CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: NORM CHURCH

Raising The Bar With North Sails

Norm Church and his Morgan 41 Obsession have been a Florida northeast coast fixture since 1971, the year the boat was purchased. The keel/centerboard model was the most successful of the Charley Morgan designs; she is ideally configured for the shallow waters of the Florida/Bahamas cruising and racing areas. Obsession has been consistently upgraded and maintained over the last four decades by Norm, often doing the work himself to the highest of standards.

According to Norm’s longtime North Sails sailmaker, Lin Robson, “I’ve known Norm for many years, his upbeat and colorful personality has always been a bright spot during phone calls and loft visits. Always seeking to raise the bar, always an open-minded student during decades of experience, Norm and his team have won many races over the years. Most recently, the team won PHRF B, and were third overall in the Ft.Lauderdale to Key West race.”

Obsession is an interesting study as well, like so many unheralded older boats across the country, she does not represent the latest design, but she is given new life after each of the sail and other successful upgrades over the years.

Speaking of sails, Obsession is a quite diverse showpiece for North Sails, and Church has been an early adopter for North’s time, new technologies. The inventory includes a Radian main and #2 genoa, a 3Di 155%, S2 and A3 spinnakers, as well as a suit of NORDAC heavy weather sails.

Lin Robson observes that, “The A3 is an interesting story, locally at least flying asymmetrical sails off a spinnaker pole is a relatively new sight the past couple seasons, but we built an A3 to be flown from the pole just above the pulpit years ago, it has been a weapon on those reaching courses for which Obsession loves so well.”

Congratulations to Norm and his team. North Sails Gulf Coast looks forward to a lot more enjoyable years on the water watching Obsession succeed on the race course!