NORTH SAILS BLOG

THE NEW CLUBSWAN 36 MAKES ITS DEBUT North Sails Team Collaborates On Class Design Process On May 3rd Nautor’s Swan unveiled the ClubSwan36 in Scarlino Italy. This foil assisted one design keelboat is the newest addition to the ClubSwan family, a division of Nautor’s with the specific goal of leading the yard’s development of high-performance yachts based upon cutting-edge design principles. North Sails is proud to have played a part in bringing this innovative one design boat to launch by delivering North Design Services and technical analysis to the project. “All of us at North Sails are looking forward to sea trials and dialing in the performance potential of this exciting new class.” North Swan expert Arnd Howar and sail designer Juan Meseguer worked with Juan Yacht Design and the Nautor’s team throughout the design process. “You need to have sailmakers involved early on in the design process to help define the loads and flying shape, explains Philippe Oulhen, JYD Project Leader working with Nautor’s. “North Sails supplied models to power the CFD runs, which allowed us to progress onto rig development. The North team and JYD have worked together on many projects throughout the years, and we’re pleased to have Juan collaborate with us as we move through the various design phases.” A tight one design rule limits the sail inventory to just five sails; one main, two jibs and two asymmetric kites. The ClubSwan 36 upwind inventory is built from North 3Di RAW, known for its shape holding and ability to carry through a wide range of racing conditions. “The ClubSwan 36 is an exciting project for one design sailors who will experience high-performance sailing in a boat that was designed for ease of handling,” remarked Arnd Howar, who is the North Sails ClubSwan 36 class leader. “All of us at North Sails are looking forward to sea trials and dialing in the performance potential of this exciting new class.” READ MORE

NORTH KNOCKOUT AT B14 UK NATIONALS Top Ten Boats Powered By North Sails 📸 VR Sport Hosts of the event, Restronguet Sailing Club provided a great mix of conditions for the GUL B14 skiff Championships. Day one brought three very different races. Launching in a force four which soon reduced to a force two by the start of the race, The Anthill Mob (Tim Harrison/Jonny Ratcliffe) showed their light wind prowess to win the first race from Harken (Nick Craig/Tobytastic Lewis). With the wind becoming shifty and continuing to drop for race two, Team GUL/North Sails (Mark Barnes/Char Horlock) responded well to these shifts, maintaining a healthy lead until Harken found some lucky pressure, turning a five-minute deficit into an impressive win in very little wind. The Anthill Mob recovered to third from choosing the wrong side of the course on an exceptionally hard to call first beat, finishing ahead of Brightmile (Mark Watts/Stig Rogers). The wind died to nothing in the afternoon of day one, as race officer, Phil Slater, hoisted AP over I. However, after spotting some wind in the estuary, the fleet were greeted by a 15 knot northerly and sunshine – champagne sailing! With all to play for going into day two, Harken had the edge with four teams in close contention. The plan to have four races at the lower end of Carrick Roads off of Falmouth did not look promising as the fleet arrived on the water to sunshine and a dying breeze on day two. Luckily, a force two to three filed in from the south. Race four had a clean first start with Harken, Demelza (Peter Knight/James Wilkinson), Team GUL/North Sails and The Anthill Mob fighting it out at the front of the fleet. First to pull through and take race one was Harken. Demelza showed her local knowledge finishing in second and Asbo (Crispin Taylor/Ralph Singleton) appeared under the radar taking third from Team GUL/North Sails. Damelza dominated race five and Team GUL/North Sails took their first win in race six. 📸 VR Sport With one hand on the trophy, Harken were out of race seven after snagging a buoy, leaving the win open to the rest of the fleet. Brightmile took up the challenge, chased by The Anthill Mob and Demelza. An exciting final day was to follow as just 2.5 points separated The Anthill Mob, Demelza and Team GUL/North Sails. With similar conditions, day three brought sun and dying breeze to the racecourse which was set in the upper half of Carrick Roads, off Mylor Harbour. 5-8 knots arrived making local knowledge paramount in such a complex channel. The Beast (Gary Parks/Chris Webber) set the pace on race eight with the top five scattered across the course. Over two laps they held true, but on the last lap Harken and Team GUL/North Sails were keen to challenge The Beast. On the final run, a kite line wrap released Harken and a split occurred. The Beast headed into pressure and slight adverse current as the other two teams sailed inshore. At the finish, Harken held on, but Team GUL/North Sails could not take second from The Beast, resulting in just a few metres between the three boats at the finish. In fourth came Brightmile. The Anthill Mob took fifth and Demelza slipped into seventh. The breeze died for race nine, so the fleet returned to Circus Maximus, the arena off of Falmouth at the bottom of Carrick Roads. Breeze steadied at 5-6 knots and the tide turned. Demelza meant business and led the fleet at the windward mark. Harken found a lane and took second place. The Anthill Mob and Team GUL/North Sails chased in third and fourth with Asbo and Brightmile hitting the current forcing them back to fifth and sixth. Numbers were calculated. Harken’s consistency meant they had won, but all else was up for grabs. Time to perform when it mattered most. Going into the final, deciding race, Team GUL/North Sails got rolled at the Committee Boat on the start line, The Anthill Mob got caught at the pin as a shift came through and Demelza, positioned at the middle of the line, was in her stride. Team GUL/North Sails chose mid-left on the first beat, reaching the windward mark with Better Than Life (Steve Hollingsworth/ Joe Tosh) and Demelza. The downwind leg caused a split between these three boats, with Team GUL/North Sails hooking both boats at the gate. On the last beat, Brightmile came in to play. As the final downwind was so close, Harken, Brightmile and Demelza fought it out with Team GUL/North Sails shadowing ahead. Finishing within seconds, it would be when the sailors got ashore that they discovered their finishing position. Harken took a worthy win, The Anthill Mob had fallen away to confirm fourth, but second place was decided by the rule book as Team Gul/North Sails and Damelza both finished on 23.5 points. Team GUL/North Sails had just done enough, meaning Dalmelza took a well earned third place. Team GUL/North Sails also took first female crew with Char Horlock onboard. The fleet now looks forward to the Carnac Europeans and World Championship which looks like they are set to be nail-biting events after such tight results at the UK Nationals. For more information on B14 Championship winning sails, visit our class page. 📸Patrick Clarke READ MORE

CLIENTS WIN PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS AT SAILING WEEK An Exciting Finale For The Caribbean Series In Antigua © Paul Wyeth / ASW 2019 92-boats arrived at the scene for the 52nd edition of Antigua Sailing Week, giving sailors from all around the world a chance to race in one of the most beautiful sailing locations in the Caribbean. Bright blue waters and reliable 18-25 knot tradewinds provide pristine racing conditions for boats of all kinds, ranging from 24-115’ in length. Sailors raced on everything from small boat one designs to high-performance speed racers and elegant megayachts. Antigua offers utmost hospitality for sailors during sailing week, with social activities and fun post-racing award ceremonies allowing competitors to meet and make new connections and talk about their fun day on the water. Between the race committee officials, organizers, and onshore teams, the hospitality and event organization at Sailing Week did not disappoint this year. North Sails clients had a solid showing at sailing week, winning prestigious awards and overall recognition. Sir Peter Harrison’s Sojana* won the honorable Lord Nelson Trophy for the third time. “ “It was a fantastic week,” commented Sir Peter. We won the trophy last year and in 2011, so this is a hat-trick win for us. Sojana* has been powering along and there hasn’t been a day when we haven’t done well. I am absolutely delighted with our team’s success.” Sojana* won six races total, claiming the overall win for CSA and in CSA 1. Antigua Race Week concludes a successful Caribbean season for Sojana, who adopted 3Di into their inventory in 2018. © Paul Wyeth CSA 4 team Liquid, with owner Pamala Baldwin, won the Travellers Trophy this year for outstanding results over the course of the entire Caribbean racing series. The final test was Antigua Sailing Week, where the team showed off their talents and secured the trophy, and second overall in their division. Pamala Baldwin’s Liquid, winners of the 2019 Travellers Trophy © Paul Wyeth In CSA 6, Jules Mitchell’s 26-footer NSA Spirit, a dominated in class despite breaking a rudder and retirement in race six. After a quick fix, Mitchell and his all-Antigua youth team were right back at it after a quick fix. NSA Spirit won their division by six points and claimed Henley Cup Trophy for highest placing local team and first place in their division. “This is my sixth Antigua Sailing Week and the third as skipper of NSA Spirit. It’s been awesome! Antigua served up amazing tradewinds that we capitalized on and the regatta had excellent organization. A true test of sportsmanship and big respect goes to NSA Valiant, for lending us their rudder when ours broke.” © Paul Wyeth In the double-handed class, client Philip Asche on American Swan 44 Freebird, won the National Parks Trophy for taking the bullet in the final race of the regatta, and winning overall in class. “We are feeling really good having won our class. It’s strong sailing down here, which we know. The boat was built for these conditions, but we are not quite as built for it as we used to be! It’s been a very good week and we have enjoyed it a lot,” said Philip. © Ted Martin / ASW 2019 The North Sails loft in Antigua was working in overdrive throughout the week to ensure all teams were race ready. It was a lot of late nights making sure repairs were completed in time to get all sailors back on the water to take on the next day of racing. “Everything from batten pockets to luff tapes, leech tapes to clew reinforcements,” commented loft manager Andrew Dove. “A lot of these teams have been to the loft multiple times this week with miscellaneous things that needed attention. 3Di is by far the easiest and fastest sail material to repair because it does not have delam issues. We’ve seen many laminate string sails come in each day for repairs.” A short race day for SHK Scallywag turned into a long overnight for Andrew and his team. Just after the start of the around the island race, Scallywag got tangled upwind, hooking their backstay and part of their mainsail on a TP52. Note to self, a carbon TP52 mast is no match for any sail! The North loft was proud to share they were quick to take on the task of getting the 100’ speed-demon back out on the race course, having their repaired 3Di sail delivered at the dock first thing Monday morning. Future Fibres pulled off some tricky logistics to get Scallywag a backstay delivered to the island in time for one final day of sailing. The team finished Antigua Sailing Week in high spirits and went out on the final day to take second place in the last race of the regatta. Congratulations to our clients for an outstanding showing and perseverance throughout the week of windy-blue water sailing. Scallywag on the final day, giving Sojana some fun competition. © Paul Wyeth READ MORE

LOUISE RACING WINS KING JUAN CARLOS TROPHY North Sails Fuels Grant Gordon To The Overall Win 📸 Luis Fráguas The 24th King Juan Carlos Trophy was the second leg of the International Dragon European Cup Series 2019. The event saw some tight competition last weekend at Clube Naval de Cascais. After three days of racing, every one of the top eight boats had a chance to win, meaning the trophy was all to play for going into the fourth and final day. Troika (NED 412) won the opening race with Louise Racing (GBR 820) narrowly beating Sophie Racing (SUI 311) into third. This left three boats tied for the overall lead, with a number of opposing teams dangerously close by. However, it was Scotland’s Grant Gordon with his team on Louise Racing, and North Sails Dragon expert, Ruairidh Scott, that managed to get the most out of their boat, winning not just the final race, but the overall regatta as well. Ruairidh Scott explains the team onboard Louise Racing had fantastic speed all week which really helped on the final day when it mattered most. Cascais is a boat speed critical venue as everyone aims for the right of the course, so being quick was important. The North sails proved very versatile in varied condition – often the race would start in 10 knots and end in 20. Our genoas have nice wide crossover so we felt comfortable even when sailing close to or out of range on each sail. Cascais is a boat speed critical venue as everyone aims for the right of the course, so being quick was important. ”Our genoas have nice wide crossover so we felt comfortable even when sailing close to or out of range on each sail. The North sails proved very versatile in varied condition – often the race would start in 10 knots and end in 20.” Sailing with a full North Sails inventory throughout the regatta (A-7+ mainsail, V-6M and V-6H genoas, R-5 spinnaker), this result, combined with a third place in Cannes earlier this year, sees Louise Racing leading the Grade 1 circuit overall. 📸 Luis Fráguas 📸 Luis Fráguas 📸 Luis Fráguas 📸 Luis Fráguas READ MORE

BRINGING POWERFUL TOOLS AND UNPARALLELED EXPERIENCE TO THE 36th AMERICA’S CUP North Technology Group Companies Deliver an Engine above the Deck The year 2019 will be a historic one for the America’s Cup, the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport, and the North Technology Group, with a particular focus on North Sails, Southern Spars and Future Fibres, will play an integral role. Later this year, teams are scheduled to launch their first AC75 race boats, incredible foiling monohulls capable of reaching speeds around the track that have never been seen before in the America’s Cup – or anywhere else in a sailing competition, for that matter. Providing the power to push these boats into the red zone – speeds are expected to be approaching 50 knots by the time racing starts in the America’s Cup in 2021 – is a revolutionary rig and sail design, the result of years of investment in engineering and research and design. North Sail Designer Gautier Sergent commented; “Emirates Team New Zealand came to North Sails right after they won the America’s Cup in Bermuda. The Kiwis recognized we were the only ones advanced far enough down the track to accurately model a new concept like this.” While the last two editions of the America’s Cup utilized a rigid wing sail, the logistical challenge of handling the rigid wing is prohibitive in larger boats, where cranes and a shore crew is needed before and after sailing to handle the wing operation. So the 2021 America’s Cup will use a more traditional style mast with a twin skin sail that can be raised and lowered by the sailors at sea, more like a traditional sloop. Importantly, due to the ease in logistics and cost, this allows for a trickle-down effect of the technology to everyday sailors. The performance goal is to be as close to as aerodynamically efficient as the rigid wing of the past while keeping the power consumption on board at a reasonable level and ensuring the loads on the rig and through the control systems are manageable. This is far from an easy problem to solve, so best-in-class software modeling and design experience are critical to coming up with a winning design. To date, North Sails has been selected as the supplier of choice by the majority of teams currently training for the 36th America’s Cup. This is no coincidence – North Sails has supplied every challenger and defender in the famed competition since 1988. “North Sails has taken a leading role in the America’s Cup because the company has always strived to be the technological leader,” said company President and former America’s Cup skipper Ken Read. “We have a huge depth of talent within our company and some very smart people that are world-leading in what they do. The America’s Cup is an event that continues to challenge even the greatest of minds and forces us all to look at things in new ways – the next cycle will be no different and we are really excited that North Sails will be right at the cutting edge.” For the upcoming 36th America’s Cup, North Sails, Southern Spars and Future Fibres are combining their talents and know-how to provide the ‘Engine Above Deck’, which will produce the power to generate speeds that lift the AC75 monohull up out of the water and onto hydrofoils, which greatly reduces drag in the water and dramatically increases the speed of the boat. “Southern Spars and North Sails have developed software tools together for a long time and it’s a very powerful asset for us. If you looked back and compared it to how we worked even 10 or 15 years ago, it’s been a massive evolution.” But the three companies are acting as more than just suppliers to the teams. In fact, their engineers and designers helped the defending champion, Emirates Team New Zealand, and Challenger of Record, Luna Rossa, by contributing expertise to the design rule for the AC75. And now, several North Sails designers are integrated into the America’s Cup design teams. “Emirates Team New Zealand came to North Sails right after they won the America’s Cup in Bermuda in June 2017 to use our software tools to help model the new AC75 concept to determine things like the rig size and how the twin skin system could work, for example. The Kiwis recognized we were the only ones advanced far enough down the track with not just the software tools, but the right people as well, to accurately model a new concept like this,” said North Sails designer Gautier Sergent. “We worked on the aero package for the rule for about eight months, so a lot of the development for the tools that we use in the North Design Suite was done prior to the AC75 design rule being released.” From that advanced but generic starting point, the North Sails designers who have since become integrated into different America’s Cup teams now work independently of the mothership, putting all of their efforts into designing the fastest package for their team. Sergent, for example, is a member of the INEOS Team UK, the British challenger, working as the lead on Sail Design and Aerodynamics. “The development we do from now on is proprietary to each team, so when we have the team hat on, we are still designers for North Sails, but we are competing with each other. There are no friends until after the last race!” It’s a similar story at Southern Spars and Future Fibres where years of expertise and experience were drafted in to help with the design rule. “We started off by building some smaller rigs to test the twin skin concept, which worked out pretty well and then we got into developing the rig for the boat. That’s a process that’s gone on for the better part of a year,” said Mark Hauser from Southern Spars. “We’ve had a long-term relationship with Emirates Team New Zealand that is probably second to none, so it’s a natural evolution for us to step in and contribute.” And just as with North Sails, there are Southern Spars designers and engineers embedded with the teams. Jarrad Wallace is a design engineer who has moved across to join the rig programme with INEOS Team UK. “The rig on the AC75 is doing more than just holding the sails up,” Wallace says. “It’s actually part of the wing, so the interface is extremely important, especially with the control systems. The key difference is being able to control the head position of the sail, which is quite revolutionary in terms of soft sails, and that has a massive effect on the loadings on the rig. So our software lets us model that and then we can use that information to engineer the mast to do its job.” “Southern Spars and North Sails have developed software tools together for a long time and it’s a very powerful asset for us. We’ve had to take that a step further for these rigs to improve the way we model this aero package and I don’t think anyone else in the world could do that at this level,” Hauser added. “The level of detail in how we interact with North Sails over the years has increased dramatically,” Wallace explains. “It’s at the point now where we are sharing a common model, each having input in our own areas of expertise, and we make iterations in the software during the design phase so that by the time we go to build, we’re already at a very advanced level of refinement. If you looked back and compared it to how we worked even 10 or 15 years ago, it’s been a massive evolution.” Burns Fallow is a North Sails design expert who is embedded with Emirates Team New Zealand for this Cup cycle. Testing the soft wing concept sail in Auckland 📸 Emirates Team New Zealand “I’ve been here for a year now, and we spent the first six months or so working on this new rig project with Southern Spars, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa” Fallow said. “The question we were trying to answer was, what can we do that isn’t a wing but that has as many of the characteristics of a wing that we’ve had in the last two America’s Cups? One of the key things that North Technology Group could bring to the table was that we were really the only people who could bring any simulation software and adapt it quickly so it could be a tool to evaluate our ideas to see what would work practically.” Here, it was the North Sails Membrain™ software, which balances wind pressure, sail shape, and rig forces, within the design suite. Fallow worked with fellow North senior design expert Michael Richelsen to simulate how the twin-skin wing might work at the scale needed for the AC75. “I briefed Michael on what we were trying to achieve and after some intense software development, we had a working version of Membrain that helped us answer those big questions within weeks,” Fallow said. “Since that time we have been adding more and more features to make even more refined models. Overall, this is one the most exciting and progressive projects I have been involved with in my 30 years at North Sails.” Membrain uses data from the wider suite of North design software to simulate what happens to the rig/sail combination as a unified structure when it is subjected to different loads. As the structure is deformed under load, the shape of the sail changes and Membrain pushes the data back through the other North software programs, most notably Flow™ (which applies wind pressure to sail surface and calculates the forces created), to acquire updated pressure field data. The process revises the sail shape in Membrain in a circular feedback loop until a stable balance is achieved. “The question we were trying to answer was, what can we do that isn’t a wing but that has as many of the characteristics of a wing that we’ve had in the last two America’s Cups? Since the AC75 design rule was published, Richelson has joined Luna Rossa Challenge, while Fallow has bunkered down with Emirates Team New Zealand, where he works with the Aero Design team. But he says the project isn’t simply a case of looking at what happens above the deck. All the systems, from the rig to the soft wing sail and its control system, to the foils under the water need to be designed to work in harmony. “What’s critical to any America’s Cup design team now is the VPP (Velocity Prediction Program) and simulation modeling,” he notes. “We need to be sure that the input we provide into that model, which is about half the equation – the aero side as opposed to the hydro side – is as accurate and realistic and versatile as it can possibly be. That alone involves hundreds and hundreds of simulations to build up a realistic model. “One thing that has changed over the past 10-12 years or so is that in the past, developments needed to be verified with two-boat testing on the water. That gets hugely expensive in terms of time and people. But with the software becoming so much more sophisticated, the developments we make in the virtual world are now accepted as being ‘real’ and so the concept of two-boat testing is essentially over. So the development cycle is much, much quicker now.” For all of the designers and engineers in this America’s Cup, the work won’t stop until the final race of the event is over. The quest for speed continues all the way across the finish line in the last race. “The cool thing about the whole process is that it’s not just a tool for designers, it’s ultimately for the benefit of the sailing team as well. Remember the concept for the AC75 is only about a year old and looking back, what we had then was pretty rudimentary. When the first boats launch this summer we’ll get some real world validation and that will help us figure out where we were right and where we can improve in our simulation and the net result is that it will continue to get better,” Fallow concluded. And when the 36th America’s Cup is over in 2021 the designers and engineers from the North Technology Group will get together for a debrief to advance the tools that help the companies design sails and rigs for dozens and dozens of classes. “When you get involved in new projects you share the experiences and knowledge that you have. You don’t just sit in your own little bubble,” Fallow says. “That’s the way we all get better. That’s how the companies get stronger.” READ MORE

RACE RECORDS CLAIMED AT LES VOILES DE ST BARTH RICHARD MILLE To New Records Added To The #NSVictoryList 📸 Christophe Jounay Upwind, downwind, and around the corners, North Sails inventories assisted clients throughout the course of the 10th edition Les Voiles de St Barth Richard Mille. Congratulations to 100-foot monohull SHK Scallywag with owner Sung Huang Lee and skipper David Witt and Greg Slyngstad’s 53-foot multihull Fujin. Each won the Richard Mille Record Trophy for setting new race records in the 34-mile round trip sprint to St. Martin and back. SHK Scallywag, built for speed and made for distance racing, has the right inventory for a swift downwind sprint, with the addition of North Sails Helix which enabled her to sail higher angles at a faster pace. “We are obviously delighted that SHK Scallywag is named this year’s monohull trophy winner,” said Phil Harmer, two-time Volvo Ocean Race winner who sails on board SHK Scallywag. “SHK Scallywag is made for long-distance races and she is obviously more comfortable when the course gets a little longer,” said Harmer. Skipper David Witt shared Harmer’s feelings on how SHK Scallywag performed in the distance race to win the Richard Mille Record for the monohull. This was David’s first time racing in St Barth, and he was humbled to have contributed to this iconic win for his team and owner Sung Huang Lee, who was in St Barth driving the boat earlier during the week. “The last three days have been beautiful sailing in a beautiful place – it doesn’t get much better. It sure beats going around the world,” said Witt. “For us, this event is great practice to help us work toward our goal at the end of the year to race in the Sydney to Hobart Race.” Bieker 53 multihull Fujin finished just three minutes after 100-footer SHK Scallywag, in a personal best of 2 hours, 36 minutes, and 33 seconds. Quite the accomplishment for a boat half the size to keep up with a high-performance speed-machine. Well done Greg Slyngstad and crew for an amazing race! North Sails full results recap of the 10th Edition Les Voiles de St Barth READ MORE

Clients fly at Les Voiles de St Barth Richard Mille, winning eight of 11 classes, and claiming two new race records. Congratulations to Peter Harrison’s JV72 Sorcha, winner of the Richard Mille Maxi Cup. Pamala Baldwin’s J/122 Liquid, winner of CSA 4 and overall CSA champion 📸 Christophe Jounay Triple Lindy and Summer Storm battling upwind in close competition in CSA 2. Congrats to Summer Storm for the division win. 📸 Christophe Jounay Windfall, winners of Maxi 2 📸 Christophe Jounay READ MORE

ROAD TO THE J/111 WORLDS: ESTABLISH THE PLAN Preparing For The Season In the first article in a three-part series, North Sails expert Allan Terhune describes what Team Velocity will work on over the course of the season to peak at the J/111 Worlds in August. Based in Annapolis, Md., Marty Roesch’s J/111 Velocity has been an active and successful class competitor since the class got underway half a dozen years ago. In 2018, the team scored a first-place finish at the Annapolis NOOD and in 2017, the Chicago YC Race to Mackinac and Chicago NOOD. Although Velocity has regularly competed at the class world championships, podium finishes have eluded us (I joined the team last season). Our goal for 2019 is to stand on the podium at the end of the Worlds, which will be in Chicago, August 19-23. We’d like to win, but in my experience, if you sail well enough to get onto the podium, you have a chance to win if things break your way. The goal is always to have a chance to win with a race or two to go and then let the chips fall where they may. What are the team’s priorities? First priority is to get squared away on our tuning and sail set-up. The class has recently shifted away from using jibs that are tacked to a roller furler, and now they are tacked on the deck. This is the first year for that in the U.S., so we’re installing a new headstay and setting up new jibs to this configuration. Learning how the sails trim and what tuning changes are needed are priority #1. Without speed, it will be impossible to place well at any event. The class has recently shifted away from using jibs that are tacked to a roller furler, and now they are tacked on the deck. Learning how the sails trim and what tuning changes are needed are priority #1. Next priority is to work out how to maximize sailing time for the whole crew and lay out a schedule so we peak at the right time. Rather than focus on results at each event, we’ll set goals for each regatta and measure ourselves against them. Again, it’s a season-long build-up to the Worlds. The final priority is to consistently evaluate performance to identify weaknesses. We need to plan how each event will be a chance to work on correcting some of these weaknesses. What do you focus on first? Establish a schedule that the entire crew could agree on! That was our top priority, and as of late March, that’s done. We leaned toward one-design regattas where possible and are pacing ourselves so we don’t peak too soon or burn out. Our whole team lives locally, and we’ve begun having regular crew meetings, looking at the goals for each event, and giving each crew a chance to own their area of the boat, as well as the team’s goals. May – Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta (Annapolis, Md.) June/July – Chesapeake Bay Racing August – Pre-World Tuneup (Verve Cup) August – World Championship (Chicago) What are your goals for the Annapolis NOOD? We expect to have eight J/111s at this regatta. We have a good local fleet and should be able to sail a couple Wednesday night races and a day of practice beforehand. Our goal is to get our tuning right with the new headstay, learn how our jibs should be flown and trimmed, and identify boat handling weaknesses in all maneuvers including starting and steering. Of course, we want to do our best, but we will be focusing on long-term goals as well as short-term regatta results. As a foundation for this, we’ll do debriefs every day. To get better as a team, it’s important everyone has a voice and provides input on what they’re seeing. The debrief is paramount to learning as a team and taking steps forward after each day. What are your goals in June and July? In the J/111 Class, we have only three sail buttons for new sail purchases, and new jibs are required for the new headstay. The new sails are North’s 3Di, they will last longer than our competitors. This will give us a leg up on being able to sail with the sails a little more and get our settings in a place where we are comfortable with them. Our June races are in mixed fleets so we won’t be doing closed-course one-design racing and it will be nothing like the Worlds, which will have 25 or more boats on the racecourse. However, the racing will be a great opportunity to perfect our ability to get around the corners. At the Worlds, great boat handling is an absolute must. The new sails are North’s 3Di, they will last longer than our competitors. This will give us a leg up on being able to sail with the sails a little more and get our settings in a place where we are comfortable with them. This is also when we’re pacing ourselves and not overdoing it. Early in the season, everyone is enthusiastic but if we push too hard we risk burn-out. One good regatta a month, or a couple of one-day races in June, with a practice or two sprinkled in, should be about right. What are your plans for the Pre-Worlds and Worlds? The Pre-Worlds Regatta, part of the Verve Cup Offshore Regatta is right before the Worlds, so our plan is to treat it just like the Worlds and go as hard as we can, developing our game plan. Our goal is to podium for the event and leave it feeling good with all our sails and mechanics ready for the Worlds. How do you build team connections throughout the season? We have a team group on the chat app WhatsApp. Our discussions are not always sailing related, and I view that as a good bonding thing for us. I know we also stay together as a group after Wed night racing and other events. We also started talking about our team weights and where we need to be for the event. It is better to know the goals now with 4 months to go versus trying to do it last minute. The goal is to be on weight, strong and ready for the event, and not have this be a stress point. Learn more about North’s products for the J/111 Class. READ MORE

NORTH AU RENDEZ-VOUS DE LA 54e ÉDITION DE LA SNIM 📸Piérick Jeannoutot Tandis qu’en Bretagne en baie de Quiberon, les concurrents tirent leurs premiers bords de cette première journée du 41ème Spi Ouest-France-Destination Morbihan, de l’autre côté de l’hexagone, et plus précisément sur la côte est à Marseille, l’heure est aux derniers préparatifs avant le premier coup d’envoi de la 54ème édition de la SNIM. La Semaine Nautique Internationale de Méditerranée se déroule également à Pâques, comme son cousin breton, du 19 au 22 avril 2019 sur la rade de Marseille. Comme chaque année, cette grande rencontre nautique, initiée par la Société Nautique de Marseille et parrainée par la Banque Populaire Méditerranée, ouvre le bal de la saison voile en Méditerranée. Pour l’édition 2019, on compte près de 139 bateaux et plus de 1000 régatiers internationaux (5 nationalités représentées), professionnels et amateurs, regroupés en 10 classes qui s’affronteront sur quatre championnats (IRC équipages 0 à 4, IRC Solo, IRC Duo et Surprise). Afin d’ouvrir la régate à un plus grand nombre de marins, la SNIM accueille également pour la première fois cette année les J/70 dans la compétition. Parmi les voiliers en lice, nombreux sont ceux qui affichent le logo North Sails, et certains sont dotés de la nouvelle technologie Helix. C’est le cas des yachts Vision et Teasing Machine. L’équipe de service North Sails sera sur place pour assister tous les équipages en cas de besoin. C’est en 1966 que la SNIM a vu le jour. Et au fil des années, l’évènement s’est imposé comme un rendez-vous incontournable de la voile en Méditerranée. La rade de Marseille attire de nombreux navigants, et pour cause son cadre idyllique, ses îles et ses conditions météo variées en font un véritable terrain de jeu nautique. C’est d’ailleurs sur ce plan d’eau privilégié que se disputeront les prochaines épreuves nautiques des jeux olympiques 2024. 📸 Piérick Jeannoutot READ MORE

J/70 ITALIAN CUP: A STRONG START North Clients Sweep The Podium In Scarlino 1,2,3 powered by North Sails ©J/70 Class | Lucchi | Lucarelli We saw a strong series kick-off at the inaugural event for the 2019 J/70 Italian Cup. Scarlino welcomed 52 competitive teams from nine different countries for a great weekend of sailing, friendship, and top-notch fun with parties that only Italians know how to throw. A huge congratulations to Carlos Alberini and team Calvi Network for winning the first event. Here at North, we celebrated an almost-perfect scoreboard proving the high performance of the North products for the super competitive J/70 Class. Here’s the facts: A total podium sweep with all race-wins were powered by North Sails inventories. Eight out of the top ten teams used North products, placing 1,2,3,4,6,7,9, and 10th overall. We caught up with our European J/70 expert Giulio Desiderato, who sailed on Claudia Rossi’s Petite Terrible that placed third overall. “We sailed five races in 4-7 knots. The top two teams were light, not more than 330kg, while we finished third with a team really heavy 370kg. This means that the North range of products has been successful in these light wind conditions covering a big range of crew weight”, said Giulio. Inventories Used by The Top Teams 1st Place: Calvi Network – XCS-2 mainsail, J2-HC Jib and AP-1 AirX spinnaker 2nd Place: Maria – XCS-2 mainsail, J2-HC Jib and AP-1 AirX spinnaker 3rd Place: Petite Terrible – XCS-2 mainsail, J2-HC Jib and AP-1 Dynakote spinnaker New F-1 Mainsail With the recent addition of the new F-1 mainsail to the North inventory, we expect to see teams using it in the upcoming events of the Cup. Developed to fit the Selden mast or a Southern Spars mast with a stiff set-up, the new North Sails F-1 mainsail is a flatter design, balanced top to bottom that reacts to mast bend in all conditions. Designed to be user-friendly, the F-1 is easy to trim and tune, to produce maximum speed on the water. Read about the performance of the F-1 main at the 2019 Charleston Race Week. The North team looks forward to seeing you in Ancona on May 10-12th. For more information on the North J/70 products, don’t hesitate to contact our experts. Starting line in Scarlino ©J/70 Class | Lucchi | Lucarelli New F-1 mainsail tested and approved at Charleston Race Week. READ MORE

STIG CONQUERED THE FLEET IN THE ULTIMATE COMEBACK Rombelli And Crew Triumph At The Melges 20 Worlds 📸 Zerogradinord Starting a World Championship with a deep score can be tough, but it was no match for Alessandro Rombelli’s team STIG. Having 16 points on the scoreboard after just one race could be the beginning of the end for most, but it was no concern for the team. One thing that made the difference for Alessandro’s team from the rest of the fleet at the Worlds was their incredible speed. Because of that, they held it together and put the bad race behind them- as they did with the rest of the fleet in the nine races following to earn the new World title by seven points after one discard. Having a major comeback is not always possible because each team is very competitive, but STIG pulled it off with flying colors with outstanding crew work the help of their new 3Di wardrobe. We spoke to the owner and skipper, Alessandro after the final result and got an idea of what his team did during the event to overcome a rough patch and turn around and win the championship. 📸 Zerogradinord What difference do you notice using 3Di vs. your old 3DL? “The new 3Di for the Melges 20 is much more effective. The shape holds perfectly, and is desirable in all conditions.” It’s awe-inspiring you had a big come back in such a tight fleet. What did you do to clear your mind after the bad race on day one? “We knew our team had the ability to be one of the top five teams at the Worlds. The first day we suffered an OCS, which was in the first start of the regatta. Although not a great way to start, we knew it was possible to overcome the obstacle. Being competitive with other teams and having great boat speed was our weapon. As it turned out, STIG was still in contention to win the regatta going into the final day of racing. With our great results in the last few races on Saturday, going into Sunday with a five-point advantage gave us the upper hand. Managing the fleet well was what STIG did best at the Worlds.” 📸 Zerogradinord What was your strategy upwind? How did that affect your tactical decisions? “Our strategy upwind was to have the best starts we could, trying to stay as conservative as possible. Avoiding the middle was also key, and by getting out to an edge, we could gain more leverage on our competition.” “We used the new the new jib design developed by Giovanni Cassinari, with the help of Michele Malandra, who simulated the design with our membrane software with the help of North Sail Designer, Mike Marshall. The new 3Di Ji-4 jib was a great tool for our upwind performance.” “The new 3Di for the Melges 20 is much more effective. The shape holds perfectly, and is desirable in all conditions. The new 3Di Ji-4 jib was a great tool for our upwind performance.” What conditions did you find you did the best? “Sailing with four crew put us on the higher-end of the weight spectrum. The conditions at first were not to our advantage. On the last day of racing, the conditions improved and there was more wind, which helped us win the first race of the day by a considerable margin.” What were some contributing factors to your overall performance over the course of the event? “Our team spirit, attention to detail, competence, and skills were contributing factors to our success at the Worlds. Francesco Bruni, Giorgio Torarolo, and Tea Faoro are a talented crew to sail with.” Congratulations team STIG on a job well done! Full results 📸 Zerogradinord 📸 Zerogradinord 📸 Zerogradinord READ MORE

NORTH CLIENTS DOMINATE AT CHARLESTON RACE WEEK Podium Sweep In Six One Design Classes Team Luck Dog, Sperry Charleston Race Week’s One Design Boat of the Week © Zerogradinord In a dominant display of success, North Sails clients filled the scoreboard at the 2019 Sperry Charleston Race Week. Highlights from the weekend include a podium sweep for those using North inventories in six one design classes and top boats on nine out of the ten classes. Congratulations to North Sails clients for achieving victory across multiple fleets. Here are some highlights: MELGES 24 Charleston Race Week has brought back a huge resurgence in the Melges 24 fleet with 37 boats racing, making it the largest Melges 24 regatta in the US since the World Championship in 2016 in Miami. We also saw a huge number of Corinthian teams at this event which is very encouraging. The big North news in this class is the development of the new 3Di sails. We had three full sets of the latest designs on the water and they finished 1,2 and 5. Travis Weisleder and his Lucky Dog Race team tied with Bruce Ayres’ Monsoon to with the tie breaker, winning the event, and was also deemed Charleston Race Week’s One Design Boat of the Week. Monsoon and Lucky Dog have been working together for the past four years as tuning partners and have been the latest driving force in the development of the 3Di upwind product. Our Melges 24 experts have been working tirelessly with sail designers Per Anderson and Mike Marshall and the teams have been doing a lot of collaboration on rig tune. The good news is that the new 3Di designs seem to setup very easily and the tuning is very similar to the North standard paneled sails. Heading to the Melges 24 Nationals in Fairhope, Alabama? Contact our Melges 24 expert John Bowden, who sailed on Lucky Dog, for the latest up-to-date information on the M24 sail development and boat tuning. Buddy Cribb’s Victory, powered by the new North F-1 mainsail. © Zerogradinord J/70 The J/70 class showed up strong for Charleston Race Week with fifty-six teams ready to battle for the win. The conditions were flat water, 10-20 knots of wind, warm and tight racing! There was a little bit of everything and all you saw were smiling J70 crews as the sailing was very fun! We at North were especially excited to have the new F-1 mainsail, delivered in time for the event. The results couldn’t be better. All three teams using the new F-1 finished in the top 10 with a special highlight to Buddy Cribb’s team Victory, finishing in a strong third place. The F-1 mainsail is a design optimized for the stiffer masts. “We were very fast at Charleston with the new mainsail. We were able to hold our lane off the line, and sail fast both upwind and downwind. Sunday was particularly exciting downwind with winds gusting to 35 knots!”, said Buddy Cribb who finished third, one of their best results ever in the J/70 class. North Sails J/70 expert Allan Terhune sailed with John and Molly Baxter, on Team Vineyard Vines. “We used the new F-1 main with a Southern Spars rig and the sail set up REALLY well since our rig is in the stiff side. We made a few adjustments to the tuning: For base, we used 16 on the uppers and 10 minus 1 turn instead of 2 on the lowers. Then we used the same tuning matrix in terms of steps as the tuning guide with the exception that we added one turn to the lowers in chart. So, instead of +2 and +1 on the lowers for the first step, we went +2 and +2. As the wind got stronger, we added one more turn to the lowers to keep the main from washing out.” J/70 Takeways: Sail Flat Upwind And Keep It Constant We talk about this a lot, the J/70 loves to sail flat. To achieve this communication is the key factor. The mainsail trimmer and driver need to know when puffs and lulls are coming, to keep the boat on its tracks. Good communication allows the trimmer to make the necessary adjustments and the driver to steer the boat. It was key at Charleston for the driver to proactively steer to keep up with the big shifts and the puffs. Jib Trim Because the wind was up and down, the jib needed to be adjusted a lot. We generally focus on the leeward sheet and halyard and keep the in-hauler on when using the J-6 jib. Know Your Downwind Modes It was tricky to know when to wing, plane or sail normal displacement mode in Charleston. Again, the key was good communication in order for the team to do their best to position the boat in the breeze and in the correct mode. Only with true teamwork we can achieve this. VX ONE The North Sails team, coordinated by sail designer Mike Marshall and expert John Bowden, held a North Sails Tuning Guide release and Q&A session prior to racing day sharing the latest tuning information for the VX ONE. On the race course we want to congratulate Michelle Warner and team Tudo Bem for the great, consistent results in such variable conditions we saw in Charleston. All top four boats used North Sails in the VX class. North Sails Results: Kevin Mccarthy’s Chance V, winner in the Viper 640 class. © Zerogradinord Henry Brauer’s Rascal powered by the North XCS-2 mainsail, J2HC jib and AP-1 spinnaker featuring a cool new graphic. © Zerogradinord READ MORE

NORTH EXPERT WILL WELLES SNATCHES J/24 NORTH AMERICAN TITLE Sailing In Valle de Bravo Creates The Ultimate Experience Will Welles and Team Bruschetta, 2019 J/24 North American Champions. © Chris Howell Story by Will Welles If you ever get invited to go sailing in Mexico make sure you clear your schedule as the Mexicans have it down on how to run a regatta! They welcome out of towners with open arms and roll out the red carpet, making everything on shore easy and relaxed- which feels like a vacation. The 2019 North American Championships were held at “the lake” which is Valle de Bravo, a piece of heaven on Earth. The lake is about a two-hour drive from Mexico City and located high in the mountains. Many teams (local and from away) used the Mexican Nationals as a tune up for the North Americans as it was held in the same venue the weekend before. Our team used the Monday between to relax, catch up on work and see the town. On Tuesday we went straight into race one of the NAs. Don’t get me wrong, the mornings were pretty relaxed as the breeze doesn’t come in until the afternoon with the first warning signal around noontime. “Valle de Bravo “the lake” in Mexico is a piece of heaven on Earth.” The Conditions Basically, the wind blows from the same direction every day in Valle de Bravo. The cloud cover determines if the breeze comes at all or how quickly and strong. On a clear day (which most days seem to be pretty clear in Valle de Bravo) the wind comes right on time. After the Nationals the away teams had figured out that we had to protect the right side, it seemed to work nine times out of ten, once in awhile the left would work and you had to commit till the end. The wind velocity was up and down, lots of gear changes and decisions about the rig tension between races. At the bottom of the course it was typically 6-8 knots and at the top of the course it was 10-12, sometimes a little lighter at the bottom and a little stronger at the top. Rig Tuning With pretty flat water we figured it wouldn’t be awful to be a little tighter on the rig but the lulls were big and long. We pretty much stuck at base (20 on the uppers and 15 on the lowers, Loos model B tension gauge) 90% of the time. A couple races early on we sailed one step up and a couple more races we sailed at a half step in between. Towards the end of the North Americans it seemed to be a little lighter so we just sailed at base, it was pretty nice in the light stuff and we had the backstay to pull on at the top of the course in the breeze. Shifting Gears We received lots of questions shore side about gear shifting. Here is how I think about it: Crew hiking hard Traveler down Backstay on When you run out of backstay go to vang sheeting Ease Genoa in the big puffs. (along with main) Pull genoa cunningham on in the big puffs. You want to set the halyard for the lulls to keep you powered up *(Reverse in lulls for max power) The key is keeping the boat flat in the puffs and powered up in the lulls. A big shout out to my team, Aroldo de Rienzo, Rich Bowen, PJ Schaffer and John McCabe. It was a memorable trip to Mexico! J/24 Mexican Nationals – 1, 2*, 3, 4, 8, 9 powered by North Sails. Congratulations local Ken Porter, 2019 Mexican National Champion. J/24 North Americans – 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 powered by North Sails. Congratulations Will Welles. Learn more about North products for the J/24 Class. Local Ken Porter, crowned the 2019 Mexican National Champion, finished 3rd at the NAs © Chris Howell Tony Parker’s Bangor Packet, 2nd Place at the NAs. © Chris Howell Team Baba Louie, going fast at the North Americans and finishing 4th place overall. © Chris Howell READ MORE

#NSVICTORYLIST: A RESULTS PACKED WEEK One Design Clients Secure Top Spots Around The Globe 📸 Zerogradinord In a single weekend, North Sails customers and experts filled the #NSVictoryList with numerous podium finishes from around the globe. On Monday morning, the North Sails office was buzzing with regatta news, including Team Stig’s new title as Melges 20 World Champion. These victories covered a wide range of boats and conditions: everything from light Olympic dinghies to heavy keelboats, racing in 5-25 knots. “We are and have always been committed to developing fast one design sails, backed by a team of experts dedicated to helping our customers achieve their goals.” In Europe, the Melges 24, J/70, and 5.5M classes saw a strong start to their spring seasons, with Tonu Tonisstu, Carlo Alberini, and Peter Morton each placing on top of their respective podiums. And perhaps the Princess Sofia Trophy 470 and Finn results predict medals for Tokyo 2020? Meanwhile, several time zones to the west, Will Welles and team won both the Mexican Nationals and the J/24 North Americans. This has been a hugely successful week for our customers, and we were overwhelmed and humbled as we pulled this story together. “Seeing so many results packed into a single weekend fuels the North Sails team to continually advance and make faster sails,” commented Tim Healy, President of North Sails One Design. “Sailmaking has evolved with new technology, new sail cloth, new classes, yet the values Lowell North laid down when building North Sails still ring true today. We are and have always been committed to developing fast one design sails, backed by a team of experts dedicated to helping our customers achieve their goals.” A huge congratulations to our clients for such incredible results. Seeing you succeed is what this is all about. No matter what class you sail, you can trust in the proven success of North products and support to improve your results. Congratulations to all! READ MORE

HETAIROS GAINS PERFORMANCE BOOST WITH NEW SAILS Perfect Set Up From The Start in St Barths 📸 Carlo Borlenghi The 218-foot ketch Hetairos is a longtime client of North Sails and was an early adopter of 3Di sails within the superyacht crowd. Their recent success and final-day push in securing Overall Winner at the St Barths Bucket is a testament to great teamwork, both onboard and with their sailmaker. “Hetairos has a long-standing relationship with North Sails and is very happy with the sail performance that we have onboard,” explained Captain Graham Newton. “The main and mizzen have been halfway around the world and seen plenty of action, yet the shape still looks like it did on day one. We sailed with a new North race blade and J4 in St Barths. They set up perfectly right out of the bags. The performance increase was clear to see, and no doubt helped us in claiming a hard-fought win in a very competitive class.” Though familiar with stories of Hetairos’s sailing adventures, both racing and cruising this was North Sails President Ken Read’s first time sailing on the boat. He was quick to note a few points upon hitting the dock. “I was amazed at the sheer size and power of this boat. And with all their around the world cruising stories, I was surprised by how agile she was while racing. The race crew and permanent onboard crew has really dialed in that boat and sails Hetairos extremely efficiently.” “We sailed with a new North race blade and J4 in St Barths. They set up perfectly right out of the bags. The performance increase was clear to see and no doubt helped us in claiming a hard-fought win in a very competitive class.” Read was onboard Hetairos as a guest for the practice day and Race 1 of the Bucket weekend. “Being an observer is a new experience for me, and it allowed me the opportunity to take a really good look and evaluate the sail plan North has developed with the team,” explained Read. “I really want to make sure that the North 3Di sails are living up to our lofty promises, and I’m thrilled to say yes. A lot of the sails being used in the Bucket have sailed around the World and experienced extreme Southern Ocean conditions. I stand in awe of how the team pushed the boat, and by our company’s capabilities and the sails that we make.” 📸 Ryan Borne 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi READ MORE

FLYING SCOT MIDWINTERS Winning In The Challengers Division Karen Jones and Chuck Tanner, Challengers champions. © Jim Faugust When Chuck Tanner found himself without a skipper for the Flying Scot Midwinters he connected with local Fleet 36 captain Karen Jones and began training with a modest goal of “top 5 finishes” and having fun on their home waters in Sarasota Bay. Now, after winning 6 of 8 races and dominating the fleet with boat speed and solid teamwork, Karen and Chuck share some of their secrets that made them the 2019 Midwinter Challenger Division Champions! Karen and Chuck, first off congratulations on your performance at the Midwinters in the Challenger Division. You had an incredibly consistent performance throughout the week through a very wide range of conditions. What were the keys to being able to adapt to the different conditions and be so successful in all of them? Thanks! First off the North Sails RHC main, Snug Rig Jib and BR-1 spinnaker were fast! They had been used a bit but they really hold their original designed shape (not stretched and worn) really well and these designs really set up well for our team weight (low 300#s) for the range over three gorgeous days. In addition to knowing we had the fastest sails, we also had the advantage of familiar waters and winds. In the light stuff Karen kept the boat punching through chop left over from earlier higher winds and from motor boats. In the races where we were overpowered we also kept the boat moving through the water using vang and cunningham to keep us more than competitive with the heavier teams. If our crew weight was in the low 400#s we might ask Zeke about using the standard AP Mainsail, but the newer Norths really have a wide wind range for more people. Clearly you were going FAST. What tips would you give to fellow class members that can help them get prepared to have top notch boat speed throughout a wide range of conditions? We all say that old Scots stay competitive with new Scots as long as you have a decent suit of sails. In my experience, the Norths have always had a longer life than most other makers. Jibs and spinnakers take a rougher beating so you might get a year less out of them than you do the main. Along with recent sails, I think our boat set-up was similar to what the current competitive boats have, and the lines and blocks were all in good repair. You can’t fight your boat, sails, and gear and at the same time expect to stay competitive. We all say that old Scots stay competitive with new Scots as long as you have a decent suit of sails. In my experience, the Norths have always had a longer life than most other makers. Jeff and Amy Linton, Championship winners. © Jim Faugust What did the team focus on as far as pre-race “homework?” Did you have a routine before every race? We were lucky that David Ames (ed: David, with PJ Buhler were the Championship Division runner-ups with their brand new North Sails!) took time to help us all over several weekends. He wants us to develop the habit of checking weather reports beforehand, watching the wind as we sail to the course area, note the lifts and headers, and possible persistent direction changes, on both tacks. Where are the areas of pressure? How do they move across the course? He wants us to check for which end is favored, at both ends, and perhaps teaming with a second boat if possible. He wants us to get a line sight when that pin finally gets established. All these small things added up to helping us keep our focus each race. What was your communication on the boat like? How did you divvy up the roles in terms of boat speed and tactics/strategy? Because of the close proximity of so many boats I recall Karen asked me not to chatter too much in those last few minutes before he start! The result was mostly fine starts that gave us the freedom to hold our lane and go pretty fast. We were able to shed some of the boats quickly, though in the Champ Fleet the luxury of dusting the boats around us is just not a possibility. Along with nice starts, Karen concentrated on speed and height very successfully, and that allowed me to focus on tactics and positioning and choose when we would tack and gybe and where to go! Also, we worked hard on sail trim and mainsheet and vang adjustment was constant and sail trim was a joint effort. The Challenger fleet has the advantage of being able to watch the Championship fleet start first. Did you use the Championship fleet as a tell tale for what might happen in your races? Watching the Champ Fleet on the starting line, on the weather leg, and downwind is invaluable and is also one of the most enjoyable things about the big regattas. It is a great tip for Challenger teams to use to improve their performance and results. It has a huge effect on our plans and choices throughout each race. © Jim Faugust What was your general strategy on the starting line? Our plan was to set up so that we had some room ahead and to port to accelerate into through the seconds before and after the gun. Karen’s success here really helped us to have freedom and choices up the first weather leg. We noted how the top of the Champ Fleet can, in light air, induce heel to leeward and really keep charging downwind. … this downwind “gear changing” may be the most difficult part of Scot racing to master. We did a lot of sailing with varying wind velocities (lots of puffs and lulls). How did you change gears with sail trim, center board trim (downwind), and body positioning throughout the changing velocities? We were always quick to ease vang and sheets, always looking for the drop in pressure. Karen was always quick to bear off and ease slightly for chop, and keep the boat feeling like it was moving freely. Karen frequently had me move into the boat to induce heel when pressure dropped. For chop I would slide aft to ‘butts together’. Downwind the board was in skeg mode for tracking over a wide range. When the wind came forward, we would lower the board to 1/3rd, for reaching and downwind we heeled the boat to weather whenever possible. We noted how the top of the Champ Fleet can, in light air, induce heel to leeward and really keep charging downwind. From our perspective, this downwind “gear changing” may be the most difficult part of Scot racing to master. Next year you’ll have to be in the Championship Division! How will you approach the regatta differently? The Championship Fleet is a much more intense world. It is broken into three groups – good, better, best. We would have a strong learning curve within the ‘good’ group. It takes a lot to survive the starting line. Two recent Challenger champs, Jim Leggette and Bill Vogler, preferred to stay in Challenger for 2019, perhaps for the safety and fun factor! Any last tips for the class on how to win a regatta? Karen is captain of Scot Fleet 36 which is very active and the fleet sails at a pretty high skill level so my first suggestion is to get on the water with your local group and sail! Next, if you have the chance to attend a Midwinters or North Americans, you should do it. Between the racing and the tips you will get from the top sailors in the class you will become a better sailor. When I lost my crew job with Ron Pletsch I didn’t know if I’d get to race. When Karen and I teamed up, our goal was to shoot for individual top-five race finishes. We had a lot of good surprises. That happened unexpectedly to local members in 2015 also, and it can happen to everyone. Get on the water with your local group. If you have the chance to attend a Midwinters or North Americans, you should do it. You will become a better sailor. Greg Foote, Stephen Griggs and Christy Stephens enjoying the nice breeze. © Jim Faugust READ MORE

DONINO MAKES A GRAND DEBUT New Team Hits The Ground Running In Villasimius 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord/ MWL Event one of the Melges World League European Division was held last weekend in the beautiful waters of Villasimius, Italy. Wind ranged from 8-11 knots throughout the weekend. North clients finished 1,2,4,5 in the strong 14-boat fleet. Luigi Giannattasio’s Argentinian team Donino found themselves on top of the podium in their Melges World League debut. “The team members played a key role in this victory, made up of great champions like Manu Weiller, Sebastian Col and Federico Michetti, who were the key to the team’s growth up to this level of competitiveness that puts us with great pride at the top. “ Newcomber Donino hit the ground running, finishing race with a bullet, and continuing their stride with all but one finish outside of a third place. The team was able to fend off second place Caipirnha, a known powerhouse, as well as Tavatuy, who is a two-time World Champion. Even with a 10th place finish in race four, Donino swept the fleet, winning by 12 points after the discard. “I can only express great happiness for this result obtained on a boat that both myself and my son Pierluigi, who was on board with us and with whom I have the pleasure of sharing this success, love very much,” commented owner and skipper Luigi Giannattasio. “The team members played a key role in this victory, made up of great champions like Manu Weiller, Sebastian Col and Federico Michetti, who were the key to the team’s growth up to this level of competitiveness that puts us with great pride at the top. ” Mainsail trimmer, Sebastian Col was also humble his team found success after their first regatta together. The team worked closely with North Sails in Italy and got a ton of support. Sebastian commented; “The service we have received from North Sails in Italy was helpful. Everyone is knowledgeable, and they know the boat. All of this has contributed to the fact that we have been able to figure out the boat faster, and can start the season with the ability to be competitive with other top teams.” 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / MWL When it comes to using North Sails, Sebastian had a positive experience. “North’s products for the Melges 32 make it easy to find your groove quickly. Our sails have great shape and work well in all wind ranges. As a starting point for the season, we are pleased with the product and service we received.” Following the North Sails tuning guide and seeing how it affects the boat also made a difference for Donino. “North’s tuning guide is a good starting point. We will continue to push during practice, hoping we get faster and more comfortable in the boat,” said Sebastian. Winning the first event of the season is a great way to start the season, but the team acknowledges that they need to keep working at it because the series is far from over, and the level of competition is still a very high. Sebastian commented; “We don’t want to be too confident after winning this first regatta. Spending the time in the boat is what we need to continue to do well in the series.” Donino duking it out with Caipirnha. 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / MWL 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / MWL READ MORE

NORTH SAILS POWER HETAIROS TO OVERALL VICTORY IN ST BARTHS Three Days of Racing Delivers Scoreboard Success North Clients on Hetairos, the 67m Dykstra R/P, had a great regatta. Congratulations to the crew for a job well done, winning overall in Class A, just ahead of WinWin and My Song. 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios Winning North inventories filled in 12 of 18 podium positions, including the overall winner of the St Barths Bucket. Thirty-four yachts and 1500 sailors competed in the 2019 edition of the Bucket, an event known for its competitive, but Corinthian spirit. Hetairos, the 67m Dykstra R/P bested her fleet and was also crowned 2019 overall champion. With three races in three days, North Sails clients found success across multiple classes. In addition to Hetairos, North sails outfitted Class B winner Sojana as well as crowding the podium across Class C, Class D, Class E and the dedicated Corinthian, non-spinnaker Class F. Each year since 1995, St Barths plays host to the by-invitation superyacht regatta. This event is an opportunity for boat owners, their friends and a collection of highly accomplished sailors to enjoy this annual tradition. For this edition of the race, North Sails worked with world-renowned sailing photographer Carlo Borlenghi to capture sailing during the day and our pop-up service loft at night. Below is a selection of our favorite imagery from St Barths, which captures the spirit for this truly unique, Corinthian superyacht regatta. 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios 📸 Carlo Borlenghi / Borlenghi Studios READ MORE

MAKING THE SWITCH New J/22 Client Casey Lambert Explains What Made The Difference Casey Lambert’s Blackburn Marine Racing, 3rd place at 2019 J/22 Midwinters. ©Chris Howell One Design expert Mike Marshall interviews Casey Lambert after the J/22 Midwinters in Florida earlier this month. Casey recently switched to North Sails, and his 3rd place performance at the Midwinters caught Mike’s attention. Learn more from Mike’s Q & A. Casey, you recently switched to North Sails and finished 3rd at the J/22 Midwinters. How did you go about setting the rig up for the new sails? What tuning tips would you have for others switching? What did you use for your base setting? We initially used the North Sails J/22 Tuning Guide. The guide recommended starting with 26 on the uppers and 7 on the lowers. With this setting, we saw no sag, so the lowers were eased until we could see 1/2″ of sag. As a final result, we had 26 on the uppers with no reading on the lowers, 4-5 inches side-to-side measured at the dock. For any one switching to North Sails, I would start with the tuning guide to get a solid starting point, but don’t be afraid to make changes as all boats are a little bit different. If you had to sum up the key characteristics of the sails when you thought you were going fast, what would they be? I always try to keep the flow in the main even with tell tales flowing at all times. With that being said, I found the traveler had a lot more to offer than with my last sails. The jib was a bit more work, but by the end of the regatta we found that moving the car back and tightening the luff (no scallops) gave us the best performance with the conditions given. ©Chris Howell You mentioned that you changed your forestay length for the North sails. What made you make that change and how much did you changed it? What is the length now? After speaking with you we started at 4′ 11-3/4″. After sailing the boat twice in 0 to 5 knots with no other boats, we made some adjustments to give me a little bit of leeward helm. After sailing the boat in the practice race with a little more breeze I knew we had a problem. The boat had a huge weather helm forcing me to use the rudder like an emergency brake to keep the boat from rounding up. After discussion with Evan and Jesse we decided to take 5 turns out of the head stay (not a minor adjustment). We went into day one ready to make changes but we had speed and point, so we ran with it. We have not made a new measurement since the last changes. After using the sails for four days now, what are the main differences that you have seen in the way that you trim the sails from your previous set? Mainsheet, backstay, jib car? Mainsail – In the past, unless I had a crew sitting in, the traveler never left center. I found that I set the mainsheet and played traveler in all breeze allowing the headstay to stay firm and not bounce around. Jib – The jib really likes the car back and a tight luff which we always kept some scallops in the past. Clearly, you are very fast in the J/22, so as for the boat in general, what are the tips you would give other class members that were key to your success so far this season? Jesse, Evan and myself have been sailing together for 15 plus years on many different boats. Our communication with each other is great! Over the years, we have traded spots on the J/22 which helps in changing gears. I trust them and they trust me. Never settle for the way your boat is set up. Don’t be afraid to make changes… you will never know if you don’t try. We never give up until the finish horn. When I find myself in the back I try to win my side of the race course. In large fleets one shift can send you from 20th to 1st in a matter of seconds. At the 2019 J/22 Midwinters, North Sails designs were used by nine out of the top ten teams, including winners, Mike Marshall’s Bad News, Jeff Todd’s Hot Toddy in second and Casey Lambert’s Blackburn Marine finishing 3rd. Big congrats to Casey on his improvement! Have questions about sails? Need expert advice? Contact Mike today. ©Chris Howell READ MORE

OK DINGHY WORLDS: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION Dan Slater Explains How He Won The 2019 Title © Robert Deaves Dan Slater was an Olympian in the 49er and Finn classes for New Zealand when in 2015 he began sailing the OK Dinghy, which he describes as a “smaller, hard-chine version of a Finn Dinghy.” Age 43, Dan had long been working as a sailing coach while also running a watersports and dinghy specialist shop called The Water Shed and says that after his Olympic class sailing days, he’d begun to miss sailing in a competitive fleet. He built his own OK and found in racing it a good chance to stay sharp for professional sailing work. When the OK Worlds came to Auckland in 2019, Dan admits he might have had a home field advantage. He had been sailing for 25 years in those same waters off Takapuna, where the America’s Cup racing was held in 2000 and 2003. But Dan was not the only sailor with a local edge. Some 25 to 30 boats race in his local fleet on Sunday afternoons and contributed dozens of competitive entries to an overall fleet of 110 Worlds competitors. They finished well, too, with only three non-Kiwis finishing in the top 10. Conditions for the regatta were relatively normal for the summer season. “We were lucky,” Dan says. “We had wind from every direction of the compass. A couple of light races, a couple quite breezy, and otherwise generally 12 to 15 knots.” The starting lines were 600 meters long, and it was often shifty. “I had to be in the middle of the line and make the call on where to start at two and a half minutes to go,” Dan says, “then get towards the end I wanted and find my position. At one start near the pin, I tacked after 20 seconds and crossed the fleet. In small boats, you have a lot of leverage on a line that long. And the beats are only a mile long.” © Robert Deaves Bold decision-making was required to succeed in a regatta such as this, but Dan’s speed was also excellent, and he sailed with extraordinary consistency for the first seven of nine races, winning one race and always finishing in the top four. Getting in good physical condition made a big difference, Dan says, and in preparation for the regatta he lost five kilos and built up his conditioning. Dan had been working with North Sails all four years since joining the class. The OK allows only Dacron or other woven cloth, but offers design flexibility, and sailors can choose two sails to measure in. Dan says his deal with North was to help develop an all-purpose design that everyone could use (with modifications to luff curve to match each sailor’s mast-bend numbers), and he got several local sailors involved including former Olympic medalist Rod Davis. While Dan designed a variety of shapes, he ended up measuring in a light-air sail plus the all-purpose sail, the KP-1. “I used the KP-1 in 8 of the 9 races,” Dan says. “We had the perfect 12 to 15 knots, exactly what it was designed for.” The sail has a bigger range than other designs, he says, with a “twisty head,” but you have to be prepared to trim more, which is a change for many OK sailors. Rod Davis used the same sail, finishing ninth overall and first in the Masters Division, and several other Kiwi sailors did well with the sail. © Robert Deaves On the last day of sailing, Dan had a pair of finishes in the 20s. “I made a meal of the first race,” he says. “There was a southerly fighting a westerly in the first race, with puffs from both sides, and at the start there was a massive right-hand shift. Some guys almost laid the mark from the start. I was down toward the pin and rounded the weather mark with only five boats behind me. The saving grace was that the other top guys were only about 10 boats ahead of me for the whole race, so nobody put heaps of points on anybody else.” Dan crossed the line in 24th, his discard race. “In the second race,” Dan says, “I had a blinder start and was in control of the fleet. I knew Freddy was the only one who could beat me, so I just stayed close to him and didn’t worry about where we finished.” In that race, Dan finished 21st. One of Dan’s takeaways from the championship was for local fleets, like his New Zealand group: “We need to look at the length of our beats in club racing,” he says. “We tend to do short laps and don’t really learn whether we are fast or slow.” He recommends some longer legs to prepare for major events. For OK Dinghy sailors generally, Dan says, “Keep enjoying it! If you enjoy it, you tend to do more of it.” One way to do that is to make sure your boat is as comfortable as possible to sail, he says, which he planned to do for next season by widening his side decks to make hiking less painful. Results: http://2019.okworlds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Results-Race-9.html © Robert Deaves © Robert Deaves READ MORE

BAD NEWS WINS J/22 MIDWINTERS Interview with Mike Marshall, Todd Hiller and Zeke Horowitz Team Bad News, 2019 J/22 Midwinter Champions. ©Chris Howell The J/22 Midwinters were held at Fort Walton Yacht Club, FL. Sailors were surprised to find that it can actually get pretty chilly in Florida, especially on the panhandle of the state. Conditions proved to be quite tricky, with wild wind shifts and extremely varying pressure differentials across the course for almost every race. The RC certainly had their hands full trying to get proper races off due to these conditions, but they certainly got the job done well. Jackson Benvenutti (who sailed with David Muller, finishing 7th) caught up with team Bad News, the winners of the event, Mike Marshall, Zeke Horowitz, and Todd Hiller to see what the most important elements were in the given conditions to end up on top at the end of the event. Mike, it’s certainly quite hard to drive the boat in those conditions and also control the mainsheet, traveler, and backstay all at the same time. What was your order of operations as you hit a puff, and then what did you do as the puff faded away? First, nice work by Jackson and the rest of the team on Call the Ball for winning the last race of the regatta! As for handling the controls, I’m almost always on the keep-it-simple program. I only have two hands, and one of them is dedicated to the most important job I have – driving the boat fast. This means I can’t adjust mainsheet, traveler, and backstay all at once. So it’s about prioritizing. In this regatta, I felt that it was best to use mostly traveler. The puffs and lulls were very short and with very different velocities. By using the traveler, I could adjust the boom angle almost a meter in a very short time. This enabled me to depower quickly when the sharp puffs hit and power back up afterward in the lulls. Since I was using the traveler, the mainsheet didn’t need as much attention because the leech of the main was just moving to windward and leeward, not twisting more or less. (Also, this constant leech tension helped to keep a constant headstay tension.) With the traveler and mainsheet mostly under control, I adjusted the backstay in only the largest puffs or lulls or when I was trying to sail the boat in a high or fast mode. If I had the traveler all the way up or down, I would move to the backstay next. I know this seems a little backwards to what you would normally do by playing the backstay, but I think that the change was justified given how big and short-lived some of the puffs were. That’s why I spent most of the regatta with the tiller and the traveler in my hands and the mainsheet over my knee. Occasionally, I would adjust the mainsheet, and even less occasionally, the backstay. I only have two hands, and one of them is dedicated to the most important job I have – driving the boat fast. This means I can’t adjust mainsheet, traveler, and backstay all at once. That’s why I spent most of the regatta with the tiller and the traveler in my hands and the mainsheet over my knee. Zeke, playing the jib is certainly a huge necessity on the J22, especially in the given conditions. Can you explain how and when you liked to ease and trim the jib as puffs hit and also through the big shifts? How did you and Mike keep in tune with each other during such big course changes in the shifts? You’re right, accurate jib trim in the J/22 is possibly the most important facet of upwind boat speed in shifty/puffy conditions. It’s imperative to keep an active jib sheet to help the driver maintain a balanced helm and steady heel angle. I was the tactician upwind as well, so balancing the concentration on looking around while trimming the jib can be difficult. But I would look for opportunities when I knew we weren’t tacking for a while to really dial in my focus on the jib. I would stare at the tell tales so that if we got a lift and the outside tell tale started to flick, I could immediately ease the jib between 3-9 inches so that the bow could easily come up in the lift without Mike having to push the tiller too hard. Conversely, if a header hit and the luff of the jib started bubbling, I could give the winch handle a little pump to artificially over trim the jib to help the bow go down. I would also try hard to ease the jib in a puff even if it wasn’t a huge shift. If the boat was beginning to heal over, I could burp the jib 1-3 inches which opens the leech, keeps the head stay straighter and helps to de-power. It also gives the bow an easy opportunity to come up and feather through the puff which can be very effective in flat water. As soon as the boat was coming back to its normal heal angle, I would trim the jib back in. Mike and I would talk about the feeling in the helm as I would move the jib to make sure we are staying on the same page and that what I was feeling was accurate with what the helm was dictating. Busy starting line at the 2019 J/22 Midwinters. ©Chris Howell Todd, you were the eyes and essentially the tactician downwind. Can you explain how you managed clean lanes, making sure you weren’t in dirty air? What tools do you use to do this? Managing clean lanes downwind was particularly challenging at this event as any breeze that presented itself generally would go around (outside perimeter) of the race course. There were four basic items I would consider downwind. 1. COA (Course of Action): It was important to determine what our next move was as we approached the weather mark. Based on where saw the maximum pressure determined whether we would set and extend or jibe immediately at the weather offset. 2. Execution: Maintaining a clean lane downwind, it was important to track how the fleet would set up behind us. As traffic accumulated after the weather offset, this would dictate whether we had to stay high to keep a clear lane or potentially jibe to separate from the fleet. As simple as this may sound, but our windex was an invaluable tool and it was important to stay in check with which direction it was pointing. Using the fleet as wind indicators helps too. 3. Pressure: If Zeke felt light on the spinnaker sheets, then I would quickly look up and assess whether we needed to step up a lane or suggest a jibe. The overcast conditions made it difficult to see the actual breeze or if your mind was playing tricks on you. At times, as a sanity check, Zeke and/or Mike would look back to confirm my observations. 4. Weight: My position on the boat downwind was critical. If we needed to head up, I would shift my weight to leeward and use the curvature of the hull to steer the boat. Likewise, when we needed to head down, I would move my weight to weather. My goal downwind is to have Mike steer as little as possible and make sure Zeke had descent pressure on the spinnaker sheets. Todd, how do you communicate to Zeke and Mike downwind? Can you give us a common conversation that might be happening at any point on a run? A common conversation downwind would be that I would ask Zeke how the pressure was in the spinnaker sheets. Again, my goal was to mitigate any excessive steering with Mike. I would constantly call pressure coming his way. As soon as he had it, I would either shift my weight to weather to steer the boat down or if we decided to extend forward we would keep the boat flat. At about 2/3 of the way down the leg, based on our upwind observations we would determine which gate to round. At any point into our approach to the leeward gates it was then decided which was closer. If we needed to adjust our upwind game plan, then it was at this time when we would execute our maneuver. It was also important to keep an eye on the downwind traffic. If a majority of the fleet were on any particular side, we would quickly decide if the juice was worth the squeeze sailing upwind in dirty air to get to the favored side of the upwind beat. Jeff Todd’s Hot Toddy, 2nd place. ©Chris Howell Mike, what did you do to prepare the boat before the regatta? What were the three most important things to get your boat in shape before putting her in the water? The good news for me is that I know this boat very well, and I always know what condition it’s in when I leave it after the last regatta. One of the keys to good boat prep is to have the boat ready to sail whenever you are. At the end of an event, I try to fix all the things that need attention before I put the cover back on. This means fewer things to think about when getting ready for the next regatta. When I arrive at the next venue, I have to think about only three things: the bottom of the boat, the rig, and whether everything I need is onboard. To prep the bottom, I wash the road dirt off with soap and water. Then I polish the bottom with some PTEF. Step 1: Done. Next, I step the mast and return the rig to my base setting using the caliper numbers that I’ve written inside the hull. Step 2: Done. Finally, I check through all the lines, safety equipment, radio, compass, and other gear to be sure that nothing essential is missing and that nothing extra is on the boat. I have a checklist for doing this so that I don’t forget anything. Step 3: Done. It seems pretty simple when put in these terms, but simple and straight-forward is what I aim for. Anything more complicated is just asking to become a time sink that could take away from potential practice time on the water. Who was in charge of rig tune for the event, and how did you decide to set it up given the varying conditions? Zeke – It was fun working as a team on the rig tune discussion. We only ever let Todd touch the turnbuckles (except for the couple times we adjusted it between the warning and the prep!) but we talked about it as a team and we even took turns sighting up the rig to confirm what the sag was looking like. Mike knows the tendencies of this rig better than either of us so we let him have the final say, but we would all give our opinions based on what we saw. We found we had a more forgiving groove with the rig on the looser side so we always erred towards being able to set up for the lulls and survive through the puffs. We knew we had great “base” numbers and from there we stuck to the 2:1 ratio of uppers to lowers. Teams powered by North finished 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9*, 10. Congratulations to all! Learn more about the North Sails products for the J/22 class. Full Results Casey Lambert’s Blackburn Marine Racing, 3rd place. ©Chris Howell North Sails J/22 expert Jackson Benvenutti trimming the spinnaker on Call the Ball. ©Chris Howell Mike, Todd and Zeke, winners of the 2019 J/22 Midwinters. ©Chris Howell READ MORE

ADD ST BARTHS TO YOUR BUCKET LIST North SY Expert Quinny Houry Sets The Scene For This Must Sail Event 📸 Michael Kurtz / St Barths Bucket The St Barths Bucket has a placeholder on many calendars within the North Sails network. This annual superyacht regatta is a ‘must do’ for more than just its tropical location. The Bucket is considered one of the most Corinthian events of the superyacht circuit, mixing great sailing with a casual vibe that is enjoyed by owners, their guests and the crew who help sail these modern superyachts. Taking our cue from the event, North Sails is onsite (and onboard) to make sure all 36 yachts taking part in the 2019 St Barths Bucket are race ready throughout the four-day event. Palma-based Superyacht expert, Quinny Houry will be sailing on Missy, an MM330. We called Quinny in advance of his trip to collect his thoughts on the 2019 event, and why, the Bucket has a place in Quinny’s schedule since 2003. Quinny, set the scene for those of us who have not been to the Bucket before. The St Barths Bucket is the Corinthian Superyacht event of the modern era – a mix of owners, pro sailors and guests onboard all the boats. The owners are very comfortable to bring their boats because they’re with friends. For the pro sailors, it’s just an amazing place to be out on the water. The island lends itself to ideal superyachts racing, and also the infrastructure to support an event this size. Anybody who loves sailing, and gets an opportunity to do the event, should. The Bucket is similar to a golf Pro-Am tournament because although there’s competition, and you have some of the best sailors in the world, everyone on the water is having fun too. The most amazing thing about the racing is you’ll have an America’s Cup helmsman, and Olympic gold medalist sailing on your boat; it’s the equivalent is being able to go around a Grand Prix track with Lewis Hamilton driving your car. Owners really see the potential of their boat, whereas when you’re cruising it, you don’t see the potential because you don’t have world class sailors sailing it. When I’ve sailed with Shirley Robertson, who’s won two Olympic gold medals, and she’s on the boat giving the debrief, the owner is sitting there listening to her give her views on the race you’ve just had and they really feel part of it. It is an amazingly unique event. 📸 Claire Matches / St Barths Bucket The 2019 entry list has 36 superyachts signed up. Knowing the scale of these yachts, 36 seems like a massive number. How do the event organizers manage traffic on the start line and around the race course? The superyacht racing rules are written for the safety of the boats and their crew. There are two things; one you don’t have a fleet start, so there’s only one boat on each start, and then you have a 40-meter rule – which means that if you go within 40 meters of another boat, it’s considered a collision. That said, 40-meters is essentially a boat length and exceptionally close in real life when you’ve got 200 tons going towards another 200 tons! But there is also respect and an understanding that this is a Corinthian event. So the racing, although hard, it’s still comfortable, and there are different levels of participation. Some people push quite hard but the majority enjoy sailing around the island seeing how they fare against other similar boats. North Sails has set up a pop-up service loft for the past few years. What does this level of support mean for our clients and the event? In the old days the local sailmaker would bring his sewing machine down to the dock, and then guys like me would work all night getting a sail fixed. But the reality is that since putting the service facility in, with everything being in one place and organized, it has made it a much nicer experience for the owners and boat captains. One of the great things about North Sails is that it’s big enough that we have the resources to put a pop-up service loft on the island for the event. If you imagine the logistics of putting in a service facility that can deal with sails that weigh over 200 kilos, it’s no easy task but we really believe it gives our clients the best possible service. North Sails is really the only company that has the horsepower to be able to do that, and we are proud to offer it to our customers. So you really look at it and go, “Oh, thank goodness North is there.” 📸 Michael Kurtz / St Barths Bucket READ MORE

Building on over 45 years of tradition and heritage, The Ocean Race is the world’s premiere, fully-crewed, around the world race. Since the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973, through 20 years of the Volvo Ocean Race, this offshore classic has always attracted the world’s best sailors. Now known as The Ocean Race, the next edition is set to start from Alicante, Spain in 2021, with two classes of boats: the fantastic, foiling IMOCA 60s and the one-design VO65s, which produced the closest race in history in the last edition. To catch up on the latest developments and learn what’s been going on behind the scenes since the last race, join The Ocean Race for its online launch on March 21st at 1900 UTC. Bookmark These Links: Web | YouTube | Facebook | Facebook Live READ MORE

NEW STAR DESIGNS DELIVER IN MIAMI Eric Doyle Wins Bacardi Cup With M-25 Mainsail And J-115 Full Radial Jib Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise, 2019 Bacardi Cup Champions. © Martina Orsini Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise won the 2019 Bacardi Cup Invitational, beating out seven World Champions and multiple Olympic medalists by never crossing the finish line worse than fourth. Coral Reef Yacht Club and the beautiful Biscayne Bay host this prestigious event every year, and Miami did not disappoint; sailors had warm weather and great breeze almost the entire week. THE RACING Racing began on Monday with a shifty southerly breeze. Defending champions Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi showed they were serious about winning again by decisively taking the first race. After a day off with not enough wind for racing, Polish Olympic champion Mateusz Kuszierewicz/Frithjof Kleen redeemed themselves from a first race OCS to take the gun in race two. Great breeze arrived Thursday, and the French duo of Xavier Rohart/Pierre Alexis Ponsot won a hard-fought victory in race three. Midway through the series, Doyle/Infelise hadn’t finished out of the top four and were leading the series by a nice margin. On Friday, Paul Cayard and six-time Bacardi Cup champion Magnus Liljedahl really hit their stride and won races four and five by comfortable margins. Doyle/Infelise had not yet won a race, but with no finish worse than fourth they went into the final race with only Cayard/Liljedahl a mathematical threat for the championship. When they rounded first and spotted Cayard/Liljedahl uncharacteristically far from the leaders, Doyle/Infelise were able to retire early and enjoy a quiet victory sail back to the dock. Kuszierewicz/Kleen won a hard fought battle against the always fast team of Eivind Melleby/Josh Revkin, and those two teams filled out the other podium spots. The Star Class is known to have a deep fleet of very talented sailors from all over the World ©Martina Orsini THE CREW A good crew is critical to winning Star regattas, and Eric says he’s lucky to sail with Payson. “We always have a good time on and off the water. He basically runs the show downwind. At the bottom, it’s just a basic question: do we go left or right? What do you like? And we go that way. It’s great to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and it’s almost always correct. We’ve been sailing together five or six years, so everything happens automatically with very few distractions. Anything goes wrong, it’s no big deal. We just move on.” Eric and Payson celebrating after the final race. © Martina Orsini LOOKING AHEAD According to Eric, 2019 is going to be a really big year for the Star. “At the European Championships in Garda in May, there’ll be the traditional Star racing until the last day, and then the top ten boats go into a Star Sailors League knockout series. Then we have the Star Worlds in Porto Cervo, which everybody is excited about. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect 100 boats at each of those events.” And the North Sails product line will be ready to perform. “We had 5-20 knots and we used one main the whole time,” Eric says. “I felt as fast as anybody throughout the whole wind range. Many customers commented on how well it worked in all conditions, easy to trim and set up and most importantly, fast. And that’s what we’re aiming for.” The awards ceremony © Martina Orsini READ MORE

POLISH TRIFECTA OF TRADES: SAILMAKERS Women Who Play Key Roles Within The Leading Sailmaking Brand At one of two North Sails production sites in the United States, three female sailmakers are devoting their highly trained eyes to building the best products for our clients. Regina, Margaret, and Basha all moved from Poland to Milford, CT to raise their children and make a career out of their lifelong love of sewing. Thirty-plus years later, they continue to form a “Polish trifecta of trades,” specializing in prefabrication, finishing, and assembly. They’ve even helped with larger projects like the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup. “The expertise that Regina, Margaret, and Basha bring to our company is enormous,” says Steve Gruver, Floor Supervisor. “They are outstanding employees and a delight to work with. They enjoy working hard and do an excellent job with any project they are assigned. Whether it’s prefabrication or in the pits perfecting larger-scale projects, we can trust they will go above and beyond. We are very lucky to have them here- part of our Milford family.” -Steve Gruver, Floor Supervisor Regina Golimsek was the first to start working at North Sails in 1980. Trained to make clothing, she says at first that sailmaking was a lot harder. “The material is much stiffer, not like a dress. My first time I couldn’t sew in a straight line, and I almost quit! They told me to take my time, and I’d get used to working with the materials. They were right; I’m still here.” 2019 marks her 38th year at North Sails. Another challenge was learning the sailing language to understand what each project required. “At our old facility in Stratford, I remember having to work with a furling sail and we had half of it inside, and the rest went out the door, where we tied it to the van to pull it tight. There we could get it furled up, and I could see how it worked. It was interesting to see the finished product, how it worked, how it should look, and also very funny to see everyone looking at us like we were crazy.” Since the larger loft as built, there’s enough space to work inside. “Having more space to be able to take on the larger scale projects was what everyone was excited about. Providing the right tools allowed our staff to be the best it could be.” Today you’ll find Regina in prefabrication, where she collects the correct parts for each sail— choosing rings, tapes, cords, cutting reinforcements for headboards, clews, batten pockets, snaps, and covers. She takes pride to make sure every box is checked, and each tack, clew, and headboard has the correct fittings and proper reinforcements. “I like this job because it allows me to use my brain. Creating something, making things fit together; I get to figure out how to do it and make it perfect.” Margaret Skakacz also left Poland to raise her family and start her career. “Raising a child and balancing work is hard. Childcare is not affordable. North Sails made it possible for me to work and take care of my children, and I’ve been very successful because of it.” Before moving from Poland in the early ’80s, she attended school for physical therapy and prosthetics. Though her hobby was sewing and making clothing, she never thought she would make sails. 31 years later, she’s the leader in Quality Control at the Milford loft. “I make sure everything is right before it leaves the building,” she says. “I check every detail, make sure each sail has exactly what was requested. I make sure it looks good. It’s satisfying. Seeing a project through from start to finish is what I like the most. I can say ‘I did that’ and it looks good—like, America’s Cup good.” Margaret gained a more technical understanding of sailmaking when she spent three years helping build 3DL string sails in Minden, Nevada. She worked alongside mentors like Jeff and Dan Neri to develop the original 3Di finishing standards. She says Mark Taylor, a North designer, was also very helpful. “To make the best sails, for certain projects they’ll bring in the best from all over the world to get the job done,”she says. Margaret also thanks Lucio Bolognani, who focuses on superyachts and specializes in hardware. “He came up with new ideas for bigger sails, which has made an impact on how we manufacture them today.” “3D sails are much harder to work with,” said Margaret. “They come out from the factory in one piece, and are very stiff. It can be hard to work them through the machines, especially when the headboards, tacks, and clews are reinforced with webbing and much thicker. Reefs are by far the hardest since there are no sections to connect, it leaves no room for error.” Margaret likes seaming panels the best. “Each sail order comes with a blueprint, and you see what the sail needs to look like finished. All cut into sections, and each section is numbered. How wide the seam allowance is, what thread weight to use, and what color to stitch with are all significant details. On each ticket, the details are listed in Blue Book codes, everything you’d need to know to make sails. The main goal? To make every sail look seamless.” She also worked with PUMA in the Volvo Ocean Race and for one of Dennis Conner’s America’s Cup teams. “Margaret is one of our master sailmakers,” North Sails CEO Dan Neri says. “She has built thousands of North Sails, ranging from One Design to Superyachts, and nylon to 3Di. I had the chance to work with her for a few years in Minden. She always had a better, simpler idea.” “What I like about this job is that it’s challenging,” Margaret says; “New improvements processes, new designs—that’s what makes it hard but fun at the same time. We have a great crew here in Milford; we’re perfectionists. You know you’ve got a good thing going when they want America’s Cup sails made here.” Part three of the Polish trifecta is Barbara “Basha” Balikowsky, who has been assembling sails on the North Sails floor for 30 years. “I like this job because it is always interesting,” Basha says. “There is always something to learn.” Most of the sails that get made in Milford are custom, so no two projects are the same. The most critical part about sailmaking, explains Basha, is following directions. “Even if you think you’ve seen it before, you can’t skip it. I read the ticket two times first, always. You cannot repair a 3Di sail like you would a paneled sail. With 3D it’s all one piece—which means no mistakes. “The North Sails logo stands for quality,” she continues, “and that’s what you get. Seeing the products from start to finish is what makes us proud to work for a company like this, and has allowed us to contribute what expertise we have. Even if it’s just sewing, we are proud of each sail that goes out the door and know our customers are getting the best sails.” “I love this job,” she adds. “It’s like a big family. It makes it worth coming to work. I may not be able to sail, but I can run a sewing machine and make a great product for sailors. Not many sailors can do that.” READ MORE

TOM DODSON RETURNS TO NORTH SAILS Kiwi Sailing Legend A Key Hire For Supporting Superyacht Clients Following a long career in sailing spanning two Olympic Games, numerous America’s Cup cycles and everything in between, native Kiwi Tom Dodson has rejoined North Sails as a Sales Expert with a particular focus on the vibrant superyacht segment. Based out of New Zealand, Dodson will bring his knowledge and expertise to an already impressive team and will work with superyacht owners and crews around the world including regattas in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, ahead of the expected influx to the Pacific in time for the 2021 America’s Cup in Auckland. Having first joined North Sails New Zealand as Managing Partner back in 1986, he left to join Team New Zealand in 1998 then joined Southern Spars as President in 2004. The well-known sailor has retained his connection with North Sails over his years as a professional in the sport, and now brings his wealth of experience back to the company to help to continue to grow the highly successful superyacht sails part of the business. “In some ways, I never really left,” Dodson says. “I’ve always supported the company, its products, and people. The North team has been doing a great job, but what we see in the next few years is that there is going to be a lot more traffic coming down to New Zealand around the America’s Cup, and definitely lots more superyacht activity in the region. Through sailing on boats like Velsheda and Silvertip I have kept up with the latest products and what’s happening in these fleets and I am really looking forward to working with the team at North Sails on how we can help clients have the very best sails for whatever sailing they want to do.” Ken Read, President of North Sails, commented: “We have an unrivaled breadth and depth of talent here at North Sails, from designers and materials experts through to sailors and our sales team. Tom Dodson is a consummate and seasoned professional, who ever since he first joined the company in the 1980s has remained part of the wider North Sails family. As a business we have focused on building for the future and investing in technology and innovation so that we stay at the very forefront of the industry but we have also invested in our people, and Tom Dodson coming back to join us is testament to this long term relationship we have with the people that work with us.” Jens Christensen, North Sails superyacht segment leader, said: “We are pushing boundaries in the superyacht industry, leading the way with new products and striving for the ultimate customer service experience. But we can only deliver the type of world-class service to complement the hardware if we have the best people working for us. We pride ourselves on making sure that we understand the individual needs of all types of boats and sailors, and are able to support them across the world with continuity and consistency of product offering and maintenance. We are delighted that Tom joins us to help us continue our work at our superyacht centers of excellence around the world, showcasing the best of the best talent in the superyacht industry.” READ MORE

RACE RECORDS, LINE HONOURS, AND TOP PODIUM POSITIONS Caribbean 600 Is A Showcase of Success for North Sails Powered Entries 📸RORC / Arthur Daniel / Tim Wright The 2019 RORC Caribbean 600 proved successful for North Sails clients, who captured top podium positions, claiming multi and monohull line honours, and setting a new race record. The 600-mile non-stop race is the Caribbean’s premier offshore ocean race and a highlight of the winter sailing season. Peter and David Askew’s VO70 Wizard claimed monohull line honors and also the coveted RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy, scoring the best corrected time under IRC in their event debut. Skippered by two-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran Charlie Enright, Wizard was powered up and planing around the islands in what the Askew brothers agree is a great race. Starting the year with an early victory sets Wizard up for an intense 2019 sailing schedule which includes the Transatlantic Race, Rolex Fastnet, and Rolex Middle Sea Race. Multi 70 Maserati, skippered by Giovanni Soldini raced around the islands in a record-breaking 1 day, 6 hours and 49 minutes. Soldini and crew had a formidable opponent in Jason Carroll’s Mod 70 Argo who made a quick recovery from a training day capsize and followed Maserati less than ten minutes behind. In a race that almost didn’t happen, Soldini commended Argo for an all-hands-on-deck effort to make the start line on Monday. “It was the first time in history that a multihull so big came back from a capsize like that – incredible,” commented Soldini. I was very happy to agree to delay that start, to race against one of the best teams in the world.” Wizard claimed first place IRC overall, with TP52 Tala up in second. The Caribbean 600 was the first event in the ex-Spookie for David Collins who recently outfitted Tala with the North Helix sails. Tala deployed their Helix Fractional Zero on the first leg North and launched their Helix Masthead Zero on the way to Saber and Rodonda. Gunboat 62 Chim Chim sits on top of the podium with the best correct time under MOCRA in the multihull class. Owner John Gallagher was quick to comment on having a great regatta, crediting mother nature for putting a Super Moon on display for the fleet. Second place Fujin was back for the 2019 race after experiencing a capsize and safe rescue off Saba Island in 2018. Back on the dock in Antigua, Fujin owner Greg Slyngstad remarked that crossing the finish line was emotional, and a milestone in moving past the events of 2018. After CSA time correction, the overall winner of the CSA Division was Wizard. Franco Niggeler’s Cookson 50 Kuka 3 skippered by veteran ocean racer Chuny Bermudez claims second place. Todd Stuart’s Carkeek 47 White Rhino 2 rounds out the CSA Overall podium with third place. Class 40 Earendil from France won their class against a record number of entries in 2019. This is the second consecutive win for skipper Catherine Pourre who said the race was stressful and boils her team’s success down to smart sail selection. “The key factor was having the right sails for the different legs,” remarked Pourre. “It was match racing all the way, especially at the end and we were really under pressure all of the time. Superyacht Nikata saw 12-18 knots of boat speed as they dashed around the Caribbean islands. Navigator Askel Maghdal remarked, “the Caribbean 600 is super busy, we’re turning corners all the time. We didn’t get much sleep, but this race is a must do to put on the calendar.” READ MORE

NORTH CLIENTS SWEEP J/70 DIYC WINTER SERIES Versatility of North Designs Prevails. Congratulations Team Savasana! Series winners at full power in Tampa Bay .©Photoboat.com Sailing at the Davis Island J/70 Winter Series #3 was beautiful once again! The wind was strong out of the northeast on Saturday, 14-18 knots and a balmy 76 degrees. Sunday was just as nice with winds 8-14 knots and a high of 78 degrees. The race committee did a fantastic job to get the 50-boat fleet a total of seven races over the course of two days, making for a competitive weekend of racing. Congratulations to Brian Keane and team Savasana for winning the weekend with four bullets on the scoreboard. The result secured Savasana the J/70 Winter Series overall victory. Keane used the North XCS-2 mainsail, J-6 jib and the AP-1 spinnaker. We are especially happy for our clients finishing 1,2,4,5, taking the top two podium spots over the course of the series. When we asked Brian for his comments on the weekend, here’s what he said: “We saw a variety of conditions throughout the Davis Island Winter Series which put a lot of demands on the sails. The versatility of North sails was key to our success in Davis Island. We could power up in the light air with flat sea state without inducing excessive drag. We could also quickly and efficiently de-power in windy conditions. Bottom line, we like working with North Sails because the versatility of their products allow us to consistently achieve top results.” Our experts Tim Healy and Will Welles attended all the three events, helping clients and sharing everything they learned throughout the series. North Sails is a proud sponsor of the Davis Island Winter Series and the Friday Porch Series. Our team is happy to help competitors to get up to speed so they can be ready for the racing. Here are Tim and Will’s tips from the event #3: Tim’s Tips: Acceleration Off The Starting Line Preset controls: Set the backstay, outhaul, cunningham, and jib halyard before the start to minimize movement while boat is accelerating at start. Mark sheets and know the powerup and full speed settings for that condition: Take notice of your marks on both the windward and leeward jib sheets, as well as main sheet. This is done prestart, always leave enough time to get to the race area and sail most of first beat to check marks, get heading numbers, and gauge speed with other boats. When the boat is going well and trimmed for speed, make note of the position of your marks. Acceleration Sequence: Keep the vang loose for pre-start and only pull vang-on after you are fully sheeted in. Your crew should hit the rail and hike. Try not to move in for adjustments, if possible. Crew should quickly give speed and height feedback to driver and main trimmer. Main trimmer makes the final trim on the main and the jib, while the forward two crew stay out on the rail keeping the boat steady. Skipper should focus on accelerating and getting the boat up to max speed right at the start. Pointing will come after target speed is met. Will’s Tips: Shifting Gears In Puffy Conditions De-powering Sequence: Drop the traveler down. Pull backstay on. Vang sheet. Pull main cunningham on. Pull jib halyard on if wind speed has increased on average. Weather sheet off in the puffs. Pull back in the lulls. (In light to medium breeze we play the leeward sheet and leave the weather sheet on). The reverse of this sequence is used when we look for power. Main cunningham is the last thing we pull on and the first thing that comes off when looking for power. In a big lull we also ease a little backstay and bring the traveler up a couple inches. The key is to get good wind information from the crew on the rail, so you can prepare for the puff. I like to hear about the big puffs and the long lulls, which allows me to keep the boat at a constant angle of heel, making it easier to maintain maximum boat speed. In case you missed our notes from event one and two: Tips from Series Opener | Takeaways from event #2 Get ready for the Spring sailing season with the fastest J/70 sails from North. Contact your local J/70 expert today! Will Welles’ New Wave, 2nd Place. ©Chris Howell Greiner Hobbs’ Dark Horse, 9th place. ©Chris Howell Douglas Strebel’s Black River Racing. ©Chris Howell READ MORE

NORTH SAILS CONFIRMED AS SUPPLIER TO STAR + STRIPES TEAM USA The New, All-American Team Have Picked The World’s Leading Sailmaker In Its Quest For A Historic Victory 📸 Stars + Stripes Team USA North Sails is proud to announce they have been selected to supply sails and design expertise to Stars + Stripes Team USA, one of the American challengers for the 36th America’s Cup. This follows the news (Nov 2018 ) that North Sails is the sailmaker of choice for defender Emirates Team New Zealand, and Challengers Prada Luna Rossa and INEOS TEAM UK, who are all vying to win the oldest trophy in international sport. JB Braun, Director of Design and Engineering for North Sails, will also serve as technical director for Stars + Stripes Team USA. In doing so, JB joins an enviable roster of North Sails designers who are currently embedded with North Sails’ confirmed teams. They all bring with them expertise and innovation to a highly complex and competitive challenge in building a boat to win this event. As part of his role, JB will be looking at how to maximize all the elements that make the ‘Engine above Deck’ on these powerful foiling monohulls. He will also lead further development and optimization of the design package Star + Stripes Team USA have purchased from Emirates Team New Zealand. 📸 Stars + Stripes Team USA JB Braun commented: “I have been involved in the America’s Cup for over 18 years and in that time I have seen technology and innovation change things beyond recognition. But one thing remains the same – the fastest boat wins. That means every part of your boat, from the carbon hull and foils to the mast and sails, with an emphasis on the sailing team, have to be the very best and able to sail faster and smarter.” “Our challenge this time, with a new boat and much to learn, is how we ensure we are sailing the boat close to optimum trim a higher percentage of the time than our competition. I am excited to be a part of Stars + Stripes Team USA and see how we develop the boat and team into a winning unit.” Braun’s expertise with America’s Cup programs is rivaled by few. His America’s Cup career began with Young America in 2000, then he joined Stars + Stripes in 2003, followed by 12 years with Oracle Team USA. Braun was an integral part of the aero design and analysis that helped Oracle Team USA make their famous comeback during the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco. Staying true to their American roots, Stars + Stripes Team USA will work closely with the North Sails design and construction team in Minden, Nevada, the birthplace for North’s 3D sailmaking innovation. Ken Read, President of North Sails, commented: “We pride ourselves at North Sails as having the best minds, known for pushing boundaries and finding answers to challenging problems. There is no doubt that this new boat will be cutting edge and very fast, but how you combine this new aero package with crew limitations and reliability will be the key to victory. JB is a proven success in the America’s Cup but more than that, he understands how to bring all the elements of design, technology and innovation together to create something that delivers. I am delighted that he has been able to join another Stars + Stripes team, this time with a new generation of sailors and a whole different ball game. I can only look forward to watching how things move from the design process to the sailing stage and where the teams get to with this new rule.” Stars + Stripes Team USA Co-Founder Mike Buckley (L) and Helmsman Taylor Canfield (R) 📸 Stars + Stripes Team USA READ MORE

3Di BRINGS WINGS TO NEW HEIGHTS AT THE J/88 MIDWINTERS Five Bullets Guarantees The Title in St. Pete © Chris Howell Taking on a new sailing challenge is nothing new for Mike Bruno. Through nearly 3 decades of racing he and his team have raced, and succeeded, in several different boats. So when the J/88 launched onto the scene Mike jumped in and the Wings program had a new sailing challenge to conquer. Fresh of their recent win at JFest in St. Petersburg we wanted to know more about the Wings team and their thoughts on their 3Di sails. Mike, first of congratulations to you and your team on Wings for your continued success in the J88. Can you share with us a little bit about your sailing background and how long have you been sailing in the J88 class? Thanks! We are having fun with Wings and continue to learn more and more about sailing the J88 fast. As how we got this far, I started out as casual cruising sailor and began racing about 25 years ago. I would say that in the past 15 years or so we have gotten fairly serious about racing and being competitive. We had a Jonmeri 40’ named Karjala, which I built and raced for many years, then a series of ‘Wings’. First was a J/124 I raced for 2 years. It was a nice boat but we found it to have a tough rating to sail, so we traded it for a J/122. The J/122 really was a great step and I successfully campaigned that boat, with a few partners, for 8 years initially, as a one design. The J/122 program brought us some great results including winning the North American title twice and a Rolex award at a NYYC regatta. That brought us to the current Wings, the J/88, which I bought the 3 years ago. We have really enjoyed this program and had great wins including the inaugural J88 North Americans as well as a big win at Key West Race Week. The pictures from the JFest Regatta in St. Petersburg made it appear that you had good breeze for the event. Did the conditions match up with the pictures throughout the championship? St. Petersburg Yacht Club runs excellent events and Tampa Bay can be a bit “challenging” so you really never know what you will get on any given day, especially in the winter. That said, the sailing conditions at the JFest were certainly fair. Across the entire event I’d say the breeze ranged from 8-20 knots. I think the cooler conditions (locals may call it “unseasonable”) played a role in how much pressure we had throughout the weekend. Also, Tampa Bay is quite shallow so there was a reasonable amount of sea state but the very steady breeze overall and significant shifts kept every team on their toes and working hard looking for opportunities to be gained via tactics and gear changing. Can you tell us a little bit about your team, who does what and how long have you all been together? The team is really made up of a large group of great friends and awesome sailors and, like many others, we find we are rotating in and jumbling pieces for any particular event to make sure we, not only do well, but have fun. For JFest Midwinters I held the tiller and had Chris Morgan, a local Floridian, trim main and work with me on our overall speed. Stu Johnstone was our tactician and really had a great feel for the bay the entire weekend. Tim Randall ran the pit for us while Mike Booker did all the headsail trimming and Stephen Yip ran the bow. Looking back through the weekend what were the keys to your success at the mid-winters? It’s a great question as it forces me to look back and try to pinpoint a few things I think we did really well. 1. The biggest thing was we were just able to sail a bit higher and faster than the fleet much of the time. A lot goes into that for sure. The team really worked hard on proper rig tune and working the sails and trim constantly to maximize the boats potential but our new North 3Di sails were probably the most significant difference in our ability to make that happen. 2. Our crew work was excellent! As a skipper knowing that your team can execute any maneuver at a seconds notice and pull it off without a hitch is a huge confidence builder for the entire boat. It seems that at almost every mark rounding we seemed to gain 1-3 boat lengths. 3. I mentioned earlier that Stu Johnstone called or tactics for the weekend and he was really on tactically this regatta Stu didn’t miss anything which also gave us terrific confidence. We did make a few mistakes in the event, including being over early at the start in 2 races.In the last race we were over (again) and we started, probably, 300 yards behind fleet but Stu kept us in the game, and we kept using our boat speed and crew work to do all we could to gain distance and we still nearly won the race!! I guess maybe the new saying is “When you have a great team and fast sails it’s never over until it’s over!”. What are your 2019 sailing plans for the J88? Wings has a very full 2019 sailing calendar. We have already done the Egmont Key Race and St. Pete J Fest. Up next in February is the St Pete NOODs then we head up to Charleston Race Week in April. From there the team will go back north for the American Yacht Club Spring and Fall, Cedar Point One Design Regatta, Block Island Race Week, possibly the New York Yacht Club 175th Regatta as well as J Fest in Newport with a focus on the J88 NAs in mid October. Thanks Mike and congratulations again. Sounds like you have a full schedule set with an awesome team. Good luck the rest of the year, have fun and sail fast! Learn about North 3Di products for the J/88 Class. READ MORE

NEW MELGES 24 3DI SAILS SHINES IN MIAMI Bruce Ayres’s Monsoon Dominate The Bacardi Winter Series If there is one thing that is a constant at North Sails it is our team is never satisfied. We are constantly working to make better and faster sails and the recent 3Di development for the Melges 24 sails is not different. The North M24 team, along with sail designer Mike Marshall, spent time in Miami for the Bacardi Winter Series working with M24 teams, including teams Monsoon and Lucky Dog, on the new 3Di designs. The results were amazing with Monsoon combining 3Di speed with a talented team of sailors to win the event. North Melges 24 expert John Bowden caught up with Stars + Stripes Team USA Skipper and Monsoon’s tactician Mike Buckley to get some insights on the success of his team along the series and his impressions on the new 3Di mainsail for the Melges 24 class. Mike, congratulations again to the team on Monsoon. You had an incredibly impressive score line at the Bacardi Winter Series with top 5 in the all races of both events. Can you share with us a few key points, in your opinion, are some of the keys to success with your Melges 24 program? Thank you, John, fun sailing against you and the other teams in the class. Sailing with the team on Monsoon is always fun as we work really hard and complement each other quite well. That said, there are some key points that we really focus on that I think any team can utilize to improve. Keep it simple, no home runs. Pass a boat or two each leg and trust the process. Speed, good crew work, no major errors. Though these may seem overly generic I really feel this helps us gain the consistency you mentioned and keeps the team prepared for success. You guys were very open to work with the new 3Di mainsail and spend time with our team optimizing the sail. How did the North 3Di main respond and perform in the range of conditions? The sails certainly performed really well across quite a broad range. We were happy with our speed which made my job easier! Did you make any changes to your tuning for the new 3Di main? That is a good question. The Melges 24 is a fairly high tech boat with strict one design rules so making sure the tuning is spot on for every condition is critical. We found that we are tending to sail a little bit tighter on our rig tensions, on average, with the 3Di main. Also, we found we were trimming a bit harder across the board. Not a huge amount but certainly something we talked about which, possibly, gave us another gear at times. What do you see as the biggest advantage of changing to the new 3Di main? One thing that is great about sailing with Bruce and the team on Monsoon is we always try to be on the front of the technology shift. When sailing in tight, competitive fleets like the Melges 24, it is fairly important to be leading the pack when looking for a competitive edge. Having that technology available in the Melges 24 and being open to test and lead the way made the path to using 3Di a great option. Monsoon is one of the best Melges 24 teams in the fleet. How are you preparing the 2019 season and what do you attribute your team’s success? We have a really fun team to compete with and I think that’s important. As we build Stars + Stripes Team USA I always have in the back of my mind the fantastic culture we have on Monsoon. We all want to hike harder for each other, we all want to trim better for each other, I want to hit shifts for my teammates. It’s not easy to find that chemistry but it’s probably the most important aspect of sport. Congratulations Team Monsoon! Power your Melges 24 with 3Di sails. Lucky Dog powered by the North 3Di jib for the Melges 24 class. READ MORE

THEIS PALM TAMES THE DRAGON Introducing Our New Class Leader Theis (far left) racing with his team African Queen celebrating the win at the 2018 Gold Cup. ©sailpix.fi North Sails expert Theis Palm, has been appointed class leader for the Dragon. Theis has sailed on a lot of different boats in his 42 years as a sailmaker—including the Crown Prince of Denmark’s Farr 40 and his Dragon. He’s won eight world championships (Soling, Yngling, H-boat, Dragon, and 1/4 Ton), 3 Gold Cups (Dragon and Nordic Folkboat), two Europeans (Dragon and X-79), and 28 Danish Nationals in a whopping nine different classes. He feels lucky to sail almost exclusively in One designs. “On a one design sailing day you sail one hundred percent of you time spend, but on a big boat you only sail forty percent and the rest of the time is organizing.” He’s based out of the loft in Herlev, Denmark, less than half an hour northwest of Copenhagen, though he spends a lot of time traveling to regattas. Palm began sailing in the Optimist in 1968, and moved on to other dinghies like Europe, Flipper and OK, before an opportunity to sail with double gold medalist Poul Richard Hoj Jensen led him to sail small keelboats. He was part of a medal-winning Danish Olympic training squad, and his team finished 3rd at the Pre-Olympics in 1995. He has been working as a sailmaker since 1977, and spend five years as Head coach for Danish Olympic Sailing Team up to the 2004 Olympics in Athen. He went to his first Dragon regatta in 1998. “I like the Dragon because it’s a true three person boat. It was designed back in the 1920s, and it’s a very sensitive boat which makes it fun to sail. Many very good sailors sail the boat up to a high age, and that is great.” He also enjoys the high level of competition. The annual Gold Cup has “between 10-15 boats that could win. There’s not many classes where you have so many boats that can win an event. There are many good sailors and a lot of professional sailors from Russia, England, Germany and United States. “I had been helping some Russians teams and then they actually switched over to our brand. I am a little bit happy about that because they are pretty strong in the class at the moment, and most of them are using our sails. So that has been a good effort there.” ©sailpix.fi Palm enjoys sharing his expertise with other Dragon teams and also helping North’s design team fine-tune the sails. “I’ve been sailing a lot in my life, so I have a good feeling for how sails should look to be fast… and I started sailmaking when we made them 2D on the floor. Understanding that can help to transfer good designs into 3D is a Big advantage.” Dragon class rules currently limit sail materials to woven cloth, which he says limits the design options to improve already fast sails. “We have very nice shaped Dragon sails, so it’s hard to find another two to three percent in the sails. Maybe you find it in a very, very narrow wind range, but we build huge crossovers sails so you don’t take the wrong sail. We’ve been very conservative with designs, because we are hard to beat.” His customers also appreciate design stability. “They know our product. I have sailors who order a new sail and say, ‘No changes please? Good, I can use same mark on my mainsheet. Don’t change anything because we are fast!’ We have a very good product line.” Because development happens very slowly, Palm focuses “more on the service, or the tuning, or the setting on the boats, where you can move clients to be better. I like helping them to better understand what happens with the sails when you tune the rig. That’s why it’s so important to meet clients in the field.” And Palm says North Sails will be ready to evolve when the class is ready. “The company is really looking into the future all the time. 3Di on smaller keelboats is an outstanding product. I hope in the next five years we can convince many One Design class to change their class rules.” Until then, Palm will keep learning new tricks and passing them along to other Dragon sailors. “There are so many things to trim on the boat and the rig, it really makes a difference even if you make very small changes.” Interested in sails for your Dragon? Contact your local expert today. READ MORE

CARIBBEAN COMEBACK Experts Share Thoughts About the 2019 Season Antigua Sailing Week ©Paul Wyeth According to Andrew Dove, North Sails Caribbean Area Manager based in English Harbor, Antigua, 2019 is on track to be the best year ever for sailboat racing in the islands. “We’re having a good year,” Andrew told us, when we caught up with him just after the New Year. “The work is piling in. The Caribbean is foolproof, it’s friendly. And obviously this is one of the ideal places in the world to sail.” Mike Toppa, who is based at North Sails in Fort Lauderdale and races several Caribbean events, agrees that 2019 is going to be a great season. “After the hurricanes last year, regattas were at maybe 80 percent capacity; this year it seems like everyone’s making up for lost time. We’re all ready to get racing again.” Organization Increases Numbers Good planning—of the overall winter calendar, and of regattas—is part of the reason for increased participation across the board, Mike thinks. “The Caribbean Racing Association has done a really good job coordinating all the schedules around the Caribbean so they don’t overlap. People have the ability to go to any regatta they want without missing out on another they might want to do. All of the events have stepped up their game with good, well-trained, race committees. Laying out courses, managing the regattas as people expect at a world class level.” “Mike is quite right,” Andrew says. “There’s definitely professional management for racing in the Caribbean. The people who don’t live here participate for a whole range of reasons, but one is that the racing is very good nowadays.” Andrew is predicting that the Caribbean 600 will have a record number of entries this year. All the events are growing, Mike adds. “It must be something that’s calling people in. Definitely an optimistic feel.” Les Voiles de St Barth © Paul Wyeth Antigua: Great for Cruisers, Racers, and Duty-Free Each Caribbean season begins with the Salty Dawg Rally, a group of cruisers who travel south in tandem each autumn. Usually their destination is the Virgin Islands, but last year’s hurricanes sent them to Antigua—and they liked it so much, a large number came back again this year. “For that week,” Andrew says, “there were events every night. We organized a 3Di evening at the loft, we had videos going, and we were giving away crepes and drinks. Most of the people didn’t have a clue what 3Di was, but now they appreciate its real advantage. And it was quite the party.” Antigua has become a favorite hub for larger yachts as well because of its easy logistics, Andrew explains. “In the past it was difficult to ship things in and out; now it’s very easy to get provisions and sails delivered. And we’re very lucky with North Sails, they now allow us to deliver sails to the boats and catch up with the paperwork afterwards. Which means that when people come to regattas here and leave things for the last moment, it’s not a disaster.” Docks of Antigua in English Harbour Yacht Transports Another reason the Caribbean is attracting more boats is that it’s now easy to get there without sailing across open ocean. “In Fort Lauderdale,” Mike says, “a lot of yacht transport ships come in from Europe with a lot of the same boats you see on the racecourse. There are direct ships to St. Maarten and Antigua and different places. The costs are coming down, convenience is up, the scheduling is a lot more regular, and it’s definitely an option a lot of people take advantage of.” Multihulls Multiply Andrew says he’s been noticing a larger percentage of multihulls joining the Caribbean regattas. “Five years ago, you’d see one or two. Now there’s a class or even two classes of them.” Adding a widely accepted French handicap system has made it easier for regattas to handle scoring. At the opposite end of the size and age spectrum, he adds that Antigua will host the 2019 Optimist Worlds in July, out of Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbor. “That’s a major event because of the number of participants—not only the children but parents and staff. It’s offshore racing because they sail a few hundred meters and they are out to sea.” Antigua Sailing Week © Paul Wyeth 3Di: Fewer Overnight Repairs For this year’s regattas, Andrew plans to race with his customers by day and repair sails by night—though with 3Di, he says, the volume of repairs are way, way down. “In the past whether it be string sails or even 3DL, we would have to do sail repairs throughout the night. Now at big regattas, we’re asked to do small modifications but we’re not actually repairing the sails.” As 3Di NORDAC becomes more popular with cruisers, he predicts that repairs will drop off even more. “Fortunately we have a growing number of customers; if we didn’t, we’d be losing business.” 3Di is a huge advantage over laminated sails in the Caribbean, Mike agrees, because heat and humidity don’t affect 3Di. “We see it here in Florida too; all of a sudden sails are lasting six or seven years. Whereas a string sail would last three years. One of our customers has a 37m Dubois sloop,” Mike continues. “Their 3Di sails are three years old and are doing the St. Barth’s Bucket this year. I was talking to the captain the other day and asked how the sails are holding up, and he said they look like they’re brand new. They’re excited to race and they’ve got the sails to do it.” “I actually don’t think we can overstate the change 3Di has brought into our market,” Andrew adds. “People here go sailing for more than a couple of hours, so it’s a real advantage. The only big repairs we have now are non-3Di.” “You’ll get your evenings back,” Mike replies, chuckling. Onsite pop-up loft, St. Barth READ MORE

DRAGON CLASS SPEED READING A Helmsman’s View North clients lead the pack to the podium at the 2019 Worlds in Fremantle ©Tom Hodge Media The Dragon World Championship in Fremantle kicked off the 2019 racing season on a high note for North Sails, with North customers making it a clean sweep on the podium claiming Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. We talked to Grant Gordon, Silver medalist and first owner-driver about his campaign build up, crew and choice of equipment. Team Louise Racing, second place finishers ©Tom Hodge Media You have had a fantastic 12 months in the Dragon class. Tell us about your year and setting up the campaign? The 2018 season saw our team change format to sail four up on our Dragon. The first step in this process was to scout for talented sailors, and we soon identified two excellent additions to the team. Jimmy Williamson joined us as jib & spinnaker trimmer and Sophie Weguelin in the role of bowman and extra pair of eyes on board. Ruairidh Scott, with whom I have sailed regularly, continued in his key role of tactician and mainsail trimmer. Spending time on the water would unmistakably be critical, and we teamed up with my friend and former Dragon World Champion Klaus Diederichs and the FEVER team. Together we ran a two boat training camp on Lake Garda; which was an ideal venue to prepare for sailing in Fremantle. Your speed this year has been regularly commented on by fellow competitors. Can you explain a little about how you have achieved this so consistently? Naturally, we have worked on tuning the rig using the North Sails Tuning Guide as a start point which gives you instant speed out the blocks. From there it’s just fine tweaks in changing winds and sea states as well as finding the optimal trim settings for the sails depending on the conditions. Making sure the boat is well balanced is critical so you can avoid using any unnecessary helm adjustments. As helmsman, I have focused on finding the right heel angle upwind and working with the trimmers to maintain this. Through our training time in Lake Garda, we were able to find trim settings which worked for us and allowed us to be fast consistently. ©Tom Hodge Media What sails/equipment did you use and why? We took delivery of a new Pettricrow V6 Dragon in February 2018. Once the mast was tuned correctly, we were confident that we had an accurate platform to build on. The North sail inventory is made of standard production sails, including an A-7+ Mainsail, R-5 Spinnaker, and V-6M and V-6H Genoas. The heavier wind conditions in Fremantle most often favored sailing with the Heavy Genoa. The combination of the A-7+ Mainsail and V-6H Genoa was very fast in the 14-22 kts wind range we often raced in Fremantle. We have also been equally fast with the V-6M medium Genoa in other venues throughout 2018. What would be your top tip be for success in the Dragon class? Assemble a team of talented sailors who respect each other and sail together as often as possible. During training, work hard to address your weaknesses. During the race, when the going gets tough, never give up; it isn’t over until you have crossed the finishing line! ©Tom Hodge Media 2019 Recommended Inventory North Sails has been prominent in the class for many years. We are trusted and supported as our sail products are well developed. Our clients finished first through fourth overall at the 2019 Worlds, all using North Sails Mainsails, Genoas and Spinnakers which speaks for itself. Louise Racing’s recommended products are: A-7+ Mainsail, LM-2 Mainsail, V-6L Genoa, V-6M Genoa ,V-6H Genoa, BR-9 Spinnaker, and the R-5 Spinnaker. To upgrade your racing program to World Championship winning sails, contact your local Dragon expert for more information. ©Tom Hodge Media READ MORE

SCOTT’S SECRETS TO WIN PAPER TIGER NEW ZEALAND NATIONALS Start well. Keep moving. Don’t rest downwind. A strong fleet of forty-six Paper Tigers battled for the 2019 New Zealand National title on the waters of Evans Bay. North Sails expert Derek Scott dominated the regatta with five bullets in the 8-race event followed by Dylan Tayler in second and Heyden Percy in third. A full North Sails podium! We caught up with Derek to learn about his secrets to win in such convincing way: Derek, Congratulations! What were the conditions during the Nationals? We had a good mix of conditions at the Nationals. The first day was 15 knots at the start of the first race, building to 20 knots by the end. The second race started in 24 knots and built quickly to above 30 knots. Hence the racing being called off for the rest of the day due to excess wind and quite a bit of damage. The rest of the regatta was sailed in shifty conditions with the wind ranging from 5-15 knots. How long have you been racing the Paper Tiger? Do you sail other one-design boats? This is my second season in the Paper Tiger. Before the Paper Tiger I have sailed a whole bunch of one-design boats ranging from Olympic 470 to Etchells. Eight races, five bullets and a second-place discard for a total of only nine points – Amazing consistency in a 46-boat event! What were the three key factors for such great results? START WELL: The first and biggest aspect is to get a good start and get into the first wind line or shift after the start gun. In the Paper Tiger if you are in 3 kts more wind than another boat the speed difference is huge. KEEP MOVING: Keep the boat moving fast all the time. Sounds simple but you need to keep full concentration when sailing Paper Tiger as it is easy to “get out of the grove” and the boat will slow down. DON’T REST DOWNWIND: Keep the intensity up once you have rounded the top mark. Don’t treat downwind as a time to rest. I work harder on the reach than I do upwind. Make sure the sail is trimmed perfectly and you have powered you sail up to get max speed. If there are waves, make sure you are trying to catch as many as you can and rest when the race is over. What’s next in your calendar? This week I will be sailing in the Bay of Islands Regatta in the sportboat division on a Magic 25. The next Paper Tiger regatta is in Auckland on the 2nd and 3rd of February with a few more regattas around the country in February and March. The Paper Tiger season ends with the International Championship when the Australians bring a fleet of 10-20 boat and we all race and have fun together. Full results Learn more about the North Sails products for the Paper Tiger. READ MORE

DAVIS ISLAND J/70 WINTER SERIES EVENT 2 North Experts Tips & Takeaways Corinthian team Victory skippered by Buddy Cribb, powered by North Sails. © Phil Pape Another great weekend at the second event of the 2018-19 J/70 Davis Island Winter Series with fifty-three teams racing in the beautiful waters of Tampa Bay. Congratulations to Joel Ronning on Catapult for winning Event #2. Brian Keane’s Savasana was third overall in the five-race regatta. Tough racing conditions ranged from light and shifty to puffy and shifty, keeping the game close and the battle for the podium even closer. North clients took seven of the top ten spots, with Andrew Fisher’s Button Fly first overall in Corinthian division. We asked our experts to share some insights from the weekend. When to Change from Planing to Displacement Mode Downwind? By Tim Healy One of the questions that came from sailing this past weekend was: When planing and the breeze drops a bit, when do you commit to displacement mode? The answer is when the boatspeed can no longer average above 9.5 knots, even after heading up for more power. Then it is time to furl the jib, bear off, move crew weight forward, and commit to displacement mode. At this point you will be going only about 7-8 knots, but your angle is much lower so your VMG is better. You can also consider wing-on-wing mode. This will take you almost dead downwind with a speed of 6-7 knots, depending on the puffs. Wing-on-wing works especially well at bottom of runs when you want to minimize jibes and keep clear of traffic. Mike Marshall adds: This weekend, you could save some of the transitions to displacement by chasing the plane a bit more than you normally would. Since the changes in pressure were normally very short, you would lose a bit of VMG by staying on the plane but be back on it again sooner when the next puff came. It translated into a net gain on the downwinds. Dividing Up the Work By Mike Marshall On Saturday, we had the opportunity to sail in some very variable conditions where the peak wind was 16 knots and the lulls were around 8 knots. These variations required frequent sail control adjustments. Something that the top boats do really well is divide up the tasks, making sure that everything is trimmed correctly more of the time. Here’s an upwind example: Driver holds the traveler and the tiller Mainsail Trimmer holds the mainsheet and the backstay Jib Trimmer has the windward jib sheet Bow Person has the vang This allows all controls to be changed at the same time, which is critical to keeping the boat going when the wind changes from 8-16 knots or back down to 8 again. Pinching the Puffs By Will Welles For the flat water sailing out of Davis Island, you can really pinch in the onset of the puffs to help keep the boat under control. Make sure not to pinch too long or after the puff has gone by, so you don’t lose speed. The key is to maintain a constant angle of heel through puffs and lulls. This is done with vang sheeting, playing the weather sheet of the jib, and steering. J/70 Davis Island Winter Series – Event 2 Powered by North Sails 1 Catapult / Joel Ronning * 3 Savasana / Brian Keane 5 Dark Horse / Greiner Hobbs 6 New Wave / Will Welles 7 Polar / Doug Clark 8 Black River Racing / Douglas Strebel 10 Button Fly / Andrew Fisher – 1st Corinthian! * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory Full results Learn more about North’s J/70 products. Brian Keane’s Savasana, third place. © Phil Pape © Phil Pape READ MORE

OK DINGHY AUSTRALIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP North Client Snatches The National Title At Black Rock The famous dinghy club, Black Rock Yacht Club, in Melbourne, Australia held the 57th OK Dinghy Nationals. With a 40-boat fleet, Roger Blasse won with a series score of 12 points total, including seven first place finishes- all using his new main, the North Sails KAP-1. Roger commented; “Using North Sails for the first time, I found it easy to get up to speed and was immediately on the pace. My mainsail has a great range of modes, and can be trimmed for height or speed throughout a broad range of conditions. My downwind speed wasn’t a problem either.” With the 2019 World Championships in Wakatere, on Auckland’s North Shore this February, this regatta has been a great lead-up event for training. Want to know more about North Sails OK Dinghy suggested inventory? Contact your local expert. READ MORE

TEAM PROVEZZA GROUNDS OUT VICTORY IN PRINCE PHILIP CUP Australasian Dragon Championship At Fremantle Team Provezza powered by North Sails. © Tom Hodge Media It was quite a hard slog for the Turkish flagged team with the current World Champion crew of Andy Beadsworth, Ali Tezdiker and Simon Fry to ground out victory to win their first Prince Philip Cup in Fremantle, Western Australia. They went into the final day of racing with a slender two point margin over local ace Willy Packer and his team of Scoundrel, Julian Harding and Jock Packer who represent the host club Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. After what could have been a major drama for the organisers, the start/committee boat had taken on a lot of water and was very stern heavy as it sat waiting for competitors to arrive. The skipper, Peter Hay, decided it was best to return ashore and swap all the equipment from boat to boat than to stay and risk further problems afloat. Host venue Fremantle Sailing Club did a great job of organising a lift out and replacement vessel to get the show back on the road again. Incredibly with the work of dozens of highly experienced volunteers, the first start was only delayed by 30 minutes. Once set up race 7 started at 12:35 hrs in a weather phenomenon that only occurs in Fremantle about 1-2 times a month. That is clouds and semi-overcast skies. There was even a few light drops of rain to cool competitors down. The winds however were a lot lighter than for the last few days, never really blowing more than 14 – 15 knots. At the start, Andy Beadsworth tried to steer Provezza into a tight space at the committee boat and ended up mounting Willy Packers, Scoundrel, copping a penalty for his troubles. As the seas were so much flatter with a much smaller chop, the rest of the fleet chose different sides of the course upwind. At the windward mark a sight we were not used to sprung before our eyes. The Dutch spinnaker of Olinghi with Charlotte and Juliette ten Worlde, Pedro Andrade and Janka Holan popped out ahead of multiple Prince Philip Cup winner, Nick Rogers and his crew, Leogh Behrens and Simon Burrows from Tasmania. Third round was Fever with Klaus Diederichs at the helm joined by Jamie lea and Diego Negri. These three boats got away from the rest of the fleet on the long run back to the leeward gate. The Dutch team rounded 36 seconds in front as they headed back upwind for the second time. Fever remained in second but Annapurna skippered by Anatoly Loginov and crew Vadim Statsenko and Alexander Shalagin got past Nick Rogers in Karabos lX. Olinghi cruised through the finish line hugging and whooping for their first race win of the series. Fever finished second and Annapurna third. Both leaders of the regatta, Provezza were down in 8th followed by the Scoundrels in 9th. At this time the Turkish flagged team were ahead by 4 points from the Western Australians with the Russian team of Annapurna quietly closing the gap.Andy Beadsworth and his highly professional Provezza team set out to keep a close hold over Willy Packer but did not sail their best races of the series. The final race start was clear at the second time of asking and the breeze just turned up a notch for a while. The sun also made a brief appearance as the afternoon wore on. It was back to normal with the majority of the fleet concentrating on the left/inshore side of the beat. Around the top this time was the same two boats as in the earlier race. This time it was Klaus Diederichs in Fever representing GBR ahead of the Dutch girls sailing Olinghi with Pedro in the middle of the boat. Third round was local RFBYC boat, French Connection steered by Ron Packer and crewed by Americas Cup winning crew John Longley and Matt Maxted. At the bottom gate NED411 in the Dutch colours squeezed inside Fever to round inside. Meanwhile Simon Prosser, Mark Glew and Stephen Wray from host club RFBYC had sailed an excellent downwind leg to round in third just ahead of Grant Gordon’s Louise Racing. As course 1 had been shown at the start of the final race, the second run was followed by another 1nm upwind leg to the finish. At the bottom gate second time around it was again very close at the front of the fleet. With what seemed like really good boat speed in the slightly lighter conditions. Charlotte ten Worlde steered Olinghi to another bullet much to the delight of the watching spectator boats. She crossed the finish line just a boat length ahead of Klaus Diederichs and his British team. Third to finish was Anatoly Loginov’s Annapurna. Back in an uncharacteristic 8th was the eventual Australasian title winners, Provezza. Willy Packers, Scoundrels were back in 10th. Team Provessa, sinners. © Richard Polden And so Andy Beadsworth, Ali Tezdiker and Simon Fry won the Prince Philip Cup for the first time showing overall dominance over the rest of the fleet. “We just had a little sub plot really, we just needed to make sure we had a handle on Willy. Unfortunately we made a mistake in the first race at the start and that was not in the plan, to be doing turns just off the start. But we ground it back, we are going fast, we are good in the conditions, there are lots of positives to take, but it is still frustrating to not be in the top few. But we had a job to do today and we did the job.” — Andy Beadsworth – Provezza Willy Packer, Julian Harding and Jock Packer just held on to second overall and are also winners of the Corinthian trophy. Only one point behind was Annapurna sailed by Anatoly Loginov, Vadim Statsenko and Alexander Shalagin. With a run of consistent results local WA sailing legend Peter Gilmour and his Yanmar Racing Team of Yasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour representing Japan came fourth overall and a long way back in fifth was Grant Gordon sailing Louise Racing with crew Ruairidh Scott, Sophie Weguelin and James Williamson. The trophy presentation was made that much more special by the sight of Dragon legend Gordon ‘wingnut’ Ingate regalling his long history of sailing the class and how he won his first Prince Philip Cup before most people in the room were born! At the young age of 92 years, Gordon handed out the trophies with a personal touch as the room remained silent lapping up every word he said. A special moment indeed to bring what has been an outstanding event to a close. The fleet now enjoy a days break and re-coup before the start of the 2019 Dragon World Championships that take place with racing every day from Fri-day 4 – Weds 9 January. The Australasian Dragon Championship is sponsored by Tourism WA, Yanmar, Packer & Co and Glenfiddich/Hendricks. Full Results Learn more about the North Dragon products. © Tom Hodge Media READ MORE

Philip Turner’s Alive was the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race overall winner, taking home the Tattersall Cup Trophy 📸 ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi Finishing the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an accomplishment unto itself, but winning one of our sport’s toughest races is the pinnacle of an offshore sailor’s dream. North Sails clients found success across the most envied podium positions in the 2018 race, with Wild Oats XI claiming line honors, and Alive* winning the coveted George Adams Tattersall Cup Trophy for the overall race winner. The “Big Five” supermaxis got the 74th RSHYR off on Boxing Day as they maneuvered their way through spectator chop and up the harbor. Peter Harburg’s Black Jack was the first to point their bow south towards Hobart, and the battle for Line Honors continued through all 628 miles of the race. The race down the coast saw movement all over the leaderboard, with Black Jack, Comanche, and Wild Oats XI each taking the leading position, only to be overthrown by their closest competitor. In the end, it was Wild Oats XI who was first across the finish, making this the ninth time the Oatley Family and skipper Mark Richards have won line honors. 📸 Rolex / Studio Borlenghi “This is one of the best yachting wins of my life, and I’ve won a lot of races, said Richards upon arriving in Hobart. “This is one of the best feelings, not just for me but for the whole team and the Oatley family. After an event like last year, to come through and redeem yourself, today is a wonderful, wonderful feeling. Money can’t buy that sort of stuff.” Philip Turner fulfilled a bucket list item when he and his Alive* crew were crowned overall race winner and took home the prestigious Tattersall Trophy. Turner, a native Tasmanian, was well prepared for the race but remarked that the honor “still has not sunk in” upon accepting his trophy. Commenting on Alive’s win, skipper Duncan Hine said the team was set up to achieve their goal. “We had a goal, which we accomplished by picking the right boat set up and selecting the right sails.” Alive’s sail inventory included a new A1.5, specifically built by North Sails for their offshore run to Hobart. Wild Oats X was the second place IRC overall boat and won the Jane Tate Memorial Award, for being the first female skipper across the finish line. A notable performance for skipper Stacey Jackson, and her all-female Ocean Respect Racing crew; Stacey and her team are the first professional female crew to have raced in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. 📸ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi “We are an all-female team; however, that was more by accident than design- we set out to assemble a team of very good sailors who are at the top end of this sport, and they happened to all be female.” In the IRC class as a whole, Clients finished 1*,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10. Alive*, Voodoo, and St Jude all took first in their respective divisions, with many thanks to North Sails downwind inventories that helped make their sprint to Hobart- a fast one. Alive making their way up the coast and into the finish at Hobart 📸 ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi 📸 ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi READ MORE

LINE HONORS FOR WILD OATS XI Clients Neck-And-Neck For the 74th Edition Wild Oats XI took honours in the 74th Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, in what is one of the closest finishes in race history- with all four-100-footers within sight of eachother leading up to the finishline. This is the ninth time they have been first to finish the 628nm historic race. Wild Oats led the super maxi competitors up the Derwent River, with their competition close behind- nipping at their heels up until they crossed the finish line at 14-knots, in a 8-12 knot southerly. The team finished the race in 1 day, 19 hours, 7 minutes, and 21 seconds, with Peter Harburg’s Black Jack just 28 minutes and 15 seconds behind. North Sails is proud to have powered both Wild Oats XI and Black Jack to the top of the podium. Mark Richards, skipper of Wild Oats XI knew the team would have a battle on their hands in this race, but were confident before the Boxing Day start. “It’s not going to be that easy,” remarked Richard’s pre-race. We’ve got some fantastic North Sails this year, they have done a great job with our downwind wardrobe. The boat is going faster than it has ever gone before in downwind conditions. So obviously the forecast is good for us in that regard, but we just can’t wait to get out there and go yachting.” Congratulations to Wild Oats XI for their well-deserved win, and Black Jack for their podium finish and all the North powered teams who will be crossing the finish line over the next few days. © Rolex READ MORE

Onwards to Hobart The 2018 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Highlights the Holiday Weekend 85 boats hit the line on Boxing Day for the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. A spectator fleet of thousands lined Sydney Harbour for the 74th edition of this 628-mile offshore classic. The “Big Five” in the supermaxi class weaved in an out of wind patches en route to the first turning mark. Black Jack led the fleet out of the heads with Info Track, Wild Oats XI, Scallywag and the Carkeek 60 Winning Appliances were the first of five to exit the harbor and points their bows south, down the boars to Hobart. The remainder of the fleet was left to fight their way through a wind vacuum and spectator chop; not ideal conditions for the small boats. Weather forecasts are calling for building breeze and potently up to 30 knots overnight. As history has proven, the Sydney Hobart is not an easy race and we’ll be tracking the fleet’s progress and watching the race leaderboard like all the North Sails fans. 📸ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi “It’s not going to be that easy. We’ve got some fantastic North Sails this year, they have done a great job with our downwind wardrobe. The boat is going faster than it has ever gone before in downwind conditions. So obviously the forecast is good for us in that regard, but we just can’t wait to get out there and go yachting.” Mark Richards, Wild Oats XI 📸 ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi “Reaching struts are now really a standard feature in these boats and all the boats have changed their sail configurations to suit that. There is a sail that you can buy now from North Sails called a J- Zero, it’s a short foot masthead zero that goes on the reaching strut, and it is born out of the Volvo and triple heading. And the concept is that your build up your area with tall skinny sails rather than big long footed sails” Mark Bradford, Black Jack 📸 ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi READ MORE

ST JUDE: BACK FOR MORE For Aussie Noel Cornish, Life Revolves Around The Race To Hobart—All Year © SportSailingPhotography Noel Cornish will be sailing his twelfth Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race this year, the eleventh on his own boat, St Jude. We caught up with Noel to ask about his boat, his crew, and why this race is such a tradition. Tell us a little bit about your boat and crew. I had St Jude built in 2007 – it’s a Sydney 47. We’ve been campaigning it in the Rolex Sydney – Hobart Race and other races in the CYCA (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) since then. The crew is a group of experienced sailors. When we get on the water, we also have very good camaraderie, which makes such a difference, and they work really hard to try and win all the time. What’s your history with the race and why is it so important? I did my first Hobart in 1985. Then I got busy with work and family, so my bluewater sailing went on hold until I got closer to retirement and the children were grown up. I’ve sailed every race since 2008 on St Jude. I do love this race. For me, it is a great adventure and something that from a very young age, I always looked at as a pinnacle of yacht racing. It is probably the one time in the year that I get seriously physically and mentally fatigued, which adds to the overall attraction. I do really enjoy that sense of being stretched. The fact that I have been able to take part in multiple races is a great thrill. © Rolex How do you prepare? “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my life revolves around this race. Basically, when I step off the boat at Hobart my mind starts turning towards next year’s race. You can’t really talk to the crew about it because everyone’s ready to get off the boat at that point, but for me it starts right then. I am thinking about it and doing things all year, and everything starts to ramp up in July when we do the Sydney to Gold Coast Race. We are always looking carefully at what else we need to do to be 100% prepared and at optimum performance.” What do you think is the biggest challenge of this race and how do you look at tactics? For me the greatest challenge is to get the boat perfectly prepared, sail it as well as we can, and just hope that we get some winds and weather conditions that suit the boat. When we get to Hobart, I want to feel that we’ve done our absolute best. I know it’s not the same for everyone, but we go out to try and win. The fact that we don’t win isn’t because we’re not trying. Most people hope that they can win their division and get on the podium and we definitely try to do that. Your division is least affected by the weather because all the boats are in similar conditions. Then after that, you have to hope that one year it all comes together, and you can actually do better in an overall result. How long have you worked with North Sails and what’s the biggest benefit? I’ve had North Sails on the boat since it was built. Three years ago I developed a strong working relationship with Ron Jacobs, who has done a fantastic job getting peak performance out of the boat. He’s a very knowledgeable and experienced sailor and has great attention to detail. The sails are critically important to how a boat goes; the sails and rig need to be set up optimally, otherwise you have no chance. So, with Ron, we have been constantly making adjustments and testing them on the water. And I have no doubt that this work is the prime reason why the boat’s performance continues to improve. You have 3Di Endurance in the NPV downwind sails. Have you noticed a difference? “Honestly each time North Sails brings out a new product you can actually feel the difference. These sails are great, our performance continues to lift, and I’m sure North is already working on the next upgrade – I expect that next release will be even better.” Do you have different sails for different races? We have different mainsails for regatta and bluewater races. The bluewater races are generally in heavier conditions and we often need to reef more frequently. For headsails, we have choices to make before we load, depending on what we believe the prevailing weather conditions will be during the race. If you can leave some headsails behind that’s a bonus but really, it comes down to which spinnakers we’ll need in order to deal best with the conditions. What is your final preparation like? I like to have the boat completely ready to go to Hobart about a month out – I don’t like last minute rushed activities. In the last few weeks we make sure people are really familiar with all the safety gear, get the clothing and food on board, and run through check lists and make sure everything is as it should be. Then about four days before we go, we start seriously looking at what the weather patterns might be, and we watch the weather intently in those final days before the race. You are the only boat this year to take a win off Ichi Ban – do you think you might be able to repeat that? Matt Allen is an extraordinary sailor and runs an excellent program. I think the reason why that happened was because we had weather conditions that really suited St Jude. We always try to sail the boat as best we can, but you need a lot of good fortune too to come out on top of a competitor like Ichi Ban. On this occasion we had a long race predominantly on the wind, right in our sweet spot. It’ll be the same for this race; if we get every other element right, we are still going to need that element of luck right up until we get to the Hobart finish line. Any final words? I would like to thank everyone who is involved with St Jude. We have an amazing crew but there are also many other people who help us make the boat go fast. Sails and rig and all the various components that go into being prepared for a race like this are demanding at times, but that is part of the challenge. I really enjoy working with the people that help us make it all happen. © Rolex READ MORE

CLASS NEWCOMERS WIN VIPER WINTER SERIES’ FIRST EVENT Interview With Winners Patrick Wilson and Chris Stocke   The first stop of the 2018-19 Viper 640 Sarasota Winter Series was sailed over the weekend of December 15-16 on the waters of the Sarasota Bay. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough breeze to run races on Sunday, but the Race Committee did a fantastic job getting in 4 races in tricky light air conditions on Saturday. North Sails customers were faster than ever – dominating the event finishing 1,2,3,4,5,6. Chris Stocke and Patrick Wilson busted out their brand new Viper sails for the very first time and came away with an impressive win against a very competitive fleet including four previous North American Champions. Our Viper Expert Zeke Horowitz had a conversation with Chris and Patrick to find out just how they managed to pull it off. You guys are brand new to the Viper Class. What was it that inspired you to choose the Viper? Patrick: Well, Chris and I do a lot of sailing together in the J70 and have become good friends over the years. When we began discussing a boat to get on our own, the Viper quickly came to the top of the list. We knew we wanted something modern with an a kite able to plane, with an established fleet of good sailors, as well as a class where we could have fun with the boats and the people. So far, the Viper has definitely met and exceeded expectations. Chris: We set out to find a boat that was not only fast but affordable. With the Worlds being in Long Beach. which is a great place to sail, we settled on the Viper. This was your very first regatta in the boat and you came away with the win in a pretty tough fleet. What are 3 tips you would give to someone who is going to sail their first Viper regatta? Patrick’s Tips: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. We found that we had and still do have a lot to learn. Everyone in the fleet was willing, able and ready to answer and explain all of our questions and really speed up our learning curve. Stick to the basics. Starting with a new boat and a new class can feel overwhelming. For this event we tried to focus on starting well, sailing smart, and keeping it simple. Enjoy it. Our main reason for getting into the class is to have FUN. Chris’ Tips: Have fun. Stick to the North Sails Tuning Guide, it seems to put you in the ballpark to have top notch speed right off the bat. Ask the fleet lots of questions, there are so many different modes you can sail in a boat like this and the top guys have seemed to have figured them out and are happy to help! What resources did you utilize to make sure your brand new boat would be set up correctly for your first day or racing? Patrick: For me the biggest hurdle to overcome on the first day is learning how to tune and set up the sails correctly. We recently purchased a full set of North Sails and we spent a few hours following the Setup and Tuning Guide, step by step. It is a well laid out resource that gives a great process of setting up your boat from start to finish. From mast butt position, spreader angle, rig tension and mast chocking, you guys have done an amazing job of giving anyone the formula for achieving speed right out of the box. Chris: In order to make sure the new boat was ready to race we talked with the class reps. The North sails seemed pretty dialed in right out of the box. We had mostly light air for this regatta. What would be your number one tip for boat speed upwind? How about downwind? Patrick: I would say that upwind in light air we learned quickly just how flat you could sail the boat. As for downwind, we used other boats as relative gauges for learning modes. Weight placement seemed critical as the further forward you could get the better. Chris: With the regatta being mostly light air we forced hard on always keeping the boat moving. Downwind was tricky being that a couple more knots changes your angle dramatically. Communication on pressure differences made finding modes easier. I observed that the top boats at this regatta really got separated from the rest of the fleet with their boat handling skills. Walk us through your timing and procedure to execute a good light air roll tack. Patrick: Timing and having all three crew members move at the same time is critical to executing a good light air roll tack. As the driver begins to slowly turn the boat, the crew needs to have patience and not roll until the boat is head to wind. Having one person to count down and call the roll can be quite helpful in this. Once the boat is approximately at a close hauled course on the new tack we would flatten as a team. Two critical things as the flatten happens are: The driver has the tiller straight The crew flattens in a “finesse” fashion paying close attention not to over flatten the boat. Having the same person call both the roll and flatten works well and keeps the team moving as one. Chris: Roll tacking these boats is somewhat challenging because they are quite wide. Finding the proper footwork in tacks as well as exit angles is what we were focusing on. Chris, you grew up sailing on Sarasota Bay. Did local knowledge come into play at all with your tactical decisions? Any keys to look for on the Sarasota Bay that might help the fleet know what to look for? Chris: Sarasota is a very dynamic place to sail. You have to really look up the course. Most of the time the breeze in the morning has some sort of East in it and in the afternoon it tends to try and find its was to the North West. Keeping this in mind helps because you can start to pick up patterns and small shifts as it starts to veer. 2018-19 Viper 640 Winter Series EVENT #1 – Teams Powered by North Sails 1 Christopher Stocke 2 Marcus Eagan 3 Peter Beardsley 4 Zeke Horowitz 5 Jay Golison 6 Nick Amendola READ MORE

NAVIGATING SYDNEY-HOBART Australian Summers Make For The Ultimate Offshore Experience © Kurt Arrigo / Rolex Sydney Hobart The Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race is one of the classic yachting events on the annual race calendar, arguably the most famous and difficult race taking place in the Southern Hemisphere. Its reputation is well deserved, giving all who enter it numerous challenges – not only in the level of competition the race draws, but also with many hurdles brought by Mother Nature. These environmental challenges take the form of fast changing and often strong winds, squalls, complex ocean currents, and potential for extremely rough, boat-breaking sea conditions. All that on top of what is often a more than 20 degree Celsius drop in air temperature from balmy Sydney to cool Hobart. Navigators of the race watch typical wind patterns of the Australian summer: a semi-permanent high pressure to the east over the Tasman Sea, and another over the Great Australian Bight west of Tasmania. Air flows anti-clockwise around these high pressure systems, which means there is a tendency for northerly winds off the Sydney coast and southerly winds west of Tasmania. Between these two high pressure areas there is normally an extension of the thermal low pressure from the hot interior of Australia, extending into NSW and pointing toward the Bass Strait. The patterns described above represents the average – that is, what you get if you average the weather maps over a long period of time in the Australian warm season. However, the actual weather on any given day is the result of modulations on the average pattern and disturbances (weather systems) embedded within the larger scale. SOUTHERN OCEAN CHILL One such important and common disturbance involves the northward intrusion of cold air out of the Southern Ocean. When cold air pushes north toward Tasmania, the Bass Strait, and southeastern Australia, some very abrupt and severe changes can result. Ahead of the cold fronts which mark the leading edge of a cold push, winds typically build from the north along the coast. Sometimes thunderstorms can develop over the hot interior of NSW and move east into the course from Sydney and south to Green Cape. Such storms have generated spectacular waterspouts on the course – an encounter with which is not only memorable, but potentially very dangerous. “Being ready to weather strong upwind sailing and very rough seas in the wake of a S’ly change are a must for any crew and boat taking on this race.” As a cold front moves north and east across the race route, fast running conditions down the coast abruptly change to hard, very rough, upwind conditions. Not to mention the fact that squalls and much cooler air make sailing more difficult. These post-change encounters are a make or break point for some teams. Being ready to weather strong upwind sailing and very rough seas in the wake of a S’ly change are a must for any crew and boat taking on this race. TRICKS OFF TASMANIA Further down the track from crossing the Bass Strait to east of Tasmania, winds are no less challenging. Large ocean swells are common crossing the strait, and Gale or Storm force winds can occur – especially in the day or two following a front. Off Tasmania, winds can run the gambit from strong to exceedingly light. One certainty of sailing off Tasmania is that the wind will change. The weather patterns there are fast moving and can behave erratically. An area of no wind can exist within hundreds of meters of gale force gusts. Understanding how conditions will change and making a correct call at the last moment can make the difference in almost any team’s race. SURF OR SWIM Another important factor in the strategies for this race is often the East Australian Current (EAC). The EAC is a western boundary current similar to those found on the east coasts of most continental land masses around the world (Gulf Stream off North America; Brazilian Current off South America; Agulhas Current off South Africa, and; the Kuroshio off Asia). The EAC is a generally south-flowing current off the coast, typically extending from north of Sydney to the Bass Strait and off the east coast of Tasmania. While the current is always present in one form or another, its speed and position relative to the course can vary significantly. In addition, tight swirls or eddy’s are typically present in proximity to the main current flow, and can result in areas of rotating water over ten miles wide, often delivering the opposite of what a skipper may expect. While the current doesn’t change much on a day-to-day basis – unlike the weather – it does vary over a period of weeks. Sometimes it is close to the coast and within reach of the fleet to take advantage of its southward flow. Other times, it is further offshore, and sailing out to it can be a gamble whether or not the favorable flow will be enough to offset the extra distance necessary to get to it. There is also a potential significant downside to being in the current – even if it is within reach. When winds are blowing from the south, very large and steep waves can develop within the EAC which can, at a minimum, slow progress or, in the worst case, be boat-breaking. Anytime there is a southerly change and strong upwind conditions in this race, sea state within the EAC is a significant factor. The crews will be closely monitoring the weather forecasts and EAC condition in the days leading up to the race. While the forecasts can be reliable, it is often the small differences that are more difficult to predict. That will combine with the level of seamanship on-board to determine how well a team does. “Having a fast boat and sails are of course a bonus, but being ready and able to handle whatever the weather and sea brings will make the difference.” Chris Bedford is a well known sailing meteorologist and has advised many professional teams on inshore and offshore race routing, including the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race team. Read more from Chris at sailwx.com Contact your local North Sails experts to get your sails inspected and ready to take on the big race! READ MORE

ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART PREVIEW Rob Greenhalgh’s Outlook On Final Race Preparations 📸 ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi World-renowned sailor Rob Greenhalgh joined North Sails a few months ago. Even after winning a Volvo Ocean Race and two world championships, the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is a highlight on this Brit’s calendar. Your reasons for doing this race? “It is one of those iconic races that you just want to keep coming back to do. There is a great atmosphere but also, no two are the same. You can get such a huge range of conditions and they can be very changeable through the race too. You need to be good at everything to do well and you have to stay focused. I won it a couple years ago on Giacomo. I have also done it on Leopard, the 100 footer, and broke a mast on ABN AMRO back in 2006. The race can be quite gnarly at times because often a front blows through the fleet. The finish is tricky, as you can end up losing, or gaining, massively as you head up to Hobart. It can be incredibly stressful at the end of this mad sprint to be desperately holding on to a lead or be edging up behind someone trying to get one more scalp…” Who are you sailing with this year? “I am sailing on Ichi Ban. The pressure is certainly on as the boat was the overall winner last year, so lots to live up to. We also have high expectations. Whilst there is always an element of things you can’t control when you are flying along the coast down to Hobart, preparation plays a big part in victory, and for us that started in September.” Tell us more about that preparation. “We have been doing a number of races. Hamilton Race Week, then the CYCA AUDI Bluewater Series, which is a series of offshore races that we used to help tune up the boat for Hobart. We have also been working very closely with the sailmakers and designers at North Sails to get everything optimized for the race, especially as Ichi Ban is a relatively new boat to our team. We have spent a lot of time looking at the boat’s data and performance, learning its strengths and weaknesses and trying to eliminate the weakness where possible. One thing we have been seeing is reaching struts, they have made a big impact on performance and how some of the reaching sails cross over. We’ve done a lot of work on that, figuring out how to get all that going properly.” Talk us through the sail wardrobe on Ichi Ban. “The upwind inventory is based around the successful Super Series designs, slightly optimized for an offshore environment with the mainsail having three reef points and the head width slightly reduced. “The downwind and reaching sails are where the miles are done, and there are some very difficult decisions to make based upon the forecast. Out of eight downwind sails, we are only allowed to carry five. Understanding how our inventory performs in different conditions allows us to make educated decisions on sail choice.” “We don’t have anything special just for this race. It’s more about maximizing and understanding our inventory so we know what we need to take for the forecasted conditions… and making sure we have all our bases covered.” How do you make those final sail choices? “The final weather forecast determines whether you are going to get an absolute gale or not and that does affect sail choice. But what is really important is knowing what your sails can do, so that you can be sure you have the angles and possibilities covered. Reaching sails are obviously a pretty important part of the inventory and we’ve got a couple of reaching sails that do cross over a bit. But you have got to know when they’re good and when they’re not. We are limited to five spinnakers, so we do have to leave some sails behind. That means we’ve got to understand how we can optimize what we have for the conditions we expect.” What modifications have you made to the boat for the race? We did a lot of the warm up events with our inshore rig and just recently switched to our offshore mast, because it is capable of dealing with the Sydney-Hobart! It’s (pretty much) bulletproof and we can go hard upwind with it in big breeze. For the mainsail, this will be its third Sydney-Hobart. It’s done plenty of work, but it’s still awesome and we know what it can do for us. What are the key elements for doing well in a race like this? “You have to keep the boat going twenty-four hours a day at maximum performance levels if you want to win. Keeping the boat fast all the time – that is where the gains are. It is very easy to go off the boil for a couple of hours during the day or during the night and lose a mile or so. It’s so important that everyone can drive and trim, everyone knows sail crossovers and choices, and there is a good watch system so everyone can be fully dialed in all the time. “There is also a mental part of this (and any) offshore race. The way I view it is that you have got to win your class first. If you win that, racing against the people who are in the same bit of water as you with the same wind, then fingers crossed everything will align so you can get the overall win. I think we will be one of the handicap favorites, but things can be different on the day. Nobody can take anything for granted on this race. We know we’ll have to work really hard to win but we’ve done a lot of preparation so hopefully it will all come together.” Any final comments? “I’m really excited to be part of the Ichi Ban and North Sails team for the first time in this race. It’s amazing to see the build up from the North side as well as working on getting Ichi Ban ready to go. I love the fact that we are going to see so many of our boats and sails out there in this amazing race. “Happy Sailing and see you all in Hobart!” ©Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex Sydney Hobart READ MORE

DAVIS ISLAND J/70 WINTER SERIES OPENER North Experts Share Light Air Speed Tips Greiner Hobbs’ Dark Horse, second place. 📷 Chris Howell North Sails is proud to sponsor of the 2018-19 Davis Island Winter Series. Our J/70 experts Mike Marshall, Tim Healy and Will Welles offered on-the-water coaching and a post-sailing debrief on the practice day to get the teams up to speed. After the regatta, they put together some key tips from what they learned which can help your team sail faster in the next event of the series. Starting As simple as it seems, it is critical to keep the boat moving as fast as possible in the last 2 minutes of a light air start. Getting too slow at the start (by aggressive steering, luffing the sails, or being under the fleet in no wind) on your final approach is a high risk maneuver that will more than likely result in a second or third row start. Steering When steering upwind in light air it’s crucial to not pinch. Keep the telltales mostly straight back with a little lift on the inside telltale. If you pinch too long, the boat loses momentum and the keel loses flow. Once that happens, it will take minutes to get back up to speed again. Crew Position Help the person on the helm steer by using your weight, both upwind and downwind. Bodies moving together as one have the biggest impact. In flat water the crew should be all the way forward on the rail if hiking, or all the way forward in the cockpit. Trimming the Sails Be careful to not over trim the main or jib. The upper leech telltales should be flowing 100% of the time in light air. To find max trim on either main or jib, sheet in until the upper leech telltales stall, then ease until they start flowing again. The jib needs to be eased in chop or in lulls to keep its upper leech telltale flowing. We recommend easing with the leeward sheet to make sure the lower part of the sail stays deep for power. If the weather sheet is eased, the bottom gets too flat and the jib loses too much driving force. The main also needs to have the upper leech telltales flowing in light air. If you need to live in a tight lane, sheeting in tighter and stalling the upper leech telltales is okay temporarily. You will slow down a bit, and the leeward boat will gradually extend. North powered boats finished 2, 3, 4*, 5, 6*, 7, 9, 10. Full Results Learn more about the North J/70 products. Douglas Strebel’s Black River Racing, third place. 📷 Chris Howell Doug Clark’s Polar, with Tim Healy on board calling the tactics. 📷 Chris Howell Beautiful view of the fleet sailing downwind. 📷 Chris Howell READ MORE

LIGHT WINDS AT THE BACARDI WINTER SERIES INAUGURAL EVENT North Clients Dominate J/70 and Melges 24 Classes 📷 Kathleen Tocke/Bacardi Invitational The inaugural event of the 2018-2019 Bacardi Winter Series in Miami faced light conditions, with only three races sailed. We caught up the J/70 class winner, Geoffrey Pierini for some quick insights about the regatta. What was the key to maintaining your speed up and downwind? Clean air as usual, proper weight placement and adjusting heading for wave angle. Very tight results for the top five boats and an incredible amount of talent as well. What were the key factors that helped your team win the event? Good starts and local knowledge. Your crew members? We had Thomas Barrows calling tactics, Ron Weed trimming, and Max Lopes on the bow. Your North Designs? XCS-2 Mainsail, J-6 High Clew and the AP Spinnaker. How long have you been sailing the J/70 and what do you like the most about the class? I’ve been sailing the J/70 for 6 years. The best of the J/70 class in my opinion is the high level of competition and international presence. What’s next for Team 49? All Miami events and the Worlds in the UK. Light air J/70 tips from North Sails expert Tim Healy: Headstay sag adds depth to the jib. In light to moderate wind, having adequate headstay sag reduces the need for weather sheeting the jib. The shrouds should be tensioned to target 4-6″ of headstay sag at the jib mid-stripe and 1/2-3/4″ of mid-mast side sag. Mast side sag indicates that the mast is free to move/flex with little restriction of the lowers. This will allow the mast to be more flexible and dynamic in light air and increase headstay sag. It helps to remember that the middle of the jib luff does fall off (“sags”) to leeward, which changes your angle of attack to the wind. Conversely the mid-leech “rotates” to weather (hence reducing the need for windward sheeting) The net result of these variables is the ability to point higher. So why is this so important and how do we get there? Read full article North Sails Results: J/70 – 1, 2*, 4, 5, 8, 9 – Congratulations Geoffrey Pierini and Team 49 Melges 24 – 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 – Congratulations Bruce Ayres and Team Monsoon North J/70 Sails | North Melges 24 Sails Bruce Ayres’s Monsoon, winner in the Melges 24 class. 📷 Kathleen Tocke/Bacardi Invitational READ MORE

WINNING IS A TEAM EFFORT FOR RC44 CHARISMA Chris Hosking and Ross Halcrow Reflect on Their Team’s Success In 2018 📸RC44 Class / Studio Martinez Nico Poon’s RC44 Charisma was named 2018 season champ in November, taking the coveted overall trophy in one of sailing’s most competitive “Big Boat” one-design classes. The core of the Charisma team has been a unit for four years, and as with most Grand Prix race programs, winning results are a collective effort; both onboard and onshore. “Charisma has great boat speed. Our tactician Ray Davies does a great job of putting us in ideal positions on the race course,” commented headsail trimmer Ross Halcrow (NZL). “This team approach carries through our work with North Sails and how we evolve our sail package. “We work closely with Mickey Ickert on the design side at North Sails; one of the grand master’s of sail design,” remarks mainsail trimmer Chris Hosking (AUS). “Mickey uses the North Design Suite to show us the optimum balance of sail shape, strength and weight with a great deal of accuracy.” Ross and Chris are responsible for providing our North Design team with feedback from the water. The feedback loop often begins during the RC44 events, where Mickey and a handful of the North design team are present to receive feedback on the ground. For Ross, direct comms with Mickey is a relationship that dates back to the early 90’s. “Working with the sail designer is my forte,” Ross explains. “Mickey and I have worked together for a long time, and we’re on the same page when it comes to style designs, style shapes, engineering, etc. It’s like we are speaking the same language. Our rapport makes it easy to get what I’m looking for incorporated into the sail design.” One of the questions we asked Chris and Ross during their post-win debrief was how does sail performance impact overall boat performance? “Sails provide propulsive forces via a combination of lift and drag, depending on their apparent wind angle,” explained Chris. “We work with Mickey and the North Design Suite tools to achieve what we think are the optimal flying shapes for those sails in the varying wind conditions. If those shapes aren’t fast, our boat doesn’t go fast!” 📸 RC44 Class / Studio Martinez As most sailors know, shape is the holy grail of sail design. For North Sails, scientific design coupled with continued development of 3Di produces sails that maintain their shape longer. “In the RC44 Class, we have a strict sail limitation, so our sails have to maintain their optimum flying shape over the course of a season. I think we have proven that 3Di can deliver those objectives in one of the toughest one-design fleets.” “We have to get through an entire season with the same sails. We did 55 races this year, and the higher carbon content versus total sail weight of RAW 880, meant our sails retained their optimum flying shape for longer than any other sail on the market.” Charisma were early adopters of 3Di RAW 880, the highest performance tier of 3Di, and a product Ross pushed North Sails to explore. The RC44 class has sail limitation rules, and Charisma were the first to transition to 880, the highest carbon-spec sail in an effort to maximize their sail card strategy. “I’ve seen the evolution of 3Di on the 44 since 2010 when we had the first 3Di styles on the Oracle boats,” explain Ross. “I’ve been pushing for a higher carbon sail like 880. The 880 is the latest product the higher carbon putout for quite some time. We’re very happy to have it on the boat this year.” 📸 RC44 Class / Studio Martinez “Everybody knows that one of the keys to winning is consistency, and that’s something we didn’t do too well in 2018,” remarked Chris. “Although we won three of five tour events, we faltered with a sixth-place finish in Portoroz and then again at the Worlds in Cascais. Lucky for us though, one of our main adversaries had a seventh in Portoroz, which gave us the tour victory.” With the 2018 season behind them, Charisma has already put their title defense campaign in motion. “The planning never stops, and we are already into 2019 sail planning, winter boat work, and a couple of crew changes”. 📸 RC44 Class / Studio Martinez READ MORE

ROAD TO THE ETCHELLS WORLDS: LOUIS PIANA CUP Top Ten Boats Powered by North Sails By: North Sails Expert, Skip Dieball The kick off to the 2019 Etchells Biscayne Bay Series couldn’t have been better from a weather and racing perspective. All five races were competed in good, challenging conditions and the 49-boat fleet was treated to outstanding sailing at the 2018 Louis Piana Cup. Saturday’s racing was held in 12-15 knot easterly with moderate chop. The first race saw Michael Goldfarb’s WarCanoe taking the lead at the top mark and not looking back. Michael took delivery of his boat the week before and was pleased with the setup and speed out of the box. In fact, there were four brand new boats debuting at the event, which is a testament to class strength as folks prepare for the Worlds in Corpus Christi, Texas. The 2nd and 3rd races were won by the 2017 World Champion, Steve Benjamin. Benj’s team had a solid 1st day with a 4-1-1. In pursuit were Jim Cunningham, Luis Doreste, Scott Kauffman, Tony Rey and Goldfarb. Sunday started off fairly light SWerly. After a passing shower and some dark clouds over Coconut Grove, the breeze filled in nicely out of the same direction. The chop increased as the ebb tide fought the breeze, making it a full focus game in keeping the boats going fast and in the right direction. Marvin Beckmann’s team won the day with a 3-3 and moving up to 7th overall. Tony Rey’s team scored a 6-1 to claim their spot in the top 5. Benj’s team shook off an early 11 to secure victory over Jim Cunningham’s team. North Sails expert and Etchells World Champion Skip Dieball sailed the event with WarCanoe and helped set up the new boat in advance of the event. Here are his comments: “I was focused on the sail set up and I was delighted with how our sails set up to the new Wale Spar. We used off-the-shelf PCF-RM mainsail. It was incredibly smooth and was versatile in the many different conditions we saw in the days leading up to the Piana Cup. Our headsail analysis pre-event had us looking at 4-5 different sails and in the end, we used a new LM-2L in the first 4 races and the LM-2H in the 5th race. I am, again, amazed at the versatility of the LM-2L. We have a selection of battens that we use as we work this sail through 0-15 knots and the sail simply never lets us down.” Boats powered by North Sails finished 1, 2, 3, 4*, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Full Results Learn more about the North Etchells Designs. READ MORE

From the starting line in Lanzarote, Spain, to the finish 3,000 miles away in Port Louis, Grenada, teams were challenged to the fullest on their journey across the Atlantic Ocean. In this years edition, our clients set the bar high. Supermaxi My Song was the first boat to finish the race, setting a new monohull race record. Cookson 50 Kuka3 not only won in their class, but also won overall, claiming the 2018 RORC Transatlantic race trophy for best corrected finish time – and overcoming a fire onboard prior to the finish! Kuka3, First IRC Overall, and 2018 Transatlantic Race Winners 📸 Rodrigo Rata / 2018 RORC Transatlantic Monohull race record goes to Supermaxi My Song. 📸 Arthur Daniel / RORC Transatlantic race MOCRA Winner, Powerplay, departing Lanzarote to win their division. 📸 Joaquin Vera / RORC Transatlantic race Class 40’s 2nd Place finishers, Hydra, happy to be in Grenada. 📸 Arthur Daniel / RORC Transatlantic READ MORE