NORTH SAILS BLOG

EVEN VOORSTELLEN: JOOST HOUWELING North Sails One Design Expert Van jongs af aan draait het leven van Joost Houweling (45) om zeilen. Dat heeft niet alleen veel reizen met zich meegebracht, maar ook een groot netwerk in de zeilerij. Dat komt goed van pas bij zijn functie als One Design Expert bij North Sails. Wanneer we hem spreken, komt hij net terug uit Miami waar hij twee zeilevents heeft gevaren in twee verschillende klasses. Reizen en meedoen aan zeilwedstrijden klinkt als een droom... Is dat het ook? Je kunt wel stellen dat mijn werk en leven helemaal verweven zijn met mijn hobby. Zelf vaar ik onder andere Finn en Star. Boten die heel technisch en veeleisend zijn. Het leuke is dat ik de materie nog steeds aan het onderzoeken ben en telkens nieuwe afstellingen ontdek. De bevindingen die ik opdoe op het water bespreek ik tijdens de zeilevents met de aanwezige, internationale collega’s. Na het evenement hebben we een debriefing, productanalyses en houden we de tuning guide onder de loep. Alles om de North Sails producten verder te ontwikkelen en onze kennis te delen met klanten. Wat is het leukste aan jouw baan? De collegialiteit, zowel in de Benelux als internationaal. We hebben een heel leuk team in Nederland en België. Daarnaast kom ik dus veel collega’s tegen bij de evenementen. Deze groep is heel groot, maar een vraag is zo beantwoord. We weten elkaar goed te vinden en dat is maar goed ook, aangezien we de aandacht op de verschillende klasses hebben verdeeld. Zelf focus ik vooral op de Finn, Pampus, Star, Draak, Regenboog en Yngling, maar als lokale One Design Expert kunnen al onze klanten in de Benelux bij mij terecht met vragen. Als ik zelf het antwoord niet weet, zet ik de vraag uit bij mijn internationale collega’s. Dat is echt de kracht van North Sails. Waar ben je het meeste trots op? Dat is lastig, want ik weet niet meer alle overwinningen. Dat is niet arrogant bedoeld, want de Finn Gold Cup en de Star Mid Winters die ik beide net heb gevaren in Miami, waren wat teleurstellend. Zelf vaar ik momenteel vooral in deze twee klasses en maak ik af en toe een uitstapje naar de grote boten. Zo heb ik afgelopen zomer met een Australische IRC 40 de New York Yachtclub Race Week gewonnen en het TP 52 wereldkampioenschap gevaren met het team van Marc Blees. Ik vaar heel vaak met en tegen zeilgrootheden. Dat geeft echt een bevoorrecht gevoel. Maar als ik maar één prijs mag noemen waar ik echt trots op ben, dan zeg ik de Dragon Gold Cup. In 2015 mochten we deze prestigieuze prijs in ontvangst nemen en die heb ik wel onthouden. Hoe ben je bij North Sails terecht gekomen? Dat is allemaal heel natuurlijk gegaan. Ik ben opgegroeid op de Braasem en mijn ouders waren enthousiaste watersporters, dus de Optimist kwam er als vanzelfsprekend. Daarna heb ik nog even Splash gevaren, om daarna snel over te stappen naar de Regenboog en Star. Hier kwam ik Roeland Wentholt tegen, een van de grote zeildoekleveranciers en tevens leverancier van North Sails. Met hem ging ik internationale wedstrijden varen en onderweg bezochten we zeilmakerijen. In die tijd leerde ik veel belangrijke figuren in de zeilsport kennen en zeilde samen met mensen als Pieter Heerema en Olympiër en oceaanracer Lawrie Smith. Uiteindelijk werd ik in 2009 benaderd door North Sails met de vraag of ik de One Design tak wilde beheren. Ze hadden specifieke kennis nodig en daar gaat veel tijd in zitten. Deze baan past nog steeds uitstekend bij mij.luxe Wat is jouw (zeil)advies? Ga genieten van watersport! Bezig zijn op het water doet een mens echt goed. En dat hoeft niet per se in een zeilboot te zijn. Zelf ga ik bij mooi ook niet zeilen als ik vrij ben. Ik zeil nog wel voor m’n plezier, maar zeilen is wel werk geworden. Dat is niet erg, want daardoor heb ik het leukste werk denkbaar. Als ik vrij ben, pak ik wel vaak de sloep. Mijn twee zoons van 14 en 16 hebben het zeilvirus niet echt van me overgenomen. Dat is niet erg, ze mogen zelf hun sport kiezen. Als ze maar sporten! Toch krijgt mijn oudste zoon langzaamaan wel meer interesse in het zeilen. Afgelopen Sneekweek hebben we samen in de Pampus meegedaan. En dat was vast niet de laatste keer! READ MORE

420 & 470 The Carnival Race Mješovita posada sastavljena od kormilarke iz JK Sv.Nikola, Eme Samaržija i flokiste iz JK Galeb, Leona Scheidla, u studenom se oprostila od klase 420 i napravila korak naprijed prema vrhunskom seniorskom jedrenju prebacivanjem u olimpijski dvosjed, klasu 470. Kako je Ema ove jeseni upisala fakultet u Opatiji tako im je organiziranje zajedničkih treninga postalo mnogo lakše nego što je to bio slučaj dok su oboje bili srednjoškolci, pa su se morali pažljivo planirati vikendi u Rijeci ili odlasci na dodatne treninge u Zadar. Također im je sad mnogo zgodnije dogovoriti i zajedničke treninge s posadama u Portorožu, a ni Italija nije mnogo dalja. Jedrilicu klase 470, u kojoj su počeli jedriti, nabavili su u Francuskoj, a nakon što su je u ovih par zimskih mjeseci uspjeli dovoljno upoznati odlučili su se i na prvi nastup na regati. Izbor je pao na međunarodnu regatu 420 & 470 The Carnival Race koja se od 16. pa do 19. veljače organizirala u San Remu u Italiji. Na regatu su otputovali sami, a podršku na moru pravio im je slovenski trener Mitja Mikulin. Slično kao što je bilo i na Jadranu tih dana, ni u San Remu nije bilo vjetrovitije. Od četiri dana predviđena za jedrenje uspjeli su korisno iskoristiti samo dva. 📸 regate.com.hr Prvi dan bilo je samo 3 čvora vjetra, tako da nismo odjedrili niti jedan plov, ali drugi dan smo uspjeli odjedriti 3 plova. U prvom smo završili šesti i to po laganom vjetru. Na početku je puhalo 6-8 čvorova, a onda su na bovi od orce gdje je puhalo desetak čvorova dignuli Oskara (dozvola za pumpanje). Tu bovu smo okrenuli treći, odmah iza Giacoma Ferrarija koji je talijanski olimpijac i Tine Mrak. Međutim, još nismo dovoljno dobri u jedrenju u krmu, pa smo tu izgubili nekoliko mjesta i na kraju u cilj ulazimo na šestom mjestu. U drugom plovu ponovno je puhalo desetak čvorova. Do druge orce držali smo 6. mjesto, a onda nam je pukao trapez. Tu smo izgubili četiri mjesta i na kraju u cilj ulazimo kao 10. A u trećem plovu spušta se Oskar, vjetar je malo oslabio, dobro startamo i neloše jedrimo i u cilj ulazimo kao osmi. Treći dan je bila bonaca i nismo niti izašli na more. Zato je četvrti dan bilo malo više vjetra i jedrimo još dva plova. Prvi smo odjedrili po otprilike 13 čvorova i tu smo imali problem što nam je bio krivi trim broda. Zbog toga nam je bilo teško držati korak s ostalima i završavamo na 12. mjestu. Za zadnji plov smo se malo pretrimali, a i vjetar je oslabio, pa smo uspjeli završiti na šestom mjestu. Leon Scheidl, flokist Konačni rezultat regate u San Remu bilo je 7. mjesto od 15 mješovitih posada. Stvarno dobar rezultat s obzirom da je u pitanju bila prva regata i stvarno mali broj treninga u novoj jedrilici. Nastavak regatnih aktivnosti ove mlade posade već je idućeg mjeseca na velikoj regati na Palmi, a također planiraju nastup u Hyeresu, da bi drugi dio proljeća i ljetne mjesece proveli na juniorskim i seniorskim Europskim i Svjetskim prvenstvima koja će se s izuzetkom seniorskog Europskog prvenstva koje će se jedriti u San Remu, sva jedriti na sjeveru Europe. Kompletne rezultate The Carnival Racea možete pronaći na ovom linku, a ovoj ambicioznoj posadi želimo uspjeh u novoj klasi i da im se ispuni san, a to je nastup na Olimpijskim igrama 2028. u Los Angelesu. READ MORE

420 Zadar Open Drugi dio zimskih praznika juniori iz klase 420 proveli su u Zadru gdje im je domaćin bio JK Uskok, a vrijeme su proveli u pripremnom kampu i završnoj regati. Okupljanje u Zadru postalo je nezaobilazna destinacija za sve hrvatske posade, kao i za posade iz Slovenije i Poljske, a ponovno su im se pridružili i kolege i kolegice iz Italije. Ovogodišnje veljače sudjelovalo je 29 posada, od čega ih je 28 jedrilo na regati koja je trebala biti trodnevna, ali zbog najave orkanske bure za nedjelju 26. veljače, organizatori su odlučili da svim sudionicima pruže šansu da se na vrijeme vrate svojim domovima i u subotu proglašavaju najbolje. Kako se u nedjelju pokazalo, ta odluka je bila pravovremena i svi koji su iskoristili subotnje poslijepodne da se upute na sjever napravili su najbolji mogući potez. Već u nedjelju ujutro, cesta podno Velebita zatvorena je za sva vozila osim osobna, a kroz Liku i Gorski kotar već od jutra snijeg stvara probleme, a kako dan odmiče tako se ceste koje spajaju unutrašnjost s Dalmacijom zatvaraju i na snagu stupa zabrana prometovanja. Ali, vratimo se jedrenju. 📸 regate.com.hr 4 posada s CRO jedrima sudjelovalo je u kampu. Uz Zadrane tu su bili članovi JK Galeb, JK Sv.Nikola, JK Labud, a po prvi put i jedna djevojačka posada iz šibenskog JK Val. Cijeli pripremni tjedan prošao je u znaku slabog vjetra, a težište priprema bilo je na flotnom jedrenju i treniranju starta. Da bi priča bila zaokružena pobrinula se sinoptička situacija s dijametralno suprotnim vremenskim uvjetima na regati u petak i subotu. Vjetra je oba dana bilo značajno više, a u subotu dodatnu težinu boravku na moru davale ja kiša koja je padala od signala starta prvog plova. I u petak i u subotu odjedrila su se po tri plova. U petak po vjetru koje je puhalo između 11 - 13 čvorova, dok su u subotu refuli išli i do 19 čvorova. U razgovoru s predstavnikom Uskoka, Karlom Krpeljevićem, saznali smo da je u svim jedrenjima presudna bila prva dionica, od starta do oznake orce. Jedrenja u mezzonavu i krmu bila su uglavnom "vlakići" u kojima je najvažnije bilo da ne dođe do prevrtanja. Flota je bila miješana gdje je čisto djevojačkih posada bilo 5, čisto muških 14, a kombiniranih 9. Na kraju su se najboljima pokazala miješane posade u kojima su djevojke bile na kormilima, a dečki u ulozi flokista. Sva tri mjesta na postolju u generalnom poretku otišle su ovim posadama. Za razliku od lanjskog izdanja ove regate, kad je nabrža bila posada iz Slovenije, ove godine zlato uvjerljivo osvaja talijanska posada Lisa Vucetti - Vittorio Bonifacio. Pobjedu su odnijeli sa samo 6 kaznenih bodova, dok su drugoplasirana i trećeplasirana posada imale po 17 kaznenih bodova. Srebro su osvojili Uskokovci Noela Petešić i Adrian Peović, dok je bronca otišla na Jarun u vitrine Sv.Nikole a osvojili su je Mara Samaržija i Tin Fike. Zanimljiv detalj je da ni jedna od ove dvije posade nije uspjela osvojiti pojedinačni plov, a prevagu u korist domaćina odnijelo je to što je njihov najbolji finiš bilo drugo mjesto (i to tri puta), dok je posadi iz Zagreba najbolji rezultat bilo treće mjesto (dva puta). Nakon tjedna u Zadru naše posade u klasi 420 čekaju dvije regate u ožujku i to u Sloveniji i Italiji. Nakon toga slijedi talijanska turneja, a prva regata u Hrvatskoj tek je na rasporedu u rujnu. Kompletne rezultate Zadar Opena možete pronaći na ovom linku. READ MORE

North Sails klijenti ponovno na postolju Deset posada sudjelovalo je na otvaranju CRO Melges 24 serije regata. Prva regata ponovno je organizirana u Dubrovniku gdje su domaćini bili članovi JK Orsan i posada Melgesa 24 - Lero. Uvod u regatu bio je uobičajeni šušur po društvenim mrežama gdje su se objavljivale fotografije i video materijali novih jedrilica u floti, treninga u novim sastavima, polaganog buđenja nakon spektakularnog Prvenstva Hrvatske jedrenog u studenom i zimske pauze. Posljedica bildanja atmosfere bile su prijave poslane od strane 11 posada, da bi na kraju zbog sezonskih zdravstvenih razloga jedna posada otkazala pred sam početak. Za razliku od prošlogodišnje regate u Dubrovniku kad je na regatnom polju dominirala bura, ovog puta jedriličare je dočekala drastično drugačija sinoptička situacija na regatnom polju. U subotu vjetra nije bilo, dan je bio sunčan s mjestimičnim prolaznim oblacima i primjereniji šetnji po Dubrovačkim zidinama nego čekanju na eventualnu termiku koja na kraju uopće nije došla. 📸 regate.com.hr Nedjelja je po svim prognozama bila primjerenija za jedrenje, što se potvrdilo točnim iako to nisu bili spektakularni uvjeti kakvi bi se očekivali za ovo doba godine. Cijeli dan nebom je dominirala naoblaka koja je dolazila s juga, dok je na regatnom polju smještenom u trokutu između Dakse, Grebena i Koločepa puhalo jugo s levanta uz jake lijeve driceve. Brzina vjetra uglavnom nije prelazila 6 čvorova, pa je par refula koji bi zapuhali malo više bili pravo osvježenje. Tako lagan vjetar pratilo je i relativno mirno more i tek nakon podne more se počelo malo ozbiljnije mreškati. Također se mora spomenuti i prisutnost jakog južnog kurenta koji je značajno utjecao na jedrenje, a što se može dosta dobro primijetiti u playbackovima jedrenja u zonama prilaska privjetrinskim oznakama. S prvim jedrenjem krenulo se točno u 11 sati. Start na sredini startne linije i zatim dugo jedrenje na lijevu stranu pokazalo se dobitnom kombinacijom za posadu Universitas Nove. Studenti su ovim potezom iskoristili prednost lijeve strane i izbacili se na vrh flote na kojem su bili sve do cilja. Uz njih je cijelo vrijeme u prvom dijelu plova jedrila i nova postava na jedrilici Tutta Forza, dok su Panjić (u ovoj sezoni s novim kormilarom) i Mataran prvu orcu okrenuli iza njih. Ovakav raspored ostaje do prve krme, kad Tutta Forza ne uspijeva održati kurs koji bi ih odveo na lijevi gate. Ovaj taktički propust iskorištavaju i Panjić i Mataran, a prebacivanjem na lijevu stranu polja, pred kraj druge orca i Point One prolazi ispred Zadrana. Inače, za vrijeme prve krme RO je donio odluku da se produlji orca, pa je zbog toga u gateu signalizirano postavljanje oznake Charlie. Drugi plov starta ubrzo, a s obzirom na limit duljine zone u kojoj se jedrilo, RO obavještava natjecatelje da će se plov jedriti u tri kruga. Uvjeti nakon starta ponovno su takvi da se boljom pokazuje lijeva strana. Ovog puta primat preuzima posada Matarana 24, a na opće iznenađenje cijele flote ekipa Palmine okreće odmah nakon njih, a za njima ponovno Tutta Forza. Međutim, u krmi dolazi do promjene, odnosno lijevi dric nije toliko dominantan i ovog puta bolje prolaze jedrilice u sredini polja. Osim Matarana to je prepoznala i posada Joyrunnera koja ga u nastavku prati u brazdi i zadržava poziciju. I druga orca se jedrila na iste koordinate orce i offseta, ali sad već okretanje vjetra u lijevo tjera RO da za treću orcu ponovno angažira course settere da postave Charlija petnaestak stupnjeva u lijevo i da za kabel-dva skrate duljinu. U ovoj posljednjoj etapi polje više nije preferiralo neku od strana, pa su Panjić i Tutta Forza pokušali napasti Matarana i Joyrunnera s desne strane. Panjić se čak i približio Joyrunneru na par duljina, ali klasičnim pariranjem Joyrunner nije dozvolio da se Panjić opasnije približi. 📸 regate.com.hr Pred treći plov korigirani su i gate i orca i ponovno se jedre tri kruga. Od starta flotu ponovno predvodi ekipa Matarana s Panjićem i Universitas Novom za petama. Prednost ostvarena u prvoj dionici bila je nepromijenjena sve do treće orce kad se Trogirani uspijevaju značajno odvojiti. Inače, treća orca ponovno je završavala kod Charlija kojem je ovog puta uloga bila samo da skrati rutu, jer je vjetar počeo slabiti. Kad se na kraju podvukla crta i napravio konačni obračun pobjedu odnosi posada Matarana 24 na svojoj novoj jedrilici. Osim novog plovila, novost kod njih je i to što od ove sezone ne jedre više u corinthian skupini. Do pobjede dolaze s minimalna dva boda. Do takvog netto rezultata došlo se primjenom novosti vezane uz klasu i bodovanje na njenim regatama, a to je da se odbacivanje uvodi već nakon tri odjedrena plova. Što se tiče srebra i bronce, bodovi obje posade iznose 4.0, a pobjedu odnosi posada Universitas Nove jer su imali jednu pobjedu, dok Panjiću to nije pošlo za rukom. Definitivno pozitivno iznenađenje plasman je Joyrunnera na prvu poziciju ispod postolja, dok se Point One morao zadovoljiti petim mjestom. Nakon petorke u apsolutnoj kategoriji smjestila se i petorka iz corinthian skupine, a njih je predvodila posada Tutta Forze. Što se tiče ostatka postolja za skupinu koja je po World Sailingu kategorizirana kao amaterska, situacija je bila identična onoj kao kod "profesionalaca". Palmina i Iggy imaju jednak broj bodova, a s obzirom na jednake ulaske finiše presudio je bolji plasman Palmine u posljednjem jedrenju. Na dnu ljestvice završavaju Lero i Orage, a kompletne rezultate jedrenja možete pronaći na ovom linku. 📸 regate.com.hr Što se tiče statistike i playbackova, oni se nalaze na priloženim linkovima. Jedino treba primijetiti da je statistika pripremljena za prvi plov, a razlog je nepripremljen softver za kalkuliranje u kombinacijama regatnog polja koje su bile u drugom i trećem plova. Ali čim se to sredi bit će dodani i ovi podaci. Statistika STAT - 1. PLOV Playbackovi P L A Y B A C K - 1. PLOV P L A Y B A C K - 2. PLOV P L A Y B A C K - 3. PLOV READ MORE

NORTH ON SOUTH: TALES FROM THE SOUTHERN OCEAN Legendary Round-the-World Sailors Preview Leg 3 of The Ocean Race It was a straightforward question, put to three of the most experienced offshore sailors on the North Sails team, all of whom have made multiple forays on round-the-world races into the mythical, mystical Southern Ocean. The legendary body of water on the planet’s southernmost reaches includes Cape Horn at the very tip of South America, a rounding of which many mariners believe is a crowning sailing achievement akin to an alpinist summiting Mount Everest. Simply put, what immediately comes to mind when hearing those two words: Southern Ocean? “Lack of sunlight. Gray skies. Long nights. Short days,” said Ian Walker, the two-time Olympic medalist and America’s Cup veteran who won the 2014-15 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race as skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. “It’s a bit of a love-hate thing. On the one hand, it can be the best sailing you’ve ever done in your life. On the other hand, I remember some pretty miserable times when it’s windy and cold and you just can’t wait to round Cape Horn and turn north and get out of there.” “Nasty. Lonely. Out of your comfort zone,” said North’s president Ken Read, who twice served as skipper in a pair of Volvo Ocean Race campaigns. “People can talk until they’re blue in the face about it, but until you get there, you can’t understand what a different feeling it is to sail there. The albatrosses are taunting you. The interior of the boat is just raining with moisture and it’s freezing cold. Your sleeping bag is soaked. It’s just relentless. That’s another good word for it. Relentless.” 📸 ©Amory Ross / Volvo Ocean Race “Cold. But beautiful,” said Dutch sailor Bouwe Bekking, who has rounded the Horn an incredible nine times in round-the-world races, including a quartet as skipper. “It’s horrible and beautiful at the same time. There’s hardly anybody else there, one or two crazy fishermen, and it’s always a challenge. But I love that part of the world. It’s so real. I think the rest of the planet has been treated by human beings in ways it shouldn’t be. But the Southern Ocean? It’s pure. It’s a special place.” Sometimes mesmerizing, oftentimes appalling, the Southern Ocean—loosely defined as the southern waters known as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Screaming Sixties for the bands of latitude they encompass, with the continent of Antarctica the southernmost border—is especially relevant right now as the IMOCA fleet in the current edition of The Ocean Race are in final preparations for the upcoming, record-breaking Leg 3 from Cape Town, South Africa to Itajaí, Brazil. Scheduled to begin on February 26, the 12,750 nautical-mile voyage, which will leave to port the trio of great southern capes—South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Australia’s Cape Leeuwin and formidable Cape Horn—is expected to take over a month and represents the longest distance in the contest’s 50-year history. While the leg may be treacherous, it counts double in terms of points, which also makes it potentially very rewarding: The first set of points will be awarded for the order the boats pass longitude 166° 25’ East (close to the western tip of New Zealand) and the second set for the finishing order in Itajaí. So what, exactly, can The Ocean Race crews expect to encounter as they depart Cape Town and steer west into the open, watery void? If the experiences of Walker, Read and Bekking are any indication, a little bit of everything. Walker in particular, has tasted exalting highs and devastating lows. The latter occurred in the 2011-12 running of the race when the boat he was skippering, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, began to delaminate near what is known as Point Nemo; it’s the furthest spot on the planet from any speck of land, officially making it the world’s most remote location. “We came off a couple of big waves and they delaminated a section of the hull measuring about ten feet by four feet in the middle of the boat,” he said. “We made a temporary repair by actually bolting the skins back together. We scavenged as many bolts as we could, heeled the boat onto its side, and drilled through the hull, with a guy on a harness on the other side to put the bolts through.” Right. Just another day at the office. A pit stop in Chile was made to conduct a more lasting repair. But in the race’s next edition in 2014-15, again in command of the Abu Dhabi crew, it all came together for Walker in a winning effort, which included a 24-hour distance record of 550.82 nautical miles. Sailing at such high speeds, he recalled, was a bit of a balancing act. “I remember the speedo flashing over 40 knots,” he said. 📸 Matt Knighton / Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race “Whoa,” he continued. “Any time you’re averaging in the low twenties you’re regularly sailing at 30 knots. Doing a record run is about two things really: keeping a fast average speed and sailing in a straight line. When you’re screaming down the face of a wave there’s a seamanship side to it. You need the right sail plan for the conditions, so you’re neither pooped from astern or by breaking waves, but not going so fast that you go down the mine so hard you wind up end over end at the bottom of a wave. If you go too fast you start catching waves that sometimes you wish you hadn’t caught!” Before he skippered the PUMA Ocean Racing entry in the 2008-2009 and 2011-2012 editions of the Volvo, Read actually got his first exposure to the race in the final legs of the 2005-2006 race with the Ericsson Racing Team. And while he didn’t see the Southern Ocean in that stint, the race left a profound impact on him. “After my third America’s Cup, I was tired of going around the buoys and was looking for a change,” he said. Man, did he get one. “I got off Ericsson after the Transatlantic leg and asked myself, ‘Do I really want to do this again?’ Part of me was terrified and another part was like, ‘That’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever done in my life.’ I had two guys on my shoulders, one saying, ‘Don’t be an idiot’ and the other going, ‘Do it, you’ll love it the rest of your life.’ I let that guy win. And he was right. Getting involved with the Volvo was one of the great sporting decisions of my life. It changed my life and it’ll always be changed because of those adventures.” It was in his second PUMA campaign, deep in the Southern Ocean, that he endured one of those defining adventures. “We knew three days before leaving New Zealand that we were going to get our butts kicked,” he said. Which is precisely what transpired. “At one point we got hit by two really bad cold fronts. We sailed the first one with a storm jib and three reefs. Then there was a day of nice sailing and then like nine days in a row of 35- to 55-knot winds. Three of our drivers were injured and in their bunks. A couple of boats almost sank. It was one of the few times in my ocean-racing career that we pulled back. We actually took down the sails and backed off. Thanks for stirring up all these memories. Now I need a Xanax.” For each and every Southern Ocean boat and competitor, the leg has one common denominator: No matter what route you’ve chosen, or how wonderful or terrible the conditions you’ve encountered along the voyage, everyone must round Cape Horn, the legendary promontory at 57 degrees South. 📸 Team Brunel / Volvo Ocean Race “If you’re crossing the Atlantic and see a big weather system coming, you have choices,” said Walker. “You can go north or south. And depending on the quality of the weather information you have, you can pretty much choose the maximum wind speed you want to sail in by positioning yourself accordingly. The thing I always say about Cape Horn is you’ve got no choices. You’ve got to go around it. “You’ve got a lee shore on the South American coast so you can’t run for cover,” he said. “You’ve got this change in the ocean shelf rising up, and the massively decreasing depth combined with the adverse ocean currents kicks up a nasty sea state. And there’s often a huge increase in wind strength, as the breeze is blowing uninterrupted around the length of the Southern Ocean before piling up at the tip of South America. It’s this perfect storm of adverse conditions. It’s basically the luck of the draw.” “I used to call it the funnel,” said Read. “There’s no right turn, no left turn, there’s only straight ahead and that’s it. The weather systems accelerate through there. You know all the history and how violent it can be. You’re jumping into a funnel, and playing Russian roulette at the same time. The funnel’s either going to kick your ass or give you a blessing and let you pass unscathed. Either way, there’s a special bonding moment with the guys after you get around. The relief just washes over you.” So, with the combined record of over a dozen Southern Ocean passages, what advice can the North Sails crew offer to those headed south for the first time? “Take somebody with you that’s been there before,” laughed Bekking. “You’re going to make mistakes, but if you can minimize them, your trip will be much better. And the way to make fewer mistakes is to have someone experienced by your side.” “Preparation is the key,” said Walker. “Being well prepared in what you eat, what you wear, how you look after yourself, it’s all critical. Because once you start to go downhill, it’s very hard to turn around.” “Getting through it is the most important thing,” said Read. “At some stage you’re going to need to check your ego at the door and just make sure you get through this night or this day in one piece, because you’re going to have one of those experiences. The wind is different. The waves are different. It’s all just different. So use some common sense, live to fight the next day, and you’ll probably be just fine when it comes to the race result at the same time.”   READ MORE

NORTH SAILS Y THE OCEAN RACE, EN EL ROLE En el segundo capítulo de North Sails en el Role, Luis Martínez Doreste explica cómo son, cómo se fabrican y algún que otro secreto de las velas que equipan los participantes de The Ocean Race. North Sails equipa a diez de los once barcos que participan en la edición 2023 de The Ocean Race, la regata de vuelta al mundo con escalas que partió de Alicante el pasado mes de enero. North Sails es el proveedor oficial de velas de la clase monotipo VO65 y fue elegida por cuatro de los cinco equipos de clase IMOCA. En el segundo capítulo de North Sails en el El Role, Luis Martínez Doreste explica todos los detalles de las velas capaces de propulsar a la flota alrededor del mundo, caracterizadas por un equilibrio excepcional entre prestaciones y durabilidad. El director comercial de North Sails España desvela cómo se fabrican, qué diferencias tienen con las de otras disciplinas y algún que otro secreto de las velas más populares entre los participantes de The Ocean Race: las North Sails 3Di. El segundo capítulo de North Sails en El Role está disponible en este enlace bajo el título Todos los secretos de las velas de The Ocean Race. El Role está dirigido y presentado por el periodista Nacho Gómez. Se emite en Plaza Radio y en las principales plataformas de podcasting (Apple, Spotify, Ivoox, Goodle Podcast y Amazon Audible). North Sails es la velería oficial de la clase VO65 en The Ocean Race. READ MORE

CALENDARIO NORTH SAILS DE SERVICIO EN REGATA 2023 Reparación y puesta a punto, a pie de pantalán North Sails volverá a contar con su programa de servicios de reparación de regatas en 2023. La combinación de nuestra amplia red de velerías y los talleres itinerantes permite ofrecer el servicio oficial North Sails a las tripulaciones de las mejores regatas internacionales de Superyates y competición Grand Prix. Nuestros expertos recogen las velas al finalizar la jornada a pie de pantalán y trabajan de noche para garantizar que están listas para dar lo mejor de sí el día siguiente. Este año, el servicio en regata de North Sails estará disponible en la St Barth's Bucket (16 a 19 de marzo), en varias regatas del circuito Swan One Design, en la Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (3 a 9 de septiembre) y en Les Voiles de St Tropez (29 de septiembre a 7 de octubre), entre otras. Coordinar la logística, los detalles y el personal no es una hazaña fácil, pero resulta posible gracias a nuestra experiencia y a un equipo de servicio centrado en el cliente. El equipo de profesionales North Sails es consciente de que cada segundo en el agua cuenta, y por ello se compromete a maximizar ese tiempo para nuestros clientes. Esto a menudo se traduce en largas noches que se convierten en madrugadas para nuestros veleros con el objetivo de asegurarse de que las velas estén listas la jornada siguiente. El programa completo de servicio North Sails en regata 2023 está disponible en el listado al pie. No olvides seguirnos en Facebook, donde continuaremos ampliando este listado a medida que avanza la temporada. READ MORE

EXCELENTES RESULTADOS EN LA LANZAROTE INTERNATIONAL REGATTA Podio completo North Sails en 470 Mixed 51 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía Mallorca, first event of the 2022 Hempel World Cup Series 09 April, 2022 © Sailing Energy / Princesa Sofía Mallorca La Lanzarote International Regatta 2023 reunió a seis clases olímpicas en aguas de Canarias. En su condición de velería oficial de clase para los JJ.OO. de París 2024, North Sails propulsó a todos los equipos de 49er y 49er FX. El podio al completo de 470 Mixed también equipó velas North Sails. La Lanzarote International Regatta reunió en la isla canaria a cerca de 370 regatistas de 39 nacionalidades distribuidos en seis de las diez clases olímpicas que competirán en París 2024. En su condición de velería oficial de los próximos Juegos Olímpicos, North Sails equipó a los 29 barcos de clase 49er y los 30 de clase 49er FX con sus reconocibles velas 3Di negras. La victoria de 49er correspondió al tándem británico formado por James Peters y Flynn Sterrit, y en 49er FX a sus compatriotas Freya Black y Saskia Tidey. North Sails también fue protagonista en clase 470 Mixed al ser la velería de elección de los tres equipos del podio en Lanzarote: los campeones Jordi Xammar y Nora Brugman, los también españoles Silvia Mas y Nico Rodríguez y los suecos Anton Dahlberg y Lovisa Karlsson. Los resultados completos de la Lanzarote International Regatta están disponibles aquí. Desde North Sails España felicitamos a todos ellos por sus resultados y enviamos un agradecimiento especial a los campeones de 470 Mixed por elegir velas North Sails. Visita www.northsails.com para ver lo que North Sails puede hacer por tu 49er, 49er FX y 470. READ MORE

JASI: SUPERYACHT SPEED IN RORC TRANSATLANTIC RACE North Powered Swan 115 Sets Unofficial Superyacht Race Record 📸 Balta Montaner North Sails and North Technology Group President Ken Read has logged thousands of ocean miles in three round-the-world race programs, over a dozen Transatlantic crossings, and countless high-profile distance races. For the 2023 RORC Transatlantic Race, Ken was a Watch Captain on board Swan 115, Jasi. A true performance cruiser, Jasi completed the 3,200-mile race in an elapsed time of 09 days, 14 hours, 43 mins, and 37 seconds. Notably, this is the fastest time for a superyacht in the nine-year history of the race, besting the previous “unofficial” superyacht record set by the 130ft Baltic My Song in 2018 by 15 hours. “This was a completely different experience from any other offshore racing I have ever done. When you go down below on Jasi, you walk into a luxurious, quiet, air-conditioned condominium that just so happens to have some pace.” said Read. “On board, the crew takes showers, eats excellent food, and each has a bunk to sleep in. This race was a downwind dream ride, but on a boat of Jasi’s size, you have to manage safety and competitiveness in equal measure. Up on deck, it was definitely a boat race. The primary mission for Jasi’s owner and his two friends, dubbed the ‘three amigos,’ was to experience a true offshore adventure. And the RORC Transatlantic Race delivered.” Trim, tactics, pace, crew work, sail changes, squalls, watch systems all on a 90-ton superyacht to drive down waves and push like a race boat. “Jasi, as a sailing machine, was still new to racing. She had done a few inshore regattas but had yet to put on any real ocean miles. We had a bunch of first-time transatlantic sailors on board, and it was fun for me to pass on a bit of knowledge and share my experience, especially with the younger crew members. Hopefully, I helped them avoid some of the mistakes I have made (and learned from).” 📸 Balta Montaner Learning on the Fly “Very quickly during this race, the three amigos settled into the watch rotation, and the crew opened up their personal playbooks to start sharing their knowledge of offshore sailing.” According to Ken, wWatching the amigos experience offshore sailing and learning was the trip’s highlight. The owner made an incredibly quick study of apparent wind driving, and Jasi is a challenging boat to drive. He was fearless, never missing a beat driving through a 27-knot squall. He never thought about relinquishing the helm, nor did it cross our minds to ask him. Jasi had a team of 21, living together in reasonably close quarters, so like all offshore adventures, everyone had to be on the team. For example, a few days into the race, one of the newbies came up on deck with ten sandwiches. He never would have done that at the start of the race; more likely simply making one sandwich for himself Making ten wouldn’t have occurred to him. “When offshore, it is not just the subtleties of learning how to use a boat; it’s also learning how to be a team player.” Jasi’s program in the Caribbean will include the famous Supermaxi regatta, St. Barths Bucket. Read believes that the lessons learned in the RORC Transatlantic Race will be of great use at the regatta. “The skills and knowledge learned are 100% transferable to inshore racing.” View this profile on Instagram Royal Ocean Racing Club (@rorcracing) • Instagram photos and videos   “In many ways, the Transatlantic was a ten-day practice session for the ‘Bucket. Changing spinnakers, for example, all of the systems and maneuvers will be the same, and during the Transatlantic, we got progressively better and compiled comprehensive speed, angle, and polar data. The big goal for the team and the owner is to finish each day satisfied that we sailed the boat well and let the chips fall on where we stand after time correction.” Ken knows that there is no question that the transatlantic rookies all went home telling all their friends about their amazing experiences. “We need to bring new blood into our sport, and the RORC Transatlantic is a perfect way to do that. For many yachts who started the race, it was never about winning and losing, but it was about the experience; the stars at night, the marine life, and living offshore.” 📸 Balta Montaner Jasi’s Inventory: Her Engine Above Deck Mark Sadler from North Sails Palma, was the project manager for Jasi’s sail inventory and also raced on board for the RORC Transatlantic Race. Mark is a fantastic sailor in his own right and was a watchmate of Ken’s for this trip. For over a decade, Sadler has competed in and supplied sails to many Superyacht, Offshore, and Grand Prix regattas for North Sails. Like all successful teams, its people like Mark and their experience that remain a significant strength for North Sails. Jasi’s sail inventory is made up of: 3Di Raw 870 mainsail, 3Di Raw 870 Helix J2, 3Di Raw 760 Helix J4, J5 storm jib, 3Di Raw 760 Genoa staysail, Cuben fiber Spinnaker staysail, A1.5 Nylon spinnaker, A4 Polyester spinnaker, A6 Polyester spinnaker, Top Down Furling Helix Code 0, Storm Trysail Ken recalls, “We may have done about 30-40 sail changes during this race. We used the J2 only at the start and the finish, but the Code Zero saw a ton of use. The J4 was used as a staysail and a Genoa Staysail as a triple-head sail. We had three kites that had plenty of use, and the loads kept working against us. We had to attend to some small nicks after the lazy sheet burned a few holes in the luff sections.“ Worth Noting One recommendation Read had for future racing with Jasi is to bring a sewing machine on board. Squalls are a huge part of sailing in the ocean, morning, evening, and nighttime, requiring multiple sail changes to ensure they didn’t have too light a sail flying in the more punchy squalls. This race was a great reminder of the total team effort it takes to pull off any transatlantic race, not just out on the water but also in advance, getting the boat race-ready. Toby Clarke and all the permanent crew did a fantastic job. Read shares “A big thank you to the Royal Ocean Racing Club for providing a safe and well-organised race.” North Sails powered all of the major winners in the 2023 RORC Transatlantic Race, including Multihull Line Honours winner Maserati, Monohull Line Honours winner I Love Poland, and the Overall Winner, NMD54 Teasing Machine.   READ MORE

NORTH SAILS, EN MODO OCEÁNICO CON THE OCEAN RACE The Ocean Race celebra este año sus bodas de oro 📸 Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race The Ocean Race 2023 partió de Alicante el 15 de enero con una flota que por primera vez en los 50 años de la regata oceánica reunió a monocascos IMOCA 60 y VO65. North Sails es la velería elegida por diez de los once equipos participantes, incluyendo a los ganadores de la primera etapa en ambas clases. The Ocean Race celebra este año sus bodas de oro. Desde que revolucionara el mundo de la navegación oceánica en su primera edición de 1973, la regata ha ido evolucionando al ritmo de la industria náutica. En su edición 2023 reúne por primera vez a monocascos VO65 e IMOCA 60. El programa de los IMOCA 60 consta de siete etapas entre la salida del 15 de enero desde Alicante y la llegada prevista para finales de junio, visitando Cabo Verde, Ciudad del Cabo (Sudáfrica), Itajaí (Brasil), Newport (Estados Unidos), Aarhus (Dinamarca), La Haya (Holanda) y Génova (Italia); los VO65 competirán en tres etapas (Alicante-Cabo Verde, Aarhus-La Haya y La Haya-Génova). Diez de los once equipos participantes equipan velas North Sails, que además es la velería oficial de los monotipos VO65. 📸 Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race Rápida primera etapa La victoria de la Etapa 1 en categoría VO65 correspondió al WindWhisper Racing Team, que completó las 1.900 millas náuticas entre Alicante y Cabo Verde en 6 días, 1 hora, 11 minutos y 14 segundos. Pablo Arrarte, patrón del barco ganador, comentaría: “Las velas han vuelto a demostrar que son rápidas, potentes y súper robustas, toda una garantía de tranquilidad en competición oceánica. Algunos barcos utilizan velas de la última edición de Volvo Ocean Race, con unos buenos miles de millas de uso, y ha habido muy pocas incidencias pese a que tuvimos un principio de etapa muy duro, con vientos por encima de los 50 nudos. En nuestro barco navegamos con un juego nuevo y no sufrimos absolutamente ningún problema. El VO65 tiene un inventario bastante completo, con un rango muy amplio, y a lo largo de la primera etapa usamos las nueve que llevamos a bordo”. WindWhisper añadió esta victoria a su contundente triunfo en la regata In-Port disputada en Alicante y lidera la provisional de VO65. Entre los IMOCA, el más rápido entre Alicante y Cabo Verde fue el suizo Holcim – PRB del patrón francés Kevin Escoffier, que además de equipar velas North Sails también confía en la ropa técnica de North Sails Performance como equipamiento oficial a bordo. El Holcim – PRB completó la etapa en 5 días, 11 horas, 1 minuto y 59 segundos. Más información sobre la participación de North Sails como velería oficial de la clase VO65 en The Ocean Race, aquí 📸 Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race READ MORE

NORTH SAILS SE APUNTA A EL ROLE Luis Martínez Doreste, director comercial de North Sails España, colabora con el podcast dirigido y presentado por el periodista Nacho Gómez La primera colaboración de Luis Martínez Doreste en El Role se centra en la tecnología Boomless de los barcos de la próxima America’s Cup. El director comercial de North Sails España explica cómo funcionan las velas mayores gemelas sin botavara de los AC75, un sistema que pudo verse por primera vez en la anterior America’s Cup y que han adoptado todos los equipos de cara a la edición de Barcelona 2024: “En la pasada Copa, los únicos dos equipos que no llevaban botavara eran el New Zealand y el Prada que, casualidad o no, son los que llegaron a la final de la Copa America", explica Martínez Doreste en su primera participación en El Role. El primer capítulo de North Sails en El Role está disponible en este enlace bajo el título ¿Por qué los Copa América ya no llevan botavara? El Role está dirigido y presentado por el periodista Nacho Gómez. Se emite en Plaza Radio y en las principales plataformas de podcasting (Apple, Spotify, Ivoox, Goodle Podcast y Amazon Audible). North Sails es la velería oficial de la 37 America’s Cup. READ MORE

A Must-Have for Downwind Cruising  📸 X-Yachts  The name says it all. North Sails introduced the Easy Furling Gennaker for cruisers who want the reliability of top-down furling without sacrificing the ability to sail deep downwind. This sail is designed to maximize sail area, constructed with lightweight nylon spinnaker cloth, and is engineered exclusively for cruising downwind. ESSENTIAL FACTS The Easy Furling Gennaker is a must-have for downwind cruising This running-oriented gennaker is the deepest-wind-angle furling sail in the North Sails downwind cruising line-up Suitable for all cruisers and is especially advantageous when sailing short-handed  BENEFITS Optimized for Downwind running Safe and reliable top-down furling Easy to use and will exceed your expectations  FEATURES Available in a wide range of colors Bespoke internal luff cord for reliable top-down furling One year of free sail care  Watch our Easy Furling Gennaker How-to videos in Danish here Read more READ MORE

J70 UPWIND TIPS FOR BIG WIND AND CHOP Be Prepared for Your Next Event 📸 Chris Larson North Sails J70 expert Zeke Horowitz reflects on the 2023 Bacardi Invitational Winter Series in Miami, Event 2, and shares his key takeaways after winning the event. The second event of the Bacardi Invitational Winter Series delivered the best sailing conditions a fleet of J70s could ask for. Friday had a glorious Northerly, which delivered shifty and puffy winds that challenged the fleet to find the right mode. Saturday brought a full breeze-on day with gusts into the low 20-knot range, allowing the fleet to enjoy a bunch of blast reaching around beautiful Biscayne Bay. And Sunday brought a delightful 10-15 knot easterly, providing ideal conditions for the fleet to duke it out for the final standings. Winning this event onboard John Heaton’s Team Empeiria was no easy feat. The immense talent throughout the 26-boat fleet made for super tight mark roundings and photo finishes. There was never an inch to spare around the race course, so finding consistent top-end speed was the name of the game. Our speed and conservative tactics allowed us to lay down a consistent scoreline with no major mishaps. We worked very hard to shift gears upwind through the major changes in velocity and ferocious chop. Below are some of our key takeaways that will help you beat the chop and big breeze at your next event. © Bacardi Invitational Winter Series / Hannah Lee Noll It’s all About the Heel Because the J70 has such a “deadstick” feel on the helm, it’s very easy to want to sail the boat with a lot of leeward heel. The heel gives the helmsperson a bit of tug on the tiller which makes the boat feel loaded and good. But this creates drag on the rudder and also decreases laminar flow on the keel resulting in less speed and less height; essentially the boat will slip to leeward when it heels. In aggressive chop, the desire to heel becomes even more extreme, but time and again we found that even in terrible chop with the boat slamming through wave after wave, it is better to try to sail the boat flat. The boat may slam a little harder, but you’ll find that your boat speed comes back on quicker and without a sacrifice in height if you’re patient and drive through it. It is quite difficult to sail the boat with less than 20 degrees of heel when the wind is in the upper teens or low twenties but there is a huge cliff when the boat heels past that 20 degree point. We set a goal of sailing at 14-17 degrees of heel in the big breeze and chop. We set mental and verbal alarms for any time the boat heeled over 20 degrees. It takes the right rig tune, sail trim and steering technique to keep the boat going in this narrow groove and it requires a lot of teamwork. The jib trimmer needs to be playing the in-hauler (banjo style) on the weather rail so it can be dumped in big puffs and pulled back on through big lulls. The main trimmer needs to be going through a range of backstay and mainsheet with the boom vang just taught (easing sheet and tightening backstay in the big puffs, easing backstay and tightening mainsheet in the lulls). Make sure your backstay is in a range where you can “invert” the main with a diagonal wrinkle out of the clew in the biggest puffs and then ease the backstay to erase that wrinkle in the lulls. The bow person must be extremely accurate with both their puff and lull calls. However, the hardest job is that of the helmsperson. They need to keep sharp focus on the tell tales, waves, speed target and heel target so they can keep the boat in a narrow groove. If the boat is approaching 20 degrees of heel, they need to be delicately feathering up to take some heel out even if they are about to be smacked by a set of steep chop. It’s a hard skill to develop, but focusing on the speed and heel target will give some peace of mind when it feels terrible. The trimmers should try to communicate when they’ve reached the extreme end of their range so the driver knows the trimmers can no longer save the heel angle. Saying something like, “main’s out, max heel” to the driver will let them know that it’s all on them now to feather up to keep the boat flat. We often joke that if it feels good, you’re probably doing it wrong. Learn to feel good sailing flat and chopping wood. I recommend a digital heel angle display and a paddle wheel speed read out for the most accurate information. © Bacardi Invitational Winter Series / Hannah Lee Noll Weight Back The J70 loves to have weight forward in most conditions. But adjusting the weight aft as the breeze and chop comes up is imperative to let the boat sit on its lines as it smashes through waves. The more you slide the weight back, the less slamming you will do but it will also help you sail a bit lower on average without over-heeling. (Weight forward tells the boat to point and weight aft tells the boat to foot). A “normal” hiking position is to have the bow person just a couple inches aft of the stanchion near the shrouds, the jib trimmer pressed right up against them, the main trimmer sitting just forward of the winch and the helmsperson just aft of the traveler cleat. But in the extremely choppy conditions, as we saw in Miami, it was critical to get the weight back such that the main trimmer was either straddling the winch or just behind it with the jib trimmer just in front of the winch and the bow person even with the jib sheet cleats. The helmsperson only slides back a couple of inches so they are still comfortable and accurate with steering. Should you find a bit of flat water, try to push forward a few inches and then call for weight back when a big set of waves is coming. Keeping the crew weight together is very important as well and when you combine this fore/aft movement with the trimming and steering technique described above, it allows the boat to sail flat while sailing low enough to power through the waves. Don’t Let the Main “Blow Up” In the windiest stuff we saw, there were times that the main trimmer would have to let the main sail completely luff in order to keep the boat from over-heeling however this is not ideal. If the main is eased so much that it’s flapping, that creates drag and slows the boat. Even when you’re overpowered, you want to be able to keep the main engaged so that the boat is balanced and easy to steer straight. Making the main flat is the first step which starts by having enough rig tension. Your uppers and lowers should both read about 31 or 32 on the Loos Gauge at your tightest setting. Next, you must have enough backstay gross-tune on so that you can still invert the main (overbend wrinkles) with the backstay control line. Lastly, make sure you’re not shy about using the cunningham. This takes those overbend wrinkles away, essentially allowing you to pull even more backstay on to flatten out the main. But a great jib trimmer knows that they actually control a lot of this issue. If the jib is too full or sheeted too hard, it will cause the air to flow to windward as it exits the leech of the jib and spill into the leeward side of the main making it luff. So if you’re noticing that the main is blowing up multiple times per beat, you need to try to flatten out the jib by either easing the inhaul, pulling the jib leads back, or easing the primary sheet. Also be sure there is enough jib halyard on that the luff is smooth with no horizontal wrinkles coming back off the luff. There should be an alarm that goes off in the jib trimmer’s head any time they hear the main blowing up. Of course at some point when it gets windy enough, the main just has to rag to keep the boat upright but this should be once it’s blowing over 25 knots or so. The further your team can go up the wind range without blowing up the main, the faster you’ll be. Mastering the J70 in steep chop and big breeze is about as hard as it gets; however learning to feel good when it feels bad will make it a whole lot easier. For more in depth information, the latest tuning guide or for any specific questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to your North Sails J70 class experts. Contact your North Sails J70 North American Experts here: ZEKE HOROWITZ ALLAN TERHUNE ALEX CURTISS READ MORE

NORTH SAILS SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIAN SHARPIE NATIONALS Q&A with newly crowned Australian Sharpie class national champion skipper Alex Blacker, who successfully took out the title sporting North Sails. How does it feel to win your first Sharpie Nationals? Honestly, it really is the most amazing feeling, there’s people out there that try their whole lives to win one of these, and for us to be able to achieve it so early in our senior sailing careers is just amazing. But also to be able to do it with two of your best mates makes it that much sweeter. What was your secret to success in this regatta? I feel like our boat setup, speed, and high/low modes played a huge part in our success in Hobart. Having such a well-tuned platform allowed us to keep our heads out of the boat as much as possible and just watch what was going on all the time. As well as having such a close bond amongst the three of us, we were prepared for all the tricks the River Derwent throws at you and gave ourselves more options right across the race course. The crew work was key, to be able to sail with a couple of your best mates who are all on the same page when it comes to what you want to achieve was critical. It was a very competitive fleet with a few past champions, were you doing anything different to them? I wouldn’t say we have done anything drastically different to the other guys, but we’ve really focused on our weaknesses and ironed them out this past year. We also worked really hard on our consistency as we knew coming into this regatta everyone was going to have their fair share of bad races, even the good guys. But we knew if we could keep our heads up and keep pushing through the fleet to a salvageable result in every race, then it would pay off massively by the end of the event. I assume your crew played a big part in it, tell us about them? Absolutely, I’ve got Harry Fisher up front, who I’ve been lucky enough to sail in Sharpies with for about four seasons, and for those who haven’t had the pleasure to meet him, he is a legend of the class, having competed in 14 Sharpie nationals over 17 years, starting when he was 14 years old. The knowledge of the class that Harry has brought to the campaign has been unreal. Then on sheets, I’ve got Sean Keen, who has done a bit of sailing with us over the years, but we finally convinced him to jump on with us full-time just more than a year ago. Since coming on board, Sean has brought a lot of energy to the boat as well as a really strategic way of thinking, which has helped us improve our regatta management. He is also a very driven bloke with a wealth of knowledge and is an absolute powerhouse in the middle. What’s racing on the Derwent like? I had never sailed on the Derwent before this nationals but now I can happily tick that box. I really enjoyed it, there’s some big shifts and big bends in the wind so there’s always opportunities and passing lanes. There’s also a lot of water movement from the tide and the river so it definitely throws up a lot of challenges, but once you somewhat get your head around it, it can be very rewarding if you sail well. The top four were very close going into the last race, what was your strategy (for that race), and how did that play out? Going into the last day, we were just behind the lead, but the second drop was going to kick in after the first race that day, so we had to crunch the numbers on the water. After the second drop kicked in, we ended up taking the regatta lead ahead of Noah Taylor from Canberra heading into the last race. We’d done the math, but we pretty much knew as long as we kept sailing the way we had been all week and we stayed close to the three other boats behind us, we would be fine. We also knew that we couldn’t finish worse than eighth, or else the drops would be recalculated, and Noah would overtake us regardless. The Derwent certainly threw some tricks our way and rounded the top mark about 20th in the last race with Mark Soulsby (third overall) in the leading pack and Noah Taylor (second overall) behind us. We thought to ourselves, the only thing we could control was to try and sail into eighth, keep Noah behind us, and hope Soz (Soulsby) didn’t win the race. It was a short race with only two upwind legs and a downwind finish, so on the last upwind leg we managed to get into a real nice breeze pattern up the guts while everyone else was playing the left. We sailed the race of our lives after that first work and pulled through enough boats to round the top can in eighth. Then from there, we just consolidated our position on the last downwind leg and went through the finish in the same spot. You are using the North Sails main and jib, what do you like about them? I’m a huge fan of the North Sails working gear, I find the main very responsive to controls and sheet tension, which has been huge for when we were changing gears. It knuckles up really nicely for when you’re chasing power, and it flattens off and opens up nicely for the really light stuff and the windy conditions. The jib is fairly deep but is super responsive to sheet tension and opens up nicely when the breeze picks up. It’s a really nice sail to drive to and has some wicked grooves as well. It’s also been a pleasure working closely with Sandy Higgins at Binks Marine, our local North Sails agent in South Australia. The work he has done, as well as Andrew Harry in Western Australia, to get North Sails on the pace in the Sharpie class has been really pleasing to be a part of. By jumping on the North Sails program, we have had full confidence in the manufacturing quality that comes with such a reputable brand, combined with the local experience to really ensure we gave ourselves every chance to be as quick as possible this season. Where to from here? What goals do you have for the future? All going well, we are keen to lock in to defend our title next year at the Mordialloc Sailing Club in Melbourne. From a Sharpie point of view, it would also be nice to try and snag a State Title, as they are incredibly hard to win against a strong local fleet. There’s also some 505 sailing in the pipeline for me with the Worlds coming up in Adelaide in two years, so I’m sure it’ll be a big couple of years on the water. Great to catch up with you Alex, and congratulations once again to you and your crew on a great victory; very well deserved! READ MORE

Változatos szélviszonyok között került megrendezésre a 2023-as Finn Gold Cup Miami-ban. Gratulálunk Németh Domonkos kiemelkedő teljesítményéhez, amivel a világbajnoki 🥈 második helyet szerezte meg. Az első 10 helyezettből 9-en köztük Doma is North Sails vitorlával versenyzett. READ MORE

3DI HELIX UPWIND HAR INGET MED MAGI ATT GÖRA. DET BARA KÄNNS SÅ Nu har 3Di-teknologin resulterat i ett försegel som kan planas ut när vinden ökar Ett storsegel är lätt att plana ut när vinden ökar. Det är ju bara att dra lite i akterstaget. Det gör seglet effektivt genom hela registret från lättvind till hårdvind. Något liknande går inte att göra med en fock eller genua. Seglets djup och infallsvinkel kan i och för sig påverkas genom att man med hjälp av akterstag eller backstag justerar spänningen (eller rättare sagt sagget) i förstaget. Men det fungerar bara upp till en viss gräns. Men nu har focktrimmaren fått ett nytt värdefullt instrument att spela med. 3Di Helix Upwind är enkelt utryckt ett 3Di-segel som utöver sin vanliga struktur har ett extra kraftupptagande fiberpaket längs förliket. Det här möjliggör det som på North-språk kallas för Active Camber Control, och som innebär att du genom att justera förliksspänningen kan förändra både djupet och formen på din fock eller genua. Resultatet är ett försegel som kan planas ut när vinden ökar. Det här överträffar alla tidigare kända gränser för vad som är möjligt att göra med en fock, och det är nu känslan av magi kan infinna sig. Hur är det möjligt? Och vad är det egentligen som händer? Hur funkar det i praktiken? Det som möjliggör den här effekten är det kraftupptagande förliket, där fibrerna ligger i en bågform mellan hals- och fallkorn. När man tar hem (kraftigt) i fall eller cunningham strävar de bågformade fibertrådarna efter att räta ut sig och det leder till att förliket trycks framåt. Det som händer är egentligen samma sak som när du planar ut storseglet genom att krumma masten: Avståndet mellan förlik och akterlik ökar, vilket resulterar i ett planare segel. Ta nu en noggrann titt på de två till synes likartade bilderna på en fock. Det är samma segel på båda bilderna och de är tagna vid samma tidpunkt. På den första bilden har seglet en "normal" spänning i förliket. På den andra har focktrimmaren dragit rejält i cunningham. Med hjälp av North Sails Sail Scan-program är det enkelt att se vad som händer, eftersom systemet levererar exakta siffror på alla väsentliga variabler. Som du kan se har bukdjupet i mittensektionen reducerats från 14,6 % till 12,7 % (av cordalängden). Knappt två procent skillnad låter kanske inte så mycket. Men tänk nu på att procent och procentenheter inte är samma sak. Att bukdjupet har minskat från 14,6 till 12,7 procent(enheter) innebär i själva verket att seglet har blivit nästan 15 procent planare. Detta trots att vinden under samma tid har ökat från 9,7 till 10,6 knop. För en erfaren trimmare eller segeldesigner är det här är en ganska dramatisk skillnad. "Det motsvarar nästan skillnaden mellan en Jib 1 och en Jib 2", säger Tore Lewander, segeldesigner på North Sails Sverige. Fördelarna är uppenbara. Du får ett segel med bredare register. En extra växel om du så vill. Med ett bredare register behöver du inte skifta segel lika ofta – och det kan rent av leda till att du kan banta segelgarderoben lite utan att för den skull tappa märkbart i prestanda. 3Di Helix Upwind går att använda på alla typer av båtar. Men du bör vara medveten om att krafterna ökar, och det är viktigt att du ser över och kanske uppdaterar fallboxar, block, fall och avlastare. Vill du veta mer om 3Di Helix Upwind? Kontakta oss eller besök oss på någon av båtmässorna under våren. Vi är med på både Båtmässan i Göteborg (4-12 Februari) och Allt för sjön (9-19 mars). READ MORE

UPPDRAG UTFÖRT FÖR JONAS GRANDÉR OCH TEAM MATADOR Målet var att segla fem havskappseglingar på tre kontinenter, men det blev mer än så Om man älskar havskappsegling finns det några klassiska race som lyser som fyrar i mörkret. Fastnet Race är väl det mest kända, Sydney-Hobart det kanske mest ökända. Om man tar dessa två och kompletterar med ett par-tre till av samma dignitet har man en bucket-list som heter duga. Om man dessutom får för sig att hela listan ska bockas av under en femårsperiod står man inför en... rejäl utmaning. Men det går. Det har Jonas Grandér och hans besättning på Elliot 44:an Matador bevisat. Vi på North Sails har följt projektet på nära håll ända sedan starten, inte minst genom vår egen Tore Lewander som både designat seglen och ingått i besättningen. Det ena ledde till det andra... Det hela började under en jullunch 2015 med några seglarkompisar. Samtalet kom in på Sydney-Hobart Race som skulle starta på annandagen. Kappseglingen är på över 600 sjömil och anses vara något av det tuffaste man kan ge sig på. Det här måste vi väl ändå vara med på någon gång, gick snacket. Ofta stannar det ju vid just snack, men Jonas hade bestämt sig. Tanken var att hyra en båt i Australien men han hittade inte någon som han tyckte passade. Däremot fanns det en fin båt till salu, och det var så han kom över sin Matador, en Elliot 44 CR, ritad av nyzeeländaren Greg Elliot och byggd i Kina av ett australiskt företag. Det blev inte någon särskilt framskjuten placering i Sydney Hobart Race 2016. Men Jonas och hans besättning hade fått blodad tand. Kvar på den bucket-list som nu tog form var Fastnet Race, Middle Sea Race, Caribbean 600 och Newport-Bermuda Race. Lite av "The Big Five", skulle man kunna säga. Alla över 600 distans, utspridda över tre världsdelar. Ett race om året lät lagom, tyckte man från början, och i den takten skulle målet vara uppnått 2021. Men det var innan pandemin slog till. En seriös satsning med ett "gött gäng" Besättningen på Matador består av ett tiotal personer och de flesta har seglat ihop under många år. De är rutinerade, välmeriterade seglare men amatörer i den meningen att de har vanliga jobb och inte får betalt för att kappsegla. Ibland kompletteras besättningen med en eller ett två professionella seglare. Volvo Ocean Race-veteranerna Martin Strömberg och Aksel Magdahl har exempelvis varit med några gånger. Anledningen är förstås att de har mycket att bidra med som seglare, men också för att de passar in i teamet. "Vi är ett gött gäng", säger Jonas, "och vi har en väldigt hög garvfaktor ombord". Det främsta syftet med hela projektet är just att ha kul, påstår han. Det låter anspråkslöst men nu är det ju ändå så att inget höjer humöret så mycket som goda prestationer och bra resultat. Det här är en ambitiös satsning. Team Matador vill placera sig väl och lämnar inte särskilt mycket åt slumpen. Båten hålls i toppskick och uppdateras löpande. För några år sedan fick den exempelvis en ny djupare köl. Och segelgarderoben har varit i ständig utveckling ända sedan Jonas köpte Matador. Det sker i nära samarbete med framför allt Martin Angsell och Tore Lewander på North Sails Lidingö. Att Tore, som designar seglen, ingår i besättningen underlättar förstås. Att skapa en segelgarderob som är optimalt anpassad till den specifika båten och dess egenskaper och att sedan få till rätt design på varje enskilt segel gäller ju för alla projekt. Men här finns ytterligare komplikationer. Matador har både ORC-, IRC- och SRS-mätbrev och de olika reglerna hanterar seglen på olika sätt. Ett segel som straffas hårt i ena regeln kan få en mildare bedömning i den andra. De har även skilda bestämmelser för hur många segel man får har ombord och hur många som får vara hissade samtidigt. Inför varje specifikt race måste man dessutom ta hänsyn till de förhållanden man statistiskt sett kan förvänta sig. Det är inte lätt att som svensk veta vad som gäller på låt säga amerikanska ostkusten eller i Karibien, men för Tore som är uppkopplad mot North Sails hela nätverk av designers är svaret aldrig långt borta. Det är en av fördelarna med att vara en del av en global organisation. Så, hur gick det då? Nu har det gått sex-sju år sedan sedan Team Matador gav sig ut på de sju haven, och man kan inte säga annat än att de har fått se sig om i världen. Det hela gick enligt plan de första åren, men när pandemin slog till ruckades schemat. Det tog de å andra sidan igen så fort det lugnat ner sig. Under mindre än ett år – från augusti 2021 till juni 2022 – genomförde de Fastnet, Middle Sea, Caribbean 600 och Newport Bermuda nästan i ett svep. Därmed var hela listan avbockad. Tempot har stundtals varit frenetiskt. Några av de nämnda kappseglingarna har de seglat både två och tre gånger och till detta ska läggas ett omfattande program på hemmaplan och i norra Europa – Marstrand Big Boat Race, norska Færderseilasen, Skagen Offshore Race och Gotland Runt är bara några exempel. 2018 tyckte Jonas att det var lite tunt med havskappseglingar på ostkusten så han tog initiativ till Visbypokalen (och vann själv premiären). Och när Gotland Runt ställdes in på grund av pandemin startade han "Öppet Hav", en garanterat covid-säker segling utan vare sig startavgift, rorsmansmöte eller regattamiddag. Frågan är om Sverige någonsin har haft ett team som deltagit så flitigt i internationella havskappseglingar. Vi får nog gå tillbaka till 1980-talet i så fall. Och de har radat upp utmärkelser och sportsliga framgångar. 2017 och 2019 utsågs Jonas Grandér och Team Matador till "Årets havskappseglare" av Svenska seglarförbundet. Den största framgången kom dock ett par år senare: I Fastnet Race 2021 slutade de på tredje plats i sin klass och fyra totalt av över 250 IRC-båtar. Det är ett resultat i absolut världsklass. READ MORE

NYHET: NORTH SAILS EASY FURLING GENNAKER Ett segel som kombinerar pålitlig top-down-furling med maxprestanda på läns Fylliga, länsbetonade gennakers med hög prestanda på djupa bogar har funnits sedan slutet av åttiotalet. Lättanvända, pålitliga rullgennakers för cruising har funnits länge. Det som har saknats är ett segel som kombinerar båda dessa egenskaper. Men nu är det här. North Sails Easy Furling Gennaker är, som namnet antyder, ett segel som utvecklats för enkel och pålitlig hantering samtidigt som det är effektivt ända ner till 160 graders vindvinkel, det vill säga läns med lite lagom skärning. Det är faktiskt unikt. Rent teknisk bygger det på pålitliga, beprövade lösningar. North Sails Easy Furling Gennaker har inte någon yttre, fritt hängande torsionskabel som kan fånga fel del av seglet när man rullar in, utan har istället en integrerad förlikskabel insydd i förliket. Top-down-furling innebär att seglet börjar rullas in uppifrån, vilket gör att man alltid får med sig toppen och undviker att det bildas en "bubbla" i toppen av det inrullade seglet. Men det nya ligger framför allt i hur själva seglet är designat och hur det trimmas. North Sails Easy Furling Gennaker tillverkas i lätt nylonduk i maximal storlek och har en bred, djup topp. Trimmet är enkelt att få till. När seglet rullas ut eller in ska förliket vara hårt sträckt. När du sedan faller av till en plattare kurs släpper du några decimeter på antingen fallet eller halslinan. Det frigör den stora toppen och gör att förliket projiceras ut mot lovart, där det inte störs av storseglet. Detta gör det möjligt att segla en mycket lägre kurs än de planare rullgennakers som världens cruisingseglare hittills har fått hålla tillgodo med. North Sails Easy Furling Gennaker kan med fördel hissas redan innan du lämnar kaj. Du sätter fast rullen framför förstaget, gärna på ett peke, fäster fallet i den övre svirveln, trär i skoten och hissar upp hela det inrullade paketet. Då har du alltid gennakern laddad och klar för att användas. Sedan är det bara att rulla ut och rulla in efter behag. Väl tillbaka i hamn sänker du åter ner seglet och stuvar undan det i sin säck. North Sails Easy Furling Gennaker lanserades hösten 2022 och är redan en av våra mest efterfrågade cruisingprodukter. Vi är inte förvånade. För en cruisingseglare som vill kombinera enkelhet och pålitlighet med maximal prestanda på läns finns det helt enkelt inget bättre. Vill du veta mer om North Sails Easy Furling Gennaker? Kontakta oss eller besök oss på någon av båtmässorna under våren. Vi är med på både Båtmässan i Göteborg (4-12 Februari) och Allt för sjön (9-19 mars). READ MORE

NORTH SAILS 2023 SUPERYACHT AND GRAND PRIX EVENT SERVICE SCHEDULE Regatta Repair and Support On The Global Race Circuit North Sails is proud to release our 2023 Regatta Repair Service schedule. Through our network of full-service lofts and on-site pop-up locations, Regatta Repair supports Superyacht and Grand Prix crews at major international events with overnight turnaround, ensuring their sails are delivered back in time for the next day’s start. This year North Sails lofts will be available at the St Barth’s Bucket, various Swan One Design races, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and Les Voiles de St Tropez – among others. Coordinating logistics, details, and staff is not an easy feat, but it appears almost seamless thanks to our experience and customer-focused service crew. As the world’s leading and largest sailmaker, the North Sails team knows that every second spent on the water counts and is committed to maximizing that time for our clients. This often results in late nights that run into early mornings for the service crews ensuring sails are race-ready by daybreak. You can view the 2023 Regatta Repair schedule below and our full event schedule on Facebook as we add many more events throughout the race season. READ MORE

MEASUREMENT & CERTIFICATE EVENT Get Ready For Racing Our team of North Sails experts will be on-hand to help racers get prepared for racing with everything from measurement, re-measurement or 10 Point Inspection. Racers will be able to get their sails measured and certified for everything from local racing to offshore racing such as the Transpac. Our team of experts will walk sailors through the measurement process, what's involved in servicing them, if any service is required, and recommendations for improving sail handling. Join our team from 10am to 2pm on April 8th where you can bring in your sails, tour the loft and grab a hot dog. Calling ahead to reserve a time slot is encouraged but not required. Can't make the event? Not to worry. Bring your sails in anytime and our service team can help get your sails measured & certified, both for PHRF and ORC ratings. Have questions about our products? Contact us today. READ MORE

TWEEDE PLAATS VOOR NIC BOL EN ZOON BIJ MIDDLE SEA RACE 2022 Zeilen met je zoon of dochter... Een fantasie of iets om op de wensenlijst voor 2023 te zetten? Volgens North Sails’ Sails Nic Bol is het zeker een aanrader! Hoewel hij al vaker met zijn zoon op één boot zat, was de Middle Sea Race afgelopen oktober een geheel nieuwe ervaring. “Toen we samen over de finish kwamen, was dat een geweldig moment!” Gek genoeg is Nic Bol (nog) geen doorgewinterde offshore zeiler. “Het is simpelweg niet echt op mijn pad gekomen,” vertelt de Sail Expert. “Tot afgelopen ajaar. Een kleine drie weken voor de start van de Middle Sea Race werd ik gevraagd om mee te gaan. Aangezien ze nog meer crew zochten, is ook mijn zoon Christopher (23) aangemonsterd.” Ervaring in het samenwerken aan boord hadden Nic en Christopher al. Eerder werden ze Wereld Kampioen in de J/22 en hebben ze veel wedstrijden gevaren op de ‘K-Force’, een Swan 45. Nic: “Christopher is een goede zeiler. Hij volgt naast zijn studie een opleiding bij de Heiner zeilacademie. Het is mooi om een passie te delen met je kind. Zo mogen we ook graag tegen elkaar strijden in de Laser op de Kralingse Plas in Rotterdam.” Wacht lopen De deelname aan de Middle Sea Race met de Grand Soleil 44 ‘Esentia’ was toch een heel andere ‘league’ voor beide zeilers. “Door het lichte weer hebben we er uiteindelijk zes dagen en ruim drie uur over gedaan. Dat was voor ons allebei veruit de langste wedstrijd die we ooit hadden gevaren! Christopher was mee als voordekker en trimmer. Zelf was ik stuurman. Het mooiste was dat we in dezelfde wacht zaten. Met de elfkoppige bemanning zaten we in een cyclus van vier uur zeilen, twee uur stand-by en vier uur slapen. Tijdens onze wacht konden we genieten van zowel de zonsopgang als de zonsondergang.” De route van de Middle Sea Race leidt de vloot iedere editie rond Sicilië en telt zo’n 606 mijl. Traditiegetrouw wordt er gestart vanuit de haven van Valletta op Malta. De ‘Esentia’ was meteen goed weg, volgens Nic. “In onze groep - ORC 4 - waren we als eerste de haven uit. Na de eerste nacht lagen we echter tweede en was onze plek al bepaald. Het was een lastige week vanwege het zeer lichte weer, maar navigator Axel heeft het fantastisch gedaan. Hij raadpleegde vele weermodellen en alles wat hij zei kwam uit. Uiteindelijk eindigden we als tweede in onze klasse.” Voldoende water Van de 118 jachten die van start gingen, heeft maar ongeveer de helft de finish gehaald. Ook op de ‘Esentia’ was er halverwege de week overleg. “Je gaat je afvragen of het nog zin heeft. Het water was als een spiegel zo glad. Uiteindelijk kwamen we tot de conclusie dat we nog voldoende water en voedsel aan boord hadden en besloten we om de race uit te varen. Normaliter vaar je er drie tot vier dagen over, maar gelukkig hadden we al rekening gehouden met de lichte wind. We hadden extra water ingeslagen en één teamlid aan wal gelaten.” In principe kan iedere zeiler deelnemen aan de Middle Sea Race met een eigen boot, of aanmonsteren op een van de andere deelnemende jachten. Nic ziet het wel zitten om opnieuw mee te doen in 2023. “Ik ben benieuwd wat voor weer we dan hebben. Vorige editie hadden ze 40 knopen wind. De vulkanen op Stromboli en ook de vulkaan Etna hebben grote invloed op de wind in dit gebied. Daarnaast hoop ik dat Christopher dan ook weer mee kan. Er zijn maar weinig sporten die je zo intensief met je kinderen beleefd als het zeilen. Dat begon al in de Optimist. Dan gaat het niet over een paar uurtjes, maar vaak een heel weekend. Of zoals deze race; bijna een week!” READ MORE

ÄNNU EN MILSTOLPE PASSERAD FÖR PRINCESS SVANEVIT 📸 Malcolm Hanes Princess Svanevit sjösattes i slutet av juni och riggades i början av oktober. Några dagar senare hissades de nya North-seglen och hon seglade för första gången på över tjugo år. Med på jungfrufärden, om man kan säga så när det gäller en 92 år gammal båt, var Anders och Tore Lewander från North Sails Lidingö. Anders har fungerat som segelkoordinator och har lett processen från North Sails sida och Tore är den som har designat seglen. De nya seglen har vi beskrivit i en tidigare artikel (där vi också berättade den fantastiska historien om Princess Svanevit), men sammanfattnings kan man säga att vi förutom att uppfylla alla tekniska krav har lagt stor vikt på det estetiska uttrycket. Seglen är byggda i modern, högkvalitativ dacron och är utrustade med moderna kolfiberlattor, men vådlayout, förstärkningar och andra detaljer är utformade på ett sätt som kan föra tankarna till gamla tiders bomullssegel. Det här är genomgående tema ombord på Princess Svanevit. Nästan allting ser ut att vara tillverkat på 1930-talet. Men där det har varit möjligt – och där det inte syns – har båtbyggarna passat på att använda sig av moderna metoder och material. Trädelarna till den totalt 27,5 meter långa masten har exempelvis frästs med CNC-teknik och limmats samman med epoxi innan den förseglats med åtta lager fernissa. Resultatet är en enastående vacker trämast med alla historiska värden i behåll, och som funktionellt sett är överlägsen den gamla originalmasten. Det kan behövas. En sådan här båt genererar enorma krafter och under sina första år på 1930-talet drabbades Princess Svanevit av flera masthaverier. Den nya riggen har för övrigt konstruerats av den tyske båtkonstruktören Juliane Hempel. Hon har stor erfarenhet av liknande projekt, och efter att ha ritat ett antal R-båtar – en sexa och flera åttor – kan hon regeln på sina fem fingrar. 📸 Malcolm Hanes Ingen nöjessegling Att segla en stor R-båt liknar inget annat. När krysseglen på 240 kvadratmeter skotas hem är det 27 ton som sätts i rörelse. Det tar sin tid, men väl uppe i fart har Princess Svanevit en levande kraft utan like. Hon är en pampig dam som rör sig med värdighet och pondus – och hon levererar en seglingskänsla som skiljer sig från alla moderna segelbåtar. Hon är ett nöje att segla, intygar Tore, som fick känna på rodret en stund. Men det är inte för nöjes skull som hon seglats nu under hösten. Det är egentligen bara en del i förberedelserna inför vinterns fortsatta arbete. Syftet är att skaffa sig den kunskap som krävs för att få henne intrimmad och klar så fort som möjligt nästa vår. Det handlar om att få en bild av krafterna på rigg och segel. känna på båtens balans och stabilitet, stämma av skotpunkter och mäta upp hur den nya masten krummar. Seglen fotograferas, analyseras i North Sails Sail Scan-program och jämförs med Tores designfiler, vilket ger oss värdefull input inför vårens finjusteringar av riggtrimmet. En central uppgift är att hitta det rätta flytläget. Hon är ju ritad för att mäta in i R-regeln och den ger inte utrymme för några större marginaler. Om båten flyter lite för lågt, eller dippar lite framåt eller bakåt, är risken stor att ekvationen som ska sluta på högst 12,00 meter inte går ihop. I så fall kan båten inte mätas in och rent formellt skulle det betyda att Princess Svanevit inte längre är en äkta 12 meter R-yacht. Just ny flyter hon lite högt. Det är helt enligt plan och beror på att hon fortfarande är i stort sett som invändigt. Inredning, motor och tankar återstår fortfarande att montera och det gör att det så att säga finns lite kvar att spela på. Till våren ska allting vara klart Provseglingarna med Princess Svanevit innebär att ännu en milstolpe bockats av. Men än återstår en hel del och när du läser detta är hon tillbaka på Stockholms båtbyggeri, som kommer ägna vintern åt att göra henne färdig för nästa års seglingar. För stiftelsen som kommer äga båten de närmaste fem åren gäller det nu också att få en effektiv organisation på plats, med skeppare, besättning, logistik, finansiering och mycket annat. Ansvariga för det praktiska ombord blir Olle Jo Johansson och Thomas Gross. Olle Jo är en tidigare olympisk seglare och var rorsman på New Sweden under VM för R12:or i Luleå 1988, så kan kan en del om tolvor. Fortsättning följer, som det brukar heta. 📸 Malcolm Hanes READ MORE

NYA SHOGUN 43: OPTIMERAD FRÅN START MED NORTH DESIGN SERVICES Det har kanske aldrig byggts så många häftiga segelbåtar i Sverige som just nu. Nivån är i internationell toppklass och bredden är stor. Den makalösa renoveringen av den klassiska tolvan Princess Svanevit är traditionellt hantverk på allra högsta nivå, och i andra ändan av den skalan hittar vi bland annat VM-vinnande Z30+ (som vi berättat om här, här och här). Och så har vi Shogun 43, som sjösattes i november och provseglades i början av december. Det är en uppföljare till Shogun 50, som kom för några år sedan. Båda båtarna är ritade av Håkan och Oscar Södergren och byggs med avancerade metoder och material – läs kolfiber – på Rosättra Båtvarv, med hjälp av bland andra Vaxholm Komposit och Marstrom Composite. North Sails har varit involverade i projektet sedan start och har förstås utvecklat seglen du ser på bilden. Det finns mycket att säga om dem, men det sparar vi till våren när båten är helt färdig. Här och nu tänkte vi istället backa bandet lite och beskriva hur det gick till när konstruktörerna tillsammans med North Design Services använde sig av avancerad programvara för att analysera och optimera båtens prestanda. "En extremt användbar tjänst" North Design Services är en del av North Technology Group (där även North Sails ingår), och syftet är att hjälpa North Sails kunder att optimera sina båtars totala prestanda. I detta ingår inte bara rigg och segel utan även allt annat som påverkar farten, som skrov, köl och roder. Arbetet leds av Jeremy Elliot på North-loftet i engelska Gosport. Han har en masterexamen i Naval Architecture från universitetet i Southampton och har lång erfarenhet av utveckling och optimering på Grand Prix-nivå, inklusive America's Cup och Volvo Ocean Race. "Det är en extremt användbar tjänst", säger Oscar Södergren. Oscar är industridesigner med examen från Konstfack. Någon regelrätt utbildning inom båtkonstruktion har han inte, men den biten har han fått med modersmjölken. Båtar har han ritat sedan han var barn och en bättre lärare och mentor än pappa Håkan är ju svårt att tänka sig. Idag har många båtkonstruktörer, inklusive Håkan och Oscar, tillgång till någon form av hydro-CFD. CFD står för "Computational Fluid Dynamics" och förledet "hydro" betyder att det är en programvara som kan användas för att analysera strömningen kring en båts skrov, köl och roder. Däremot saknar de som regel effektiva verktyg för att göra motsvarande optimering av aero-delen, det vill säga rigg och segel. Det är här North Design Services kommer in i bilden. De har tillgång till branschens förmodligen mest kraftfulla hydro-CFD, men det som verkligen sticker ut är att de även har utvecklat en egen aero-CFD som är sömlöst integrerad med hydro-CFD:n. De har därmed möjlighet att analysera hela båten som en enda helhet. Massor av data, massor av insikter Det är ingen enkel process och det går inte fort. En CFD-körning – i princip en virtuell testsegling – kan innebära att en dator står och tuggar i tre dygn. Därefter utvärderar man resultatet och börjar om igen. Ett närmast ändlöst antal konfigurationer jämförs med varandra och steg för steg jobbar man sig fram mot den totalt sett mest optimala lösningen. Processen med Shogun 43:an pågick under drygt sex veckor och involverade fyra personer. "Vi har fått ut en enorm mängd data", säger Oscar. "Mer än vi behöver egentligen, men fördelen med detta är att vi kan fördjupa oss i vissa delar och få ut väldigt värdefulla insikter." Det man får ut av den här typen av simuleringar är exakta värden på allt som påverkar prestandan: strömningen kring skrov, köl och roder, båtens avdrift i olika farter och krängningsvinklar, rodertryck och rodervinklar. Man får data på luftmotståndet från rigg och segel – och svar på exakt hur mycket man förlorar på att inte byta från fock 1 till fock 2 i tid. Man får fram vilka fockskotvinklar som är optimala i olika förhållanden och hur besättningens vikt och placering påverkar farten. Med mera, med mera, med mera. Oscar påpekar dock att systemet inte levererar några förslag på lösningar utan bara ren data. Den måste tolkas och sättas i ett sammanhang för att bli användbar. Här har han haft hjälp av erfarna designers från både North Design Services och Södergren yachtdesign. Pappa Håkans erfarenhet har varit oerhört viktig för att förstå vad exempelvis vissa värden kring rodertryck innebär för känslan i ratten. Shogun 43 har aldrig varit tänkt som någon råbarkad racer. Målet har istället varit att skapa en båt med enastående prestanda i ett bekvämt och lätthanterligt format, därtill med ett modernt formspråk som får folk att vända på huvudet. Prestanda, trivsel och bekvämlighet är inte alltid enkelt att förena. Men det går, menar Oscar, som har lagt "otroligt mycket designtid" på inredningen. Dels för att göra den bekväm, praktisk och vacker men också för att minimera vikten. Han uppskattar att han genom det här har lyckats spara 400-500 kg. Var det värt det? Oscar tvivlar inte det minsta. Samarbetet med North Design Services har gett honom siffror som en gång för alla bevisar den saken. READ MORE

HAR DU EN EASYPACK, BOMPRESSENING, BOMTELT, FORESTAYCOVER, WHEELCOVER, DECKBAG ...eller andet, der er ved at være godt slidt? Så er det nu, du skal bestille nyt! Vi hjælper dig med at blive klar til den nye sæson, uanset om det er sejl, covers, UV-beskyttelse eller canvas, der trænger til en opdatering eller en reparation. Kontakt os i dag på telefon 39204090 eller send os en email på DEN@northsails.com og få et rigtig godt vintertilbud, på lige netop det, du har brug for. READ MORE

SAVE THE DATE: SHORTHANDED RACING SEMINAR Thursday, February 9th, 2023, at the North Sails Loft Portsmouth RI 📸 Stephen R Cloutier North Sails and Bluenose Yachts invite you to join us for an informative discussion on shorthanded racing with Ken Read, Suzy Leech and Ellie Driver. Other North Sails and BYS representatives will be there to answer your questions. Thursday, February 9th, 2023, from 7-9 pm at the Portsmouth loft. Cocktails and snacks will be provided at 6:30 pm. North Sails Portsmouth Loft | 1 Maritime Dr. Portsmouth, RI 02871 RSVP below. READ MORE

This guide is designed to add additional support information to sailors rigging their International Moth Helix sails for the first time. There are some fundamental differences with the Helix sail, ‘twin-skin’ split batten technology, compared to previous models. The Helix sail offers a large step forward in performance, however, there are some new learnings required when rigging, which once understood, is neither complicated nor time-consuming. Initial Set-Up When your sail arrives the following should be included: 1. 7 x Full Length Split Battens 2. 6 x Decksweeper battens – Glass RB 3. 13 x Rocket Adjusters 4. 6 x mast cups. Numbered 1-6 These battens should be cut to length and there should be no requirement to adjust the length of them. Please contact a North Sails representative if you feel the battens need to be adjusted. Any batten length adjustment should be off the back of the batten and not from the split end.   Batten lengths may vary +/-20mm These parts should be fitted, but if not, take the following steps:   Battens Step 1: Batten Cups The battens cups need to be threaded onto the webbing strap found inside the luff tube. The webbing strap prevents the cups from moving in a vertical direction whilst sailing, hence the cups grip onto the strap quite tightly. Once the cups are threaded onto the webbing strap, pass the strap down the luff tube, ensuring to remove any twists from the strap. The Cups may need adjusting slightly once you are rigged. Follow the impression of the batten along the batten pocket and aim to keep it aligned or fractionally on the high side of the pocket. The webbing strap may be overlength and can be cut to length – around the height of the boom. There is no requirement to locate the lower end of the strap. Step 2: Batten insertion Batten #1 The top batten doesn’t have a mast cup. There are however 2 batten pockets on the luff tube, one on each side. The split batten end needs to pass into each of these pockets. The batten pockets are offset so that each of the split tips can be inserted in turn. Put your hand up inside the luff tube from the zip at batten #2. Pass the tip of the #1 batten into the pockets on each side of the sail. This process can be slightly tricky but easily managed and only has to be done once. Batten #2 - #7 These battens are to be inserted from the rear end and then the split tip is inserted into the receptacles on the rear face of the cups. There are sacrificial pieces of plastic within these receptacles that are designed to break and distort to add friction to the batten and prevent it from falling out. The batten will need to be pushed firmly into the batten cup receptacle. At batten #7 there is a batten holder on each side of the luff tube. Each half of the batten needs to be passed through these. Add rocket batten tensioners to all battens. Step 3: Deck Sweeper Battens There are 6 x deck sweeper battens that can be fitted and rocket tensioners added. The diagonal deck sweeper battens are the only battens that need removing for de-rigging and sail rolling. Rigging Step 1 Insert the mast into the luff tube, as per all previous models, ensuring to pass the mast above the battens and not through any of the split battens. Note: Avoid wrapping the mast tip around the webbing strap At batten 7 there are batten holders on each side of the luff tube, the mast must pass in front of these. Once the mast tip reaches batten #2, the uppermost batten cup, ensure to thread this batten cup onto the mast (pushing the mast in front of the cup). Continue to push the tip of the mast into the head of the sail. Step 2 Shuffle the luff of the sail down the mast until you can see the forestay and spreader fittings. KEEP ALL BATTEN CUPS OFF THE RIG AT THIS STAGE (except for Batten #2 – cup #1) Step 3 Continue to rig the sail onto the boat. Attach the clew and boom vang. Some pre-bend will be required to attach the batten cups. Step 4 Once there is some pre-bend, achieved by some vang load, the next step is to put the batten cups onto the rig. Work from the top down, carefully putting each cup onto the rig. Normally twisting them slightly can help to get them on. Once all the cups are on, slide the luff tube downwards and attach the cunningham. De-Rigging Aim to do the above procedure in reverse. Remove cups from the rig before releasing the clew. This de-loads the sail and it's far easier to remove spreaders etc. Tuning & Race Set-Up Battens In general batten tension should increase from top to bottom. Aim for one or two small creases in batten #1, one crease in batten #2, half a crease in batten #3, and no creases in battens #4-7. Luff round and sail camber can be tailored with batten tension in the lower battens. Adjusting batten tension to different wind conditions will produce performance variation as the batten tension will increase camber. Batten cups When fully rigged with vang and cunningham loads @ 70% ensure the battens run along the batten pockets and the cups are not sitting too high or too low. Aim to have the batten and cup just high within the batten pocket. There are a few nuances to this new design, but once understood, rigging time is very similar to previous models. Please feel free to contact Rob Greenhalgh with any questions. READ MORE

Proper boat speed depends mostly on constant and consistent adjustments to your rig and sails. The following measurements are those we have found to be the fastest settings for your new North Sails. READ MORE

Sikeres Magyar részvétel a 2022-es Sydney Hobart-on. A 100%-ban Magyar legénység a kiemelkedő, összetett 29. helyen vitte be a 68 lábas CASSIOPEIA-t a Tasmánia-i befutón. Gratulálunk a legénységnek: Nobilis Kristóf, Nobilis Demeter, Nobilis Ágoston, Perényi Péter, Sipos Ágoston, Sipos Bálint, Vándor Róbert, Weöres Szabolcs, Újhelyi-Gáspár Miklós. Teljesítményüket NORTH SAILS 3Di Endurance vitorlák is segítették. READ MORE

NORTH-POWERED CELESTIAL WINS 2022 ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART YACHT RACE Sam Haynes and crew hoist the coveted Tattersall Trophy The waiting game is over for North Sails-powered TP52 Celestial, who has been declared the Overall Winner of the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Hoisting the coveted Tattersall Trophy to celebrate the Celestial’s victory is a massive achievement for longtime North Sails friend and customer Sam Haynes, whose hopes of victory were dashed last year by protest. In addition to Overall Winner Celestial, North Sails was onboard with five of the top ten finishers. Haynes commented on the team’s win: “It’s like an elation – it’s huge for me and the crew. I can’t believe it; it’s a bit of a life changer. It was hard waiting (to be told one way or the other). It was extremely difficult waiting. We couldn’t really enjoy the experience until now. I’m so proud of the whole background – our program – and to sail against the best IRC fleet I’ve sailed in, ever.” Haynes works closely with the North team in Australia, and North Team Rider Rob Greenhalgh was on board for the 2022 win. Many of the North Sails team are multi-year Sydney-Hobart veterans and were participating in this year’s edition of the “Great Race.” With the 2022 results stamped in history, it’s time for a well-deserved rest. 📸 Salty Dingo READ MORE

ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART RACE 2022: HOW TO FOLLOW THE 628-MILE OFFSHORE CLASSIC Race weather preview from Chris Bedford and must-save links 📸 Rolex / Andrea Francolini The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is one of our sport’s revered offshore races. Each Boxing Day, hundreds of sailors, watched by thousands of shoreside spectators, depart Sydney Harbour for the trek to Hobart. For the past 76 editions, the 628nm route has challenged competitors from Corinthian family programs to some of the highest-profile names in sailing, and this year will be no different. The 2022 race features 100+ boats that are chomping at the bit to get to the “The Great Race” underway. North Sails, and our Sydney loft, in particular, has a rich history with the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Our Australian-based teams have collectively sailed in hundreds of races, while North clients have consistently found themselves at the top of leaderboards over the years. We asked our friend, meteorologist Chris Bedford to provide insight into this year’s race conditions. Read on for the forecast and details on how to follow the start on December 26th. Chris Bedford’s Weather Forecast: Bedford is respected worldwide for his experience and expertise in marine and coastal meteorology. He, through his business Sailing Weather Service, provides customized weather solutions to some of the world’s leading competitive sailing teams and events. Here is Bedford’s preview for the race: For anyone following the weather around southeast Australia, Tasmania, and the adjacent waters, you know it has been quite unusual this Spring – with record rains and cold temperatures. Indeed this unusual weather pattern has been a challenge to predict as well, and locals have been voicing their frustration with the weather forecasts relentlessly. 📸 Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi Interestingly, while many blame the La Nina pattern of cooler waters over the Pacific Ocean, the actual culprit is something called the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). This IOD is an index relating the temperatures over two areas in the western and eastern Indian Ocean to weather over Australia. Indeed the IOD Index has been strongly negative for much of the Spring, which correlates directly with the unusually wet and cool weather experienced over southeastern Australia. However, over the last few weeks, the index has trended back to neutral, which suggests a return to more typical weather patterns for the Australian summer and race period. For the Sydney to Hobart Race, there are usually two basic weather scenarios under consideration: High pressure over the Tasman Sea at the start and a cold front approaching from the Australian Bight. Ahead of the front, NE/N winds around the western side of the high and down the NSW coast mean a relatively quick downwind start. Depending on how advanced the high and/or front are, it is possible that the fleet encounters the front with abruptly shifting winds bringing SW/S conditions, squalls, much colder air, and rough seas. These fronts make up the so-call Southly Buster that can quickly expose both the prepared and unprepared teams in this race. The other scenario is when the front has already moved through Sydney and lies east of the Rhumb line. In this scenario, upwind S/SW winds prevail out of the start and much of the way south across the Bass Strait. Often, high-pressure building east from the Australian Bight eases winds with distance south, making for a lighter, more shifty, and more challenging finish. Real life is never perfectly described by these scenarios, and reality will likely be something in between. Crews will be considering the impact of thermal sea breezes (daytime onshore flow) and land breezes (nighttime offshore flow) close to the NSW and Tasmanian coasts. In addition, the East Australian Current (EAC), which generally runs north to south along and east of the Rhumb line – offers a possible favorable push if the weather and route line up appropriately. That said, the EAC breaks away from the coast in loops and eddies, which can create a zone of adverse current to be avoided along the way. While at this point, it is not clear which of the above scenarios will dominate, the latest consensus is that some variation of the first scenario – downwind once outside Sydney Heads – will define the 2022 race. There is plenty of time for this to change, and just a few hours of realignment could shift the race into the second scenario (upwind start). Crews will be studying the weather forecasts closely over the next few days to see whether the trends will favor or sour their expectations for a quick race south to Hobart. If you’re in Sydney: Spectator boats positioned in the eastern channel can watch the race start and then follow the fleet down the harbor to the iconic Sydney Heads before heading out to sea. Once underway, the fleet will move quickly, so it’s recommended to get a ways down the harbor towards Middle Head before the start to see the leaders sail through the Heads. At the Heads, make sure to keep well clear of the rounding marks. If you only plan on watching the start, head to the western side of the harbor. Good vantage points for spectator boats include: Taylors Bay, Chowder Bay, Obelisk Bay, and North Head on the west and Rose Bay, Watsons Bay, Camp Cove, and South Head on the east. For our global audience watching from home: Watch the race start live right on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race homepage. If you miss the live webcast, a replay of the start program will be available on the website as well. Additionally, on the website is the complete list of yachts entered in the 2022 edition of the race. You can also view past race data, including previous results, historical reports, and statistical information; boat designers of line and overall winners; as well as profiles of some of the race personalities over the years. Follow along on Social: Official race social channels will keep followers updated from race start through finish. There will be a live stream of the start, as well as race updates, Line Honors announcements, an Overall Winner Declaration, as well as a Regatta Recap. Rolex Sydney Hobart @Officialrolexsydneyhobart @RolexSydneyHobart North Sails @North_Sails @NorthSailsWorldwide Track the fleet: Each competing yacht is fitted with a tracker that uses the GPS satellite network to automatically update the yacht’s latitude, longitude, course over ground, and speed over ground. The yacht tracker system also shows distance to finish and progressive corrected time positions under the IRC, ORCi, and PHS handicap divisions. Follow the 2022 fleet from start to finish with the Yacht Tracker. Yacht Tracker uses a specially designed tool that calculates the predicted results for each and every boat in the fleet, so you can see how each boat is performing. TRACKER Line honors and progressive predicted corrected times under the IRC, PHS, and ORCi handicap categories are updated every 10 minutes. READ MORE

Rezime druge sezone M24 Kupa Nakon što se na kraju godine napravi finalni obračun dobije se da je sezona završena nakon sedam održanih regata s ukupno 43 odjedrena plova, a da jedrilica s CRO oznakom na jedrima ima 22! Kako je sve ovo ostvareno u iznimno kratkom roku može se slobodno reći da je riječ o jednoj od najljepših sportskih jedriličarskih priča u Hrvatskoj u posljednje vrijeme. E da, treba dodati da je trenutno Hrvatska flota jedna od najbrojnijih ne samo u Europi, već i u svijetu! S obzirom da je riječ o jedrilicama koje omogućuju sportsko jedrenje neovisno o godištu članova njihovih posada, to je nešto apsolutno drugačije nego kad se govori o sportskim dosezima i aktivnostima jedriličara koji karijeru ostvaruju u malim klasama. Aktivno sportsko jedrenje u malim klasama je ipak ograničeno na mlađe dobne skupine i do sad je u Hrvatskoj uglavnom tu i završavala prava sportska priča kad je naš sport u pitanju. Iako je u inozemstvu sasvim normalno da se nakon rasplinjavanja snova o plasmanima u reprezentacije i odrađivanja olimpijskih ciklusa nastavi s aktivnim jedrenjem i u laseru (ILCA-i) i u Finnu i u 470 itd... u nas je dugo vremena jedina šansa za nastavak jedrenja bila ulazak u sastav posade na nekom od krstaša. Tek posljednjih par godina slika se počinje postupno mijenjati. Uz glavne junake ovog članka, Melgese 24, u nas je posljednjih par godina krenulo i seniorsko/veteransko jedrenje u klasi Flaying Dutchman. Ali za sad je to samo jedna iznimka koja je skoro pa u domeni statističke pogreške. Kad se pogleda koliko je u Hrvatskoj jedriličara koji su u posljednjih 50 godina izašli iz malih klasa onda je tih desetak posada u FD stvarno malen broj. U M24, iako je tu više nego duplo veći broj posada, a i posade su minimalno duplo brojnijeg sastava, ipak je i to malen broj onih koji bi trebali nastaviti s jedrenjem nakon što su realno gledajući u dobnoj skupini rekreativaca. Ali ako ništa drugo ipak je riječ o iznimno pozitivnom pomaku i trendu za kojeg se iskreno nadam da se neće zaustaviti! Što se same klase M24 tiče vjerojatno smo stigli do broja za kojeg slobodno možemo reći da je maksimum koji ćemo imati. Sigurno bi se moglo oformiti još nekoliko posada, ali kad se uzme u obzir dostupnost jedrilica na tržištu, troškovi održavanja, troškovi jedne sezone, treninzi i sve što ide uz ozbiljniju sportsku priču vjerojatnije je da možemo biti zadovoljni ako ostanemo na broju 22, a tek kad bi sve 22 posade mogli dovesti na jednu regatu... 📸 regate.com.hr Ali vratimo se na ovogodišnju sezonu. Slobodno se može reći da su svi naučili nekoliko stvari, što po pitanju jedrenja, što po pitanju organizacije. Krenimo od organizacije. Definitivno je zaključak da se organizacije jedne M24 regate ne može uhvatiti bilo koji klub, neovisno o tome koliko je posada član tog kluba. Osnovni ograničavajući faktor je ozbiljna logistička podrška u klupskoj lučici ili na mjestu gdje se održava regata. Naime, bez dizalice ili mjesta do kojeg može/smije doći kamion s dizalicom, nema smisla niti razmišljati o kandidaturi za domaćinstvo. Također, ako nema mjesta za sigurno vezivanje bar 20 jedrilica bilo ispred kluba ili na gradskoj rivi nema nemojte niti razmišljati o kandidaturi za domaćina. Regata može biti najbolje organizirana, super popratni program, uvjeti na moru idealni, ali ako se iskrcavanje s trajlera i vraćanje na iste ne može napraviti na siguran i nezahtjevan način ostat će gorak okus u ustima. Zaključak je, prvo dobro provjerite da li zadovoljavate spomenute minimume, pa tek onda vidite s klasom da li su zainteresirani za suradnju s vama. Jedrenje je iduća tema. Kako su društvene mreže nešto što mora biti uključeno u sve što se radi u modernom društvu, tako je osmišljen i hashtag koji je klasa prihvatila kao svoj prepoznatljivi znak, riječ je o #najboljiodnajboljih. Iskreno govoreći trenutna situacija i jest takva. U formiranim i aktivnim posadama nalaze se skoro svi naši jedriličari koji su bar jednom zajedrili na olimpijskim igrama, na svjetskim i europskim prvenstvima, također su i državni prvaci u raznim klasama, ali među njima se nalazi i određen broj jedriličara koji se ne mogu pohvaliti tako visokim dostignućima. Međutim, rezultati na regatama pokazuju da se ne treba nitko nikog bojati, a s druge strane tko je spreman učiti i kome ne smeta da u ovoj konkurenciji jedri u sredini ili na začelju flote, može biti zadovoljan i sobom i svojom posadom i sigurno će iz svakog plova izaći obogaćen novim iskustvom i saznanjem. Kao što sam na početku napisao, ipak je riječ o jedriličarima koji su već zašli u ili se nalaze u ozbiljnim godinama u kojima su na cijeni neke druge vrijednosti u odnosu na mladenačke dane kad je bilo najvažnije pobijediti. Sad su neke druge vrijednosti na cijeni, premda je dobar rezultat uvijek dobrodošao. Ali ono što je bitno je to da se više ne odustaje tek tako. Iskreno govoreći, biti na regatnom polju u isto vrijeme s ovakvim imenima nije mala stvar i svakome treba biti čast. S druge strane, kad je flota vezana za kraj, svatko od tih "velikih" spreman je bez nagovaranja da odgovori na bilo koje pitanje i da savjetodavno djeluje u najboljoj mogućoj namjeri! Zato ako dobijete ponudu da zajedrite u nekoj od posada u Cupu ili razmišljate o formiranju svoje posade, nemojte odustajati, sigurno ste dobrodošli! 📸 regate.com.hr A sad, vratimo se činjenicama iz 2022. :) Odjedreno je 7 regata... u Dubrovniku, Biogradu, Opatiji, Rovinju, Split - Labud, Split - Mornar i u Zadru. Ukupno su odjedrena 43 plova, što je u prosjeku nešto više od 6 jedrenja po regati. Većinom su to bile dvodnevne regate, a po tri dana se jedrilo u Rovinju i u Zadru. Sve jedrilice koje su stigle u Hrvatsku za sad su i ostale u njoj. Neke su promijenile vlasničku strukturu, ali uglavnom jer su dotadašnji vlasnici htjeli nabaviti neku drugu. Jedina koja je otišla iz Hrvatske je Strilica Zuxu, jer se njen vlasnik želi totalno posvetiti plasmanu na OI u Parizu, tako da je odluka o njenoj prodaji opravdana i razumljiva. Što se tiče priprema za sezonu 2023. neke posade su već poduzele korake da nabave novije jedrilice, ali za sad je još nepoznanica da li će njihove sadašnje jedrilice preuzeti neki novi vlasnici u Hrvatskoj ili će i one negdje u inozemstvo. 📸 regate.com.hr Čak osam posada odjedrilo je svih sedam regata i za razliku od prethodne sezone Panjić više nije imao apsolutnu dominaciju na regatnom polju. Ove godine ozbiljna najozbiljnija konkurencija bila mu je Universitas Nova, dok je konstantan pritisak tijekom cijele sezone radio Mataran 24. Sistem bodovanja koji je klasa odlučila primijeniti je taj da se boduje svaki odjedreni plov s tim da je na broj odjedrenih plovova bilo i odbacivanje deset najlošijih rezultata. Na taj način se želi motivirati što više posada da odjedre što više regata, ali treba primijetiti i da je jedan dio posada na kraju ostvario sasvim solidan finalni plasman i s određenim brojem izostanaka. Naravno, za to su zaslužni dobri rezultati na regatama na kojima su sudjelovali, ali ipak je u ovom slučaju i kvantiteta važan element. Uglavnom, što se vrha tiče, samo 8 bodova je bila razlika između dvije prvoplasirane posade! Lanjski pobjednici Kupa, posada Panjića, ove godine na kraju je imala 88 bodova, dok su novi pobjednici, posada Universitas Nove osvojili 76 bodova. 📸 regate.com.hr Kormilar Universitas Nove je Ivan Kljaković Gašpić, a s njim su jedrili Marin Golem, Filip Miroić, Mia Kljaković Gašpić i Šime Markić. Pretpostavljam da su čitatelji već upoznati s tim da se bodovanje na Melges 24 regatama vrši u dvije kategorije. Jedna je "apsolutna" i Universitas Nova je odnijela pobjedu u toj kategoriji, a druga kategorija je "corinthian" i u njoj se boduju rezultati posada u kojima nema niti jednog jedriličara koji je vezan uz jedrenje na način da spada u kategoriju profesionalca po kriterijima koje je propisao World Sailing. U toj konkurenciji pobjedu je odnijela posada Matarana 24. 📸 regate.com.hr Kormilar ove posade je Ante Botica, a uz njega stalni članovi su Damir Civadelić, Ivo Matić i Mario Škrlj, a tijekom sezone s njima su jedrili još Pina Buble, Marin Radačić, Max Čarija i Bruna Princivali. Posada Matarana zauzela je treće mjesto u generalnom poretku s dvadeset kaznenih bodova više od drugoplasiranih Panjića. Kompletnu ljestvicu na kraju sezone 2022. možete pronaći na ovom linku. READ MORE

CHARLES CAUDRELIER | ROUTE DU RHUM 2022 WINNER Aboard With the Maxi Edmond De Rothschild Skipper 📸 © Eloi Stichelbaut / polaRYSE / Gitana SA If Charles Caudrelier were a superhero, then he would have to be Clark Kent / Superman. Ashore, he is quintessentially Clark Kent; mild-mannered and self-effacing. Caudrelier doesn’t need a telephone box and a cape to turn into Superman, though; he just needs to step aboard a boat. Racing the Ultime, Gitana Team Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Caudrelier’s recent performance to win the 2022 Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe was the stuff of superheroes. The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is an extraordinary machine; launched in July 2017 at 32m long, she was the first offshore maxi-multihull built to foil across oceans and around the world. And she does this at a fighting weight of 16.5 tons with 650m2 of downwind sail area, that’s more than three tennis courts worth of high-technology fabrics. Imagine being onboard while she’s going full-throttle at close to fifty knots, in the dark, in the mid-Atlantic. Airborne and alone. This is not a job for mere mortals… but it was just one more extraordinary performance in Caudrelier’s career, one that has already included a win in the solo Solitaire du Figaro, two wins in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre, and double victories in the fully-crewed Volvo Ocean Race, the second as skipper. When it was pointed out that all this puts him on a pedestal with the true greats of ocean racing, Caudrelier replied, “If I see the line of my career, it’s amazing… but… I don’t know what to say, I don’t want to be arrogant… I think I’ve done a good job, and I’m also very lucky in my career to be in good teams and to be surrounded by amazing people and sail with lots of the best sailors in the world. And I’m like a sponge, I think. I like to watch the best and take the best things from the best guys.” It’s a strategy that has now made Caudrelier ‘the best guy’ – so, what qualities did he bring to the performance? “I think my ability to work with a team and to push everybody in a good direction, and to be surrounded by good people has always been one of my strengths. I also think it’s my determination to be there; I worked hard, and I had to do a lot to be chosen as skipper of a team like this. My motivation was 100%, I’m able to push… that’s what my routeur said, he said, ‘you are the same percentage of performance as with the crew.’” Caudrelier’s elapsed time of six days, 19 hours, 47 minutes, and 25 seconds was more than 18 and a half hours quicker than the record set by Francis Joyon in 2018. And the new record was achieved in far from ideal conditions, with the Ultimes facing complex weather patterns and being forced to negotiate a series of transitions and fronts. “I had the most experience, and I knew exactly how to trim my boat,” Caudrelier explained. “If you give me a true wind angle and a true wind speed, I can tell you where to put all the settings of the boat to be fast. I could see that in every transition, I was faster, and I was able to do different modes.” Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has been the boat to beat since she was first launched, and it’s particularly impressive that the team has maintained their advantage for so long in this almost unlimited design space. It revealed much about their approach when Caudrelier was asked what it was that made the boat a winner, and he replied with three different areas. “We made a big step this year with the new appendages… I think our foils are just a weapon. 📸 © Eloi Stichelbaut / polaRYSE / Gitana SA “Today, I’m very focused on the appendages because this is an area where we can improve. I don’t have the experience of Franck because 80% of my career has been spent in one design… So compared to Franck, I was a rookie, but with him and the guys around me, I learned a lot, and I think that now I have good experience and a good feeling about what to do. “That’s where it’s very interesting to sail on a team because the feedback of the sailors is really important. And it’s also very important to understand all the appendage work and to watch them while you are sailing; watch where there is cavitation, where there is ventilation, and the behavior of the appendage in the water… I think today, I’ve become useful for my design team.” Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has a full North 3Di inventory – and Caudrelier was wearing the North Sails Collection Performance gear. “And this year, for example, I think we gained a lot from the new sails… I think we were the first team to play with load sharing Helix technology>. We have a lot of experience with load sharing because we have worked with it since 2019. “We have also designed a different J1,” continued Caudrelier, “with a top halyard where everybody has a lower forestay, and that gives us more area but also a different shape… and also in the shape of the sails, we are a bit different. We are probably deeper on the mainsail and flatter on the front sails than the other boats, and I think we made good gains this year with that.” Caudrelier pointed out that it’s not easy to make gains when all of your main competition are also using North Sails. The whole Ultime podium was using North Sails (along with the IMOCA podium, the winner in the Ocean Fifty Class and second and third in Class 40). Caudrelier put much of their success down to the strength of their relationship. “All the good teams work with North Sails, so there are no big differences, but some details… The designer has an idea about what is best, but he needs feedback from us, and he has to make choices about area, about the power of the sails, and that’s what we do together… They know we like to innovate. So usually we are the first ones they propose a new idea because they know we will say yes… We have an amazing relationship with North Sails, and we are very happy about that.” These days the aero package isn’t just about the sails either. “We have been working a lot on the aero with lots of details that we have improved.” “It’s very important… We have a bigger range of true wind angles , which makes it very complicated to close the gap between the front sail and the platform. But on the back … that was one of our innovations, we closed the gap between the mainsail and the cockpit, and it’s a big gain… We have done a good job on that, I think.” The overall approach is not to look for the ‘silver bullets’ though. “We always push and try to improve the really small details. And the fact is that the team never says no… We have amazing people within the Gitana Team! we have been pushing a lot… and improved a lot… maybe 100 details make a difference today in speed.” The reliability of the fleet was noticeably improved in this race compared to the previous edition four years ago, but it was yet another strength for Maxi Edmond de Rothschild – the toolbox stayed stowed. “I’ve never damaged any sails on the boat,” said Caudrelier. “It’s about working, sailing, and making good choices… but maybe if we don’t ever break anything, then we are too strong. So, we have to find the right balance. I think today we have it, but we’ll see… “Don’t forget that these boats are designed to do a race around the world, and it is only a six-day race, which is almost an inshore for these boats. Soon we are going to try the Trophée Jules Verne again… We’ll see if we manage to finish that race down the road.” Don’t bet against it being the next glittering prize in the inexorable rise of Charles Caudrelier. 📸© Marin Le Roux / polaRYSE / Gitana SA READ MORE

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