NORTH SAILS SUPPORT ONE DESIGN RACING AT THE SAN DIEGO YACHT CLUB

The Battle for the The International Masters And Lipton Cup Titles

From October 18th to 27th, the J/105 fleet of the San Diego Yacht Club will be racing two consecutive events – the International Masters Regatta (October 18-20) and the Lipton Cup (October 25-27), proofing the well-earned reputation of the J/105s as one of the best One Design yachts for fun and evenly-matched competition. The boats will be raced by 11 different teams at each event. North Sails is proud to be an official sponsor. Our San Diego loft crew will be on site providing the North Sails outstanding service to all teams. “We go through all the sails to make sure all repairs are completed, battens are loaded and tensioned properly,” explains Eric Doyle, One Design expert at the North Sails San Diego loft. “Some years we replace the belly sections in the spinnakers to allow new sponsors to come on board. This involves the whole loft, from sales to service and the graphics department.” The North Sails San Diego team works closely with the San Diego Yacht Club to guarantee the success of the events. “Different people volunteer in lots of areas from tuning the boats to race committee, to even hosting out of town sailors, so pretty much everyone at the loft is involved in some way and that gives us a personal interest in making sure the sails are perfect,” Eric added. As the worldwide leader in sailmaking, North Sails is proud to offer a first-class service, with family members as committed to clients as the members of the San Diego loft.

Two Events, Two Concepts, One Boat

The International Masters Regatta is a three day battle between 11 Master sailors from around the country in a rotation of J/105s. It’s a very intense regatta for the invited skippers over the age of 60, including some of the most accomplished experts in the sport, such as Andy Roy and William Petersen, returning to better their 2nd and 3rd places respectively last year, or TV commentator and America’s Cup winner Gary Jobson. The Lipton Cup is a different concept. Eleven yacht clubs will battle for a trophy that dates back to the early days of yachting on the Pacific Ocean, circa 1900. Competition promises to be tight between the same yacht clubs that raced in 2018, returning to South San Diego Bay for a rematch. The San Diego Yacht Club will be defending their title in 2019. Both events share a fleet of eleven J/105s loaned from local owners. A popular class on the West Coast, the J/105 has all the ingredients for fair and even racing, especially with the system ruling that teams rotate boats between races. “It's a nice size, not too complicated, easy to sail and almost everyone at every level can be competitive at some point in a series like these, so that keeps it interesting for all participants,” explains Eric Doyle. For the Masters and Lipton Cup, the sails inventory onboard includes one main, jib and spinnaker. The mains have a slot to put the skippers’ name on for the spectators to follow, and the teams draw for spinnakers which stay with them from boat to boat. All sails are supplied by the organizer, and the North Sails San Diego loft team is responsible for making sure the material is always in perfect racing conditions. North Sails is the natural brand of choice for the San Diego Yacht Club and is the official partner for both the International Masters Regatta and Lipton Cup. “We have a strong history with the class, being involved with the sail development since the inception of the boat and organization of the class as primarily a one design race boat,” highlights Eric Doyle. “North Sails also uses the best materials and has the best workmanship of any sailmaker. In fact, when the SDYC first laid out the new format for the event, they were counting on getting five years out of mainsails and three for jibs. I believe they got two extra years out of both sails which is a testament to the quality.” To learn more about North Sails and the J/105 One Design class, click here. The North Sails J/105 sails inventory is available here. For more information about the North Sails San Diego loft, click here.