ET GODT ÅR. Julen nærmer sig, og vi vil ønske alle en god jul og et godt Nytår. 2022 har været et fantastisk år for North Sails, med mange succeser på kapsejladsbanerne rundt om i landet. North Sails har været ombord på rekordmange DM-vindere i år og det er vi utroligt stolte af! Vi introducerede flere spændende nyheder til både tursejlere og kapsejlere i 2022 og der kommer flere i det nye år. En spændende 2022 nyhed, er vores Easy Furling Gennaker, hvor vi ovenikøbet har lavet en instruktionsvideo som enkelt forklare, hvordan du sætter, trimmer og bjærger sejlet igen. Læs mere og se filmen her Husk vores åbningstider i juledagene: Vi holder lukket fra den 22. december til den 3. januar 2023. (Begge dage inklusiv) Glædelig jul og Godt Nytår. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS RESULTATER & EVENTS 2022 2022 blev endnu engang en stor sæson for North Sails Danmark på både de danske og de internationale kapsejladsbaner BB-10 Meter DM i Sundby. 📸 Per Heegaard Specielt på de mange klassebådsstævner var vi stærkt repræsenteret og med mange dominerende og imponerende resultater. Hermed en lille resultatliste over Danske Klassebåds Mesterskaber, hvor følgende placeringer blev sejlet hjem af teams med fuld NORTH SAILS sejlgarderobe. BB-10 Meter: 1,2,3,5 Nordisk Folkebåd: 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 Knarr: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 J-70: 1,2,3 Spækhugger: 3,6 CB-66: 1,2,3,5,6,8,9,10 H-Båd: 2,4 J-80: 3,4,6,7,8 L-23: 1,3 Ylva: 2,5,6,8 Finn jolle: 1 Ok Jolle: 2 Udover de hjemlige sejladser var det danske north sails team stærkt repræsenteret på den internationale scene. Her nogle enkelte resultater: Palma Vela - Swan 42: 4. plads Club Swan 42 World Championship: 4. plads 6m European Championship: - 2. plads Swan Rolex Cup - Swan 42: 3. plads Giorgio Armani Superyacht regatta 2022 - BRIAND 108 - 4. plads Rolex Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup - Wally 100 - 6. plads Se også de mange imponerende resultater fra rundt om i verden på vores North Sails Victory List. Som en lille teaser og opvarming til det næste års sejlsæson her i en kold tid, er her lidt lækre videoer fra årets sejladser, hvor vi deltog på forskellige både: St Barth Bucket Ice Cup 2022 Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta Rolex Giraglia Club Swan Worlds 2022 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2022 Les Voiles de Saint Tropez Middle Sea race Rolex Swan Cup READ MORE

TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS AND TALENT Debriefing the North Sails Presence at the 2022 Yacht Racing Forum When North Sails UK General Manager Ian Walker and Head of Design Services Jeremy Elliott traveled to Malta in November to attend the 2022 Yacht Racing Forum, the British duo had a number of objectives in mind. Now in its thirteenth edition, the annual Yacht Racing Forum – incorporating the Design and Technology Forum – features two days of high-level presentations and extensive networking opportunities and has become a must-attend fixture for the yacht racing industry’s business leaders. The Malta event attracted 250 delegates from 23 countries, and according to Walker, a two-time Olympic silver medallist and winner of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, who joined the North Sails management team in August this year, it provided the perfect opportunity to highlight what it is that sets the global sailmaking company apart from its competition. “We wanted to showcase the best of our technology to industry leaders by demonstrating what we have been working so hard on,” Walker said. Likewise, Elliott – whose Design Services division is responsible for making North Sails expertise and technology available to the North Sails Technology Group companies and their clients – welcomed the chance to give a presentation titled Technology, Trends, and Talent to approximately 90 delegates at the Design and Technology Forum. Among the trends Elliott highlighted was the increasing importance of the internal structure of sails, which he said is, in many ways, as important as the sail’s shape. “Increasingly, modern sails are required to do much more than simply hold their shape as long as possible as the wind strength increases,” he said. “For a long time, we had sail structures that inevitably grew when they loaded up – as the wind built the sails basically got deeper. It was quite an achievement some time ago when we evolved the 3DL string sails to a point where they held their shape over the wind range.” “Now, with 3Di applied through concepts such as the HELIX Structured Luff we have a structure that can naturally flatten as the load goes up – even after you’ve used up all your trimming options such as mastbend, headstay tension, and so on.” North’s ability to produce such remarkable sails is based on its patented 3Di composite sail technology, which, Elliott said, has expanded into areas that were originally felt to be less suited to such a structure. “Everything from dinghies and small light boats with really flexible rigs to spinnaker staysails for big boats – we now see 3Di has been hugely successful in all these areas,” he said. Building sails that are flexible enough to enable the shape to stretch out rather than to stretch in is a critical element of achieving a wide shape range – a requirement that plays nicely into North’s Helix Structured Luff load sharing technology. “The sails we are designing today need to look after themselves,” Elliott explained. “The more adaptable the structure is, the wider the range of flying shapes you can have. We are now finally in a situation where as the breeze goes up and the load in the sail increases, the sails naturally become flatter– which is precisely what we need. “For a long time the goal was just to resist the growth and hold the original shape but now we can have whatever shape we want in whatever wind strength.” Although originally developed for larger yachts, expanding its application into smaller craft like windsurfers and high performance dinghies such as the International Moth and 49er skiff, this new highly responsive construction technique owes more than a little to North’s 3Di Ocean cruising product which incorporated polyester yarns that are better suited to smaller more lightly loaded sails. “That opened the door to the smaller boats,” Elliott said. “But learning lessons like that allows you to look afresh at other areas you had ignored. “A good example is spinnaker staysails on bigger boats where previously an ultra-light laminate paneled sail was the only construction that worked. Now, though, we can apply what we learned with our smaller boat solutions and we get a lay up that works really well for big spinnaker staysails in 3Di.” Also benefiting from these advancements are the fast foiling big monohull yachts of the America’s Cup. “In those boats you can have an apparent wind of eight knots before take off, but when you get foiling, the apparent wind can rocket up to over 40 knots. “That sort of breadth of apparent wind range for a single sail has never been seen before. In the past, the apparent wind range for any sail was about 10 knots – maybe 10 knots to 20 knots or 20 to 30, but never eight to 40+ knots.” “You can’t be changing jibs in the middle of that transition, so you have to have an ultra-adaptable sail. That changes the game quite dramatically because you need such a huge range of flying shapes now, and that is achieved through the structure of the sail much more than it ever did from the molded shape. That’s the challenge our America’s Cup designers are constantly facing so 3Di and HELIX are essential assets in their armory.” Indeed, Elliott believes that developments in sail structure have become a key battleground in the latest cycle of the America’s Cup. “I see the structure in the sails nowadays in the same way that the shape of the keel bulb was regarded 20 years ago – because it is such a significant part of the boat’s performance,” he said. “It is no surprise that you see so little of what is actually going on inside the sails. The filaments can now all be black so you cannot tell whether the sail is, say, 60 or 80 percent carbon, or 40 percent polyester and elastic – or somewhere in the middle. “In the old days of the America’s Cup, anyone could look at a sail on a Version 2 IACC boat and tell what the structure was – what materials had been used and what the primary structural groups were. “That meant it was relatively easy to reverse engineer someone’s sail, but it’s almost impossible now and it is one of the biggest elements of the sail plan and the performance potential of the boat.” Despite the remarkable advancements North has made with its proprietary 3Di technology since its inception 10 years ago Elliott believes the company has still only scratched the surface in terms of its future potential. “We have come a very long way in ten years. The product is unrecognizable and is significantly better across pretty much every metric you could choose – and we have expanded into a whole bunch of areas we thought would be off limits. I am certain that in another 10 years the product will probably be unrecognizable from where we are now.” As compelling as North’s technology narrative might be, Elliott and Walker both agreed that the company’s ongoing investment in talent throughout the organization is equally important. “As an organization, we recognize that the industry we are in is just as much about people as it is about product,” Elliott commented. “In the past, we have tended to make a bigger deal about our technology, our design, and our product than we have about our people. “We have added a sizable amount of talent across all areas of the company in the last three or four years – across management, design, admin, finance, and elsewhere – and in all of those areas we now have lots of new faces who have really raised our game.” Walker – who joined North Sails to head up the UK operation after a four and a half year stint at the Royal Yachting Association as Performance Director for the British Sailing Team – agreed that the company was as focused on its people as it was on its technology and product. “Like most things, if you don’t have good people then you have a short shelf life,” he told the Yacht Racing Forum audience. “That’s why we continue to recruit amazingly talented people around the world – whether that be an incredible designer like Flavia Tomiselli in Palma, Robert Hook in Australia (who was the designer of the ORACLE trimaran sails in 2010), top Volvo Ocean Race sailors like Bouwe Bekiing, Pablo Arrate and Phil Harmer, or Olympic gold medallists like Sime Fantella. “North Sails is a people business and our ethos is to put our customers at the center of everything and focus on what they want,” Walker said. “We believe that they want the best product and the best possible service and we achieve that by hiring top people who can develop remarkable technology and deliver an exceptional customer experience.” READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: ALEX LEVKOVSKIY Get To Know Your Local Sales Expert What do you enjoy most about sailing? I really enjoy being on the water and sailing in strong winds, especially downwind. The feeling you get when a boat is locked and loaded on a plane is hard to compare to anything else. The social part of sailing is also very enjoyable, the majority of my friends are sailors or people who are involved in water sports in some form. And of course the racing part, having a great competitive team and boat is always good fun. You also get a chance to travel the world and meet new people. Now sailing is not only a hobby and passion for me but a job as well. How did you get started in the marine industry? What do you enjoy most about it? I grew up sailing from a young age and continued racing into adulthood. When I moved to Vancouver I took all my sailing experience and knowledge and transferred it into my first job in the marine industry. Over the years I continued to learn more about different areas of the sailboat industry such as spars, running and standing rigging, electronic systems and sails. I'm excited to continue that journey with North sails. I love the technical side of things. Selection of the right sails and rigging package can make your time on the water very enjoyable no matter if you're cruising with your family and friends or racing at the highest level. You also never stop learning, the industry always comes up with new materials and technologies and you have to stay on top of the things in order to be at the leading edge of it. What boats/classes do you sail in? I began racing Optis and Lasers then made a switch to keelboat racing at the age of 16. For the past 12 years I have raced a wide range of keelboats from J24 to TP 52s. At the moment I am focusing on classes such as Melges 24, Melges 32, Martin 242 and Farr 30. Recently wing foiling caught my attention, I’ve enjoyed getting into it over the past year. What is your favourite cruising spot and why? To be honest I don’t cruise that much but I know that the Pacific Northwest is a one big cruising spot in itself. When I do go cruising it is in the area near Vancouver island, which is relatively easy to access and super sheltered. You get to go to a place with few people around and enjoy nature at its best form. What is your most memorable race and/or regatta? That’s a hard one. I really enjoyed all the match racing events I've done, especially ISAF Nations Cup Finals. We sailed with a very young team back then and got a ton of experience racing against some tough teams. Also events with the Melges 24 team Sunnyvale. A few of my buddies and I owned a boat and we sailed all sorts of different events starting from PHRF club racing up to North Americans and Worlds. What are you most looking forward to about joining North Sails? North Sails is a company with a long history and incredibly talented team behind it. I’m looking forward to learning from the best in the industry and beginning a new chapter in my career. I’m very excited to help our clients to achieve their goals and set them up for success in any type of sailing they are involved in. READ MORE

EASY FURLING GENNAKER Navnet siger det hele. North Sails introducerer Easy Furling Gennakeren til tursejlere, der gerne vil have pålideligheden ved et Top-Down rullesejl uden at skulle gå på kompromis med muligheden for at sejle læns. Sejlet er designet med det største sejlareal, der passer til din båd og stadig med de bedste rulleegenskaber. Sejlet er konstrueret i nylondug og udviklet specifikt til sejlads på læns. Se videoerne herunder, hvor let det er at bruge. Easy Furling Gennaker - Tilrigning Denne instruktionsvideo er en skridt for skridt gennemgang af de få og lette trin, der skal til for at få succes med en top down rulle gennaker. En gennaker på rulle kræver en smule øvelse at håndtere, men vil hurtigt og nemt blive til dit fortrukne sejl på læns. Easy Furling Gennaker er et cruisingsejl til læns, det er et sikkert sejl at rigge til, rulle ud og giver god fart på turen. Easy Furling Gennaker - Trim Uden store udfordringer kan du få din rulle gennaker til at performe på læns. Med lidt øvelse er det nemt og sikkert at håndtere sejlet. Kun få justeringer og trim og du er godt på vej. Det er en fornøjelse sejle i medvind, og du kommer længere med de mange kvadratmeter rullet ud. Easy Furling Gennaker - Afrigning Uden stor besætning kan sejlet rulles væk, når der er brug for det. Her viser vi at Top down furling giver mulighed for at sejle med gennaker med en lille besætning. Sejlet er let og bygget til cruising og er et stærkt supplement til din sejlgarderobe. Klik her og få et tilbud på EASY FURLING GENNAKER READ MORE

THOMAS NORMAND JOINS THE TEAM A New Operations Manager at North Sails France Thomas Normand, former director of Mer Concept (sailor François Gabart’s ocean racing team), is joining North Sails France as operations manager. He will be responsible for the operational strategy within the three French sites in Vannes, Lorient (Brittany) and Mouans Sartoux in the South of France. He will support the management team, which includes managing director Gautier Sergent, manager and sales director Philippe Touet. Thomas Normand (36 years old) will have as main missions the management of the teams, the optimization of processes and products, as well as the implementation of methods and projects. Reporting to the general management, he will act as coordinator and administrator between the different teams of the company, both nationally and internationally with the North Sails group. He will take up his position early December 2022. “We are delighted to welcome Thomas Normand to our team,” said Gautier Sergent. His skills and experience will complement and strengthen our current capabilities. We are confident in his ability to maintain a smooth and positive development of the organization. And like all of our team members, Thomas is driven by the same passion for sailing and for excellence.” “We have a great team that performs well whether it be commercially, technically or productively,” adds Philippe Touet. And Thomas will support this team with the objective of operational efficiency.” “I am proud and excited to join the North Sails France team,” says Thomas Normand. “After four great years with Mer Concept, I wanted to get away from the world of sponsorship and broaden my horizon. The North Sails proposal came at the right time. It is a company with a strong reputation and a long history in the sailing world, especially through prestigious events such as the Route du Rhum, the Vendée Globe, the America’s Cup or The Ocean Race, races that have made me dream since I was a child. North Sails is also the reference in terms of advanced technology and a research and development unit placed at the center of the organization’s strategy. My role as Director of Operations will be to understand and deal with the problems and issues of each other in order to move forward. Another aspect and not the least, Thomas is a sailing enthusiast. “Continuing to work and exchange with the sailing teams will allow me to stay in touch with this magnificent sport.” Thomas Normand holds a state sailing diploma, a master’s degree in sports management and recently a Goldman Sachs University Diploma from Essec. He began his career as a professional sailor in Mini 6. 50 and Figaro (Mini Transat 2011, 2nd in the prototype category and Solitaire du Figaro 2012, 14th and 1st Rookie) within Jean-Pierre Dick’s Absolute Dreamer team before putting his university education into practice at CapGemini engineering, a world leader in the engineering services sector, where he was head of the Energy department for four years, and then at Mer Concept as General Manager from 2018 until today. READ MORE

Get To Know Your Local Sail Experts Ben Saxton (far right) winning Round 2 of the Cape 31 Race Circuit at the RORC Vice Admirals Cup 2022. 📸RORC/Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.co North Sails are very proud to not only be one of the industry’s leading brands but also having some of the world’s best sailors working in the team. The Gosport loft prides itself in having several of these sailors working and sailing at a high level. The “Young Guns” series will introduce you all to the team over the next few months. We begin with Ben Saxton – Olympian, World Champion and North Sails Sail Expert. How long have you been sailing, and how did you get started? I’ve been sailing all my life. My grandad was a water engineer, and he built the dam at Grafham Water, which is where I learned to sail. All my family loves sailing. Since then, I progressed through the British Sailing Team and have raced 470’s and Nacra 17’s in the Olympic fleets. I have won European medals in both classes, including winning the Nacra Worlds and the Europeans twice. I have sailed many yachts and sportsboat classes from 52 ft’ers Farr 45’s Cape 31’s and many sportsboat classes. What boats/classes do you sail? Mainly the Cape 31, it is a great boat, and the fleet is epic! This year I also won the Bacardi Series in Miami in the J70. I have also been trimming main and doing tactics for the legend that is Lawrie Smith in an Etchells; we came third at the Etchells World Championships in Cowes in September. We also won the National and European Championships. I really enjoyed the Fastnet race on the CF-520 Oystercatcher last year too. I enjoy match racing, team racing, and fleet racing. I have raced most sports boats, medaling at the worlds and winning four national titles. I still jump in a dinghy occasionally but love the teamwork on bigger boats. What’s your favorite thing about sailing? I really like the racing and the comradery; I like making boats go fast and seeing people enjoying it. My time racing in the competitive Olympic class fleets has taught me how to develop, optimize, and tweak boat settings to your advantage. Another big part of success in these tightly-packed fleets is knowing how to perform well under pressure. Now that I’m becoming more involved in Grand Prix racing, I love working as part of a bigger team and being able to share victories with all the crew onboard. What’s your best sailing achievement? I won the Foiling Nacra 17 World Championships and the Europeans a few times. I also went to the 2016 Olympics in Rio. What made you want to join North Sails? They’re professional and the best. I love the sport, and North Sails is the place everyone wants to be. With 3Di, North Sails scientifically has the best product. I really enjoy racing and performing on the day, but I really enjoy developing sail packages and making boats go faster. I now have the opportunity to make the boats I race on and our customer’s race go faster. What do you like most about being part of the North Sails team? Everyone that I get to work with. I enjoy learning and sharing knowledge in order to make North Sails more and more dominant. Individually I am good at making boats go fast, so I’m very happy to be in a place where everyone else appreciates that and wants to do that too. It is a dream come true to work within the sailing industry. It is what I have the best expertise in, so it makes sense. After Olympic sailing, I did work in a Tier 1 Bank for a while, but I quickly realized that I was happier around boats. Where will we see you sailing next? Inshore and offshore. Miami in sports boats, the Cape 31 in the solent, and hopefully all over the world soon! Favorite place to sail? That’s a hard one, either Hamilton Island or Porto Cervo. I have been lucky enough to race in World Championships in both venues. They both have great wide areas of wild water to race in, but they also have difficult local tactics too. They are both great places onshore too. Best person to sail with? My twin brother, Tim. There is something special about racing with your family, and racing with your twin is even better. Tim is really good too. When I raced the Moth, I quickly worked out that I prefer building and performing as part of a team rather than experiencing all the highs and lows as an individual. What is your favorite sail? 3Di RAW 870 – subtly seeing the structure and tape layouts in the smooth sail look so smart. North Sails 3D one piece racing sails do not need any covers over them to stop the wind blowing through them because, uniquely, we split the tapes down into individual filaments. This also makes the sails stronger and lighter. These are the tape structures that you can see. READ MORE

LISTING DE NOS VOILES D'OCCASION La voilerie North Sails Suisse dispose d'un stock de voiles d'occasion. Regardez bien tous les onglets du fichier et dans la mesure où une voile vous intéresse, contactez-nous en renseignant le N° de référence de la voile. Port et emballage : CHF 50.- pour la Suisse et CHF 150.- minimum pour la communauté européenne. Dans l'onglet "Voiles pour déco" figurent toutes les voiles usagées encore en un morceau... Elles peuvent servir à la décoration, pour se fabriquer un taud ou des toiles d'ombrage. Elles sont à enlever directement à la voilerie, pour un prix forfaitaire de CHF 100.- en l'état. Il n'y aura aucun envoi postal pour ces voiles-ci. A vous de jouer maintenant en cliquant ici! READ MORE

NORTH SAILS SET TO POWER THE 37TH AMERICA’S CUP COMPETITORS All Teams Sign With the World’s Leading Sailmaker to Access Technology, Aero Engineering, and Product Performance North Sails, which has powered every America’s Cup winner since 1987, is proud to be the sailmaker of choice for all entries participating in the 37th America’s Cup. The five teams signed up to compete are NYYC American Magic (USA), Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA), Alinghi Red Bull Racing (CHE), Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia (GBR), and Defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL). The world’s leading sailmaker will supply each team with 3Di sail technology, aero engineers, and exclusive access to the North Design Suite, the most advanced sail design and aero simulation tools in the industry. “This event is the pinnacle of our sport and proving ground for sailing technology,” explains Ken Read, President of North Sails and North Technology Group. “Each team will take a unique approach in their quest to win the Cup, and our proven ability to firewall each team from each other creates fascinating development paths. Because of this, North Sails keeps learning and is constantly climbing the ladder in terms of product development. It is an incredible resource for the teams and in turn, our business.” For North Sails, the America’s Cup fast-tracks the design and engineering evolution, where designers work with aero and hydro as one. With each Cup cycle, North Sails advances its learnings for commercially viable innovations for all sailors. Whether for day sailors or Grand Prix programs, the trickle-down effect is unmatched. Teams competing at the highest level demand people and equipment that can thrive under pressure, and for this Cup cycle, North Sails has become a requirement. Working in close collaboration with the teams, twelve North Sails aero engineers have signed on across the five syndicates. This elite group includes some of the most talented design minds in the industry, and their collective experience spans decades of innovative sail development. “Each Cup cycle becomes more demanding as we aggressively strive to the next level of performance,” explains Burns Fallow, principal sail designer for Emirates Team New Zealand and a 35-year North Sails veteran. “Today, it’s not simply about designing a sail. We’re developing all the sails’ structural components so that these highly loaded sails hit the shapes that we need at given speeds.” North Sails Director of Design and Engineering and INEOS Britannia sail designer JB Braun, explains, “Two key developments from 36th Cup was how to get more range out of the sails and how to use our materials in new ways to achieve that range. As a result, within six months after the final race, North Sails made Helix Structured Luff for Upwind available for all racing clients.” “It’s the holy grail of sailmaking technology and performance,” says Gautier Sergent, North Sails Head of R&D and sail designer for Alinghi Red Bull Racing. “For those of us in this game, you’re never settling for average – you always want to do better, and our involvement in this event gives North Sails their next competitive edge.” “The America’s Cup is intense, it’s demanding, and there is no greater challenge for a sail designer,” explains Marco Capitani, sail designer for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. “The AC75s are complex boats, and the sails are under extreme loads. As a result, each team’s sail designers work hand-in-hand with the other design departments, such as structures, hull, deck, and VPP. Close and constant collaboration is critical because we’re pushing towards the red line, just on the edge of crossing over.” Barcelona, Spain, is the host venue for the 37th America’s Cup, to be held in September and October 2024. North Sails is also the official supplier of 3Di one design sails for the AC40, which will be used for the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup events. Learn more about North Sails involvement in the America’s Cup on northsails.com.   READ MORE

Gratulálunk a CHINOOK csapatának a Melges-24 European Sailing Series abszolút 2. és Corinthian Bajnoki címéhez a 2022-es versenysorozatban. A csapat: Csoltó Ákos, Weöres Botond, Tomai Balázs, Litkey Balmaz, Kása Mihály szorgalmas, kitartó teljesítményét a NORTH SAILS vitorlái segítették. 📸 © IM24CA/Zerogradinord READ MORE

CHARISMA: RC44 2022 WORLD CHAMPION North Sails Powered Nico Poons And His Team To Their First World Title 📸 Pedro Martinez / Martinez Studio The 44 CUP is considered one of the most competitive owner-driver circuits racing today. For owners, crews, and their sailmakers, winning a world championship is the result of a season-long, often times years-long effort. Within this fleet, races are usually decided in the final meters of the race, but that wasn’t the case at the Worlds, where Monaco-based Dutchman Nico Poons’ Charisma dominated the pinnacle event of the season for the high-performance one designs. This was the third consecutive 44Cup event that Charisma has won this season and the first World Championship win for the team. “In the light weather, I didn’t expect to do that well,” commented Poons. “But in the end, it was all good! It was quite tiring, especially because of the light wind. I am not so much of a light wind specialist, so I had to focus on that, but we succeeded.” North Sails designer Robert “Hooky” Hook and North Expert Matt Kelway joined the fleet in Portorož for the Worlds. Their mission? Support the North-powered programs in their quest to win the Worlds, and observe the fleet to collect valuable feedback for the North design team. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 44Cup (@the44cup) From the Designer’s Desk: The Worlds was a light wind regatta, with each race run in 6-8 knots. These conditions were difficult for the teams. And challenging for us from the support boat to determine clear-cut performance differences. A priority was placed on lane sailing and keeping tacks to a minimum. Generally, the first boat to the mark did one two to three tacks up the beat. Observing from the coach boat, Charisma made the right decisions when it counted, especially towards the end of the regatta, where their boat speed proved to be the edge on the competition. 60% of the Worlds fleet was powered by North downwind sails, providing a good opportunity to observe and compare. Because of the wind conditions at this regatta, we saw the teams mostly using the G1s and A2s downwind. We’re confident that the North spinnakers have provided a clear speed advantage downwind, especially in both the A2 full and flat models, which consistently performed well. The competition within the class is high, and the details seem more critical than ever. Dialing in your teamwork, boat handling, and fine tune adjustments is what nets performance gains within this fleet. I was surprised to see the sailors regard winning the overall season as necessary as the World title. It’s going to be all on at the final regatta in Oman. The 2022 44Cup concludes in Muscat, Oman over 7-11 December. Follow the class on Instagram at @the44cup. 📸 Pedro Martinez / Martinez Studio READ MORE

NORTH SAILS CLIENTS DOMINATE THE 2022 RORC OFFSHORE SEASON Jangada Takes Overall Victory Season Champions Jangada – 📸 James Tomlinson / RORC With trophies dating back to the last century the RORC Season’s Points Championship is an integral part of yacht racing history – 2022 was no exception. More than 4,000 sailors from around the world, racing on 394 different yachts, took part in the 2022 RORC Season’s Points Championship. The world’s largest offshore racing series included 16 action packed races and was rounded off with the Cherbourg Race in September. The season started out with the Rolex Middle Sea Race, Transatlantic Race and Caribbean 600, a welcome return to international offshore racing following the pandemic. Teams from all over the world travelled around competing before returning to the UK for the rest of the season. As well as the many shorter offshore races based in and around the Solent and the Channel, teams also took on the Round Ireland Race and the new Baltic Sea Race as a warm up for the mammoth Round Britain and Ireland Race. Caribbean 600 Race Start – 📸 RORC / Tim Wright North Sails clients have once again had a very successful season. All of the top ten boats in the IRC Overall results were powered by North Sails. North Sails also rounded out the podiums in IRC Zero, IRC One and IRC Two. Long standing North Sails customer Richard Palmer won the series overall on his JPK 1010 Jangada having been aiming for the coveted RORC Jazz Trophy for several years now. Rounding off the season with the overall win in the Round Britain and Ireland Race, Richards comprehensive campaign the year could not have gone much better for Jangada. Richard Palmer and his co-skippers competed in 12 of the 16 races including the Transatlantic Race, Caribbean 600 and Round Britain and Ireland Race. As well as their epic RBIR win, some of their best results included double handed wins in the Rolex Middle Sea Race and the RORC Caribbean 600. Over the season Jangada and her full suite of North Sails covered over 7000 nautical miles this year – some serious miles! Other notable North Sails IRC Overall wins include: James Neville’s Cervante’s Race and Myth of Malham victory on HH42 Ino XXX. Christopher Agace took the De Guingand Bowl Race overall on his 3300 Atomic. The Morgan Cup was won overall by 3300 Chilli Pepper owned by Jim and Ellie Driver. Laurent Charmy won the Round Ireland Race onboard his J111 SL ENERGIES Groupe Fastwave. La Trinite Cowes Race was won by Erin de Turckheim’s Teasing Machine. Niklas Zennstrom won the Channel Race on the new Ran CF-520. Mike Moxley rounded up the season winning the final race, the Cherbourg Race, onboard HOD 35 Malice. Congratulations to all the North Sails customers on an awesome season, the teams will receive their awards at the Royal Ocean Racing Club ‘Oscars’ in November in London. The 2023 RORC Season’s Points Championship starts at the end of the month with the 43rd edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race starting from Grand Harbour, Malta. 1st Jangada – North 2nd Diablo – Partial 3rd Bellino – North 4th Tigris – North 5th Chilli Pepper – North 6th Jujitsu British Soldier – Partial 7th Sea Bear – North 8th Jago – None 9th Cora – North 10th Mojo Rising – North Channel Race Winners Ran – 📸 Rick Tomlinson / RORC READ MORE

Featuring a North Sails Engine-Above-Deck for a Y Yacht’s Y7 Miss Shell’s story starts with a Gulf Stream epiphany. “I was out on a boat one day with my buddies fishing off the coast of Florida. I always judge each day; if it was a good sailing day or not… and I looked at my buddies and I said, ‘You know what guys? I quit”’ “And they said, ‘You quit? You quit what?’ “I said, ‘This. I quit fishing, I quit powerboating, I quit it all… I’m going back to my roots; I’m going back to sailing. Guys, I’m not a fisherman, I’m a sailor.’’ “They didn’t really get it until I actually sold my boat and I bought the Y7, this beautiful 72-foot sailboat and they understood. It was literally that moment I just had to get back to sailing. I mean, that’s my happy place.”   The speaker is Eric Leiner, a sailor since he was ten years old, and a man whose enthusiasm would refresh even the most jaded devotee of the sport. “I took a long break from it. Coming up, I really enjoyed sailing with my father, but then when I got married and had kids, I stopped sailing because nobody in the family wanted to sail.” And just a year after his Gulf Stream moment, Eric Leiner was the owner of Miss Shell, a Y7 from Michael Schmidt Yachtbau (MSY), or Y Yachts. Schmidt is the storied boat-builder who founded, and then sold Hanse Yachts before moving onto this new project – launching the stable of the Y7, Y8, Y9 and YC to considerable acclaim. It was the equally well-known American yacht designer, Bill Tripp, who was instrumental in Leiner’s choice of the Y7. Tripp designed the yacht and set up a demonstration. “I flew to Spain and sailed the boat in Palma,” said Leiner. “And at that moment, decided that was the right boat for me… The Y7 just has this classic, modern look to it, which I really liked… and of course, when I sailed it, I just thought it sailed beautifully. And from there, we negotiated a contract to build a new one with MSY yachts, up in Greifswald, Germany. And we executed that deal and a year later I was sailing….” “Just the act of purchasing the boat created this incredible adventure,” he continued. “So here I am an American living in Palm Beach, Florida, and I’m having this boat built up on the Baltic. So… how do we get from the Baltic back to the United States?” Leiner decided to sail her back and was in the middle of the adventure when I spoke to him, touring Italy while Miss Shell was in Spain, being prepared for the Atlantic crossing. Over the summer they had sailed 4,000 miles from the Baltic, down the North Sea and the English Channel before heading south, “It was just a mad dash across the Bay of Biscay down the coast of Portugal, making a left into the Med and then just doing the entire coast of Spain, France, Italy, all summer long. “I went to North just because of the reputation,” explained Leiner, “the manufacturing process of building the sails. I just thought that North Sails were a better sailmaker than anyone else. I wanted to build with the best… So, I selected North Sails and with Mike Toppa because he’s just a great representative of North Sails, and did a great job building our sails.” Mike Toppa has been involved with North Sails since leaving college, starting as a spinnaker designer, then opening his own North loft in Fort Lauderdale and winning a couple of America’s Cups along the way. He’s now based out of the Newport, Rhode Island loft, focusing on superyacht, classic yacht and grand prix classes. “It was the first time working within Y Yachts and the people there, which was a really nice experience,” said Toppa. “We did very limited sailing in Germany and it wasn’t until middle of September that I met up with Eric and Bill after the boat had sailed from Holland down to the Med; four thousand miles later, after a summer of delivery and cruising, we met up and did the Y Yachts Regatta in Ibiza, all three of us, which was great. So, it was fun to see the boat perform, see the sails perform and see how it all worked together.” The sails onboard are 3Di Ocean. Mike Toppa explained the thinking, “3Di is how we make most of our sails. It’s a technology unique to North Sails, coupled with a unique manufacturing system that allows the flexibility needed to customize sails to precisely fit the specific requirements of any type of sailing. In Eric’s case, we agreed that the Ocean line of sails was the best fit, because of the sailing he was going to do, which was very little racing and mostly worldwide cruising. So, longevity trumped all the other factors. When I got on the boat in Palma, after 4,000 plus miles of sailing, the sails looked like they just came out of the box. It was really remarkable. The whole idea was to make a super easy-to-use and very versatile sail inventory, and we were able to do that, allowing him to sail transatlantic, long distance cruising.” “We didn’t produce a complex inventory,” said Leiner. “We did four sails. Obviously, we did a main, we did a roller furling jib, we did a storm jib and we did a gennaker… I said to Mike one day, I said, ‘Mike, I think maybe I want another set of sails to cross the Atlantic, so we preserve the sails that you built.’ He looked at me like I was crazy. He said, ‘Why would you need another set of sails? That’s what these sails are for. Cross the Atlantic with them, don’t worry about it…’ So, I’m like… that’s what we’re doing then.” 📸 Atila Madrona Glenn Cook, from the Marblehead loft, was the sail designer on the project. “The 3Di technology that we’re using is eliminating film in the sail, which is essentially just parasitic weight, so we’re left with just the structural material and the glues that hold it all together. And the resulting structure is just incredibly robust compared to anything else out there… The structural stability of the resulting sails is pretty incredible. I think cruising sailors can undervalue performance sails, not realizing that a sail that’s very low stretch and very stable and holds its shape across a wide wind range, is going to be a better cruising sail because you’re going to heel over less, you’re going to have to reef later. And generally, it forges the opportunity to have a more comfortable experience on the boat rather than being overpowered all the time.” Once the big decisions on materials and inventory were made, a lot of detailed work began to ensure that the sails fit perfectly. “To do that, you have to do your homework and that meant getting the most recent updated plans from Bill and his design team, whenever there were deck layout changes or locations of hardware and things like that, you just have to know where all that is precisely,” said Toppa. Glenn Cook picked up on his end of the process. “The main work that’s done with something like this is verifying mast bend from the spar builder… that’s obviously a very critical component to the success of the mainsail design…. We’ll get the structural characteristics of the rig and the rigging as well as a tuning guide on how the rig should be set up. And we essentially tune the rig within our software and then simulate the sailing of the boat to come up with a mast bend output. They’ll will also provide a similar table of offsets from their software.” After that, the sail is designed to match the fore and aft and sideways bend characteristics of the mast. There were a couple of novel details that had to be assimilated into the design for Miss Shell’s furling boom, accounting for a ramp fitted to the back of the mast which had the effect of increasing the mast bend. And the luff curve on the mainsail had to be balanced top to bottom so that as the sail furled down the rig, it would remain matched to the mast bend. The mainsail also has a square top, and allowance had to be made for this to flake onto the boom, as it was too stiff to roll. All the attention to detail really paid dividends. “The project went as you always hope they do,” said Cook. “To me, it’s always fun that we can build all these parts separately. It’s a different spar builder, a different boat builder, a different sail maker, and just through the communication of the process, we can have everything come together and have a really good result at the end.” “It was really fun for me because Eric was so enthusiastic,” added Mike Toppa. “It was really fun to feed off that and make sure that he had the best and all of his targets were met… And then of course working with Bill , and Michael , they’re really good sailors and anytime you are working with really good sailors on a project, there’s a lot of good thinking and good work… it’s really experienced, good sailors working together and coming up with a really great product for the owner. The boats are fantastic and any premier boat like that should have premier sails, it’s a natural fit.” And there’s no doubt that Eric Leiner is happy with the results. “Every inch of that 4,000 miles to me was spectacular… I’m just chomping at the bit to get back on board and do the next 5,000 miles that we’re about to do.” And would he recommend North Sails to other owners embarking on a project like this? Leiner didn’t miss a beat. “Hundred percent, yes, of course.” 📸 Atila Madrona READ MORE

TEASING MACHINE WINS THE 2022 ROLEX MIDDLE SEA RACE North Sails Clients Commanded The Podium Of This 606 Mile Race 📸 ROLEX / Kurt Arrigo North Sails climbed to the top of the podium with the overall victory of Eric de Turckheim’s Teasing Machine in the 2022 Rolex Middle Sea Race. Eight years after their last attempt, Teasing Machine added the 2022 Rolex Middle Sea Race to their impressive collection of race wins. Owner Eric de Turckheim and his crew climbed to the top of the podium as the overall winner under IRC and claimed the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy. Teasing Machine is no stranger to success, as evidenced by podium positions in the Rolex Fastnet, the Rolex Sydney-Hobart, and the RORC Caribbean 600. Yet, de Turckheim holds the Rolex Middle Sea Race with particular regard. “From a very young age, I have had a passion for the 600-mile races. To me they are like the tennis majors,” commented de Turckheim. “So it is a huge emotion to win a grand slam sailing event. On top of the elation of victory, this is also our favorite race because of the extreme technical complexity of the course and the weather.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by North Sails (@north_sails) For North Sails, Teasing Machine‘s win embodies the value of hard work and a strong partnership between the team and their sailmaker. Launched in 2017, the boat took delivery of their new North Sails inventory this past winter in time for the Caribbean 600. The NMYD 54 is outfitted with a full North 3Di RAW inventory with liberal use of the revolutionary Helix technology. Pro sailor and close friend of North Sails, Laurent Pages, manages the program, while North Sails Expert Laurent Mahy is in charge of sail design and was onboard for the win in Malta. The #NSVictoryList also included a podium sweep in the MORCA fleet. The winning MOD70, Riccardo Pavoncelli’s Mana had the benefit of a North Code Sail to help secure a very narrow (56 seconds!) victory over second place MOD70 Zoulou, sailing with Thierry Fourchier of North Sails aboard. “Luckily all our maneuvers came out right, Pavoncelli commented who was undeniably thrilled with the win, commented. “Paul Larsen did a fantastic job and we managed to stay ahead.” Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati rounded out the top three with a full 3Di North inventory. “The Rolex Middle Sea Race is one of the most complicated events on the Mediterranean. And these outstanding performances demonstrate the power that North Sails design, service, and sales are capable of offering our clients, both in terms of resources and technical assistance,” remarked North Expert Jean-Philippe Gallois, who sailed aboard the Marten 72 Aragon finishing in the Top 10 overall. “The North Sails experts work hard to maintain a close relationship with our customers. Regardless of whether or not we can be onboard, we foster and maintain strong bonds through constant communication before, during, and after a regatta. That includes sharing last-minute advice in the lead-up to the start. Our clients, teams, and experts are all considered part of the North Sails family and benefit from that bond.” 📸 ROLEX / Kurt Arrigo READ MORE

KILIAN WAGEN, 2022 J70 WORLD CHAMPION North Sails On Top Of The Podium In Monaco Congratulations to Kilian Wagen and his Decouvertes Geomod crew, winners of the 2022 J/70 World Championship, along with Wagen’s country mate, Nick Zeltner, on North-powered Quarter2eleven who won the 2022 Corinthian World title. The Swiss team’s victory came in a single-day shootout on the final day of the event, following four days of no wind in Monaco. By the time racing finally got underway the competition was fierce and the fleet pushed hard resulting in several UFD and BFD penalties. Staying behind the line and in the first row was nearly impossible, but the teams that were able to execute were off to the races. Although the wait was arduous, racing conditions for the one day 3-race series were gorgeous with 8-12 knots, nice rolling swells and very large and long lasting oscillations in the breeze. Because of huge shifts, it was important to keep all options open on the massive starting line and be willing to shift to the other end in a hurry if necessary. As always, boat speed was imperative but setting the boat up to be easy and forgiving was key since you had to be prepared to race through a gamut of conditions: clear lanes, dirty air, big chop, as well as flat water. Teams had to be in sync on sail trim, body movement and steering in order to keep the boat moving and out of trouble. With nine of the top ten boats flying North Sails, it’s clear that those powered by North were the most prepared for this style of racing. Wagen found the winning combination to be North’s J/70 XCS-4 mainsail with the J-2+SL and North Sails AP-1 Airx Asymmetric, allowing him to keep the boat near top end speed through the infinite spectrum of demands required to win. As a result, North Sails proudly claimed another One Design World Champion, Kilian Wagen, and nine of the ten top finishes, again demonstrating why North Sails is the #1 choice of J/70 champions. SHOP J70 SAILS TALK TO AN EXPERT J70 SPEED GUIDE 📸 Atila Madrona READ MORE

TAKING SERVICE ON THE ROAD Regatta Repair with the North Sails Team Bacci Sgarbossa takes us behind the scenes of the pop-up Regatta Repair loft – a mobile network the North Sails Italy Service Manager knows well, having run the Italian operation for 14 years. From Capri to Sardinia, the blue container traveled along the entire Italian coastline to make it to the key regattas this season. Just this September in Porto Cervo, Bacci’s team repaired 110 sails and logged 360 hours of work during the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup alone – before getting ready for the Swan Cup starting a day later. His Regatta Repair loft is a sizable operation, with up to six sailmakers working almost exclusively at night, and hundreds of material types stored in the container alongside the sewing machines and wooden floor beams. There is a truck and a crane to move the sails from the boats to the temporary loft, and, if necessary, a rental tent. “Our set-up differs depending on the boat size,” says Bacci, who’s based in Carasco, near Genoa, when he isn’t on the road from April to September. His Italian team often gets mobile support from North Sails Palma, too. “The container goes everywhere and can act as a loft. But for the Maxi yachts for example, the container isn’t big enough, so we rent a big tent, bigger than 300 square meters, to lay the big sails on the floor. And sometimes, the sails are so big that we can’t pick them up. So, we go to the boat with the sewing machine and repair the sail directly on deck.” This year, North Sails Regatta Repair lofts were available at the St Barth’s Bucket, various Swan One Design races, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Hamilton Island Race Week, the Swan Cup, ORC World Championships, and at Les Voiles de St Tropez – among others. It’s a service pulled together by different North Sails teams worldwide, and having a Regatta Repair team at each of these major international events ensures every North Sails client is supported with overnight turnaround for their racing sails. Service teams can also work on cruising and delivery sails when they have some spare time. “We’ve been running our service for 35 years,” explains Bacci. “If I don’t already know the place, I need to look into it, visit it ahead of time, contact the race organizers and figure out if they want us there. That’s usually the case because we offer a service that doesn’t exist otherwise.” “ depends on the weather conditions – when there is a lot of wind, gennakers are first to break. Mountains of sails, a lot of mess. We manage to get it all done, we always keep our clients happy, but we often see the sunrise.” There’s the logistic side of it, the effort involved in making it happen at all. But it’s not just about executing repairs quickly and on location – it’s about offering the North Sails expertise and ensuring that those sailors have the equipment they need to perform at their best, too. It’s about fixing those sails how they should be fixed – including the North Sails 3Di technology. “Close racing in the J-Class Fleet during the windy Rolex Maxi Worlds this year pushed the limits of durability and reliability of all equipment on these majestic monsters,” says North Sails Sales Leader Paul Westlake. “Knowing that Bacci and his team are only a phone call away with their flat-bed truck and hydraulic crane, ready to spring into action after a long day on the water, will never be underestimated by the sail trimming teams!” “All the regattas we attend are high-level races,” explains Bacci. “That means the participants probably all have spare sails. We don’t perform repairs during the night because they need them to race the day after. But they want that sail because it’s the newest one, the better-performing one. It’s a really high-level repair. “We don’t just hand a sail back. If we can, our job on-site doesn’t differ from our job back in the Carasco sail loft. The goal is to make the same level of repairs. In some cases, we don’t just repair the sails, but we modify them, too. Clients ask for a different shape, a change on the leech or on the foot of the sail…” “What we do in the space and time we have on-site is amazing. I’m proud of the work done.” READ MORE

FAREWELL TO BRAD WHITE Mourning The Loss of Long Time North Sails Team Member Brad White Left to right: Brad White, his wife Janet White, Dru Slattery, Jack Slattery Long time North Sails team member Brad White passed away on October 15th. Brad, a lifelong sailor, grew up in Cohasset, MA, and began racing at 8 years old on Massachusetts Bay. He attended and sailed for Boston University, was recognized as team captain his Junior and Senior years, and helped to win several National Championships. In 1980 Brad was selected as an All-American. After college, Brad was instrumental in founding the North Sails loft in Salem, which has successfully operated for over 30 years. For most of those years he was the Service Manager, though he easily made the transition to sales several years ago. “There are a few people in my sailing career that I always thought I would never be able to pay back and Brad was one of them,” said North Sails President Ken Read. “Brad was the team captain at Boston University when I arrived as a freshman. He had a very understated way of getting his message across to everyone he ever dealt with. In my case it was just a few subtle comments that really opened my eyes to pushing far harder with my own sailing ambitions than I ever thought possible. He didn’t have to do it, he just did because he said what he felt. And at North Sails he continued the tradition; there was no bigger team player. Brad would do anything for anybody. He will be incredibly missed by those of us at North Sails as well as the entire sailing community in the Northeast US”. Jack Slattery, long time friend and colleague, shares fond memories of Brad: Brad had a true passion for sailing. He not only had a multitude of racing victories, including the 110 National Championship and (as my crew), six Interclub Dinghy Nationals but he also won the Mallory Cup and the US Men’s Sailing Championship, and competed in a variety of big boat regattas from Block Island to Hawaii. His enthusiasm for the sport, and Chinook, his rebuilt Pearson 33-2, were always worked into any conversation. He eagerly shared his favorite cruising spots along the East Coast with advice on how to improve your sailing or take care of your boat. The consummate team player and a kind-hearted soul, he never failed to make you smile. Brad brought that same kind spirit to work every day and was always customer focused. He thought nothing of driving 10 hours round trip to take care of a small issue for a client. He was also a lifelong educator. Through his college years, he was head instructor at various yacht clubs. At North Sails, he ran countless in-person and online seminars. Brad was always giving his time to others, and he loved every minute of it. Brad enjoyed over 35 years of marriage with his wife Janet and was the proud father of Ben and Lizzie. The family enjoyed sailing Chinook together, and also spent lots of time at their rustic camp in New Hampshire: hiking, skiing, and all things “mountain”. Brad’s love of the mountains led to lots of travel out West and to Europe, including a recent trip to Alta Utah to enjoy his son’s wedding just a few short weeks ago. I will miss Brad tremendously. The past 40 plus years of adventures together were fantastic. Sail on, pal. -Jack Slattery READ MORE

DE BESTE ZEILEN OM TE CRUISEN North Sails heeft een optie voor elk type zeiler Echte winterrust kennen veel zeilers niet. Ook de cruise zeilers niet. De boot mag dan wel op de kant staan, of ontmanteld in het water liggen; er wordt vaak al vooruit gekeken naar het nieuwe vaarseizoen. Mogelijk dat het tijd is voor een nieuw zeil of een volledige zeilset. Dan is de winterstop het ultieme moment voor cruisers om daarover na te denken. De belangrijkste vraag hierbij is: wat zijn uw vaardoelen? Vaart u vaak op zee of meer op de binnenwateren? Hoe vaak zeilt u, bij welke weersomstandigheden en hoe bergt u de zeilen aan het einde van de dag op? Allemaal zaken om rekening mee te houden bij de keuze voor nieuwe zeilen. Zeker omdat er zoveel opties zijn op het gebied van cruising. Veel meer dan voor wedstrijdschepen. De North Sails experts denken graag met u mee over de beste keuze. Om u toch alvast te verdiepen in de verschillende zeilmaterialen, tonen we graag alle mogelijkheden. Welk zeildoek kan ik het beste kiezen om te cruisen? Voor het grootzeil en de voorzeilen op pleziervaartuigen biedt North Sails de NPC CROSS-CUT, NPC RADIAN en de NPL TOUR serie aan. Daarnaast zijn de 3Di cruisezeilen ook het overwegen waard. De 3Di OCEAN productenlijn bestaat uit drie soorten 3Di materialen, geschikt voor boten van verschillende afmetingen: OCEAN 330, OCEAN 370 en OCEAN 700. De 3Di ENDURANCE lijn bevat zeilen die geschikt zijn voor zowel cruisen als racen. Voor de voordewindse rakken is er de keuze tussen een asymmetrische of symmetrische spinnaker, gennaker of code zero. Hierbij heeft u de keuze uit geweven nylons, Code laminaten en 3Di zeilmaterialen. Of het nu gaat om een zeilboot van acht meter of een 22-meter zeegaand jacht, voor ieder schip zijn er geschikte zeilen vervaardigd uit het ideale materiaal. De kunst is om samen met uw zeilmaker de verschillende mogelijkheden voor zeilmateriaal te elimineren tot twee opties op basis van uw wensen. Daarna volgen de keuzes op het gebied van de zeilvorm, de zeillatten, het aantal riffen en de kleur van het zeil. Dat klinkt wellicht overweldigend, maar een nieuw zeil samenstellen is een van de leukste dingen om te doen! Dingen om rekening mee te houden bij de keuze voor nieuwe zeilen: Uw budget Hoe lang u verwacht dat uw zeil meegaat Uw verwachting van hoeveel jaar het zeil de perfecte ‘vleugelvorm’ blijft houden Het gewicht van het zeil       Dacron We starten bij de zogenaamde ‘upwind’ zeilen. Denk aan onder andere het grootzeil en de fok. Als materiaal voor de paneelzeilen wordt vaak geweven polyester gebruikt, ook wel beter bekend als ‘Dacron’. Dit zeildoek is een goede allrounder op kleine tot middelgrote boten. Dacron is redelijk sterk, is niet overdreven rekbaar en UV-bestendig. De prijs van een Dacron zeil is vriendelijk en bevindt zich aan de onderkant van het assortiment. Laten we de verschillende opties puntsgewijs nalopen: NPC CROSS-CUT - Een volledig Cross-Cut Dacron zeil Budget: wanneer de prijs zo laag mogelijk moet zijn, is een NPC Cross-Cut zeil de juiste keuze Levensduur: deze zeilen blijven heel, zelfs na vele seizoenen intensief gebruik Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: blijft redelijk lang als nieuw, maar de ‘vleugelvorm’ verandert wel met de jaren Gewicht: het is geen lichtgewicht zeil. Op kleinere boten is dit niet zo’n probleem, maar naarmate de lengte van het schip toeneemt, kan het te zwaar worden NPC RADIAN - Radiaal georiënteerd Dacron zeil NPC RADIAN is een verbeterde versie van de NPC CROSS-CUT. Bij dit zeil zijn de panelen in het zeil niet recht gesneden zoals bij de CROSS-CUT, maar lopen de panelen onder een hoek naar elkaar toe (radiaal georiënteerd). Dit levert een meetbare verbetering van de vormvastheid van het zeil op. Budget: de kosten van de NPC RADIAN zeilen zijn hoger dan de NPC CROSS-CUT, maar de prijs blijft vriendelijk Levensduur: deze zeilen blijven heel, zelfs na vele seizoenen van intensief gebruik Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: behoorlijk goed als de zeilen nieuw zijn, maar de vorm kan wel veranderen met de jaren Gewicht: niet licht, maar lichter dan de CROSS-CUT. Dit materiaal is niet geschikt voor grotere schepen North Sails laminaat paneelzeilen We blijven bij de zeilmaterialen voor ‘upwind’ paneelzeilen. De volgende stap zijn zeilen van gelamineerd doek. Laminaat zorgt voor een vermindering van het zeilgewicht. Daarnaast zijn de vezels in het laminaat sterk met een minimale rek. In combinatie met polyester garen wordt een optimale vormvastheid van het zeil bereikt. NPL TOUR De Xi Cruise stijlen zijn gericht op middelgrote pleziervaartuigen die op zoek zijn naar zowel een vriendelijke prijs als verbeterde zeilprestaties. De zeilmaterialen van de Xi Cruise stijlen bevatten polyester geweven buitenlagen en aan de binnenkant polyesterfilm en dynemavezel. De buitenste lagen beschermen het dynema garen, terwijl het dynema gehalte de rek vermindert. Budget: gemiddeld prijsniveau Levensduur: het zeil wordt heel geleidelijk ouder Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: zeer goed als het zeil nieuw is, met een matige verandering met de jaren Gewicht: gemiddeld. Zeker op grotere schepen is de gewichtsbesparing zeer welkom in vergelijking met Dacron NPL TOUR ULTRA X Ultra X stijlen zijn beschikbaar voor middelgrote tot supergrote pleziervaartuigen. Het belangrijkste verschil tussen Ultra X en het hierboven beschreven Xi Cruise is het gebruik van de UltraPE vezel in Ultra X. UltraPE is een kwalitatieve, milieuvriendelijke vezel met een hoge sterkte en weinig rek. De UltraPE vezels worden in het gelamineerde doek geweven. Dat is geen goedkope benadering, maar het resulteert wel in verbeterde prestaties en een langere levensduur van het zeil. Budget: hoger prijsniveau Levensduur: uitstekend Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: zeer goed, omdat er veel UltraPE in het materiaal zit Gewicht: gemiddeld NPL TOUR ULTRA XC Het recept: neem alles wat hierboven is vermeld over Ultra X en voeg koolstofvezel toe. De voordelen van koolstofvezel zijn inmiddels wel bekend. Racewagens, fietsen en zelfs 80-voet boten die nagenoeg niks wegen. Allemaal dankzij koolstofvezel. North Sails lamineert voor grotere boten al meer dan vijfentwintig jaar UltraPE samen met koolstofvezel in zeildoek. De resultaten zijn nog steeds opmerkelijk. Budget: het hogere prijsniveau Levensduur: uitstekend Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: zeer goed, tegen het perfecte aan Gewicht: gemiddeld (lichter dan Ultra X, maar vanwege de grote hoeveelheid vezels die nodig zijn om lang plezier te hebben van het zeil, is het zeil niet lichter dan licht) En nu... in 3Di! North Sails heeft onlangs een nieuwe lijn van 3Di producten ontwikkeld, speciaal voor pleziervaartuigen: 3Di OCEAN. We bekijken wat dit materiaal zo uitermate geschikt maakt voor cruisen, in vergelijking met de zeildoeken die we hierboven hebben beschreven. De verschillen tussen 3Di en paneelzeilen zijn ook terug te vinden op onze materiaalpagina, waar alle informatie is verzameld over de verschillende zeilmateriaalsoorten. 3Di is complexer en daardoor duurder, maar brengt een significante, technologische verandering met zich mee. Voor cruisers heeft deze complexiteit duidelijke voordelen: lichtere zeilen, die langer meegaan en hun vorm behouden. Moet elke cruisezeiler de optie om te kiezen voor paneelzeilen nu meteen terzijde schuiven? Zeker niet. Paneelzeilen blijven een goede keuze en zijn voor veel zeilers de beste optie, kijkende naar hun wensen en budget. 3Di OCEAN 330 Dit materiaal heeft alle voordelen van NORDAC polyester zoals hierboven beschreven, maar is geoptimaliseerd met de 3Di technologie. Oorspronkelijk luidt de naam 3Di NORDAC. OCEAN 330 haalt het meeste uit de polyestervezels bij aan de windse rakken. Budget: gemiddeld prijsniveau vergeleken met Dacron, laag voor 3Di normen Levensduur: uitstekend Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: goed (zeer goed in vergelijking met geweven polyester zeilen) Gewicht: medium (niet lichtgewicht, vanwege de grote hoeveelheid vezels die in het doek zijn verwerkt) 3Di OCEAN 370 OCEAN 370 mixt UltraPE met polyester, waardoor de sterkte aanzienlijk wordt verhoogd en de stretchprestaties worden verbeterd. 100% polyester zeilen bereiken op een bepaald moment het punt dat ze te omvangrijk en te zwaar worden. Niet alleen om te tillen, maar ook dat de zeilprestaties eronder gaan lijden. OCEAN 370 gaat verder waar OCEAN 330 stopt. Een kosteneffectieve oplossing, terwijl de zeilprestaties en levensduur mooi in evenwicht blijven. Budget: gemiddeld Levensduur: uitstekend Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: zeer goed in vergelijking met direct concurrerende cruise zeilopties Gewicht: gemiddeld 3Di OCEAN 700 OCEAN 700 is de ideale prestatiegerichte cruise oplossing voor grotere boten. UltraPE is het primaire materiaal dat wordt gebruikt bij het vervaardigen van het zeildoek, waarbij dynema maximaal ondersteund in die zones van het zeil waar de meeste druk ontstaat. De OCEAN 700 is robuust, weinig rekbaar en ontworpen om vele jaren dienst te bieden. Het is de standaard als het gaat om middelgrote pleziervaartuigen en superjachten en alles daartussen. Budget: gemiddeld Levensduur: uitstekend Houdbaarheid van de zeilvorm: zeer goed Gewicht: gemiddeld Dit zijn North Sails’ opties als het gaat om ‘upwind’ zeilen, zoals het grootzeil en de fok. Onze experts beschikken over alle mogelijke kennis om samen met u de beste keuze voor materiaalsoort te maken. Mocht u naast het cruisen ook willen racen met dezelfde zeilen, dan is de 3Di ENDURANCE serie een goede optie. Deze beschikt over de zeilvorm, -gewicht en -prestaties die racers nodig hebben. Voor die zeilers die nog een stapje verder willen, is er de 3Di RAW lijn. Deze zeilen leveren snelheid zoals geen ander zeiltype dat kan. CONTACT EEN EXPERT OFFERTE AANVRAGEN READ MORE

Sail Storage Service: zeilen opslaan bij North Sails Goede behandeling is essentieel voor een lange levensduur Het einde van het vaarseizoen is aangebroken. Hoewel er altijd bikkels zijn die meedoen aan winterwedstrijden, gaan de meeste zeilers in winterrust. Helemaal niks mis mee, mits er speciale aandacht is voor het opbergen van de zeilen. Het belangrijkste advies: sla zeilen droog op. Dat wil zeggen; laat de zeilen niet aan boord, maar berg ze op in huis. Op die manier heeft u het langste plezier van uw zeilen. Heeft u daar geen plek voor, of liggen ze eigenlijk altijd in de weg? Dan biedt de vernieuwde loft in Rotterdam de oplossing. In ons pand aan de Anthonetta Kuijlstraat is het overgrote deel van de bovenverdieping ingericht als ultieme opslag voor zeilen. Klanten van North Sails zijn welkom om hun zeilen af te leveren en in het voorjaar weer op te pikken. Informeer bij uw Sail Expert naar de prijzen en mogelijkheden van onze Sail Storage Service. Of u de zeilen nu zelf gaat opslaan of gebruik maakt van de Sail Storage Service, zeilen opbergen vraagt wat aandacht. Hieronder enkele basistips: Vocht is de grote boosdoener Het grootste gevaar van het aan boord laten (of nog erger; op de giek laten zitten) van de zeilen, is vocht. Dit geldt overigens ook voor korte termijn opslag, dus tussen de vaardagen in. Vocht veroorzaakt donkere plekken in het zeil en verkleuring van het doek van spinnakers. Dit is naderhand niet meer te verhelpen met een sopje. Deze plekken en verkleuring hebben geen gevolgen voor de zeilprestaties. Langdurige blootstelling aan vocht kan echter wel schade toebrengen aan lijmen, impregnatie en coatings op en in het zeilmateriaal. En dat ga je wel merken bij het zeilen! Kortom; berg de zeilen op een droge plek op. Opslaan in de schuur? Mogelijk beschikt u over een goed geïsoleerde, verwarmde schuur. Op zich de ideale plek om zeilen op te slaan. Sowieso is het advies om de zeilen altijd eerst te drogen voordat u ze opbergt, maar in de schuur wordt dat echt pure noodzaak. Voor kleine knaagdieren zoals muizen, is het zout op de zeilen of een blaadje dat bij het opvouwen tussen het zeil is gekomen, een heerlijke maaltijd. Ook kan een spinnaker dienen als nest of nestmateriaal. Zorg er dus voor dat niets de zeilzakken in kan kruipen. Reinigen is simpel en complex tegelijk Naast dat de zeilen droog moeten zijn wanneer ze in de berging verdwijnen, moeten ze ook schoon zijn. Voor kleine vlekjes volstaat een beetje afwasmiddel, zacht schrobben met de hand of een borstel en goed naspoelen met zoet water, om vervolgens goed te laten drogen. Werkt dat niet, of zijn er meerdere vlekken in het zeil? Dan is het goed om uw North Sails Sail Expert te raadplegen voordat u met intensievere reinigers aan de slag gaat. Zeilen zijn gevoelig en kostbaar. Daarbij is het verwijderen van een vetvlek op Dacron iets heel anders dan het verwijderen van een roestvlek op laminaat zeilen. Een verkeerde behandeling kan vergaande gevolgen hebben... Naast adviseren over reinigen kunnen wij ook het reinigen van uw zeilen verzorgen via onze partners. Zij lossen onder andere ernstige schimmelschade en spinnenpoep op door de zeilen professioneel te reinigen. Dit kan overigens ook een optie zijn wanneer de zeilen na een aantal jaar vuil en een beetje grauw zijn geworden. Door te wassen wordt het optisch weer een nieuwer zeil. Bij ‘upwind’ zeilen verbeteren de zeileigenschappen niet door te wassen. Bij spinnakers is dat een ander verhaal. Bij het wassen worden deze zeilen voorzien van nieuwe coating, waardoor ze een groot deel van de lucht- en waterdichtheid terugkrijgen. Dat werkt wel levensverlengend! Op naar een nieuw seizoen! Kiest u ervoor om uw zeilen bij North Sails op te slaan, dan liggen ze gegarandeerd schoon en droog en zijn ze verzekerd. Bijkomend voordeel is dat wij de zeilen in de winter nalopen en eventuele reparaties kunnen uitvoeren. Op die manier bent u weer gereed voor het nieuwe seizoen! Contact uw Sail Expert READ MORE

North Sails België: nieuwe loft, zelfde team ‘Rondleiding’ door de zeilmakerij in Antwerpen 📸 Laurens Morel North Sails is terug in Antwerpen! Met zowel het centrum als de linkeroever op steenworp afstand, is de nieuwe loft zeer goed bereikbaar voor de Belgische en Zeeuwse klanten van North Sails. En er kan zelfs voor de deur worden afgemeerd! Het team in België is echter ongewijzigd. Nadia en Tania leiden u graag (virtueel) rond in de nieuwe loft. De compacte zeilmakerij aan het Asiadok-Oostkaai is onderdeel van het Antwerp Nautical Center. Deze ‘one-stop-shop’ voor de pleziervaart biedt alles op het gebied van onderhoud, verzekeringen en in- en verkoop van schepen. Daar mocht een zeilmakerij niet ontbreken. Grote werktafel Bij binnenkomst is de werktafel niet te missen. Deze beslaat het overgrote deel van de loft. Het is de werkplek van Nadia Snoeck (53), een van de North Sails zeilmakers in Antwerpen. Complete zeilen worden hier niet meer gemaakt, maar Nadia staat vaak genoeg voor andere uitdagingen. “Als een klant een spinnaker binnenbrengt die helemaal kapot is, is het mijn taak om deze te herstellen. Dat op zo’n manier voor elkaar krijgen dat je niet ziet dat deze hersteld is, daar ga ik voor!” Het reilen en zeilen in de Antwerpse loft regelt Nadia samen met collega Tania Verhulst (53). Officieel is zij verantwoordelijk voor de administratie van North Sails Benelux, maar in de praktijk blijft het daar niet bij. “Wanneer er zware zeilen op de tafel moeten worden gelegd, dan help ik Nadia daar natuurlijk mee. Samen pakken we alles aan om de loft draaiende te houden, en met veel plezier. De klanten die hier komen zijn vaak in vakantiebestemming. De reparaties waar zij voor komen zijn voor hen niet prettig, maar zijn wel het resultaat van een leuke hobby.” 📸 Laurens Morel Goed bereikbaar De nieuwe loft in Antwerpen is volgens Tania zeker een goede zet. “Toen ik zes jaar geleden begon bij North Sails zaten we in Stabroek. De nieuwe locatie in Antwerpen is veel centraler en wordt ook positief ontvangen. We zitten aan het water en hebben een steiger voor de deur, dus klanten kunnen hier ook afmeren. In de afgelopen maanden is dat nog niet veel gebeurd, maar men is er ook nog niet bekend mee. Zodra mensen het weten, wordt het druk voor de deur,” lacht Tania. De verhuizing van Stabroek naar Antwerpen is niet de eerste verhuizing. Eerder verruilde de zeilmakerij Deurne (pal naast Antwerpen) voor Stabroek. Nadia was daar bij. Immers startte zij haar carrière als twintigjarige bij North Sails. Na een modeopleiding specialiseerde zij zich in het gebruik van computers. Toen in Deurne een computergestuurde laser voor het snijden van zeilen in gebruik werd genomen, was Nadia de aangewezen persoon om die taak op zich te nemen. Vandaaruit volgde geleidelijk de stap naar het zeilmakers vak. Nadia: “Zelfs na 33 jaar verveelt dat niet. North Sails is een bedrijf met karakter. We produceren degelijke, kwalitatief hoogwaardige zeilen waarbij we de nieuwste technieken gebruiken en zelf zeildoeksoorten ontwikkelen. Het blijft bijzonder om daar deel van uit te maken.” 📸 Laurens Morel READ MORE

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: PETER ROWE Worth The Wait For North Sails 3Di Technology Give us a little background to your sailing career. When did you start? How long have you been sailing? How long have you owned Restless? What led you to racing? I vaguely remember sailing on a homemade raft with a mast and a square bedsheet sail on Lake Winnipeg when I was about 7. The first race I was ever in was in 1959, when I was 12. It was at Queen City Yacht Club on a Lightning. As an indication of the craziness of that time, the rules were that the boats were at the dock, with the sails up. The crew (me) stayed on the boat, while the skippers had to run up to the bar, chugalug a pint of beer, run down, jump onboard, and then sail around the island. Either direction was allowed. On return, they had to run back up to the bar and down a second pint of beer. Nuts. In 1975, I wrote and directed a film for CBC starring Gordon Pinsent about round-the-world sailor/charlatan Donald Crowhurst. While we were sailing out to film it one day, a little catamaran screamed past us, with the skipper and crew on trapezes. I asked our skipper what it was, and he told me it was a new boat called a Hobie Cat. I determined I’d have to try one. I found a really good Hobie skipper who needed a good crew for racing. In both 1977 and ’78 we won the Canadian Championships. Tiring of getting wet on the cats, I began chartering small keelboats in the 1000 Islands. In 1981 I bought my first sailboat, a Scirocco 24, and within a month began sailing it south, making it as far as Staniel Cay in the Bahamas, then sailing it singlehanded back to Florida and trucking it home. My next boat, bought with my wife Carolyn, was a Mirage 35, Blade Runner, which we trucked to California, sailed and raced there, then sailed in Mexico with it, shipped it back to Fort Lauderdale, sailed with it in the Florida Keys, then back up the Atlantic to New York and then to Port Credit. It lived at PCYC for over 20 years. I raced it (and sometimes other boats) in the Lake Ontario 300 and lots of other singlehanded and crewed races. From 2007 to 2014 I made a TV series called Angry Planet. On one episode I got to fulfill a lifelong dream of sailing around Cape Horn (in a 50-foot steel expedition sailboat). But, as I wasn’t using Blade Runner, I sold it and began sailing a little Hobie Island Adventure trimaran, and then replaced it with a MacGregor 26M, which I used to trailer up to the North Channel and Lake Muskoka. Sold that, moved to a CS-33 that I named Santana after Humphry Bogart’s boat, then a year ago bought my latest, a 1988 C&C 35 Mark 3 called Restless. It is my 23rd boat. Almost always, the first things I have done when buying boats has been to change the name and buy new sails. Restless is the first to not to get a name-change, but I did get new sails for it… You mentioned Hugh’s presentation on the Science of Sailmaking at Mimico Cruising Club (MCC) a couple years ago helped nudge you towards 3Di. Can you elaborate on this? What were the leading factors in your decision to go with North Sails? Yes, I was wowed by the presentation on 3Di Raw sails. I have always been interested in sail technology and in the past. But after learning about the 3Di sails I determined to get the very best for my new Restless. Can you share what the process was like in working with Hugh and the North team? Hugh and Daniel came around to the club, measured the mast and I put the order in in November, 2021. The gang at North Sails in Sri Lanka must have got to work right away, because by February, the sails arrived. They fit beautifully and I love sailing with them. Hugh has been down to the boat twice to tweak them a bit and actually took the main back to the loft to re-cut the head slightly. Daniel brought it back in two days, in time for the next race. Great sails, great service. I just wish I had one of those two sitting in the cockpit for our races. Man, they know a lot! Did the sails meet your expectations? Share your initial reaction or assessments of the sails. Absolutely! My choice, on which Hugh concurred, was to go with a 135% Genoa. I think that was the right decision. I don’t think a full 155% Genoa is necessary. It slows down the tacks, increases the rating and I think only helps in a very limited wind range. In really, really light air, I even furl the Genoa to about half size, so that it becomes a kind of quasi-wind seeker. The 3Di sails are so good that we have occasionally been able to stay even, on downwind runs, with spinnaker boats. You’ve had quite the successful season this past year with MCC Racing, LOOR (Lake Ontario Offshore Racing) events and Race to Kingston. Can you share your top three tips or factors that have contributed to this success? First, My C&C 35. I’ve lusted after owning a C&C since the 1960s. Now I finally have one, and it has exceeded my expectations. It is a great design that just wants to go fast. Second would be my main and genoa from North Sails. I call them my secret weapon, but they are obviously not secret, since the black sails are visible to all. They are packed away now for the winter, but I can’t wait to unfurl them next spring. Lastly, my terrific crew. Most of them are fairly new to racing but are loyal and have learned fast. What are you most looking forward to for the 2023 sailing season? We’ll definitely be back for more. We might fly off and charter a boat for the St. Thomas International Regatta in March. We’ll certainly do the MCC races, the AHMEN races, the EYC (Etobicoke Yacht Club) Night Race, and will try to defend our Freeman Cup win in the Race to Kingston. Since LYRA 2023 will be in Kingston this year, immediately following the R2K, we might do it. It’s the oldest freshwater sailing regatta in the world, so it has quite a history. READ MORE

ÅRETS RESULTAT: 42 SM-MEDALJER I 22 OLIKA KLASSER! Stora framgångar för North Sails kunder även under 2022 Det är med glädje och stolhet vi konstaterar att vi även i år har Sveriges vassaste kappseglare på kundlistan. Tillsammans har de nämligen bärgat 42 SM-medaljer – 13 guld, 15 silver och 14 brons – i 22 olika klasser. Stort grattis till alla pristagare och tack för förtroendet! Klicka här för att hitta ditt segel! READ MORE

BEHIND THE SCENES: NORTH SAILS GOSPORT Meet the Talented Team at Europe’s Flagship Facility This episode of Behind the Scenes showcases the team and talent based in Europe’s largest sail loft. Located in the maritime south-coast of England, North Sails Gosport pulls double duty; it’s a hub of local sailing activity and is one of seven worldwide manufacturing sites. And while the facility is impressive, the team is an exceptional collection of championship sailors, sail designers, and master sailmakers. The dynamic and growing team features a Volvo Ocean Race winner, Olympic medalists, and multiple World and National One Design champions. The North Sails Gosport team is not only knowledgeable and passionate about sailing, but highly skilled sailors that have their finger on the pulse of our sport. Opening its doors in 2015, this modern sail loft is purpose-built to specialize in superyacht sails. However, Gosport is more than just superyachts; the loft has become known for its diversified offerings, state-of-the-art technologies, and equipment. As a flagship facility, Gosport enables North to remain at the forefront of sail technology, innovation, and manufacturing. With a unique combination of enthusiastic young professionals who care about being the best in the industry, the team is focused on customer service and creating the best products available for all sailors. The entire crew in Gosport approaches every challenge and opportunity with unrivaled professionalism and passion, and it shows. 📸 Atila Madrona READ MORE

Viška 2022 📸 regate.com.hr Od 14. do 16. listopada jedrit će se jedna od najpopularnijih Jadranskih regata - Viška regata. Ovogodišnje izdanje je 78. po redu, a već dugi niz godina uobičajeno je da je popis sudionika u troznamenkastom zapisu. Među svim tim jedrilica nalazi se i mnoštvo North Sails klijenata, a s nekima od njih jedrit će i zaposlenici naše jedrarne iz Dugopolja. Nikola Akrap zajedrit će na Bavariji 40S - Easy 11, Marko Marinović na velikom Botin 52 imena Bare V, dok će na Farru 40 - Gringo 3 zajedriti Stjepan Marinović. Po trenutnoj prognozi jedriličare očekuje jurnjava u lašku orcu u petak, dok je u nedjelju najizglednije skakutanje od "fleke do fleke". READ MORE

STRENGTHENING YOUR SAILS FOR THE SYDNEY HOBART YACHT RACE How To Maintain Your Sail Inventory For The Offshore Racing Season Ahead Preparing for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is a bit different to any other event due to the nature of the type of conditions and weather the race can present. Whether you’re racing in each lead up race possible, or using the race to tick off the bucket list item, making sure your sail inventory is in good condition can have a big impact on your race. North Sails Expert and Service Manager, Nick Beaudoin, has a wealth of experience when it comes to sail planning and servicing. And the key to ensuring your sails aren’t going to let you down, is preparation. “The thing with the Sydney Hobart, is that the fleet tends to also be doing the Blue Water Pointscore, so the service preparation actually starts in October for most of the fleet.” comments Nick. “What we recommend is to keep the maintenance up while they’re racing. It’s what we work on over the four months of ironing out all the little details of the inventory and getting the sails ready over that longer period of time. It’s all planned three to four months ahead of time, which really is right about now in early October.” “At the beginning of the season, our North Sails team will start having conversations with customers about the sail services they may need for the offshore season ahead. It could be jib recuts, main recuts, IRC remeasuring, spinnaker flying checkovers to repair tears, all the little things. It’s about dialing in the inventory for the individual clients.” Maintenance Is Key Sail servicing isn’t just about repairing sail issues, but keeping your sail inventory in good working order to both extend the lifespan of your sails and achieve your best performance on the water. “Most of our customers know how we operate, so they’re very familiar with the process – every race week they’ll get their sails in, we’ll do a service, see if they have any issues, and we go forward from there with enough lead time. The maintenance comes down to essentially a weekly thing for them.” North Sails offers a one week turnaround at the major yacht clubs in Sydney, when every Monday the team collects the sails in the North Sails lockers at Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. The team then conducts general maintenance and repairs during the week, and delivers them back to the yacht clubs on the Friday. “We like the Blue Water Pointscore, as it’s one race per month where we can assess what each yacht needs pre and post-race. The sails will come in that have any repairs needed, or need to get looked at if you’re unsure. For the majority of the fleet, it’s very hard to pull their sails out unless there’s a park or somewhere they can go with enough space to do it.” Jibs In Working Order With the range of conditions and sail changes to be expected during an offshore race, jibs can endure a lot of wear and tear over time. However, Nick has some essential tips to extend the life of your jibs, to keep the luff tapes in good condition, check the battens and batten tension. “As it’s not always easy to just pull your sails out on any given day for maintenance checks, it’s about crews being very observant when using the sails. Having your crew conscious of the shape and condition of the inventory, especially your foredeck team being conscious of the sails if they notice anything, luff tape damage, battens on the jibs, or if they notice any chafe from stanchions or any of the high-wear areas and just keeping an eye on it.” “We like to encourage jibs to come in for post-race luff tape repairs. It’s a very small thing that can cause a lot of grief, you don’t need your bowman up there mucking around trying to get the headsail plugged in, so we like to stiffen the head and very top of the luff tape so it can’t open up.” Flying Spinnakers After the last Blue Water Pointscore race and as the Boxing Day start of the Sydney to Hobart approaches, the timeline for major repairs becomes tighter. Preventing the larger sail issues can be one of the easiest ways to ensure you’ll be on the start line, and spinnaker checkovers are high up Nick’s list of race preparation maintenance tips. “Again, it’s very hard to assess a sail properly unless you’re pulling it out in the park, and you know exactly what you’re looking for. When we fly a spinnaker, we have two to three people put the sail in the air and look up underneath it, to look for any holes. If you just have the sail on the ground it can be easy to miss things.” “We’ll also check the tensions on the luff, leach and foot lines, because over the course of the four months of sailing, ropes shrink and most likely need to be eased off and re-tensioned. You’ll find different setups denote different tensions and you evolve as the boat spends more time offshore.” “Usually the foredeck team has eyes on the sails, as do the trimmers, so just picking up on any potential issues early and getting the sails into the loft to fly, check over, pull out and repair as necessary is a great way to prevent more expensive and possible race-ending damage.” Maintaining Sail Performance Committed to helping you maximize your performance with your sail inventory, our North Sails Service team also provides sail recuts and re-measurements. “A service we offer for 3Di sails is to look at recuts for performance. As sails get older, say two to three years old and it’s been used offshore, it may need a little attention.” Nick explains their process to restore the sail to peak performance shape, “In jibs and mains, as the sails become round over time, we do slices to reduce the broad seam, and straighten the leach exit. It’s glued and bonded in the same process as when they’re manufacturing 3Di sails, so it’s very very strong, and a simple thing to do to increase performance.” “Another thing is remeasuring for rating certificates. As we approach the deadline to get your certificate in for the Sydney Hobart, we encourage our clients to get their inventories in to us. Jibs are a big thing as luff tapes shrink over a period of time, as once the luff tape shrinks, the luff actually gets smaller. Leading into Hobart, remeasuring is something we like to offer our customers to improve their overall performance, especially at the pointy end of the fleet.” Nick says, “Now is the time to be preparing for the Sydney to Hobart. For everyone on board it’s just about making sure that whoever is on the boat, whether it be the owner, helmsman, or crew, they understand they’re part of the team to be aware of the issues.” “These conversations all start at the beginning of the season, and there’s nothing last minute about the Hobart race!” Contact your local North Sails Expert to make sure your sails are ready for the offshore season ahead. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ON-SITE AT LES VOILES DE SAINT-TROPEZ A photo journal from this spectacular sailing festival 📸 Gilles Martin-Raget Les Voiles de Saint Tropez is a much anticipated annual regatta – it has a certain “je ne sais quoi,” if you will. Split across two weeks, hundreds of boat owners and their crews fill the docks and the harbor, and thousands of spectators descend upon the coastal town on the French Riviera for this sailing festival. From wooden classics to high-performance race boats, Les Voiles de St Tropez offers a spectacular display of sailing, and it showcases the best and the breadth of North Sails. During a morning coffee run, you’ll likely navigate around multiple signature blue North sail bags along the sidewalk as they wait to get loaded on board their respective boats. On an afternoon stroll you can pop into one of the three harbor-side North Sails Apparel stores, which house performance sailing gear and or our event space that offers official race merchandise. Or stop by our pop-up loft and watch our event service team put the finishing touches on racing sails that needed overnight repair. LVST 2023 even served as a launch pad for We Are North Sails, the latest campaign from North Sails Apparel. On the water or shoreside, this regatta offers it all. Racing concludes on Saturday, October 8th. Follow along with the event and North Sails as we wait for new #NSVictoryList entries. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ADDS TO ITS ROSTER Meet Matt Allen and Ryan Zupon North Sails is pleased to announce the addition of two new service managers, Matt Allen and Ryan Zupon, to their East Coast lofts. Matt, who has joined the Salem loft, is excited to grow the service side of North Sails while Ryan will head up service growth and management at our Steelpointe Harbor location. Matt grew up sailing and coaching Junior Sailing on the North Shore of Massachusetts before heading off to Old Dominion University earning All-American honors as a skipper his senior year. After college, he became the Director of Intercollegiate Sailing at USMMA Kings Point. On the water he continued racing in the Vanguard 15 fleet and team racing circuits; winning two US Team Racing Championships, and a Vanguard 15 National Championship. Ryan brings with him offshore experience having competed in four of the five ‘Crown Jewel’ 600-mile races around the globe: the Middle Sea Race, the Fastnet, the Sydney-Hobart and multiple Newport to Bermudas, including class wins in 2014 and 2022, and the coveted St. David’s Lighthouse trophy for first overall in 2016. He also has dinghy and keelboat experience, having sailed in various One Design classes such as Shields and IC37’s as well as Viper 640’s. Both seasoned sailors with extensive sailmaking experience, they are looking forward to using their practical expertise to help sailors on the loft floor. Matt and Ryan are a great addition to the North Sails service team. READ MORE

BERÄTTELSEN OM ARGO: DEL 3 Berättelsen om OPAL 46: an Argo, och de traditioner som omger henne, fortsätter Läs Del 1 och Del 2. Som 24-åring hade Ingvar Ravelius en dröm om att bygga sin egen Opal 46:a, Argo, och ge sig ut på en jorden runt-segling. Tio år senare, 1984, hade han träffat sin framtida fru Leena, sålt allt han ägde och kastat loss från Sverige. Kursen riktades mot Medelhavet och paret hade inga planer på att återvända. Efter Gibraltar seglade Ingvar och Leena österut längs den spanska kusten och tog sikte mot Ibiza, där de skulle besöka några vänner. De stannade i Ibiza ett par veckor och tog upp Argo på land för att göra underhåll. Med båten på land passade de på att flyga hem till Sverige. Efter att ha seglat sex månader känner det märkligt att flyga hela vägen tillbaka på bara fyra timmar. När de kommit tillbaka till Ibiza efter ett par veckor i Sverige fortsatte de österut och seglade allt djupare in i Medelhavet. Under året som följde tog de sig till Mallorca, Menorca, Sardinien, Malta och Grekland. Det var en solig dag i grekiska Lavrion. Argo låg förtöjd och Ingvar arbetade på däck. Han var noga med alla detaljer, ville att båten skulle skina och nu höll han på att slipa de fernissade ytorna. Deras tenderbåt var förtöjd längs Argos skrov medan Ingvar arbetade. Han var så inne i sitt arbete att han inte märkte att jollen flöt iväg. Det enda som fanns kvar var en kort lina som fortfarande satt fast i Argo. Ingvar var frustrerad över att någon hade kunnat stjäla båten, han trodde att någon hade simmat ut och skurit av förtöjningslinan. Ingvar och Leena var upprörda och bestämde sig för att än en gång ta upp Argo på land och tillbringa vintern i Sverige. De hade blivit bekanta med en annan svensk som skulle köra bil tillbaka till Sverige efter en rundresa i Grekland, och de gjorde sällskap med honom på resan till Sverige. Planen var att återvända till Argo efter vintern, fortsätta att segla i Medelhavet och därefter korsa Atlanten med sikte mot Karibien. Men de planerna ändrades kort efter att de anlänt till Sverige. I december 1985, kort efter att de kommit till Stockholm, visade det sig att Leena var gravid. Det innebar att de inte kunde fortsätta sitt äventyr så tidigt som de hade tänkt. Leena stannade i Stockholm tills jag, John, föddes i augusti 1986. Ingvar reste fram och tillbaka till Argo för att hålla koll på henne. Men i mars 1987 reste hela familjen till Grekland för att fortsätta seglatsen. Jag var sju månader när jag såg Argo för första gången. Hon stod då på land på Olympic Marina i Lavrion, Grekland. Ingvar hade köpt en ny tender. ”TENDER to ARGO” skrev han med stora bokstäver på den och la på ett antal lager fernissa utanför. Min pappa är extremt noggrann och försiktig med alla saker som hör till båten. Den röda uppblåsbara båten är nu över 3o år gammal och är fortfarande Argos tender. Den har varit med båten lika länge som jag. Vi seglade till Turkiet via de grekiska öarna. På min första födelsedag i augusti 1987 låg vi förtöjda i Bodrum. En man som sålde frukt på marknaden började prata med mina föräldrar om mitt blonda hår. De berättade för honom att det var min allra första födelsedag och han gav mig en vattenmelon i present. Det startade en tradition. Sedan den dagen har jag ätit vattenmelon på alla mina födelsedagar. Det var under det här äventyret som jag tog mina första steg. Och det gjorde jag ombord på Argo. READ MORE

Snart dags att lämna in seglen för service Men ta gärna en sista segeltur först 📸 Amory Ross Service av segel är lite som att gå till tandläkaren eller besiktiga bilen – det är något du bör göra en gång varje år, även med segel som är i fint skick. Det gör att du slipper problem nästa säsong och förlänger livslängden på dina segel. Om du fortfarande har båten i sjön kan det vara en bra idé att innan dess ta en segeltur och gå igenom båt, rigg och segel systematiskt och med kritiska ögon. Gör anteckningar eller ta bilder med mobilen på sådant som behöver åtgärdas inför nästa säsong. Det minskar risken att du glömmer bort det under vintern. Passa gärna på att dokumentera formen på dina segel. Det är också något som är bra att göra en gång per år. Alla segel förändras formmässigt i takt med att de åldras, och genom att analysera bilder på seglen går det att se bedöma hur mycket som återstår av prestandalivsalängden. Och det är väldigt bra input inför en eventuell diskussion kring nya segel. Så här gör du: Gå ut en dag när det är lite tryck i vinden. 5-6 sekundmeter är ganska lagom. Lägg dig på bidevind och skota seglen för maxhöjd. Placera dig precis vid mitten på underliket och fotografera rakt underifrån. Ta även en noggrann titt på kapell och strumpor. Deras viktigaste uppgift är att skydda seglet från nedbrytande UV-ljus, och de har ett bäst-före-datum som inte bör passeras. Är du osäker på skicket – ta med kapellen till oss när du lämnar in dina segel. Innan du lämnar in seglen för service kan det vara också värt att fundera på om vi ska passa på att modifiera något av dem när vi ända har dem inne på loftet. Vi har en rad spännande lösningar som till rimlig kostnad kan ge ditt befintliga segel ett riktigt lyft. Här är några exempel: Öka prestandalivslängden med nya lattor Att sätta i hårda, profilerade lattor i ett storsegel kan vara ett sätt att ge nytt liv åt ett äldre segel som har börjat tappa formen. Det kostar ett par tusenlappar men skillnaden kan vara förbluffande stor. Att byta från vertikala lattor till horisontella lattor kan göra en liknande skillnad på en fock. Shorthand-anpassa ditt försegel Allt fler – inte minst shorthand-kappseglare – upptäcker fördelarna med rev i focken. Förutom att det är ett snabbt och enkelt sätt att minska segelytan så kan revpunkten i akterliket kan användas som ”reachinghorn” vilket ökar prestandan ganska rejält på öppna bogar. Det vi gör är att sätta in ett bindrev (vilket innebär att seglet revas neråt på samma sätt som storsegel). På segel gjorda för förstagsprofil brukar vi också sy fast softhanks längs förlikat, vilket hindrar att seglet hamnar i vattnet när det tas ner på däck. Montrera zippers i dina undanvindssegel Sättning av spinnakers eller gennakers är inte alltid enkelt. Även mycket rutinerade besättningar får ibland problem med segel som fyller innan det är hissat i topp, som snor sig eller hamnar i vattnet. Det löser vi genom att sy in ett blixtlås längs ena liket. När du drar ihop dragkedjan formas hela seglet till ett långt, korvliknande paket som kan hissas i lugn och ro. När det är i topp och du drar i skot och gajar öppnar sig blixtlåset och seglet fyller. Mät om seglet och sänk ditt mätetal Segel krymper. Ganska mycket till och med – ett storsegel till en 40-fotare som seglats ett par säsonger kan vara en decimeter kortare i förliket än när det var nytt. Det är en naturlig process och inget att oroa sig för. Det är istället något du kan dra nytta av. Minskad segelyta innebär nämligen att handikapptalet kan sänkas. Vi har befogenhet att mäta våra egna segel och om vi passar på att göra det när seglet är inne för service är det inte någon stor eller kostsam operation. READ MORE

Storslam på VM i shorthandkappsegling VM blev en braksuccé. Inte minst för våra kunder, som i sett gjorde rent hus i medaljkampen. Hösten är här. Segla kan vi nog göra länge än, men på kappseglingsfronten tunnas det nu ut rejält. Det börjar bli dags att summera säsongen 2022, och här tänkte vi göra en liten tillbakablick på en av årets verkliga höjdpunkter, nämligen ORC Double Handed Worlds – VM i shorthandsegling – som seglades i samband med Gotland Runt. Att VM och Gotland Runt skulle bli en riktig seglarfest kunde man ana redan när startlistorna publicerades och det visade sig att totalt över 300 besättningar från 14 olika länder hade anmält sig, Själva världsmästerskapet samlade ett åttiotal deltagare – vilket var klart över det förväntade – och mer än hälften bestod av utländska seglare. VM-fältet var, som brukligt när det gäller ORC, uppdelat i tre klasser. Totalt skulle alltså nio medaljer delas ut. Starten gick i strålande väder mitt i centrala Stockholm inför tusentals åskådare. Racet inleddes med undanvind ut genom skärgården. Efter Alma blev det kryss ner till Gotland följt av en öppen bog upp mot målet i Sandhamn. Vindarna var inledningsvis lätta men ökade efterhand och det blev ett ganska snabbt race. Line honours på Gotland Runt togs av VO 70:an Hype och först i mål av VM-deltagarna var Ladykiller, en Shogun 50 seglad av Anna Drougge och Martin Angsell (till vardags på North-loftet i Stockholm). På korrigerad tid handlade det dock om båtar med mer beskedliga mått. Det visade sig nämligen att samtliga VM-medaljer togs med båtar 40 fot och under. Klass A Strax innan VM tipsade vi om några besättningar som vi tyckte var ”värda att hålla ögonen på”. En av dessa var västkustseglarna Anders Dahlsjö och Martin Strömberg i helt nya kolfiberracern Z30+. De hade radat upp framgångar under hela våren och tog bland annat totalsegern i Raymarine2star. De frågetecken som möjligtvis fanns handlade dels om de verkligen hunnit trimma in sig på den helt nya konstruktionen, dels om hur ORC-regeln skulle bedöma båten. På VM placerades båten i klass A, tillsammans med de allra snabbaste båtarna. Och trots att den bara mäter 9,5 meter på längden fick den ett mätetal som innebar att den skulle segla scratch med snabba 40-fotare som J/122. Var det verkligen möjligt? Jodå. Anders och Martin slog J/122:an Joule, seglad av Marcus Österberg och Henrik Borg, med över en timme på seglad tid och tog därmed totalsegern före just Marcus och Henrik. På bronsplats hamnade Frederik Rydin och Johan Tuvstedt i J/121 Jolene. Idel svenskar på pallen med andra ord, vilket förstås är kul. Att alla tre medaljörerna seglade med North-segel gjorde inte saken sämre. Klass B Antalsmässigt dominerades Klass B av utländska besättningar och det avspeglades även i resultatlistan. VM-guldet gick till Jonas Hallberg och Till Barth från Tyskland. Även silvermedaljörerna var tyskar, medan bronset gick till en finsk besättning, Den som är intresserad av material och teknisk utveckling kan notera att samtliga medaljörer seglade samma båttyp, JPK 10.30, och att både ettan och tvåan var utrustade med North-segel. Klass C Klass C var den till antalet största klassen med 29 anmälda båtar. Att Team Pro4u med Patrik Forsgren och Joakim Hoppe i First 36.7:an Malin skulle bli farliga var knappast någon vågad gissning. De angav tonen redan vid starten, när de i de lätta vindarna lyckades fånga upp en privatare som gjorde att de kunde bryta sig loss från resten av fältet och direkt få ett försprång på vägen ut genom skärgården. Försprånget förvaltade de väl och under den lite stökiga kryssen utanför Gotland gjorde de ett ordentlig ryck som innebar att de till slut vann VM med nästan två timmars marginal. Silvermedaljörer blev svenskarna Mikael Algevere och Pelle Lindell i X-332:an Lady X och bronset gick till två holländare. Vi kan inte prata om Team Pro4u utan att nämna att de har radat upp framgångar under hela säsongen. Förutom VM-guldet har de lyckats med konststycket att bli svenska, finländska och nordiska mästare i ORC och därtill EM-bronsmedaljörer i ORC (guld i amatörklassen). Och som grädde på moset tog de i slutet av augusti en silvermedalj på SM i J/70. Det måste nästan vara något slags rekord. Men tillbaka till VM. Guld- och silvermedaljörerna i klass C seglade med North-segel, vilket innebär att att sju av de totalt nio medaljerna – inklusive de tre världsmästartitlarna– erövrades med båtar utrustade med North-segel. Om vi nu får fortsätt att skryta så kan vi konstatera att våra kunder gjorde riktigt bra ifrån sig även på Gotland Runt. Det visade sig nämligen att vinnarna i både ORC A och ORC B var utrustade med North-segel, liksom ettan och tvåan totalt i SRS-klassen. Vi tackar för förtroendet! READ MORE

SWEDISH BLUE CROWNED 2022 ETCHELLS WORLD CHAMPIONS Noel Drennan Talks Through the Team’s Winning Strategy 📸 PKC Media / Etchells Class The 2022 Etchells World Championships came down to the final race day of tricky sailing conditions, where North Sails Etchells Class Leader, Noel “Nitro” Drennan crewed on Ante Razmilovic’s Swedish Blue with Brian Hammersley to win overall victory. North Sails teams claimed a clean sweep of the podium as Anatole Masfen’s New Order finished in second place, and Lawrie Smith’s Mila in third, all competing with full North Sails inventories. “We raced in northerly breezes, so it was always going to be pretty shifty and difficult days,” commented Nitro. “We had a compressed schedule after no racing on the first day with the Queen’s funeral holiday, as well as a few light air days to start. And before you know it we’re way behind schedule and having three races a day, which isn’t very common in the Etchells. So, we just had to get it together for long days on the water.” There were some testing situations for the 42-boat fleet, where patience and the ability to reset between races made the difference for the leaders. “In terms of our philosophy, we knew that it might be a bit of a random and variable regatta, and going into it we probably weren’t the favorites, but we were in the second rank of teams who could do it.” “Unfortunately we had a bad first day, and we definitely had to work past that and get on with the rest of the regatta. After that bad first race with a 35th, we had to regroup and make sure we weren’t out on one of the edges again. So we probably worked better together after having our bad race and kept it all together from there.” 📸 PKC Media / Etchells Class 📸 PKC Media / Etchells Class Swedish Blue’s resilient mentality wasn’t their only team strength, with a wealth of experience sailing on the Solent among the crew, and all-round easy speed setup from their North Sails sail package shining through when it mattered most. “As a team, we’ve sailed quite a bit together over the years, and last year we actually did a few regattas together in Cowes, including the pre-worlds and we were going well for the majority of the regatta. Brian and I also sailed together in the 2016 worlds and did quite well there.” said Nitro of his third place in that world championship. “Now when I look back at it I’ve done a fair bit of sailing in Cowes.” “We had a pretty good week and it all started coming together for us. We’ve been using the North Sails standard Etchells inventory, using our tuning guide, which is quite pleasing for me. Our upwind package includes the MAL M jib and the GT M jib, so we use all the molded sails, and these two jibs were very easy to trim and user-friendly throughout the week.” “The jib is such a critical part in the Etchells setup for trimming. So it was nice having easy-to-trim sails that were right the majority of the time. There was plenty to think about wind-wise and current-wise all the time, so the user-friendly sails made it very easy for us to look around on the race course.” As North Sails Etchells Class Leader, Nitro has been heavily involved with the development of the current range of sails, which he says started back in 2019, with refinements and developments made since then, moving towards using molded sails. “There’s a lot of input from around the world that goes into our Etchells sails to make the current race models their best, and currently there’s quite a few different teams trying different things. Having easy boat speed was crucial for this event, so it was quite pleasing for me to win with the standard sails, and so did second and third!” A full list of results can be found here: FULL RESULTS If you’re looking for more information on the North Sails Etchells setup, have a read of the Q&A our North Sails Experts had about the current inventory: ETCHELLS Q+A 📸 PKC Media / Etchells Class READ MORE

SEVENSTAR ROUND BRITAIN AND IRELAND WARRIORS North Sails Customers Dominate in the 2022 Round Britain and Ireland Race 📸 James Tomlinson / RORC The Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race, organized every four years by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, is one of the most challenging offshore races in the world. The 1,805-mile course includes: the Celtic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The 2022 edition brought unusual challenges with a high pressure system dominating the weather for the race. This resulted in a challenging, changeable and complex weather scenario for the 30 teams that set out on the race. Of the thirty teams many of them were short handed and double handed with several of the double handed boats dominating under IRC. North Sails UK newly appointed General Manager, Ian Walker, and race start commentator remarked: "This race will have tested the crews patience and resilience to the full and we are delighted to see North Sails once again dominating the podium places. Well done to everyone who stuck it out and finished this tough race". First to cross the finish line was Medallia, IMOCA skippered by Pip Hare, who took Line Honours in an elapsed time of 10 days 13 hours 23 minutes and 22 seconds, with North expert Kevin George onboard. The IMOCA Class was expected to be four boats, but with two teams not making the start line and Oliver Heer Ocean Racing having to retire due to an injured crew member, Medallia was the only IMOCA to finish the race. Richard Palmer’s JPK 1010 Jangada, racing Two-Handed with Rupert Holmes, took the overall win of the 2022 Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race, as well as winning IRC Three and IRC Double Handed. After time correction Jangada won by only seven minutes and nine seconds. In percentage terms, just 0.03% in a race of 1,805 nautical miles. The top six teams in IRC Two were all racing Two-Handed. Bellino, which narrowly missed winning overall, was the class winner. Sun Fast 3600 Bellino had a very close battle for the entire race with JPK 1080 Mzungu!. Raced by Sam White and Sam North, Mzungu! suffered from a broken autopilot for several days, but did not let that get them down and finished second in class and third overall. Third in IRC Two and first Sunfast 3300 was Daniel Jones & Jon Tyrrell racing Wild Pilgrim. “We knew from the start that there would be a strong competition with boat-on-boat racing and that was a big reason for entering the race,” said Bellino’s Deb Fish. “We could see Mzungu! for 95% of the race. In that situation, for every mile you are looking for that extra inch, you have to short tack to stay in pressure or out of bad tide. It was great racing but also stressful; an absolutely cracking race.” North Sails customers filled the top 9 places in the results. We’re incredibly proud of the North-powered results and all of the teams for their amazing performances. A true test of will power, endurance and stamina, both of the sailors and their sails. 📸 James Tomlinson / RORC READ MORE

Gratulálunk Fazekas Gábor -nak aki TANTÁL 8M OPEN hajójával megnyerte a 2022-es Szóló Balatonkerülő NAGYKÖR-t. Gábor kitartó, következetes munkáját a NORTH SAILS vitorlái segítették. 📸 Brigi Török @torokbrigiphotographer READ MORE

OG NU TIL NOGET SPORT! Claes Eliasson, chefdesigner Maurizio Cossutti og Bavaria Yacht teamet var alle enige om at nu er det tid til noget lidt andet… Med input fra et all-star team bestående af bl.a. Cossutti Yacht Design og North Sails Norge, er Claes Eliassons Bavaria C38 blevet optimeret til klubkapsejlads. De første resultater er imponerende og der forventes yderligere performance fremgang i løbet af sæsonen. Har du nogensinde sejlet en cruising yacht og spekuleret på, hvor meget hurtigere det kunne gå med et godt sæt racing sejl – og med noget af det tunge cruising udstyr fjernet? Claes Eliasson, en norsk forhandler for Bavaria Yachts og en ivrig klub kapsejladssejler, leder et hold med en mission om at finde ud af det. Cruisere er naturligvis designet til at have en høj lastbærende kapacitet, og de bedste af dem sejler ret godt, selv når de er tungt lastet med ekstraudstyr som bade platforme, bov propeller og cockpitborde. Men hvad nu, hvis det typiske grej i stedet blev brugt til at booste bådens ydeevne? Hvor stor en forskel ville det egentlig gøre? Til at starte med, skal du bruge den rigtige båd. Nogle cruisere har langt større muligheder for ydelsesoptimering end andre, og Eliasson vidste, at han havde en god kandidat til det projekt, han havde i tankerne, da bådarkitekten Maurizio Cossutti viste ham planerne for Bavaria C42. Båden vandt prisen European Yacht Of The Year på grund af sin sejlpræstation, men Eliasson endte med at bruge dens lillesøster, C38 – Cossuttis seneste design for Bavaria – som sin testbåd. C38 og C42 deler fem centrale designfunktioner, der definerer deres sejlegenskaber. "Det er sejl arealet, høj volume V-bow, de skarpe “chine” på hækken, kølformen," siger Cossuttis designpartner Alessandro Ganz. “En kombination af faktorer giver den gode ydeevne og håndtering.” "Skroget og båden som helhed har potentiale for gode resultater i klubkapsejlads," siger Eliasson. “Sammen med North Sails og Cossutti er vi interesserede i at finde ud af, om det er værd at tilbyde sportsversioner af Bavaria C38 og C42. Så vi bestilte en standardbåd fra værftet, uden badeplatform, cockpitbord eller bovpropel, hvilket sparede en del vægt. Vi lavede nogle mindre ændringer. Sejlene er specialfremstillede, og Cossutti har hjulpet os med design og udvikling.” Det ville være let (men dyrt) at demonstrere imponerende præstationsgevinster ved at rive interiør ud af en standard produktionsbåd, tilføje en dybere køl, montere vandballast og erstatte den almindelige rig med Carbon rigging. Men det ville stride imod etosen i Eliassons projekt, som har til formål at vise det fulde ydeevne potentiale af en normal Bavaria C38 med den slags optimering, som en gennemsnitlig ejer realistisk kunne opnå, i partnerskab med en lokal sejlmager, og samtidig bevare den sande essens af båden som en veludstyret og fuldt funktionel familiecruiser. Projektet startede i januar 2021. Båden blev leveret i maj, og holdet begyndte at tune og installere en beskeden række opgraderinger. "Vi var alle nysgerrige efter at se, hvor godt C38 kunne præstere mod en stærk klubkapsejladsflåde," siger Cossutti. “Den er ikke så stærk i let vind, fordi den ikke er designet til kapsejlads. Så vi arbejder sammen med sejldesignerne på at maksimere sejlarealet. Masten, bommen og bovsprydet er standard, nøjagtig det samme som enhver anden C38. Vi har arbejdet på storsejlets størrelse, optimeret fokkene og især arbejdet på gennakere. Målet er ikke at købe 20 sejl, men at opretholde et fornuftigt forhold mellem udgifter og ydelse.” Eliassons projektteam omfatter også Christen With fra North Sails Norge, der rådgiver om rating og strategi; hans kollega Pål Berntsen, rådgiver om sejl og udstyr; og freelance ekspert Pascal Kuhn, en tidligere Bavaria-produktchef, der har arbejdet tæt sammen med Cossutti og Ganz om at bringe anden generation af C-Line-yachter på markedet. Bådens præstation ser lovende ud. Eliasson har logget 14,8 knob dog med vind med en smule bølge assistance, og mens han sejlede solo, afsluttede han en 45-mil race en hel time foran en 46-fods med en stor besætning og en fuld sejlpakke. ''Vi har ikke vundet nogen kapsejladser endnu”' siger han. “Men vi har været på podiet tre gange, og sejlet mod stærke konkurrenter: JPK'er, X-Yachts, Arconas, de bedste både i Norge.” Det er værd at påpege, at de fleste af disse både koster tre gange så meget som C38’eren. "Som med alle både har det taget lidt tid at lære dens egenskaber at kende og finde det rigtige trim," siger Christen With. “Vi har fokuseret på mastetrim og testet, hvilket setup der er mest gunstigt under forskellige vindforhold. Efterhånden har vi fået båden til at gå bedre og bedre.” Det vejledende princip for udvikling af sejl er at skabe en pakke, som enhver C38-ejer, der ønsker at sejle kapsejlads, nemt kan købe, og som fungerer godt på bådens standardopsætning. Testbådens indledende sejlgarderobe omfattede et 47m2 storsejl, tre fokke fra 29m2 til 40m2, en 58m2 Code Zero, 125m2 og 111m2 gennakkere og en 36m2 windseeker. "Vi er forbløffede over, at vi kan bruge den 35m2 mellemstore fok op til 20 knob," siger With. “Vi har opdaget, at denne båd elsker at have stor kraft i forsejlet. Samtidig skal du være aktiv med at trimme storsejlet fladere og fladere efterhånden som vinden tiltager. Båden bliver da en sand fornøjelse at styre. Det er en klar fordel ved kapsejlads. Til cruising betyder det, at styringen let mestres, selv for en uerfaren sejler. Og autopiloten vil gøre et godt stykke arbejde, når du vil forlade roret." Sejl til side, den første sæsons opgraderinger inkluderede inhaulers til forsejlsskøderne, Seldén race blokke, et justerbart Dyneema backstay, Dyneema running rigging og et nyt storskøde setup, der giver flere mekaniske fordele. C38’erens cockpit er enormt sammenlignet med mange andre cruiseres, som plejer at være designet til shorthanded besætninger, og alt det albuerum er praktisk til kapsejlads. "Jeg har haft professionelle kapsejladshold på min båd, og de er meget imponerede, især over cockpittet," siger Eliasson. "Med en fuld besætning på seks til otte personer er der masser af plads til, at alle kan arbejde med båden effektivt og komfortabelt." Faste og aftagelige storskøde løjgange blev overvejet, men afvist. En fast løjgang ville kompromittere bådens dobbeltfunktionelle rolle som familiecruiser såvel som klubracer, og en aftagelig løjgang ville ikke være lang nok til at gøre den store forskel for sejltrimningen. I stedet føres skødet til en let aftagelig blok i midten af cockpittet. "Det er vigtigt at forstå, at selvom vi har lagt en del kræfter og penge i sejl og hardware, er vores mål at se, hvor langt vi kan nå uden at ødelægge bådens koncept," forklarer Eliasson. “Og det er også vigtigt, at performance-versionen af C38'eren meget nemt kan ændres tilbage til den fulde cruising-version.” Føler han sig ikke fristet til at fjerne nogle af de tungere genstande nedenunder, når han konkurrerer mod specialbyggede kapsejladsbåde? "Slet ikke”, siger han. "Jeg har aldrig fjernet noget fra interiøret. Og vi har sejlet denne båd med alt kategori 3 sikkerhedsudstyr ombord, hvilket tilføjer en masse vægt. Vi har ikke engang flyttet batteriet til ankerspillet, som er i stævnen. Vi har faktisk fundet ud af, at det kan betale sig at flytte vægten fremad i let vind." Bavarias produktionschef, Udo Erbe, følger projektet tæt for at sikre, at den opnåede viden kan føres tilbage til fremstillingsprocessen. "Selv en familiecruiser bør være en hurtig båd," siger han. "Og dette projekt viser, hvad der er muligt i forhold til optimering." "Ved at give Claes support, indsamler vi også data, der kan hjælpe os med at udvikle vores performance diagrammer til en række projekter," siger Cossutti. "Og en masse viden går tilbage til Udo på værftet. Det har været interessant at udfordre båden og sammenligne den med andre både i et kapsejladsmiljø. Dette har givet en klar indikation af, at båden virkelig er så god, som vi troede, den var i begyndelsen. Det er vigtigt for værftet og også for os. En af udfordringerne ved cruising yacht design er, at du skal overveje, hvordan båden klarer sig og håndterer under mange forskellige forhold mellem tom og lastet med vand, brændstof, mennesker, udstyr og så videre. Forskydningen kan ændre sig dramatisk. Det hjælper os, når vi ser, hvordan båden klarer sig ved klubkapsejlads." Projektet kører, og optimeringen fortsætter. "I år tilføjer vi en North Sails 3Di fok, som vil give os mere kraft i let vind," siger Eliasson. "Det er formentlig den første, der nogensinde er blevet monteret på sådan en type båd, og absolut den første med et Helix-forlig. Vi skifter også bommen ud med en lettere." Vi afventer sæsonens resultater med interesse. Klik her for mere information om Bavaria Yachts. Testbåden har en normal rig, men der er lagt mange kræfter i sejludvikling med fokus på fok, gennaker og storsejlets størrelse. READ MORE

A CLASSIC YACHTING WEEKEND Classic Performances Down East 📸 Carol Chu Photography A series of regattas along Maine’s rocky coast provide a showcase for vintage yachts powered by North Sails technology. Midcoast Maine is the place to be mid-summer, when fresh-picked corn and wild blueberries flood the farm stands, and classic yachts—modern and old, from daysailers to schooners—gather and joust for honors at five renowned regattas, spread out over the course of three weekends. The competition was brisk for the 2022 season, with 109 classic yachts signing up for the series of harbor parades, shoreside social events, and, of course, spirited racing. And a number of top finishers owed their podium appearances, in part at least, to North Sails. Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Regatta and Shipyard Cup Classics Launched as a superyacht gathering over a decade ago by Hodgdon Yachts, and reprised in 2021 as a venue for Vintage, Spirit of Tradition and Modern Classic sailboats, the ranks just keep growing. It was the 48th running of the regatta, which featured numerous PHRF and one-design divisions, and the second season for the Shipyard Cup. After six races, The Hawk with full North inventory featuring 3Di technology nailed the first of what would turn out to be several top podium appearances in the various regattas, placing first among the six-boat Spirit of Tradition/Modern Classics class. The Vintage Classics 1 division was totally dominated by North Sails powered boats, starting with Black Watch took first, while Marilee, a restored New York 40, placed second with North Sails expert Jack Slattery onboard and powered with 3Di technology. 📸 Carol Chu Photography The Camden Classic The following weekend, racing action moved to the heart of Penobscot Bay for the two-day Camden Classic Cup. As in Boothbay, racing included a mix of PHRF, one design and classic divisions, with nearly 100 yachts participating. Shoreside festivities took place at the new Lyman Morse Boat Building facility on the Camden waterfront. Once again, The Hawk, with North Sails expert Tim Healy onboard, benefited from two solid days of racing, and finished first in the four-boat Modern Classic division. Two other North-powered boats also placed in that class, Vortex taking second, and Hound, a Aage Nielsen sloop, finished third. North Sails designer Glenn Cook, who sailed on Polly and competed in the Vintage 1 division, shares “Every year this event builds on the success of the previous year. This year the conditions were superb and the new waterfront facilities at Lyman Morse raised the level of the shoreside events. In contrast to the typical sea breeze in Penobscot Bay the wind had a strong west component and was quite variable making for interesting racing. The Ocean 370 3Di sails we had onboard the Nevins 56, Polly, were well suited for the conditions. Most importantly we were able to effectively depower the sailplan as the breeze built on Saturday afternoon. This is the advantage of the 3Di sail versus the woven sails that are more common in the classic fleet.” North clients prevailed in four other divisions where skippers took home hardware during the event. In the Vintage 1 class, New York 32 Siren took first with Black Watch finishing close behind in second. Marilee finished just out of the money in fourth place, followed by Polly, a 56-foot sloop finishing fifth. Swan 42 Tio Loco, owned by Henry Brauer, took first in the CRF Contemporary division while Restive secured third in the Spirit of Division class; both powered by North Sails. Meanwhile another boat sporting North Sails, Mermaid, a 45-foot ketch, took third in the Classic class. 📸 Carol Chu Photography Castine Classic Yacht Race Crews sailed deeper into Penobscot Bay, to Castine, for the August 4 Castine Classic Yacht Race, set along a 19.6-nautical-mile course to Camden. North Sails swept the podium with Siren taking first in the Classic A fleet, followed by Black Watch in second and Vortex in third. When the time came to hand out the hardware, the crew of Siren were called back and also awarded the Ames Cup as overall winner of the Classic A, B and C fleets, and to add to their winnings, they also took home the Sparkman & Stephens trophy as the top S&S yacht. North Sails was also front and center in The Spirit of Tradition class with Outlier, a 55-foot Botin design, taking first while Restive took third. Eggemoggin Reach (ERR) The ERR is an East Coast classic in its own right. The race, first sailed in 1985, was organized by Brooklin Boat Yard’s Steve White and Frank Hull as an event to bring wooden boat owners together for friendly competition on the water and spirited good times ashore. That year 13 yachts answered the call. And then, the word got out. In the following few summers, the fleet grew to more than 100 yachts as the Castine and Camden races turned a one-day party into a three-day festival of wood, varnish and sails. This year’s race featured 10 divisions, with 112 boats participating. The event is now sponsored by Brooklin Boat Yard and Rockport Marine. What hasn’t changed are the rules—boats must be 24 feet or longer and wooden—and the course: a 15 mile run down Eggemoggin Reach and back, which is followed by shoreside festivities at the home of Wooden Boat Magazine. 📸 Carol Chu Photography This year, boats fitted out with North Sails took firsts in three divisions: Mermaid in Classic C, Siren in Vintage B, and The Hawk in the Modern Classics class. Also doing well among the Moderns were Starry Night, third, and Vortex, fourth. Siren was also the winner of the S&S Best Corrected Time award, the S&S Best Elapsed Time award as well as the Joel White Award for best corrected time for a plank-on-frame boat. Other boats making podium appearances included Marilee, finishing third, in Vintage B, and Cheetah Cheetah, which took second place in the Vintage A division. In the Spirit of Tradition B class, yachts with North Sails took home honors in four of the top six finishes. Placements included second-place Lark,; third-place Outlier; and fourth-place Dreadnought,. Veteran ERR entry Wild Horses, a W-76 yacht placed sixth. Several of the classic yachts serving up standout performances at the Down East regattas – Marilee, Siren, Mermaid, and Polly – all sported 3Di Ocean 330 and 3Di Ocean 370 technology. When it comes to 3Di Ocean sails, North Sails designer Glenn Cook shares, “The 3D sails have more range, it is especially noticeable how stable the sail shapes remain as the wind increases. And conversely how easy it is to power up the sail plan with small adjustments. Vintage 1 Classic winner Peter Cassidy and his team on Siren with a new set of 3Di Ocean 330 said “I recommend putting this on your calendar for next year if it is not already. It is also the perfect warm up for the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta and the feeder races the following weekend.” 📸 Carol Chu Photography READ MORE

DENALI3: A Team Effort Reflecting On Double Class Wins for Denali3 Denali3 has had a good year, a very good year. “Just being on the water with the team again was a joy for sure,” said Bill McKinley, her owner. He was reflecting on returning to racing after suffering – along with many other teams – a couple of difficult seasons. “The last two years really kicked us in the butt,” he added, but they went into the 2022 season with a new sail inventory targeted at the classic Great Lakes events and, “a lot of freaking hope.” It turned out to be a well-founded hope. McKinley and his crew – mostly made up of his friends – have achieved a remarkable double; class wins in both the 2022 Bayview Mackinac and Chicago-Mackinac races. “We were fairly confident in the rig and sails as we had some solid practice days with the team, but actual race results take a lot of factors coming together at the same time,” he explained. “The Mac races couldn’t have been more different: The Bayview Mac was light air beating, reaching and running. The Chicago Mac was mid- to high- wind reaching and running mixed in with massive squalls. Winning our section in both races sailing against an incredible group of competitors and some of the best TP52 sailors in the world was epic… literally a dream come true… something you dream about but don’t expect to ever happen.” It was a dream built on some smart thinking and very sound preparation, all of which reflected McKinley’s long experience of the sport, and those two races. “Sailed my first Mackinac at age 11, have sailed in over 60 Mackinacs,” he explained. He’d previously owned a Nelson/Marek ULDB 70 and a Carkeek 40, hitting the podium in plenty of big races. So, McKinley was very clear right from the outset about what he wanted from his third boat, designed by Jason Ker and built by McConaghy’s in China in 2017-18. “My goals when I commissioned Denali3 were an all-around boat that was fully sorted for offshore sailing,” he said. “Aside from mode-ing the boat for Macs, I wanted to go back and run the TransPac, the Bermuda Race, as well as the Caribbean 600. Specifically, I wanted a boat that excelled in light air reaching as well as big breeze reaching and running.” “Obviously the ‘target’ races are pretty different and require different sail inventory approaches. The first goal was creating my vision of a ‘Mac boat’ for light wind reaching in 40 to 80 TWA and high AWAs due to the traditional light breezes. I was fortunate to hook up with Wade Morgan and Magnus Doole who had sailed and outfitted Alpha+ . They were super receptive to my vision of an upwind J-Zero.” Wade Morgan specializes in the management of custom yacht builds, and includes Mālama, 11th Hour Racing’s IMOCA 60 on his CV. Morgan had already worked with Magnus Doole on several projects, including the construction of two previous Ker designs. Doole has been a sail designer for North Sails since 2007 and has a strong background in the TP52 class and maxi boats, but this was a different challenge; because of the offshore and reaching emphasis that Bill was putting on the boat. “We went through the process of working with Southern Spars and with Ker Yacht Design to optimise the sail plan for what Bill wanted to do,” said Doole. They had an advantage with the sails and the mast all coming from within the North Technology Group, so a range of expertise could be drawn upon, and the integrated tools of the North Design Suite could be used to full advantage. “We also worked with Greg Stewart from Nelson/Marek Yacht Design to look at the rating side of it for the specific races,” added Doole. “The boat captain, Norman Berge is also part of that communication loop… he’s a Harbor Springs, Michigan native, who does a fantastic job of preparing the boat to a Super Series level of preparation.” Denali3 was launched during the 2018 season, competing on the Great Lakes her first couple of years. There were reservations about the rudder position, which seemed more optimized to upwind / downwind sailing, rather than reaching. “It was clear at the end of that, that the boat over performed in some conditions, and it was difficult to sail in others,” said Morgan. Bill McKinley picks up the tale, “After two years on the Lakes, collectively Wade, Magnus and myself determined that in order to really enhance our reaching capabilities we need to move the rudder aft and enlarge it… In late 2019, the boat was shipped to Newport to effect the rudder mods with the goal of racing the 2020 Newport to Bermuda Race… Needless to say, that race got cancelled due to Covid-19, so we lost a year in the program.” It was the first of two tough years. In 2021 they went to California for the TransPac but were forced to pull out early. “So 2021 was a bust.” McKinley had already sowed the seeds for a dramatic comeback. In 2019, during their planning for the Newport Bermuda Race, he had commissioned North Sails Design Services to produce a report on the optimum sail inventory for the (eventually abandoned) 2020 season. It was typical of his thoughtful approach, an approach that meant Doole was able to constantly innovate with the sail inventory. “You’re lucky when you have an owner like Bill who will invest in that kind of tech,” commented Doole. The study was done by Jeremy Elliot, who has been head of the Design Services team since its inception in the mid-2010s. “The bulk of our consultancy work is to help the naval architect, and the owner and their team, fully map out the performance and the loading of the boat, so that it can be fully engineered,” he explained. The Design Services investigation into the optimum sail plan for Denali3’s 2020 itinerary provided several important insights and, in particular, had this to say about McKinley’s vision of an upwind J-Zero. “The J-Zero provides a particular advantage not only upwind in light air to hit heel target, but this was maintained to a much wider apparent wind angle.” Design Services identified that for Denali3 the J-Zero was a weapon. The remaining concern was whether it would justify the additional rating it would attract. Fast forward two years, and the team were preparing for the 2022 campaign. The Design Services report was dusted off, and a new question was asked of the data that had been supplied by Elliot: now that the Mackinac Races were being run under ORC , how will the J-Zero stack up against the rating penalty? “For this year, again with Greg Stewart involved, we looked at how ORC would work for the two Mac races. It became quite evident that where the boat sat in the rating bands, we could sail with the J-Zero,” Doole explained. “Bill’s not afraid to be an outlier if you can justify the performance gain relative to the weather systems that you’re working with,” said Doole. “And that’s why we rated with the J-Zero for the two races this year. We figured that it would allow us to keep up with the faster boats… As the weather systems roll through the lakes, you invariably have a point where you’ll stop or there’s a significant wind shift. And having the sails to deal with the wind shifts, to get you through that transition was important. If we hadn’t had the J-Zero on in the second race (the Chicago-Mackinac), the win would have been harder to achieve.” Another important factor was the use of the new Helix technology to create a J-1.5 that could cover the rest of the wind range. The Helix Structured Luff is a development in the 3Di technology that allows the trimmers to get more wind range out of the sail. “We had a new Helix J-1.5, so that we could eliminate a jib off the boat,” said Doole. “In the first race we only sailed with the J-Zero and the J-1.5… it was punchy but we built a jib that could do from J-1 through to J-2 conditions.” “I’m thrilled to hear that eventually it worked out,” said Jeremy Elliot of Design Services. “I think the performance that we found with those sails was there. It just found a slightly different home, in a slightly different racetrack, and on a different day. But I think that does validate the exercise that he was smart enough to commission.” “We absolutely wouldn’t be where we are without North Sails and Magnus,” concluded McKinley. “The energy and creativity that was put into designing a ‘world beating’ inventory is incredible. We literally have an arrow in our quiver for anything we might encounter. Aside from Magnus and Brian Janney being incredible sailors, they are incredible people and just plain fun to sail with.” And for the future? “We are headed back out to Cali and the 2023 TransPac… redemption!” said McKinley. READ MORE

Quick Tuning Guides: N14-L18 Mainsail N13-L12 Mainsail N13-L16 Mainsail N12-L9B Mainsail N10-L5 main N10-L5(H) main N9-L5 main L5-N15 Mainsail See also: Tips for Adjusting the Bolt Rope on Your 470 Mainsail READ MORE

VINTEREFTERSYN AF ALLE DINE SEJL Vil du forlænge dine sejls levetid, så giv dem lidt kærlighed her til vinter Vi er klar til at se på dine sejl og hjælpe dig med at planlægge din næste sejlsæson. Derfor tilbyder vi eftersyn og vinteropbevaring af dine sejl på vores sejlloft (fra oktober 2022 til april 2023). Prisen for eftersyn og vinteropbevaring er 550kr inkl. moms. I tilfælde af at dit sejl har brug for mere end et eftersyn sender vi dig et tilbud på dette til vores faste service priser. Vores sejlmagere står altid til rådighed for dig. Uanset om du er til cruising eller kapsejlads, har vi den viden og dedikation, der gør North til verdens førende sejlmager. Du kan selv gøre meget for at passe på dine sejl. Se sejlmagernes gode råd her. BESTIL TID TIL VINTERSERVICE READ MORE

EASY FURLING GENNAKER CLAIMS THE ACCESSIBILITY AWARD IN NEWPORT North’s newest cruising sail is award-winning North Sails is proud to announce that the recently launched Easy Furling Gennaker has won the Accessibility Award in this year’s Newport for New Products program at the Newport International Boat Show. The North Sails team is equally honored to be the only sailmaker featured amongst the distinguished list of award winners. “The Accessibility Award is brand new, given this year for the first time,” commented Sally Helme, Group Publisher for Yachting, Cruising World, and Sailing World, who presents the awards on behalf of Newport for New Products. “We introduced this award to celebrate new products that open up sailing to more people, make it easier for sailors of all levels, or let them spend more time on the water. The new Easy Furling Gennaker makes a traditionally difficult task on a boat easier for short-handed crews. We think it’s a special award, and we hope that North Sails and the wider sailing communities agree.” “It’s an honor to receive this award because accessibility is the exact reason we introduced this sail,” said Tim Healy, North Sails Global Head of Sales. “Our entire product and design team worked incredibly hard to engineer a cruising sail with the reliability of top-down furling without sacrificing the ability to sail deep downwind. We launched the Easy Furling Gennaker just a few weeks ago, and it’s already proving to be our most in-demand downwind cruising sail.” To learn more about the Easy Furling Gennaker, browse product features and benefits on northsails.com, contact your local North Sails Expert, or visit the North Sails booth at Dock N-0 E during the Newport Boat Show. READ MORE

INTERBOOT 2022 Sehen wir uns? North Sails Schweiz freut sich vom 17. – 25. September auf Ihren Besuch bei uns am gleichen Ort wie im vergangenen Jahr: Halle A3, Stand 200. Gerne können Sie auch schon einen Termin im Voraus buchen. READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: ANNA SAGULENKO Get To Know Your Local Sales Expert Anna joins the Toronto team of North Sails as an expert in our service division, specializing in windsurfing repairs. She has an extensive background in windsurfing, especially foiling windsurfing, taking first in the women's division at the 2019 IFCA Foil World Championships in Switzerland; the first ever event of its kind. Anna was also on the PWA World Windsurfing Tour for severely years and was one of the top internationally renowned windsurfers chosen to help test windsurfing gear for the 2024 Paris Olympics in Circolo Surf Torbole on Lake Garda, Italy back in the Fall of 2019. How did you get involved in windsurfing and foiling windsurfing? I started windsurfing at 13 after 4 years of sailing in the Optimist class; my father was a windsurfing coach. For foiling, it started for me in Vietnam in 2017 with the test event for Starboard. How long have you been involved in the sport? I used to be the member of Ukrainian team since 10 y.o.)) so actually, most of my life What’s your favourite thing about windsurfing? It’s light and simple but gives you freedom. If you had to pick a favourite spot to go windsurfing, where would it be? Tarifa, Spain or Lake Garda, Italy. Those are my favourite spots. What are you most looking forward to about joining North Sails? When it comes to joining North Sails, I am most looking forward to improving my skills as a sailmaker and becoming a member of a great North Sails team. As well, learning as much as I can about sailmaking technologies and design to become a real sail expert. © Bellande / CNPV Azores READ MORE

NORTH SAILS OPENS NEW SAILS AND SERVICE FACILITY IN PUERTO RICO Cristian Plaza Leading The Charge North Sails announces the opening of North Sails Puerto Rico, its new Puertorican sales and service facility headed by Cristian Plaza. Located in Ponce, Puerto Rico, the 7,000 square foot facility is expansive enough to accommodate everything from dinghy sails to keelboat sails while also offering regatta repair to keep you on the course and performing your best. Sales and service expert Cristian Plaza brings a lifetime of experience to the loft and is eager to help sailors with their sailcare needs. Born and Raised in Puerto Rico, Christian started sailing dinghies when he was very young, then climbing into the PHRF scene and sailing locally-built sport-boats. At 19, he began sailing the Caribbean in the local one design class IC-24 while simultaneously beginning his career in sail repair and canvas work. He hasn’t stopped since. Now his passion for the sport and the industry has led to the opening of his own canvas and repair facility and teaming up with North Sails.  The North Sails loft is conveniently located in the harbor warehouse of Ponce, only 5-10 minutes from the Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club and other utilities, rigging, tools & parts stores. The Bay of Ponce is the “must go” for one design racing and also showcases various beautiful sites for the day-sailors and cruisers. It is known as one of the best venues on the island for racing because the wind mostly blows parallel to the coast line and creates a very challenging race course for sailors to test their skills. For cruisers, the coastal sightseeing is spectacular and there are little island cays to visit; such as the famous “Caja de Muerto Island” with beautiful bright beaches and the crystal clear warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.  Focusing on custom sails for both cruisers and racers, Plaza and his team will assist all sailors across the whole island and US Virgin Islands in maximizing their performance on the water and ensuring confidence while cruising. In addition to creating new sails, Plaza’s team will also provide repair services, sail storage, measurement, custom canvas work and more for sailors in and around the Ponce area. Cristian's goal, in alignment with North Sails, is to impact the sailing community by offering only the best products and service possible; while also bringing more people into the sport. “Our staff is ready to go.” North Sails Puerto Rico is a great addition to the North global family of lofts. NORTH SAILS PUERTO RICO READ MORE

NÅR DET ER TID TIL AT LÆGGE SEJLENE VÆK FOR VINTEREN Vinteropbevaring og sejlpleje er nøglen til at forlænge dine sejls levetid Hos North Sails får du selvfølgelig gode råd om opbevaring af sejl. Vi deler vores bedste tip nedenfor for at sikre at dine sejl forbliver i topform til næste sæson. Med vinterens komme er det at sætte båden på land og pakke udstyret sammen efter endt sæson en del af at have båd her i Danmark. Og at gøre tingene rigtigt er meget afgørende for en god og ubesværet start på den nye sæson til foråret, når det varmere vejr vender tilbage. Her et par tips baseret på vores egne erfaringer, som du skal huske på, når du forbereder dig på at opbevare dine sejl over vinteren. Tørre Først og fremmest skal dine sejl være helt tørre, før du lægger dem væk. Det gælder også for kortvarig opbevaring og er meget vigtigt, når du opbevarer sejlene i længere tid. Fugt vil tilskynde vækst af skimmelsvamp og mug og forårsage at dine sejl bliver jordslåede. Soltørring fungerer rigtigt godt, men for meget sol kan give UV-skader. Læg ikke sejlene væk mens de er fugtige eller fulde af salt. Saltet tiltrækker og bevarer fugt. Ingen af disse ærgerlige forhold er dækket af producentens garantier for sejl eller sejldug. Efterfølgende rengøring fjerner sjældent alle pletterne fra skimmelsvamp, ligesom rengøring heller ikke kan fjerne afsmitning af farverne i en spiler. Skimmelsvamp (jordslag) og farveafsmitning er grimt, men det reducerer ikke sejlets performance. Langvarig eksponering af fugt vil dog skade dine sejl mere end blot på udseendet, såsom beskadigelse af limen, imprægneringer og coatingen på og i sejldugen. Fugt kan "hydrolysere" komponenterne i sejldug og kan over tid få sejlet til at gå fra hinanden. Rene Som alt andet holder sejl også længere, hvis man holder dem rene. Snavs beskadiger uden tvivl sejldugen - somme tider gennem kemisk interaktion og somme tider ved mekanisk slidtage. F.eks. fungerer tørre saltkrystaller indlejret i sejldugen som små file, der slider på fibre og film. Rene sejl holder længere og performer bedre, især når sejlet bliver ældre. Så hvordan rengøres sejlene korrekt og effektivt? Til den grundlæggende rengøring, kan de fleste sejl materialer klare en kombination af vand med lidt mild sæbe eller Rodalon, meget blid skrubning med hånden eller en blød børste og rigeligt ferskvand til at skylle med. Og som nævnt ovenfor er grundig tørring efter vask afgørende. Men er sejlet meget beskidt og jordslået, er mere aggressive foranstaltninger nødvendige for at fjerne pletter. Nogle typer fiber/film/resin er meget robuste og modstår eksponering for kemi og mere hårdhændet håndtering. Andre materialer er mere skrøbelige overfor specifikke eksponeringer. Og så bliver det kompliceret! At fjerne en fedtplet på et vævet dacron sejl er meget forskellig fra at fjerne en rustplet på et laminat sejldug eller skimmelsvamp i et materiale med høj tæthed. Vi anbefaler, at du får en professionel til at rense det du ikke selv kan klare med sæbevand. Hos North Sails samarbejder vi med forskellige firmaer som er specialister i at fjerne snavs og skimmelsvamp. Så lad os se på sejlet, hvis vand og sæbe ikke er nok... Et par hovedregler, der er vigtige at huske (men langt fra alt hvad du behøver at vide, før du fortsætter): Vær meget forsigtig med blegemiddel (klorin eller lignende). Nogle plastmaterialer har en høj tolerance overfor blegemiddel (polyester, aka dacron), mens andre straks går i opløsning ved kontakt med små mængder (blegemiddel er meget skadeligt overfor blandt andet Kevlar/Aramid fibre og nylon). Vær forsigtig med at bruge andre rengøringsmidler end et mildt rengøringsmiddel som opvaskemiddel. Nogle gange kan rustfjernere og lignende gøre det tilsigtede job pænt. Men når den type produkter ikke er egnede til det rensede materiale, kan katastrofen ramme hurtigt (og det kan blive dyrt!). Sejl til kapsejlads kan rengøres med en simpel skylning med vand og derefter tørre. Skyl aldrig en nylon spiler i en klorfyldt swimmingpool (ja, det sker desværre ofte). 📸 Michael Egan / Egan Images Reparation Et rent sejl er utvivlsomt rart at have - men det er ikke til meget glæde, hvis sejlet kræver reparation for at være fuldt funktionelt. At få foretaget nødvendige reparationer inden vinteropbevaring, er det rigtige at gøre. Det er lidt som "husk at bruge tandtråd hver dag" eller "undgå for meget sukker": det er lettere sagt end gjort. Men det vil betale sig (ligesom at bruge tandtråd og at begrænse indtaget af sukker, selvfølgelig). Sejlvask er en glimrende mulighed for at inspicere og identificere nødvendige reparationer, uanset om du selv foretager rengøringen eller får en sejlmager til det. Opbevaring Vi ser desværre mange eksempler på skader påført af mus, når sejl opbevares på loftet eller i udhuset. Så det er vigtigt at vurdere om stedet er sikkert og der ikke kan komme uventet besøg af mus eller andre gnavere, men en god måde at holde mus ude af dine sejlposer starter med rene og tørre sejl. Sørg for at der ikke er salt på dine sejl eller sejlposer (dette er også et godt tidspunkt at fjerne salt og snavs fra lynlåsene). Hvis du ruller og pakker dine sejl på din græsplæne, skal du sørge for, at der ikke er blade eller græs i de foldede sejl. Opbevar dine sejl et sted, hvor små dyr ikke kan nå dem. En spiler er særligt attraktivt for gnavere, da det både fungerer som et måltid og godt redemateriale. Hvis muligt kan man hænge sine (rene og tørre) spilere fra liner fastgjort til loftsbjælkerne i sin kælder eller garage i stedet for at lade dem ligge på en hylde eller på gulvet. Kontakt os, hvis du har spørgsmål om opbevaring af sejl! 📸 Urban Haglin READ MORE

VINTEROPBEVARING AF DINE SEJL Opbevaring af sejl i tre lette trin Følg disse 3 enkle trin for at sikre dine sejl for vinteren: Tør sejlene Fold sejlene Opbevar sikkert Tør sejlene Vær omhyggelig med at dine sejl er helt tørre, inden du pakker dem væk for vinteren. Dette forhindrer vækst af skimmelsvamp og mug samt forhindrer dem i at lugte muggent om foråret. Skulle uheldet være ude og dine sejl er blevet jordslåede, kan du bringe dem ind til vask. En professionel vask dræber skimmelsvamp og mug og fjerner alt, der ikke allerede er indlejret i sejlet, og stopper dermed fremtidig vækst af skimmelsvamp. Fold sejlene Fold forsigtigt dine sejl, inden du opbevarer dem og forsøg at undgå at folde sejlet i de “gamle” folder, for at forhindre at disse folder sidder hele vinteren. Hvis du har mulighed for det, anbefaler vi at du ruller dine sejl. Opbevar sikkert Hvor du opbevarer dine sejl, er lige så vigtigt som hvad du gør, inden du lægger dem væk. Overvej følgende, når du vælger din placering: Skadedyr: Små dyr elsker at bo i et sejl om vinteren. De vil heller ikke tøve med at tygge sig igennem dine sejl, for at gøre sig det endnu mere mageligt. Sørg for at opbevare dine sejl et sted, der ikke er tilgængeligt for gnavere og andre skadedyr. Fugtighed og temperatur: Opbevar sejlene på et tørt sted, så de ikke akkumulerer fugt hele vinteren. Et temperaturreguleret område er også en god idé. Efterlader du sejlene på din båd, anbefaler vi at du har en affugter kørende hele tiden. Sørg for at sejlene ikke ligger oven på hinanden da de kan få pressefolder som kan være svære at komme af med igen. READ MORE

HE SAILS SHIELDS BY THE SEASHORE Longtime North Sails Expert Mike Toppa Doing What He Loves What’s better than racing an immaculately prepared yacht in Sardinia? According to Mike Toppa, it might just be racing his 50 year old Shields on Wednesday night in his home town of Newport—especially this year, when the Nationals are on his home waters. “It’s the best racing!” he says. “We’ve got Narragansett Bay to ourselves; great sunsets, fantastic conditions… and really good competition, because the best sailors in Newport are out there. And the bonus for me is that I get to go out with my family and friends, which is a lot of fun.” The Nationals are a much different challenge than a few hours of midweek racing inside Narragansett Bay, he admits. “We’re racing outside in Rhode Island Sound, in more wind. The waves are bigger, and it’s three consecutive days. So both the gear and the people get tested.” Toppa signed on his regular Wednesday night crew for the regatta: daughters Holly and Alie, son-in-law Jeremy Wilmot, and Suzy Leech. Though he’s only had his current boat, Bomba Charger, for four years, he first sailed a Shields as a young teenager. He was a sophomore in college the only other time he sailed the Nationals however and that second place finish still hurts. “Jerry Kirby and I had a boat together. It was really windy, and we were sailing outside.” On the final day, they were winning the regatta on the last run down to the finish. “The boat was full of water, so we started bailing with two buckets. But luck was not on our side, first we lost one bucket over the side, and then quickly lost the second as well. At which point the boat behind us surfed right by and won the race. That win gave them the point then needed to beat us and win the whole event! Not gonna make that mistake again” Mike says laughing Leading up to the 2022 Nationals, Toppa has spent several days going over all of the boat’s equipment. “I wanted to make sure everything was rock solid, ready for 20 knots and big waves. We checked everything; running rigging, equipment, attachments—and I also made sure we’d be able to keep the water out. That last Nationals is an old memory—but still stings” North Sails is well-represented throughout the fleet, including Will Welles, Mike Marshall, Tim Dawson, Will Bomar, and Jeff Hayden. “Jeff won the Nationals last year, with Robin Monk,” Toppa says. “Seems like every boat he gets on goes faster.” And Mike Marshall has done a lot of work on the sail designs for the class, he adds. “We actually have a new test spinnaker that we built over the summer and will be looking at next week, which we’ll make available to the class for 2023. ” One reason the class is still around and thriving, Toppa insists, is that the national association does a really good job keeping down costs with the class rules. “You can only buy one sail a year, and every sail has to have at least 10 races on it prior to the Nationals. Most replace either a main or jib every year so spinnakers get tired. Hopefully this new design is a good one.” Asked to name a favorite to win this year’s Nationals, Toppa would only express hope that the winner will be from Fleet 9. “We honestly haven’t been sailing super consistently this summer. And there are lots of other previous National champions in our fleet.” As for that immaculately prepared yacht in Sardinia…Mike’s travels to the Rolex Swan Cup 2022 conflict with the final day of the Shields Nationals, so daughter Alie will take over as skipper. “She has a second and a fourth driving Wednesday nights so far this summer,” he says proudly. “So at some point, I’m sure I’m going to be holding a clipboard for her. I just love to race sailboats! Even though I am lucky enough to have done so many regattas in so many different types of boats— there is something super special about doing it in your own backyard with your family. It is hard to beat” 📸 Stephen Cloutier READ MORE

EUROSAF First 18 SE Europsko prvenstvo 📸 Ana Šutej - Seascape JK Piran iz Portoroža u suradnji s brodogradilištem Seascape organizirao je ovogodišnje Europsko prvenstvo za klase First 18 SE i Seascape 18. Bio je to povratak u akvatorij u kojem su zajedrile prve jedrilice iz ovog škvera, a ovo veliko natjecanje na Europskoj razini obilježilo je ukupno 28 posada. Prvenstvo je organizirano između 23. i 27. kolovoza, a posebnu draž dala je obiteljska grupa u kojoj su sudjelovale posade u kombinacijama otac i sin, otac i kćer, bračni partneri... a na kraju prvog dana i tri održana plova prve dvije pozicije držali su obiteljski timovi! Jedrenje u Piranskom zaljevu proteklo je po vrlo lijepom i sunčanom vremenu i umjerenim vjetrovima. 📸 Ana Šutej - Seascape Prva dva dana puhala je bura koja je osigurala da se svakodnevno odjedre po tri plova. Trećeg dana regate odjedrila su se još četiri plova po laganijem, ali znatno stabilnijem vjetru, dok su na kraju posljednjeg dana dodana još dva plova u finalni skor. Ono što posebno veseli dobri su rezultati North Sails klijenata koji su i ovog puta pokazali da je suradnja s North Sailsom izvrstan recept za maksimalan užitak na regatnom polju. 📸 Ana Šutej - Seascape Kompletne rezultate regate u Sloveniji možete pronaći na ovom linku. READ MORE

BETTER TOGETHER: NORTH SAILS & HYLAS YACHTS Pushing The Boundaries For Cruisers © Hylas Yachts Building a strong partnership in 2021, North Sails and Hylas Yachts are focused on delivering the best cruising experience for sailors both on and off the water. Through continued innovation, teamwork, and cutting edge technology, sailors can expect nothing but the best from both. Bob Meagher, North Sails expert out of the Ft. Lauderdale loft of North Sails, checks-in with Peggy Huang of Hylas Yachts on the latest happenings. The design philosophy and commercial success of Hylas Yachts has been transformed in the last few years. Can you tell us a little bit about this philosophy that’s governing the design of the boats in your business practice in general? Although the latest Hylas H57 design certainly appears to revolutionize what we do, that's not really the case. Our primary goal continues to be the same - to build luxurious, safe, performance cruisers capable of transoceanic voyages. It's really an industry-wide technological evolution that is allowing us to enhance every aspect of what we do. From the hull construction to some lifestyle game changers, the key is to be willing to make changes that are appropriate to meet the needs of our increasingly sophisticated and knowledgeable clients. In the same way, North has developed the 3Di range, sail construction with as many advantages for our cruising clients with furling systems as it does the America’s Cup. Why would we not want to share this development? It seems to be paying off! Most recently the Hylas 57 won Sail Magazine's "Yacht of the Year," on the heels of the Red Dot Award as Best Product Design 2022, “Best in Show“ Newport International Boat Show 2021, “Best Boat of the Year” Cruising World Magazine 2022, ”Best Systems” SAIL Magazine 2022. Did we miss any of them? Hylas has never been a stranger to winning industry awards and we would be remiss if we didn’t mention folks like Frers, Dixon and more recently Salthouse as designers. Another important part of the mix is our partners which include yourselves at North. We particularly benefit with the consultative style approach you guys take that has been developed over the years. Industry awards have to be objective and focus on comparisons. This certainly isn’t a bad thing and it helps us tremendously from a marketing point of view. What is far more important to us is client satisfaction. We don’t have huge production capability so word of mouth is where we really see the benefit. Can you tell us a little about why you chose North Sails to partner with? We look for partners that are not only aligned with our own core values of quality, consistency and service but also embrace cutting-edge technology as a way of ensuring continuous improvement. I don't believe there is a Hylas owner out there that doesn't know who Peter Grimm is, and if they don’t they should make an effort to get to know him. Peter and the team at North are a very important part of why we continue to be successful. I mentioned the importance of a "consultative approach" when dealing with our clients. We genuinely enjoy introducing prospective clients to our sail team as you will always stay focused on their best interests and not the need to "up sell." I think a lot of credit should go to someone at North that allows the largest sail manufacturer in the world to provide such a highly personalized service. To learn more about North Sails sail inventory options for Hylas Yachts or similar boats, connect with Peter Grimm Jr. or Bob Meagher of North Sails Ft. Lauderdale. © Hylas Yachts READ MORE

EVENT SPOTLIGHT: ENGLISH BAY SCRAMBLE Strong Current And Unpredictable Breeze The English Bay Scramble out of Tiddly Cove Yacht Club is an annual tradition where "tacticians have free-reign in how the marks are rounded, even which way to cross the start line." The race this year saw intense current with the river west of the Lion’s Gate bridge running hard and 7-8 knots of wind offshore at the start, slowly easing throughout the day and with some notable holes. Krikkit, an Abbott 36, shares their experience of the strategy based race. For us, the holes came early at the Kits Barge Buoy, which we did first, and then late at the back of Passage Island, which we did last. We spent a long time there, but got free entertainment from a live reggae band playing on someone’s deck for their 50th birthday. Going inside first then outside seemed to be the paying move, Diva won overall with the same course as us, although it sure didn’t look that way at first. Halfway through the race it looked liked we'd really pooched it, because the boats that had gone outside first had been able to keep moving much better than us, and were returning past the Bell Buoy before we’d even got out that far. That said, as the afternoon wore on the flood current built and the wind was easing starting from the east. So while we were able to come in from Passage with favourable current and still-reasonable breeze; the boats that had gone outside first were trying to buck back to the start/finish against about 2 knots of current in rapidly-diminishing breeze. As Krikkit approached the S/F about 300 yards out, we saw Jasmina coming the other way under spinnaker, and about the same distance from the S/F. While we got pushed over the line doing 4.5 kts SOG (2.5 kts boatspeed + 2 kts current), Jasmina was essentially running in place and started going backward as the wind fell off further. They didn’t actually get to finish until an hour after us, when an 8 kt breeze kicked back on for a bit. The steadily-diminishing breeze also meant that the faster boats had a definite overall advantage. Still, the weather was generally pretty splendid, and a good time was had by everyone. A big thank you to the North Sails team at the Vancouver loft for their support of our annual race. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ADDS ROBERT HOOK TO THEIR DESIGN TEAM ROSTER Hooky Brings Decades Worth of Grand Prix Experience North Sails is excited to announce the addition of Robert “Hooky” Hook to our sail design team. Hooky, who started his career with North Sails and the America’s Cup in the 80s, brings a wealth of sail design experience and team-building leadership. Working closely with the North Sails design team worldwide, Hooky’s work is focused on Grand-Prix Inshore and Offshore sailing and supporting a handful of high-profile projects. A self-described hands-on designer, Hooky has a strong track record of helping programs get to the top of the podium. From his early days as a sail designer with Australian America’s Cup syndicate Kookaburra III, Hooky committed himself to win the Auld Mug and achieved this goal in 2010 as part of the BMW Oracle Racing team. Additionally, Hooky has also been involved in three ‘Round the World’ races. His resume boasts back-to-back victories with Paul Cayard’s EF Language campaign, followed by John Kostecki’s Illbruck program. “The America’s Cup and similar event-style campaigns are unique training grounds because an entire team, from sail designers to accountants, and all players in between, are committed to building the fastest thing on the water,” explains Hooky. “It’s a high-pressure, fast-moving team environment that pushes everyone to work to the best of their ability. Beyond the competition, these events are also a master class in teamwork and managing people while keeping everyone focused on the end goal. And this is something I look forward to continuing as part of the North design team.” “Adding Hooky to the team ensures North Sails can deliver the highest quality performance and best possible aerodynamic solutions,” explains JB Braun, North Sails Head of Design and Engineering. “The demand for talented and progressive sail designers continues to grow as boats get larger, foils become more common, and yacht designers get more aggressive in pushing the limits of what’s possible. Hooky will be instrumental in accelerating the development of our next generation of North sail designers. He knows what it takes to be a part of a successful team, and we’re excited he’s back in the game with North Sails.” “Whether we’re working with an RC44 program or a 100’ ocean racing machine, every client has different goals, and they each require a unique approach,” comments Paul Westlake, North Sails Executive Vice President, and Grand Prix Sales Leader. “As an organization, North Sails is designed to provide the resources and products for end-users to achieve their goals. Our design team sits at ground zero of that pipeline, both in the office and on the water.” Hooky is based in Queensland, Australia. In the coming months, he’ll assist big-name projects like Hamilton Island Wild Oats XI, and Blackjack as they gear up for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race 2022. He’ll then turn his attention to the RC44 circuit, a class where he already has a strong connection. He will support both the design office and on the water during the 2023 season. Hooky’s support of the RC44 class and the overall addition of such talent to the already strong design arsenal of North Sails cannot be overstated. Join us in welcoming Hooky to the North Sails team. READ MORE