North SailsExperts

Hugh Beaton
- Office Phone: 416 259 9644
- Mobile Phone: 416 277 9605
- Email Address: Hugh.Beaton@northsails.com
Hugh learned to sail in Barrie ON, where he worked with Lasers, 470s, Int 14’s and small keelboats. He started working at local sail loft during summers while attending University in Toronto. While attending University, Hugh learned to design and build spinnakers. He developed a passion for racing IOR throughout North America.
Hugh joined North Sails 1990, and was privileged to work with some great people in the Toronto office including; Hans Fogh, Steve Calder, Bruno Dubois, and Larry MacDonald.
Early in his career he was introduced to the International 8 Metre Class, which quickly became his class of choice. Hugh quickly found himself working with 40 teams from 12 different countries. The boats are beautiful to sail, and highly technical making them an ideal platform for North Sails’ range of design services and 3D manufacturing.
Hugh has attended 21 World Championships, winning nine titles along the way.
«It has been very rewarding to work with so many great sailors , and to develop products and tuning guides for the class.»
Aside from the 8 metres, Hugh enjoys distance racing on the Great Lakes, and cruising with his family in the North Channel area of Lake Huron.