NORTH SAILS OPENS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST SAIL LOFTS IN GENOA
Purpose-built to service the world’s largest sails the loft represents a major milestone in North Sails’ commitment to innovation, craftsmanship, and global service excellence.
North Sails has officially opened its latest flagship loft in the dynamic Port of Genoa, Italy. The stunning new building designed by architect Mattia Villani will function as a critical focal point for North Sails Italy and North Sails clients visiting the region and represents a landmark addition to the global network of purpose-built lofts from the world’s leading sailmaker.
Designed and constructed at an elevation of 20 meters above ground level to maximize light and visibility, the entire loft extends over a total area of 3,500 m², with a working platform of 2,000 m². The loft can accommodate the layout and handling of sails up to 75 meters in length and weighing up to 1,800kg, with three rotating pits which allow sewing machines to manoeuvre 360 degrees.
Alessio Razeto, Sales Director for North Sails Italy, commented “This beautiful new sail loft is a celebration of the vibrancy of the sailing industry in Italy and a testament to the passion, hard work and future ambitions of our amazing team here. We can’t wait to see the impact of this loft with North Sails clients, from Italy and beyond.”
Daniele Cassinari, CEO of North Sails Italy and Southern Europe Sales Manager, commented, “We are experiencing sustained growth at North Sails Italy and we are excited that this cutting-edge loft will be one of the jewels in the crown of North Sails’ global footprint. We are confident that it will play an important role within Genoa and the Mediterranean sailing community.”
Genoa is a critical base for North Sails, with a staff of over 40 selling more than 1,000 sails and servicing more than 2,000 sails per year. This amounts to over 85,000 m² of sail cloth passing through the facility every year. The sailmaking floor can sustain a weight of 2,200 kg per square meter, equivalent to supporting 2.5 meters of water across its surface, or two Olympic swimming pools stacked on top of each other.
Sam Watson, CEO of North Sails, commented “This is an important milestone for North Sails as we seek to strengthen our position as the world’s leading sailmaker and marine brand. We are committed to providing the best products and world-class service to our customers and we pride ourselves on offering an unrivalled network of sail lofts. Alongside flagship lofts in Palma, Gosport and beyond in Europe, this incredible new facility in Genoa is pivotal to our offering of world-class customer support.”
Due to its elevation, the main structural pillars of the building each support a load of 1,000 tons and a custom-made external freight elevator with a load capacity of four tons means that even the largest sail in the world can be managed inside the facility. Inside the loft, a motorized sail-tensioning system allows for real-time simulation of on-board rigging conditions, enabling operations such as hoisting, trimming, and furling that would otherwise be extremely complex to perform on board, especially for superyacht and Grand Prix racing sails. In addition to the sail loft and office floor, there are two climate-controlled warehouse levels for storing sails as well as an outdoor 550 m² sail washing area equipped with a water filtration station.
