NORTH SAILS BLOG

ETCHELLS AUSTRALIAN SETUP Q&A Your Webinar Questions Answered by the North Experts 📸 Corpus Christi Yacht Club Etchells sailors from all over the planet gathered online to watch North experts Noel “Nitro” Drennan, Eric Doyle, and Alex Curtiss talk about the new intriguing Australian setup for the Etchells. The setup that powered Iain Murray dominate the 2019 Worlds in Corpus Christi and Graeme Taylor to win the Australian Nationals. We received a massive amount of questions during the webinar, and here they are compiled for you: Does the North MAL jib have a different batten strength, and at what range is the change? Nitro: Yes, the MAL jib is supplied with a selection of batten stiffness. I like to use the standard batten for the majority of wind speeds since the MAL is quite full, and the relatively stiff standard batten downrange helps with increasing the leech twist. I would definitely change the battens when super light and well up-range conditions. What are the ranges for MAL and GT jibs? Alex: The general range of the MAL is from 0-14 knots. The GT is designed to start around 14 knots and take you all of the way to the top of the wind range. What I would say is the sails are very versatile and if you are sailing in flat water/12 knots, you might consider switching to the GT earlier. These sails are designed to simplify the jibs across the breeze range. At what wind speed do you get max aft with the shrouds? Nitro: 14 knots trying to combine changing to the GT jib and moving the shrouds aft at the same time. If in doubt about windspeed dropping, I would stick with the shrouds forward and only change jibs. It is definitely better to be caught with shrouds forward up-range than downrange with the shrouds aft. What is the purchase system with the inhauler 4:1? 8:1? Nitro: The inhauler is pretty loaded 8:1 at least Can you talk about the measure of the 3rd spreader mark inboard from the other two that have been there previously? Nitro: Previously, the tuning guide spreader measurement called for 490mm and 540mm from the sidewall of the mast. Now it will be 450mm(17 ⅝) 490mm(19 ¼) and 540mm (21 ¼). What is the inhaul range on the standard LM2 style jibs? Are you able to inhaul them as aggressively as the new jibs, or do they stall earlier? Eric: I have seen teams have good success with the LM2 jibs trimmed into the edge of the cuddy cabin. Any further than that, you better have the forestay pretty tight, or the sail will be too deep, and as a result, you will have to ease the sheet so that the head doesn’t shut down too early. How do-able is this system, for Corinthians, club sailors? It’s cool, I grant you, but for a small minority of the boats. Am I overestimating this? Alex: I do think you are overestimating the process. Really, this whole package was designed to make sailing the Etchells easier. Instead of standing at the dock and reading the forecast and deciding what jib to leave in the trailer box, now there is no problem just taking both sails with you. The tighter headstay is easier to drive too, specifically in choppy conditions. Like Eric had mentioned in the webinar, if you were sailing with your LM2L with a lot of sag and you are heading to chop, you have to pull on the backstay to get the forestay tight. Well, that’s counter-intuitive! With a firmer headstay, you can now look to power the boat up while going through chop. Personally, I think this will make it easier for club and corinthian racers to learn about jib trim, and boat set up. I know once we incorporated it into our program, it made etchells sailing more fun! Do you need to have movable shrouds? Spreaders? Eric: For sure, a nice noticeable gain has the spreaders rock forward the maximum amount (75mm) for downwind. They stay out of the main a bit more and help the sail shape a lot. Upwind, stiffer masts often don’t bend enough in the middle, and as a result, the main is too full in that area- a little spreader sweep would help this. It also really helps even out the entry angle of the main. The new Whale spare averages about 30mm of aft sweep (max is 100mm). This also loads the spreaders a bit more and helps to lock in the mast and, therefore, the sail in that area. We do offer two mainsail models with two different luff curves for soft and stiff masts. The PC+ has more luff curve and is better when sailing with more mast bend. Many customers with softer masts use this sail or if they sail in very windy venues where lots of mast bend is used on typical days. So, back to the question about moveable spreaders – yes, I think they definitely help. Not a ton, but if you do 4 or 5 little things like this on your boat, you will certainly see a difference. I’ve noticed there are much less main pre-bend wrinkles in the new setup from the recent photos I’ve seen. Why? Please comment Eric: Wrinkles along the luff of the main come from tension on the luff tape and bolt rope. This helps to keep the draft aft in the main when trying to power up the boat in lighter air. With the spreaders swept and lower shrouds aft, it does lock in the lower part of the mast very nicely, and therefore you might see less overbend wrinkles. When the wind is light, and the sailcloth doesn’t load up and stretch at all, the main is too full. In these conditions, we pre-bend the mast and get over bend wrinkles down low. A general rule is to bend the mast enough for the wrinkles to come back at least to the middle of the vision windows. This makes the main flat enough down low so that it is not too draggy and keeps the draft aft to help load the helm. Is there a risk of over in-hauling the jib? Nitro: Yes, definitely, there is a risk, and it’s hard to identify if you do see the lower luff of the mainsail lifting or unsettled is one indication or difficult to accelerate. Does this new thinking mean that the old technique of sagging the forestay in light air is no longer thought best? Alex: Like Eric mentioned in the webinar, this is just another way of sailing your Etchells. In Miami this winter, the majority of the fleet still used the traditional San Diego jibs, and they still went just as fast. If you have the LM2L jib, you still need the sag because that’s what the sail needs to get the boat moving. At 8085, the jib leech seems too long even sheeting through the clew ring. Do you hoist the jib? Nitro: Yes, the jibs just fit, and occasionally you do have to raise the tack up the headstay. The clews have been raised slightly to help this situation. What is the range of max to min mast height? Resultant error in forestay measurement? Eric: The B (or mast bury measurement) tolerance is 15mm. However, there is also a tolerance for the actual mast step location in the boat, so altogether boats can be up to 45mm different on the overall mast height. This adds up to quite a big difference on the rake the way we have always measured in the past, the new method of measuring the rake takes this difference away and makes for a much more comparative number between different boats. How does the setup differ between the newer stiff rigs vs. the older softer rigs when it comes to moving the shrouds? Eric: I think the new stiffer masts necessitated the need to move the shrouds. A stiffer mast is nice when it’s windy and choppy, but is hard in light air-hence the need to sweep the spreaders and move the shrouds forward to achieve proper pre-bend. In general, a softer mast is more forgiving in light air as it is easier to get pre-bend, but it will require a more aggressive approach to tuning when it’s windy. It is easier to achieve a tight forestay in the breeze when you have a stiff mast so you don’t have to be as aggressive as the wind starts to come up. If you do decide to switch to the new AUS tuning, take some time to get your tensions correct at the dock when you move the shrouds. This will pay dividends later and take out some of the guesswork on the water. Are the +/- turns measured in the tuning guide based on Bolga or PKM turnbuckles? Nitro: The turns on the tuning guide are based on the finer thread PKM turnbuckles I don’t have money to replace my rig just yet, what are some cost-effective easy changes I can do to get better performance out of my Circa 2012 boat? Eric: No one is suggesting that you need to replace your mast in order to stay competitive. Spreader brackets can be retrofitted to older masts, which will help overall performance. The new inhauling system can be installed, and with the appropriate jibs, upwind speed should improve. Nothing beats time in the boat though! (Well, new sails really help, too!) The new setup – sails and all, if you get it wrong, is it super slow? Alex: Like any sailing or any change, there are some growing pains to getting it right. What I would say is, this setup is very forgiving. READ MORE

LET’S TALK MULTIHULL SAILING North Sails experts Brad White and Stan Schreyer discuss downwind multihull race tactics. READ MORE

LET’S TALK DRAGON Upwind Sailing and Boat Speed North Sails class experts Markus Koy & Stefan Matschuck discuss upwind sailing and what factors are important to get the most out of your boat speed. READ MORE

LET’S TALK ETCHELLS New Australian Boat Setup Class Experts Noel “Nitro” Drennan, Alex Curtiss and Eric Doyle discuss the new Australian setup and new sail designs for the Etchells Class. Webinar Chat Questions Answered READ MORE

LET’S TALK J/70 Downwind Techniques In this J/70 webinar, North Sails experts Tim Healy, Ruairidh Scott and Allan Terhune talk winning downwind techniques. Topics covered include: 3:21 Displacement VMG Mode (2-7 knots) 15:31 Displacement Soak Mode (8-12 knots) 25:14 Displacement Wing-on-Wing (8-13 knots) 47:15 Marginal Lazy Planing (14-16 knots) 1:01:28 Planing (16 knots) Learn more about North Sails fast J/70 designs. READ MORE

LET’S TALK FLYING SCOTS Q&A With Greg Fisher Experts Brian Hayes, Zeke Horowitz with Special Guest Greg Fisher lead a Q+A interactive session, open to all topics. Viewers brought questions and experts shared their answers and expert tips with the group. READ MORE

LET’S TALK J/22s Keys to Upwind Success Join Experts Mike Marshall & Zeke Horowitz as they walk us through their top tips on how to make your next upwind leg the best one yet. READ MORE

LET’S TALK CRUISING SAILS 10 Things To Look For Join North Sails expert Austin Powers, Peter Grimm and Bob Meagher for a discussion on 10 things to look for in cruising sails. READ MORE

LET’S TALK MOTH WITH TOM SLINGSBY AND ROB GREENHALGH Session Three Moth World Champion Tom Slingsby and North Sails class leader Rob Greenhalgh talk us through the in’s and out’s of race day strategy, and provide tuning tips for the newly released 9DSX Decksweeper mainsail in the third webinar, ‘Let’s Talk Moth’. READ MORE

A LOOK INSIDE THE NORTH SAILS LOFTS: SPINNAKER SAIL CARE Our Certified Service Experts Explain Review and Repair of Downwind Sails No matter where you are in the world, you can prepare for your next event or be ready for when sailing season picks up again by knowing what to look for when it comes to a healthy spinnaker. A few months ago we published ‘When to Replace Your Spinnaker;’ a how-to on what to look for and advice on prolonging the life of nylon downwind sails. Many of the tips were visual cues for when you’re out sailing, but our service experts also have a process where they can inspect your spinnaker inside our lofts, and help to determine if it’s in repairable condition or if you should think about replacement. We called on Certified Service managers Bacci Sgarbossa and Nick Beaudoin, from Italy and Australia respectively. Below is an explanation of their simple, but effective process for assessing the lifespan of your spinnaker. This North Sails Blue Book process holds true for spinnakers of all sizes, from one design to supermaxis. Step 1: Rinse That Salt Off It’s important to rinse spinnakers after sailing. Salt retains humidity making the kite heavier and more elastic. Plus, dried salt crystals in spinnaker cloth add weight. Let your service expert know if your sail needs to be rinsed when it arrives at the North loft. Step 2: Hang Dry Once your spinnaker arrives at the loft, it is draped and hung up to dry overnight. Once dry, it is ready to “fly” (inside!). Depending on the size of the spinnaker, two to four staff “fly” it in the air, which allows the team to get underneath and inspect the sail for any tears and/or holes. As the sail is being flown, damaged areas are marked with fluorescent stickers. Step 3: Repair The service technicians use fluorescent stickers to easily identify areas that require sail repair. Pinholes and tears are patched with the appropriate cloth. Once all work is completed, each sail is flaked and bricked for easy transport and storage. Step 4: Replace (if necessary) There are times when a sail is beyond repairable. Your Certified Service expert will let you know when the sail is on its last legs and then get you in touch with the proper loft contact.   Find A Loft Find An Expert Request a Quote READ MORE

LET’S TALK VIPERS Latest Tuning & Trimming Tips Class Experts Zeke Horowitz, Austin Powers, and Jackson Benvenutti give the latest on tuning and trimming tips, and how to put yourself at the front of the pack. READ MORE

LET’S TALK OPTIMIST WITH ANDREW WILLS, DEREK SCOTT, AND CHRIS STEELE Session One Optimist class experts Andrew Wills and Derek Scott talk all things Optimist with special guest Chris Steele who won the Worlds in 2007 with Wills as a coach. This session covers planning, daily routine, race routine and how to maintain a good training mindset. READ MORE

THISTLE HEAVY AIR TIPS A Recap From the Midwinters East with Mike Ingham 📸 Cory Hall, St. Pete Sailing Center Breeze on! The 2020 Thistle Midwinters East was sailed in overpowered conditions for the entire weekend. It was a lot of fun! Going fast was about hiking hard, steering for waves, playing the main to keep the boat flat, and good on board communication. Here are Mike’s top 5 points on sailing fast in a breeze: Sail Flat Flat defined: I define this as a few degrees of heel (not necessarily totally zero degrees flat) Helm check: You should have no noticeable helm, and to check this you should let go of the tiller and see how fast you head up. You will likely find that at 0 degrees you go straight, and with a few degrees you head up slowly. If you head up at all quickly, you are too heeled! Hike Hard Hard hike defined: 100% hike is unsustainable. 80% or something like that is a sustainable hike for long races on multiple race days. Pain: 80% still hurts! There is no way around it, hiking hard is work. Your 80%: Everyone’s 80% is different, all you can do is what you can do. Find your 80% and stick with it. Hike steady: Don’t hike harder in a puff and softer in a lull (assuming the lull is still overpowered as most were at MWE). Sustain that 80%. DO hike harder in critical situations. Occasionally I would say something like “100% hike until we cross this pack”. DO hike less when not critical. “50% hike, there is a gap ahead and behind, lets save our energy to the finish” Vang is a Big Depower Tool Vang flattens the sail: It bends the mast down low by ‘ramming’ the boom forward into the mast. You will notice more overbend wrinkles when vang is on, less when it is off. More wrinkles means your sail is flatter, less means it is fuller. Ease in lulls: If you do need power in a lull, ease the vang and sheet in. Still at 80% hike until you are clearly underpowered. Pull on vang in breeze: If you need to depower more, tighten your vang. There is a limit; our boom bends a lot with vang on full. Our limit is just before we feel we will break the boom. Main and Steering Keep the boat flat: To state the obvious, easing the main and steering up keeps the boat flat in a puff, and vise-versa in a lull. It takes both: It is always a combo of the main and steering, I know of no condition where I do one without the other, its the % of each changes depending on the wave condition Main and Steering in Waves and Wind Foot: In waves, pinching up can be super slow because the boat is slowed by waves. Aggressive steering: I steer all over the place looking for the best path through waves. I find low spots and avoid steep waves, or in smoother waves to steer up the face and down the back. Steer to waves, trim to heel: To do this, I have to prioritize steering where I need to for the wave while trimming the main to keep the boat flat Main and steering in flat water: OK to pinch: In flat water, I can steer wherever I want with no worry that I will slam into a wave Pinch to depower: In flat water when I am overpowered, I prioritize trying to steer to the wind (up in a puff, down in a lull) Mainsheet to fine tune: I will still need small main changes to keep the boat flat where I can’t keep up with it steering It’s Rarely All Waves or All Flat Most of the time, there is some combo of steering for wind and steering for waves. In the flattest water, 100% of my steering is to the wind because there are no waves. In the roughest water, I probably steer to the waves 80%, and steer to the wind 20%. I would say a typical thistle heavy wind race at MWE was 50% / 50%. The bigger waves I would have to steer through, but flat spots would allow me to steer up in a puff ALWAYS play the main Waves: In waves, I am steering a lot through waves, so I need to play the main constantly and aggressively. I go through a large (at times an armlength) range. Flat: In flat water, even though I want to steer mostly to keep the boat flat, I find I need to constantly adjust the mainsheet to keep the heel just right. These are small (a few clicks here and there) but frequent adjustments Jib When we are overpowered, we set the jib to the main backwind bubble. That means when the main is eased a lot, we have to let the jib out too. If our main flogs the jib is to blame (until it blows about 30, then there is nothing left to do but flog both sails!) A gentle bubble of about 1 foot behind the mast is about right. More and you need to ease. Less and you need to trim. Stay ahead of the curve by calling wind and waves “Puff in 3, 2, 1 puff on” allows me to start easing at “2” and that prevents an initial heel in the puff. Very effective. “Big wave”, or even better something descriptive like “Square wave” or “A lot of waves” is super useful. “Flat spot” is great info on a bumpy day. If there are lots of waves, it seems silly to call them all, I need to just assume there are waves until told otherwise That should cover it. Sailing flat by being proactive on depowering (vang…), then sailing the right combo of steering and main sheet is the way to go fast in big breeze. Oh yes, almost forgot – hike hard! READ MORE

LET’S TALK SOLO WITH CHARLIE CUMBLEY & TOM GILLARD Tuning the Boat for Speed & Upwind Tips Solo Class Leader Charlie Cumbley and Class Expert Tom Gillard discuss all things Solo with special guest and Solo Class Chairman, Doug Latta. Topics include tips on how to maximize speed on the racecourse, boat setup advice as well as a focus on upwind sailing with Charlie and downwind sailing with Tom. READ MORE

LET’S TALK MOTH WITH ROB GREENHALGH Session Two North Sails Moth Class Leader Rob Greenhalgh is joined by North Sails designer Ruairidh Scott and Chris Dixon from CST Spars for the second live session for the Moth class. READ MORE

LET’S TALK J/70 Mainsail Trim In this J/70 Webinar class champions Giulio Desiderato, Zeke Horowitz and Allan Terhune talk in detail about mainsail trim and onboard communication. Topics covered include: 3:02 How do you do your initial J/70 setup 7:35 J/70 Controls. Which and How to Use? 37:24 J/70 Light Wind 47:15 J/70 Medium Wind 53:39 J/70 Strong Wind 1:03:30 J/70 Downwind Learn more about North Sails fast J/70 designs. READ MORE

TUNE INTO A LIVE MOTH WEBINAR WITH TOM SLINGSBY AND ROB GREENHALGH 2019 World Champion Joins North Sails for Let’s Talk Moths Webinar Series Join Moth World Champion Tom Slingsby and North Sails class leader Rob Greenhalgh live on Wednesday, April 8th for the third session of Let’s Talk Moth. These two world-renowned sailors will take us through the in’s and out’s of race day strategy and provide tuning tips for the newly released 9DSX Decksweeper mainsail. Sign up and register today for the Zoom link. Register Now Session 1: Expert Opinions and Introductions to the North Sails Class Leaders North Sails Moth Class Leader, and National and European titleholder Rob Greenhalgh gives his expert opinion on a variety of topics and introduces key people within the class. Topics include an introduction to the series, a fleet update, and foiling like a pro. Session 2: Sail Design, Spars and 3Di for the Moth Class North Sails Moth Class Leader Rob Greenhalgh is joined by North Sails designer Ruairidh Scott and Chris Dixon from CST Spars for the second live session for the Moth class. READ MORE

LET’S TALK MOTH WITH ROB GREENHALGH Session One North Sails Moth Class Leader and National and European titleholder Rob Greenhalgh gives his expert opinion on a variety of topics, and introduces key people within the class in the first of many live sessions for the Moth class. Essential topics include an introduction to the series, a fleet update, and foiling like a pro. READ MORE

LET’S TALK VX ONE Jibes & Donwind Modes Tune in with North Sails VX One expert Mike Marshall for an interactive web talk on the different types of jibes and downwind modes. READ MORE

LET’S TALK OFF THE WIND SAILING WITH AUSTIN POWERS North Sails expert Austin Powers and Broad Bay Sailing Association discuss modern advancements in off the wind sailing. READ MORE

LET’S TALK LIGHTING Changing Gears Lightning Class Expert Brian Hayes and special guest Greg Fisher share tips on how the top teams change gears and keep the boat going fast in this interactive live session. READ MORE

LET’S TALK OPTIMIST WITH HUGO ROCHA Session One North Sails Optimist expert and winner of several World and European titles, Hugo Rocha, gives his opinion as an expert on various topics alongside guest Olympic sailor Jorge Lima. READ MORE

We’re All About Your Next Adventure Our experts have created a variety of articles to help you gain confidence for your next getaway. Topics include battens, weather, safety, durability of cruising sails, and more. Whether you are leaving land behind or simply sharing leisure time with friends and family, our North Sails Cruising Tool Kit will help you prepare for your next trip. Forecasting For Your Trip Libby Greenhalgh has navigated around the world twice with the Volvo Ocean Race; she’s a director with the Magenta Project and has an offshore resume that ranks her among the top sailors in the world. Greenhalgh sat down with North Sails to share her steps for planning a trip offshore.   Learn More   Installing and Tensioning Your Battens Thinking about battens? Preparing for a new season is something that is on everyone’s mind. Whether you’re staging your boat to launch or planning an extended cruise, it’s important to make sure you’ve got your battens installed properly and tensioned correctly.   Learn More   Furling Sails & UV Suncovers What happens if you furl your sail the wrong way? – with the sun cover on the inside instead of the outside of the furl? Learn more from Expert Hugh Beaton on how to prevent UV exposure and a bad furl.   Learn More   Safety Always Comes First Hardcore ocean racers and coastal cruisers alike should all make safety at sea a priority. Practices from racing in the World’s toughest conditions of the Southern Ocean can be applicable to sailors of all levels and speeds. North Sails President, Ken Read, shares his tips for all sailors on his best protocols for sailing offshore.   Learn More   Cruising Sailors Demand Durability Predicting durability is a tough challenge, because sails are subjected to so many different forms of use and conditions. That said, the most common question we hear from cruising sailors is: “How long will my sails last?”   Learn More   Sources Of Power Cruising sail trim priorities will vary depending on the wind strength. The easiest trimming condition is moderate winds of 8 to 10 knots, because you trim for full power and indicators like telltales are easy to read. Here’s how to set each source of power.   Learn More     Interested in North Sails cruising sails? Contact your local loft today. READ MORE

Hardcore ocean racers and coastal cruisers alike should all make safety at sea a priority. READ MORE

Libby has delivered and cruised all over the world. Her experience has given her an exceptional eye for weather. Greenhalgh sat down with North Sails to share her steps for planning a trip offshore. READ MORE

LET’S TALK J/70 Lessons Learned in Miami Keeping the J/70 conversation going with class champions Tim Healy, Ruairidh Scott, and Allan Terhune. This interactive session includes lessons learned at the 2020 Bacardi Invitational and J/70 Midwinters. READ MORE

LET’S TALK FLYING SCOTS Changing Gears Join Class Champions Zeke Horowitz and Brian Hayes for an informal web talk covering tips on how the top teams change gears and keep the boat going fast! READ MORE

SAIL CARE & MAINTENANCE TIPS Ways You Can Protect Your Investment 📸 Cate Brown / Block Island Race Week 2019 There are many ways you can help prolong the life of your sails. Here are some pointers to keep you aligned with our sail care maintenance practices, which can be part of your regular routine while on your own whether you are at home, or on your boat. Preserving the life of your sails is important for performance and you can take these guidelines to help protect your investment. Avoid prolonged flogging of sails. Flogging and leech flutter can degrade a sail’s performance before its time. Minimize motoring into the wind with flapping sails. After hoisting sails, trim promptly and steer a course so the sails fill rather than flog. Use your sails in their designed wind ranges. If you don’t know the recommended wind ranges for your sails, contact your North sailmaker. Adjust your leech line to eliminate leech flutter (tension it just a touch more than necessary to stop the flutter). The tension needed will change as the breeze increases and as the jib sheet is adjusted. Do not over-tension the leech line; if the leech becomes hooked, ease it off. Proper placement of genoa cars will also prevent leech flogging on your genoa. 📸 Michael Egan/ Egan Images Avoid unnecessary contact between sails and standing rigging. Avoid releasing the genoa sheet late in a tack. Backwinding the leech against the windward spreader tip will distort the leech and can split your sail. To combat chafe, be sure to cover spreader ends, and check there are no exposed split pins, cotter pins, or other sharp edges around the mast, foredeck, lifelines, and turnbuckles. These can chafe and/or tear your sail. Make sure your sails have extra reinforcement in areas of high chafe. Spreader patches on overlapping genoas and mainsails, as well as extra chafe protection on headsails where they come in contact with mast mounted radars and stanchions, will extend the useful life of your sail. 📸 Michael Egan/ Egan Images When leaving the boat, ease the jib halyard, main halyard, and outhaul to prevent permanent luff and foot stretching. Releasing batten tension also reduces distortion at the batten ends Limit exposure to the sun for extended periods of time. UV rays are one of your sail’s worst enemies. Roller furling genoas should have UV-resistant material covering the leech and foot. If you store your mainsail on the boom, make sure it is always covered when not in use. Rinse your sails with fresh water and dry thoroughly before storing, to prevent mildew and color bleeding in spinnakers. Rinse fittings in fresh water to help prevent corrosion. Store dry sails in a well-ventilated location. And remember, making sure they are dry is as important as the initial rinse. Wet sails create mold issues. Avoid folding sails on the same fold lines so that small creases don’t become permanent. 📸 Michael Egan/ Egan Images Remove mildew stains on polyester, Spectra/Dyneema or Vectran sails promptly. Use a mild household bleach solution with water and a soft cloth, then rinse thoroughly. DO NOT USE BLEACH ON NYLON, ARAMID, OR LAMINATED SAILS. To remove oil/grease stains, scrub with Simple Green and a soft brush, then rinse. Follow with a mild soap scrub and rinse to remove the Simple Green completely from the sail. Be careful not damage the sail with excessive scrubbing. Depending on the stain, you may not be able to remove it completely. Removing rust stains is tricky. We recommend that you contact your North Certified Service expert for treatment. We may not be able to completely get rid of it, but we can make sure the area is still in good working order. Regularly rinse sail bag zippers or lubricate with silicone spray. Patch minor tears as soon as possible with a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA). Avoid using duct tape! Check nylon/polyester downwind sails a few times each season for small tears. Catching small holes early can reduce the chance of them becoming bigger tears later on. Spray luff tapes on both genoas and mainsails as they slide up the track, using a Mclube-style lubricant. This will help clean the tracks and make hoisting and dousing easier. 📸 Michael Egan/ Egan Images Check battens for splintering. Splintered battens should be replaced, or at least taped, so the splinters don’t harm the sail. Check luff slides and other hardware to make sure they are still securely attached to the sail. Check seam stitching to make sure it is still intact. UV can quickly damage certain threads. Have your North Sail Certified Service expert inspect your sails at least once a season. Regular inspection will prevent small problems from becoming big ones. You can also ask your local loft to create an onboard sail repair kit for your specific sails. Keep a sail log. Photographing your sails on a regular basis and logging the hours they are used will help you and your sailmaker evaluate your sail inventory seasonally. Your sail photos can also be digitized and analyzed using North’s SailScan computer program. Contact your North representative for details. 📸 Michael Egan/ Egan Images READ MORE

ROLLER FURLERS & UV SUNCOVERS: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW Understanding Your Furler and How it Works Will Prevent Disaster 📸 Billy Black What happens if you furl your sail the wrong way? – with the sun cover on the inside instead of the outside of the furl? Unfortunately, we see the effects of this in our service lofts around the world. The result is UV damage to the sailcloth that has been left exposed to the sun, instead of being protected by the UV leech and foot cover. Most often, this happens when a sail has a UV cover that is the same colour as the sail material. Such as a white cover on a white sail or a grey cover on a grey sail. When the sail is rolled around the headstay in the wrong direction – with the UV protection on the inside of the roll, it is not always obvious leaving the base sail material exposed. In some cases, this can happen on a new sail that has been installed incorrectly – with the sail cover that is on the inside of the furl due to the direction the furling drum turns when furling – either clockwise or counter clockwise. This also can happen seasonally when the boat is unrigged or mast is not stepped (assembled and placed vertical). If the furling line is re-rigged, it must be wound the correct direction around the furler, to be compatible with the sail. Fortunately, North Sails always have a sticker displayed as a visual reminder that the sail is furled the correct way based on what side the UV protection is applied. 📸 Michael Egan/ Egan Images To avoid this mistake which may result in the need for a sail repair, here is a short checklist to ensure that your sail is installed with the UV protection on the outside: Determine which side of the sail has the built in UV protection – for coloured UV materials this is easy – but not as much as matching colors. The UV cover is either on the Port or Starboard side of the sail. If there is any question regarding which side of the sail is protected please contact your local North Sails professional for assistance. There are many easy ways to tell which side your UV protection is attached. Next, you want to check that the furling line has been loaded into the drum so that the sail will roll with the UV on the outside. An easy rule to follow is that the furling line needs to enter/exit the drum on the opposite side than the UV protection. i.e if the UV is on the PORT side of the sail, then the furling line needs to exit the STARBOARD side of the furling drum. Normally, it is a very easy fix to re-rig your furling line, by unwinding it completely, then re-winding it in the opposite direction. Once you are certain that your furling direction is in sync with your UV protection, you can be confident in leaving your sail hoisted and furled for extended periods of time. Please note, the type of UV material and your latitude make a substantial difference in the length of time and level of protection you can expect from your UV leech and foot covers. 📸 Michael Egan/ Egan Images READ MORE

RIGGING & TUNING THE NEW MOTH 9DSXR Featuring Rob Greenhalgh & World Champion Tom Slingsby Rob Greenhalgh has won National and European titles in the International Moth Class and serves as the North Sails Moth Class Leader. For the newest member of the fleet, to the seasoned champion trying the 9DSX for the first time, Greenhalgh is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to putting the Moth together, and to its highest performance on the water. Follow along as Rob unpacks, rigs, and de-rigs the 9DSX, to learn every detail of caring for your new Moth sail. Moth World Champion Tom Slingsby dominated the 2019 Moth Worlds with the new North Sails 9DSX Decksweeper, engineered to push the limits on speed and durability for maximum performance on the racecourse. Tune-in, as the world champion, gives a master-class on tuning the Moth, taking sailors step-by-step through his tips. Learn the technical details behind the fiery competitor that make Slingsby nearly unstoppable in the Moth class. Buckle up and get ready for take-off. Have questions about Moth sails or how to rig for speed? Contact Rob for more information. READ MORE

LET’S TALK VX ONE Tuning the VX One for Speed Join North Sails expert Mike Marshall for the first session of the VX ONE informal web talk about sailing even if we can’t physically go and do it. READ MORE

SPEED READING: HOW TO MAINTAIN FOCUS OFFSHORE Day After Day, Mile After Mile, for Extended Periods of Time 📸 Yann Riou Day after day, mile after mile, distance racing reminds us of that never-ending feeling of being stuck in one place for extended periods of time. Hear more from Casey Smith (CS) how to cope with those long periods of isolation where you can only do so much. Casey is a two-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran and was a key member onboard during all of Comanche’s record runs and race wins. Casey knows a lot about being stuck out at sea, but still finds humor in the little things and gets his job done, which is most important. Here are Casey’s tips for maintaining focus while isolated at sea for days on end: What’s the longest race you’ve done? CS: For sure, it’s the Volvo Ocean Race. Four hours-on, four hours-off, the whole way around the world. Waking up and coming on deck, “Oh, hi. Fancy seeing all you guys here! And look, that other boat we are racing against is still right there, and it has been for the last week!” Do you have a sequence of things you think about that help you stay focused? CS: Sleep. Eat. Four hours on watch. Repeat (10, 20, 30+ days…). Do the days blend together or do you lose track of time? CS: You lose track of the days of the week. You never lose track of time because the whole boat revolves around time. The four-hour watch rotation or the weather schedules and boat position schedules are all very closely followed, and everyone wants as much time to rest as possible and also know how you are doing on the fleet. 📸Yann Riou What are some things you think about while you are sailing for extended periods of time? CS: You just need to concentrate on the competition aspect of the race; that’s why you are out there in the first place. Compete and try to win. It’s really important to put everything into sailing the boat 100%. How do you maintain your focus if the weather gets rough and you are on the same tack/jibe for hours on end? CS: Focus comes from wanting to win. Chances are if it’s windy and downwind are probably going fast. You want to make sure you are the fastest boat and keep the pedal down. If you’re sailing upwind, and conditions are windy and rough, that’s a bit tougher because it’s hard to sleep during the off-watch and your energy is a bit lower. Being on the same tack or jibe for long periods is great as it means you get a break from moving sails and equipment so everything has a silver lining! What advice can you give to someone who is sailing offshore for their first time in relation to staying focused and not feeling overwhelmed? CS: It’s all about making the boat go fast. Basically nothing else matters. You have a job to do, it might be helming, trimming, grinding, sail changing and everyone contributes to miles gained or lost. Do your job at 100% and keep the boat moving fast. Also, stay calm and level. There will be times when another boat (or boats) is doing better than you but stay calm and keep sailing your boat 100% as that’s all you can control. 📸James Blake When you are down below, if you are not sleeping, what do you do to still stay alert and ready for when it’s time for your shift to start? CS: Eat. Make coffee for the team. Tidy up the living space up. Dry water out of the bilge. Check the steering and other systems. Watch movies. What are your favorite foods to help stay awake and focused if you are the crew on shift? CS: We are usually limited on what foods we can have on board, so your mind does wander to what food you love and would love to be eating. The reality is you have never seen faces light up as much as when a fresh bag of jerky comes on deck. Coffee and warm drinks are huge as well, but chewing gum is needed after the jerky and coffee. Brushing your teeth is something that slips a little offshore. Is there anything you have vowed to do when you’ve been on a long leg? (Did you do it?) CS: Remember to load some more movies, music or books on the iPod. You can only watch the music video of Umbrella by Rihanna so many times. Staring at the horizon for so many hours on end, have you hallucinated offshore? CS: No hallucinations on deck but I’ve had some crazy dreams during the off watch. Also waking up and forgetting where you are and then slowly coming too. Then the realization of “crap, I’m on the boat and only one week into a six-week leg from China to Rio.” READ MORE

At North Sails, we are passionate about performance. For cruising sailors, this means a lot more than just speed. READ MORE

Cruising sailors demand durability. Yet, durability is not an easily quantified element of sail performance. Predicting durability is a tough challenge, because sails are subjected to so many different forms of use and conditions. READ MORE

North Sails Expert Per Andersson explores fashion and function in the striking look of black sails on the water, and explains why sails may come in different shades of black. 📸Nico Marinez Fashion, Function, and Material Composition Black has not always been the fast look for sails, but lately more and more black sails are showing up on the water. Why? The simple answer is that many sails are now made with carbon fibers—the strongest load-carrying material in sails—and carbon is black. If some sails seem even blacker to you than they did a few years ago, you may be noticing North’s 3Di sails, a product that has gained significant market share since it first was introduced. Many sailmakers use carbon in their sails, but typically the carbon is laminated between layers of polyester or Mylar film, so it does not look completely black. North’s 3DL sails fell into this category for many years, with variable densities of the carbon, depending on where it was needed to resist the heaviest loads. 3Di sails are darker because starting in 2013 with the introduction of 3Di RAW, we’ve rid our highest-performing sails of the cover layer and its associated parasitic weight. We should point out that not all 3Di sails are black, because North has 3Di products that include aramid fibers, which are yellow, and Dyneema fibers, which are white. We also use black, white or gray taffeta or non-woven surface materials for durability on our 3Di ENDURANCE and 3Di OCEAN performance cruising products, for which the owner can choose the color of preference. 3Di RAW on Swan 42 one designs 📸 Onne van der Wal Early on, to make a more consistent and solid look on our RAW product, we began to pigment the aramid fibers because they simply looked better black, mixed with carbon and Dyneema fibers. “Dyneema fibers are not available with black pigment but with only a small amount of Dyneema in our 3Di sail structure, a small amount of pigment in the adhesive produces a solid black surface.” Many sailmakers have followed the trend toward black sails. Most add a “light skin” or taffeta on top of the film to achieve the black look! Others simply add a non-woven layer of colored polyester material to make the sails black. North Sails 3D molded downwind racing sails are grayer and more translucent, especially when the sun is behind the sail. These sails come with our Helix load shearing technology luff structure. The 3Di molded downwind sails use 3Di Downwind READ MORE

J/70 TIPS: HEAVY AIR Allan Terhune Explains What Worked for Team Vineyard Vines at the 2020 J/70 Midwinters. When the breeze increases, a different set of skills are required. We caught up with North Sails expert Allan Terhune, who called tactics on the winning team at the J/70 Midwinters in Miami, for some lessons learned from a windy weekend. Sailing in Breeze – Upwind The key to speed upwind is keeping the boat flat and balanced. This is achieved two ways: rig tune and trim. Rig Tune We were at the top of our tuning guide most of the weekend to keep our headstay tight. One key factor is the backstay gross tune; make it TIGHT. You need to have enough throw to pull backstay on, in order to flatten out the main. Many teams took the slack out of their gross tune but didn’t make it tight. Also I heard many people did not go to the top of the tuning guide. If this was not the weekend to go there, I don’t know what would be! Trim Once the rig is tuned, the goal is to keep the helm balanced, and also to be able to burp the main in the puffs to eliminate heel. The key to this is the jib sheet. If you have the sail max in-hauled like you would in lighter conditions, the main would immediately luff in puffs, forcing the bow to go down. To compensate for this, we sailed with less inhaul, and moved the lead forward one hole. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it keeps the leech correct and makes the foot powerful enough to get through the chop. We made sure the leech was close to the middle band on the spreader at all times. We then played the in-hauler to get through waves and puffs. Our main luffed very few times, and we talked all the time about keeping the boat balanced. As for mainsail trim, it was easy to over-tighten the outhaul and not have enough power through waves. We found that having max backstay was always faster and having enough vang on made it easy to play the sheet. We tried to NEVER let the main luff or flog. You have to be using both sails to be balanced and fast. Sailing in Breeze – Downwind Wow was that fun or what! Seriously though, it was HARD work! A few things to remember off the wind in big breeze: Keep a constant angle of heel. Too much heel and you wipe out, too little and you slow down and bear off too much. You have to keep the apparent wind forward. Jib trim is crucial. Molly did a great job of always keeping the jib full, but also knew when to blow it if I lost the kite. Jibing: Speed is your friend. The worst thing you can do is bear off and slow down and load the boat up right before a jibe. That is when you wipe out. Steer around waves and surf whenever possible. Finding a good rhythm with the trimmer and talking about the angles is the best way to identify the path of least resistance. Stay in the puff. We all work so hard upwind to go .1 or .2 knots faster, but if you miss a puff downwind you will be 2-5 knots slower. The tacticians who keep their eyes out for the next puff make HUGE gains. This regatta was a great reminder that the J/70 is truly a team boat. Everyone has a role, and if one person is not carrying their weight, the boat does not succeed. For success in heavy air, you need to develop a different set of skills. And practicing with your team when it’s windy is the only way to get better. Team Vineyard Vines John and Molly Baxter, Ben Lamb, and Allan Terhune are the 2020 J/70 Midwinter Champs after a relentless eight-race battle in a variety of testing conditions. On the final day, they snagged two bullets using the 2019 J/70 Worlds winning inventory: F-1 Mainsail, J-6 High Clew Jib and AP-1 Asymmetrical kite. | Full story Awesome job team Vineyard Vines. 📸 Chris Howell John Brim’s Rimette leading the pack 📸 Chris Howell READ MORE

North Expert Tom Davis lays out your Inventory Options SHOP SAILS REQUEST A QUOTE For some sailors, “club racing” means a casual jib-and-main evening race aboard a well-stocked cruising boat carrying roller furlers and its anchor and chain in the bow. For others, it means a no-holds-barred weekend race aboard a Melges 32 with a full crew aboard. While there’s no single answer to the question,”What sails are best for club racing?” most club racers will fit into what we call the “cross-over cruiser” category, so that will be our main focus in this article. If you are a cross-over cruiser, you want to race your boat close to home, but you also want a sail inventory suited to sailing with your family and friends during the day and periodically heading out for a weekend or a week’s cruise. If you want to compete at any level, there are a few things we would recommend prioritizing long before you ever think about choosing the right sails. For example, if you haven’t cleaned your bottom, no sail inventory in the world will overcome a field of grass on the bottom. Second, get the boat set up with the mast straight and reasonably tuned, with your jib leads in position, etc. Maybe look at installing a folding propeller, too. Then it’s time to think about the sails. What size should your sails be? Sail size is dictated by your type of boat and rig. Some masts are designed and positioned for large genoa headsails and smaller mains, while others have the opposite. But for every boat, there are usually some choices to make on size. Most club racing is scored under PHRF or another handicap system requiring you to declare your sail sizes. If that’s the case in your area, do you really know your genoa’s LP (luff perpendicular) and your mainsail girth measurements? If so, have they been reported correctly to your handicappers? Many casual racers find mistakes on their certificates when they take a close look, so talk to your sailmaker; that genoa you thought was a 150-percent LP may only be a 135, and if so your rating is penalizing you unfairly. Next, think about whether a larger or smaller headsail might make a significant difference in your speed or rating. If your boat is chronically underpowered, a bigger genoa could help. If you are often overpowered, a smaller jib could help you tip over less—and get you a more favorable rating. You may be able to make some gains with your mainsail, too. If the sail has a smaller girth than what’s listed on your rating certificate—that’s all the measurements from luff to leech, at different heights—you may be entitled to a few seconds per mile of rating benefit. In general, the girths that became standard a number of years ago under the IMS rating rule are still the norm for PHRF. IMS girth mains hit a sweet spot, with a nice-sized roach for extra power but not so much that the sail hangs up on the backstay in light-air jibes. Work with a sailmaker to be sure you’ve got whatever PHRF allows in your area, but don’t push the roach too far; that usually carries a hefty penalty. What’s the best sail shape? For most club racers, we recommend first identifying the shapes of your current sails. The best tool for this is a camera; take photos from as low as you can get at the mid-foot, looking up, and share them with your sailmaker. Shapes become distorted as sail material ages. Usually, the overall draft moves too far aft and the leech profile opens up in the high-load middle and upper sections; both make the whole sail less efficient (slower!). If that’s what your photos show, it’s a good time to start budgeting for a new sail, starting with the worst one—probably the genoa that you use the most. Every season, take the same sail shape photos again to monitor what’s happening, and use what you and your sailmaker see to update your replacement plan. One note: If your sailmaker isn’t interested in looking at photos of your existing sails, you have the wrong sailmaker. No one can make a really tired sail fast again, but sometimes a little recut or stiffer battens can breath some extra life into your sails. On most boats, a good all-purpose headsail of maximum size (for your rating) is the single most important sail for club racing. A mainsail with mediocre shape that is paired with a nice headsail is usually a better upwind combination than the other way around. Downwind, the shapes of your main and headsail matter less than their total area. As soon as you head back upwind, the shape of the genoa is by far the most important. 📸 Cate Brown Photography What’s the right molded sail shape for your boat? The ideal mold shape for your club racing sails will depend on your boat. Older boats with heavier displacement will need different shapes than newer, lighter boats. This is true for both spinnakers and upwind sails. That’s why it’s best to work with a sailmaker who is already experienced in building sails for your type of boat and has a library of proven sail shapes. Your sailmaker should also know your local conditions. Are your club races usually held late in the day when the wind is dying off, or is it breezy most of the time? Older boats also tend to have overlapping headsails, while newer designs do not. That should influence the material chosen for the sail, because it will be important to reinforce the area thats dragged across spreader ends and around the rig when tacking. Genoa sail materials often need to be different than those in non-overlapping jibs, and an experienced sailmaker will be able to address that with a mix of materials. A flattish shape for a medium-heavy #1 is probably not ideal for a boat with a lot of displacement and an overlapping genoa. Boats like these slow down a lot if you try to point too much, especially on a light air Wednesday night. (If you’re racing in a location with higher average breezes, a flatter sail may be exactly right.) Another consideration is whether you want two headsails. That way you can use a roller-furling/UV-protected genoa for casual club racing and cruising, then bend on your better “race” sail for more important races. One more tip: if you use a roller-furling sail exclusively, check to see if PHRF in your area will give you a rating credit for it. What’s the right material for club racing sails? The sail materials you choose will depend on your needs and your budget. Woven Dacron sails for a boat with a small mainsail and roller-furling genoa will be slower than other materials, but if your budget is modest and you want your sails to last a really long time, it’s a perfectly good choice. Just be aware that you’ll struggle to compete against higher performance sail inventories, particularly as your sails age and their shapes deteriorate. For smaller boats, the loads are light enough that Dacron can stay close in performance. If you own a 34-foot club racer, you might be very happy with sails made of NPC Radian, a patented single-ply woven sailcloth with stretch performance like a warp-oriented polyester laminate. It is a true “Dacron” sailcloth that enables radial panel layouts, but loads are mapped more efficiently than horizontal panels while still providing classic Dacron reliability. A slightly larger boat of 35 to 45 feet will have higher loads. If you care whether you’re a minute ahead or a minute behind at the end of a long beat, you’ll want higher-performance laminated sails, maybe even 3Di. Sails made from laminates often have a radial layout. Nearly all sailmakers make these sails, and most others have a laminated film that is more fragile than fiber and has a tendency to shrink. Within the North line, the paneled laminate sail is typically a moderate-priced product with moderate durability and good (but not state-of-the art) performance. Shape durability is much better than classic Dacron, but not as high as North’s 3D materials. The toughness of these sails is quite high. 📸 Cate Brown Many sailmakers make what are often referred to as “string” sails, which are made by gluing spaced-apart yarns between flat outer layers of film in multiple sections—sometimes with additional outer taffeta plies for toughness, or non-woven skins that look similar to North’s 3Di. These horizontal sections are later assembled with added broad-seaming to induce shape. The yarn pattern is intended to follow the predicted loads in the assembled sail. North Sails’ predecessor to 3Di was 3DL (no longer in production), which was different from current string/membrane sails; 3DL sails were produced in one piece on a full scale adjustable mold, configured to the exact desired foil shape. This eliminated overlapping seams and maintained the continuous integrity of each yarn pass. But 3DL did share one of the less-desirable features of string/membrane sails—thermoplastic “hot melt” glue. We discontinued 3DL in favor of 3Di because 3Di is a much better solution. 3Di has proven durability that is unheard of in other types of sails, both in terms of material and shape stability. Unlike the film and adhesive used in “string sails,” 3Di’s thermoset resin system is extremely rugged and environmentally stable, which means it will not be affected by heat and moisture over time. It also has a high ratio of fiber to resin. The product does cost more to produce, so prices reflect that. For a club racer, choosing among these options comes down to a sensible match between sail performance, the kind of boat you have, the kind of fleet you’re racing in, and your level of commitment and expectations. If you want to try to win races rather than simply going out to participate, you’ll need a top-level product. The choice used to come down to whether you wanted durability or a great shape. Now, thanks to 3Di, it’s more about whether the up-front costs can be justified; quite simply, 3Di sails hold their designed shape for much longer. The best North 3Di option for club racers is called RAW 360. It is made using polyester, Dyneema and aramid. It’s not cheap but it has a pretty competitive price, given all of the other benefits of 3Di. And of course you get expert advice from our top designers. What are the best downwind sails for club racing? There is many options in spinnakers for club racing, starting with the choice between asymmetrical and symmetrical sails (also known as A sails and S sails). For all but the most casual club races, a cruising asymmetric spinnaker tacked to your bow will not make you fully competitive; if you have a centerline bowsprit or pole mounted at the bow, an A sail may work well. If you have a traditional spinnaker pole, you’ll likely do best with an S sail. If you plan to fly an A sail, you’ll certainly need to discuss the best option with your sailmaker. Shape development in A sails has been dramatic over the last 20 years, and you’ll also want to talk about the best sizes for your sailing area. Do you need an A1, A1.5, and/or A2, and should the sail be tipped toward running deep, be more all-purpose, or be optimized for reaching? What’s the best spinnaker material? Even more important for club racing is your choice of spinnaker material. Spinnaker nylons come in two groups, and the first is cruising preg, which has melamine resin in the fibers but is not coated. If you can live with a heavier sail that flies well, this classic .75-ounce nylon is still a very nice, tough material with low porosity. As a bonus, it will still feel good after you drop it overboard once or twice. North Sails NorLon is an example of this cloth; it’s available in three-quarter ounce and one-and-a-half ounce, as well as 2 and 3-plus ounce weights for bigger boat spinnakers. Compared to NorLon and other classic nylons, the newer, higher-performance nylons have a lighter thread density and therefore lighter weight, but they also have urethane coatings, which stabilize the cloth. Over time, they break down and lose performance. These higher-performance nylons have pregged fibers plus a surface urethane coating, allowing you to fly a sail with a less dense weave, saving weight without affecting porosity. They have a higher price and break down faster, but you get a sail cloth that weighs 35-40 grams per square meter instead of close to 50. Bainbridge International’s AirX cloth is one example. It is both pregged and coated and a little nervous in how it flies so it’s less forgiving, but it’s a great cloth for use on boats that sail higher angles downwind. Contender’s SuperKote cloth is also pregged and coated, but is a little softer on bias and more elastic than AirX. This makes it better for boats that reach less and sail deeper angles downwind. If you only want to buy one spinnaker, you’ll likely want an all-purpose (AP) sail, either asymmetric or symmetric, made with a nylon like NorLon that is pregged but not coated. You can be competitive in many conditions with a sail like this. If you race in a higher-level fleet, though, you will probably want two spinnakers. The first could be an AP spinnaker for when the breeze is on, made with a good .75-oz material in a nicely shaped sail. The second would be a lighter-weight A or S sail for an advantage in lighter breeze. Take for example the Melges 32, a fast, modern lightweight boat. If there’s a good breeze we pick the A2, an asymmetrical AP runner. But we choose the A1 for VMG sailing in a dying breeze, because it’s better for sailing more aggressive jibing angles. We know this is a lot of information, so if you’ve got questions please let us know. You can reach us through online chat, or contact your local loft for more details. We look forward to seeing you next Wednesday night! READ MORE

Get The Most From Your Racing Experience! Biscayne Bay is a great place to sail in March. Whether you’re a newbie to sailing in South Florida or a seasoned veteran, we’ve collected some of our best advice—both class-specific and general—to help you have your best Miami regatta, ever. What To Expect in Biscayne Bay We asked the local Star and Snipe World Champion Augie Diaz to explain what sailors should expect when they leave the docks. Learn more from Augie as he shares his secret to success. Learn to Love Sailing in Heavy Air It is not unusual to feel intimidated by a strong breeze, so we have put together three key pointers to help your team feel more prepared in these testing conditions. Can the New Star Designs Repeat History? Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise claimed Star fleet victory at the Bacardi Cup 2019 with new M-25 Mainsail and J-115 Jib designs. Hear how they came to beat seven World Champions and multiple Olympic medalists in Miami. Jibing Like A Hero A successful jibe is vital when racing in all conditions. We’ve broken down each step to help you successfully accomplish these maneuvers that can make or break your race result. Perfecting 3Di for the Melges 24 As the world leader in One Design sailmaking, North Sails recently introduced a latest generation M-2 mainsail and J-3 jib. Learn more from Melges 24 Class Sail Expert Giulio Desiderato on how these regatta-winning designs came to be. Lessons Learned from Rounding First Mike Marshall explains two mental traits that will help you maintain the top spot amidst the pressure of rounding first. Define Your Speed Pulling all the pieces together can be challenging. Our Speed Guides will help you leverage our expertise to make the most of your sailing at the Bacardi Cup. Viper 640 | Melges 24 | J/70   Why is Headstay Sag Fast Upwind in Light Air? One design expert Tim Healy, describes how headstay sag affects sail shape and why manipulating these controls can be a risk worth taking. Five Downwind Modes Displacement mode, wing-on-wing, or full plane? Understanding the J/70’s different downwind modes will help you make the right move at the right time. Speed Reading: Setting Goals Setting goals is important for success, regardless of your experience. Hear more from sail expert Zeke Horowitz as he explains how to put your winning formula to work this sailing season. Need Overnight Repairs? The Fort Lauderdale team is here for you with overnight sail service and repairs during the regatta. Call the service team to arrange a sail pick up at 631-805-4949. READ MORE

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RACING SAILS AND CRUISING SAILS North Expert Neil Mackley Explains What to Look for When it Comes to Performance, Design, and Materials People with sailboats use them in many ways, but broadly speaking we define them as either cruising or racing. Cruising might be an hour-long daysail, with only one sail hoisted, or it might last a year or more and take you across the South Pacific. A race, likewise, can last one short evening before sunset, or it can take you to the highest levels of competition at the Olympics or across the ocean. The proper sails for each of these activities varies widely, but at the level most people engage in cruising and racing, we can simplify the differences between the sails required if we talk about performance, design, and materials. Performance expectations Both cruising and racing sails are designed for performance, but for each type, performance is measured differently. The ultimate measure of performance in a racing sail is speed, although other factors can play a role. Great performance from a cruising sail is more about ease of handling and durability. In simple terms, speed is derived from sail materials and sail shape, which need to match each other. Depending on how much speed is sought, this often comes at a cost to ultimate durability. Do you want to be able to sail a minute faster on a long upwind leg, or do you want to be able to hoist and fly the same sails 10 years from now? Given how many different types and sizes of sailboats we have on the water and the wide variety of sailmaking materials, though, it’s not quite as simple as choosing a durable cruising sail or a speedy racing sail; before we make the best selection, we need to learn about some of the other differences between racing and cruising sails. Chief among them is the owner’s expectations. Aboard a full-race TP52, where pure performance is the only measure of a sail, a team will often decide that their mainsail is finished and should be replaced after one windy regatta. Most racers sail below the pro level and on smaller boats, so they often replacing sails seasonally, or selectively over multiple seasons. By comparison, some cruising boat owners expect their sails to last seven to ten years. They won’t replace a sail until the material and shape are so compromised that the boat’s performance is seriously compromised. 3Di RAW, IC37 by Melges 📸 Hannah Lee Noll Design differences One big difference between racing and cruising sails is that, in an average race, the boats will be sailing against the wind up to fifty percent of the time. Cruising boats are rarely sail hard upwind; typically, when the wind is blowing from the direction that cruisers want to go, they will choose to go somewhere else, wait for the wind to change, or hoist the main to steady the boat and turn on the engine. As a result, cruising sail shapes are often designed with slightly rounder shapes for better performance when reaching. The entry angles are similar, but the sail will be a little bit deeper and the aft section of the sail a bit rounder, to allow for better shape as the sheet is eased. In contrast, the crew of a race boat is usually trying to sheet the sails very hard, as close to the centerline as possible, so their sails are flatter, with more open leeches. Typically when a race boat begins to reach, the crew changes to a jib top or code sail, often putting up staysails, too. Dacron crosscut cruising sail option The material difference The materials used for sails not only vary for cruising and racing, but also depending on the length and weight of the boat and the resulting loads the sails carry. Commonly, jibs and mainsails are made from panels of sailcloth, either Dacron or light laminates with higher-strength fibers. North Sails also makes a proprietary type of molded sail called 3Di. Dacron has been the primary material for paneled jibs and mainsails for more than half a century, with some improvement over that span of time. It remains a common option for many boats, particularly cruising boats. However, light laminate sails have been developed that carry the loads far better than Dacron or other polyesters, which is a performance bonus to both cruisers and racers. They incorporate ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers; Spectra and Dyneema are examples of this material. These materials dramatically reduce the amount of stretch in the sail and also make the sail much more durable because its sandwich construction using Mylar film provides resistance to chafe. One downside to these light laminates is that they are subject to small amounts of permanent stretch known as “creep,” but they work much better than Dacron because they stretch far less. For these reasons alone, few racing sails are made of paneled Dacron any more, except for small boats and in racing classes where rules prohibit laminate sails. But the advantages of laminates go well beyond maintaining a designed shape and lasting longer, and as a result, cruising sails are increasingly being made of laminates as well. Take for example a mainsail for a cruising boat made of 7-ounce Spectra rather than 10-ounce Dacron. The weight savings is significant: a 90-pound Dacron sail might weigh only 55 pounds if made of Spectra. When you consider that the center of gravity for the sail might be 30 feet up, that’s a dramatic reduction in weight. A boat with a Dacron sail will heel and pitch a great deal more. This can have a massive effect on a cruising boat with in-mast furling; even when the sail is reefed, all that weight remains aloft. There’s more: When your boat heels a few degrees less, you don’t have to reef as early. If you have a Dacron sail up, it will stretch and get deeper under the loads, causing yet more heel. If you have a laminate sail, it will stay much flatter and offer more forward force rather than heeling. The sail designer of a laminate sail understands this dynamic and can design a shape that’s deeper than the Dacron sail, providing more power in lower wind ranges. One final reason that larger cruising boat owners choose sails with more advanced technology is that many cruising boats don’t have ways to make significant sail and rig adjustments underway, for example changing the tension on outhaul or backstay. Racers have many controls and can bend their masts significantly to flatten or deepen their sails. NPL Tour , upwind Racing and Cruising 3Di Sails In recent years, we have taken a new approach to making sails here at North Sails; called 3Di, the sails are constructed on a mold shaped for each specific sail. 3Di has been adopted by many racers already, but cruisers are also using them for improved speed, durability, and weight. While 3Di sails are a more premium option, we believe their performance attributes and longevity make them worthwhile for an increasing number of sailors. Many racers use the version we call 3Di RAW, often made of pure carbon but also by blending different mixtures of fibers—carbon, polyester, aramid (Kevlar), and UHMWPE (Spectra/Dyneema). This provides even better shape control than laminates. Because of carbon’s extra strength, some sails can be made with fewer fibers and less overall weight. Performance-oriented cruising sailors may choose a style of 3Di called ENDURANCE, which combines carbon, Spectra and aramid filaments and then adds an exterior layer of film to help with chafe resistance. North also has a third 3Di range called OCEAN, which is made specifically for cruising. 3Di OCEAN sails are molded composite sails that contain Spectra and aramid filaments, with added durability and strength thanks to protective outer surfaces of woven polyester (Dacron) taffeta tapes. 3Di OCEAN for cruising 📸 Amory Ross Summary of sail differences based on boat size The differences between racing and cruising sails can also be viewed across three size ranges—small (under 35 feet), medium-sized (35 to 45 feet) and large (longer than 45 feet). For racing boats under 35 feet, sails are often made with light laminates, incorporating Mylar or other film and fibers made of Spectra or aramid; different 3Di products are also being developed. In restricted classes, some race sails will be made of Pentex (a low-stretch polyester) and others of Dacron. Cruising sails for both small and mid-size boats are typically still made with Dacron, laid out either in cross-cut or radial panel configuration. Warp-oriented Dacron like North’s Radian costs a bit more but delivers notably better performance than stretchier crosscuts. Somewhere around 40 feet in length—and definitely by 50 feet—Dacron is no longer a rational option for cruising boats. The material doesn’t hold its design shape for long, and it’s heavy, typically a 10- or 11-ounce cloth; the boat heels more easily, and the sail will be harder to furl. At this size, light laminate sails and North 3Di ENDURANCE and OCEAN sails become the norm. Mid-size boats that both cruise and race will choose light laminates or 3Di ENDURANCE, balancing the small increase in weight for an extra layer of durability. For single-purpose race boats, both mid-sized and larger, using Dacron is out of the question; the two choices are laminated sails and 3Di RAW sails. NPL Tour Ultra, racer/cruiser Downwind cruising and racing sails The good news for racers and cruisers is that the America’s Cup has spun off significant developments in downwind sails that apply to both. For many years, the most common downwind sail for a cruising boat has been the asymmetrical spinnaker, tacked to the bow, also known as a gennaker. Easy sail handling is critical for cruisers, so the gennaker is typically hoisted inside a “sock” that is itself raised when it’s time to use the sail. When it’s time to take it down, the sock is pulled down around the sail before the sail is lowered to the deck. Early asymmetrical spinnakers were unstable and hard to trim, but once the designs took advantage of America’s Cup technology, all of a sudden we could produce full-molded tri-radial cruising sails. Now the shape of the sail is built into every seam instead of just the cross panels. As a result, the sails have a more natural draft position and are much more stable. NPC Downwind, Premier Cruise, Oyster Yachts Cruising sailors have begun adopting another America’s Cup development—the Code Zero sail, which is a very flat spinnaker set on a roller furler. When the true-wind angle is between 90 and 130 degrees, the Code Zero fills a big gap between the upwind jib and the downwind-oriented gennaker. Some cruisers find the roller-furling so convenient that they don’t even bother with the gennaker anymore; instead they tack downwind using their Code Zero. Cup development has helped develop downwind racing sails, too, and most race boats will fly a mix of Asymmetrics and Code sails, plus staysails. While older boats still fly symmetrical spinnakers with poles that must be jibed by the crew, nearly all newer models use asymmetrical spinnakers set on a sprit or pole. Code sails have become even more important since most new boats are built with large mainsails and small, blade-style jibs instead of overlapping headsails. When a race boat like that begins to jib reach, it is massively under-powered unless a Code Zero is set. Downwind sail materials are mostly commonly nylon. On bigger boats, we use laminates for the code sails to keep them stable, but on large cruising yachts and superyachts, nylon and polyester-based sails are often used for sails that are not so close-winded. A boat that will do some racing will find laminate the ideal fabric to fill the gap once the furling jib becomes less effective. If cruising only, polyester or nylon will be the choice. Neil Mackley, a salesman in Gosport, UK, has worked for North Sails since 1982. Please contact Neil if you have any questions about racing or cruising sails, or find a cruising expert close to you. NPL Downwind code zero on a J/121 racer/cruiser. READ MORE

420 MIDWINTERS: COACH NOTES Key Tips To Up Your Game 35 teams from around the country gathered at the Miami Yacht Club for the 2020 International 420 Midwinter Championship. Out of the high caliber of talent, Justin & Mitchel Callahan prevailed with outstanding sailing and a convincing win at this event. North Sails powered boats fared very well, showing speed and versatility in a range of conditions, ultimately placing seven of the top ten boats in the overall results. Here are some coach notes from North expert Tom Sitzmann: Know your own boat As much as we’d love to think that our hulls, spars, foils, sails, and individual tuning measurements are exact, the reality is that each boat, and all gear associated with it, is unique. With a tuning partner, experienced coach, or both, make sure you get out on the water before racing to check your rig settings and sail trim – no two boats are exactly alike! Use tuning guides as a starting point, experiment when able, but proof of concept is only validated on the water. Spinnaker trim on the reach legs There are LOTS of gains to be made on the “outer” reach and in the final sprint to the finish. Again, it is critical to know the design philosophy of your spinnaker and trim accordingly. Pole height, often set and forgotten about, can be a big difference-maker for an i420 on the wire reach. Experiment and improve! Learn more about 420 sails. Re-tuning for the lighter wind prediction on the final day. Haul to the open-water sailing east of Key Biscayne READ MORE

THISTLE MIDWINTERS WEST: COACH NOTES North Expert Mike Ingham Shares Clinic Tips 📸 Tina Deptula North Sails expert Mike Ingham hosted a one-day clinic for over 20 Thistles in preparation for the 2020 Midwinters West in San Diego, CA. Boats were overpowered at first, but later in the day, the wind softened. “It was nice to see both wind ranges,” Mike says. “Reviewing the on-the-water videos, I found some common threads that were well worth talking about with the group.” If you couldn’t be there, here’s what Mike saw. Flat, Flat The Thistle likes to sail flat, especially in Mission Bay where there are no waves. Depowering To keep flat when overpowered, you need to depower. Here are a few thoughts on how to do that in flat water: Outhaul – Tight the outhaul until the foot looks stretched. That shelf is important. Cunningham – Make sure your main halyard is up all the way and your cunningham is reasonably snug. Wrinkles are great in lighter wind, but as it builds, pull it on to smooth them out. Pinch – In flat water when overpowered, it is okay to pinch. Jib Trim A great starting point is to trim the jib leech in until it lines up with a zip tie taped to the middle spreader 10 ½” away from the mast. A lot of people did not have that zip tie, and their jib trim was inconsistent. In Heavy Wind: If you have to ease the main out to keep the boat flat, ease the jib as well until there is just a hint of backwind in the main. In Lighter Wind: When underpowered, if the jib leech tell tale near the middle spreader is stalled, you are trimmed too tight. If it is flowing, you may be able to trim tighter. Mainsail Trim When overpowered: Vang sheet. Pull hard on the vang, and then let the mainsheet out to keep the boat flat. If you have the North Proctor mainsail, traveler sheet. When underpowered: Keep the vang floppy loose so you can control the leech tension with the mainsheet. As a starting point, try to keep the top main leech telltale flowing 50% of the time (if it stalls behind the main for a few seconds, then flows straight back for a few seconds, that’s 50%) In flat water, you can have it flow less, say 30% In waves or chop you will want it to flow more, say 75% Mike’s next stop – the Thistle Midwinters East in St. Pete. Learn more about North Sails Thistle sails. READ MORE

SPAN SQUARED What Does It Mean When Wings Create Lift? © RedBull G2 When a wing (like a sail or a keel or centerboard) produces lift, an accompanying drag force is generated called induced drag. This is related to pressure that is lost around the wingtip and the formation of vorticity. A wing is considered to be more efficient if it produces lift with less induced drag. Common understanding is that induced drag is lower for higher aspect ratio wings. This is apparent by reviewing the standard equation used to calculate induced drag which contains the term aspect ratio. The problem with this equation is that it defines the value of the induced drag coefficient using the lift coefficient, which is not necessarily constant depending on how aspect ratio is changed. The equation is useful in situations where the wing area is the same, such as these two wings. Notice that while they have the same area, they have different spans. A useful definition is to relate aspect ratio to the span and area rather than to the span and chord. This is particularly handy for tapered wings. Lift coefficient and drag coefficient are non-dimensional terms that indicate how hard a wing is working regardless of speed or size. Dynamic pressure, which depends on the velocity squared, and area are divided into the lift and drag forces to define these coefficients. As area changes, the coefficients required to generate the same force will change proportionally. Since the equation for induced drag coefficient relies on the lift coefficient, it is susceptible to changes in lift coefficient that can occur as the aspect ratio changes. For a fixed amount of lift (force, not coefficient), if the aspect ratio is increased by making the span longer while keeping the chord length the same, which adds area, the lift coefficient will be decreased due to the greater area. If the aspect ratio is increased by keeping the span the same length and decreasing the chord length, then the lift coefficient will be increased due to the smaller area. When aspect ratio and lift coefficient both change, it becomes more complicated to assess what the affect is on induced drag. There is a simpler way to understand how induced drag is affected. By performing some appropriate substitutions in the induced drag equation and simplifying the terms, we define the induced drag force rather than the induced drag coefficient. The result is that this equation shows that induced drag is proportional to the lift force (not coefficient) squared divided by the span squared. This means that span, not aspect ratio, is the determining factor for the efficiency of a wing. Area and chord do not appear in the final equation and do not impact induced drag. They do affect the viscous (frictional) drag, though. Unlike the original induced drag coefficient equation, which implies that induced drag is dependent on aspect ratio (but only when the area is kept constant, meaning that as aspect ratio is changed, chord and span are modified to maintain the same area) this equation demonstrates that the induced drag force is really dependent on the amount of lift squared and the span squared. This reveals that the reduction in induced drag in the previous span comparison example is really due to the increase in span. The power of the squared term is significant because, for example, if span is doubled, the induced drag is decreased by a factor of four. Even a 10% increase in span results in nearly 20% less induced drag. Understanding that induced drag is inversely proportional to span squared has value to improving sailing performance. A common misconception is that a centerboard or keel with shorter chord but the same span is more efficient because it has higher aspect ratio. When we recognize that when span is the same, induced drag is therefore the same, we can properly attribute any performance differences experienced to the difference in area. These differences relate to the viscous drag instead, which is the friction of the fluid flowing over the surface and is dependent on the area, and also to changes in angle of attack (leeway and apparent wind) that occur as area is changed. An example of the affect of span on sails that is common for many one designs is that as speed increases, raking the rig aft has been found to be beneficial to performance. This can be explained through span squared. After a boat has reached its righting moment limit (crew fully hiked or trapezing, or practical limit of heel for a keelboat) the amount of force that the sails produce cannot be increased any more (without causing excessive and detrimental heeling). In order for the boat to go any faster, the drag needs to be reduced. The longest edge of the sail is the leech, which as the rig is raked aft becomes more vertical and maximizes span. So, with the same lift being produced over a sail with greater span, the induced drag of the rig is reduced and the boat can sail faster. In the most extreme case, comparing an upright luff to an upright leech, the induced drag would be decreased by the ratio of the luff length divided by the leech length, squared. Another benefit of raking the rig is that the clew becomes closer to the deck, and as the trailing edge approaches being sealed, there is less pressure lost around under the boom and the sail becomes more efficient. Span-wise change in pressure differential is what causes vorticity to be shed from the trailing edge. Increasing the distance between the vorticity shed from either end, or reducing the vorticity shed yield higher effective span, hence lower induced drag. Since drag also contributes to heeling, a lower heeling force allows the total force on the sail to be increased up to the righting moment limit, further increasing the boat’s speed. When the rig is raked aft to maximize span by making the leech more vertical, the height of the sail is slightly lowered becoming closer to the water where the wind velocity is lessened by friction with the water surface. While this is not a problem once the boat has reached the righting-moment- limited condition where de-powering (and drag reduction) becomes necessary, it might explain why it is not always advantageous to sail with the rig raked aft in lighter wind conditions when creating more sail force could be the overriding factor. As the rake of the rig is changed the location of the sail’s force moves with it. This changes the loading required on the rudder in order to make the boat sail straight. While this may limit mast adjustment, the potential benefit creates incentive to discover how to set up the boat to take advantage of the lower induced drag of a more raked rig. The concept of span squared can also be used to determine the optimum rudder load, either to define the reasonable extent of mast rake or to minimize the drag of the underwater foils for a fixed mast location. The keel (or centerboard) and rudder should both contribute to the boat’s side-force to counteract the sail’s side-force. Determining the appropriate load for each can produce significant performance improvements. While there are some interactions between the two foils, a simple approach to determine the minimum induced drag is to treat each foil as isolated and sum the drag of each. The result with the least induced drag is that the foils should contribute to side-force proportionally to the ratio of their spans squared. It is important to consider the span as twice the physical span of the keel or centerboard because it is sealed against the bottom of the hull, which acts as a reflection plane. This is because the pressure differential across the sealed foil is maintained at the hull intersection as if there were a reflected image of the keel protruding upward. A completely immersed rudder that is sealed under the hull can also be considered to have a reflected image that doubles its physical span, but a transom hung rudder that pierces the surface of the water would only be considered to have its physical span without a reflected image. This is because the water surface can deflect due to the pressures imposed on it by the surface piercing foil. As the water surface deflects, the pressure differential at the surface is degraded and the surface piercing rudder loses the benefit of a reflected image. The difference in effective span between an immersed rudder and a transom-hung rudder indicates that most keelboats (with immersed rudders) should be sailed with more rudder load than most dinghies (with transom-hung rudders). An additional factor is that as rudder load is increased through deflecting the rudder, the leeway angle of the boat is decreased. Decreased leeway has the additional benefit of a higher apparent wind angle and the opportunity to produce higher sail force. This makes it is very beneficial to deflect the rudder at least to the angle that produces minimum induced drag for the whole boat and gain low induced drag, a higher apparent wind angle and larger sail force, and less leeway, all of which contribute to better pointing. It could even be useful to sail with the rudder deflected somewhat beyond the loading that minimizes induced drag. The small additional increment in induced drag for a modest increase in rudder angle could be offset by further improved pointing ability. A boat with a gybing centerboard or adjustable flap on the keel already has the capability to reduce leeway and improve the apparent wind angle and may not benefit as much from overloading the rudder as much as a boat with a fixed centerboard or keel. Since sailing with the appropriate rudder load can have a significant affect, particularly in one-designs where there are limited opportunities for performance improvement, it is valuable to determine what the target rudder angle should be. Assessing the issues for a specific boat requires knowing the dimensions and loads. These can be analyzed to produce specific target settings or designs (if allowed). Here is an example of how induced drag is minimized through optimizing the load sharing of the keel and rudder. The total amount of side-force that the keel and rudder produces is kept constant but the amount of side-force that each contributes is varied. By ignoring the affect of each component on the other (a simplification that is more valid as the distance between them is large), the induced drag of the keel and rudder can be calculated separately and added together. In this example the keel span has been chosen to be four and the rudder span to be three. The units do not matter, since we are merely looking at the proportionality of the load. Assuming 100 total units of lift, induced drag is shown for several possible load distributions. Note that minimum induced drag occurs when the load is distributed proportionally to the ratio of the span of the keel and rudder, squared (for example 64/36 = 8/6 squared, and 88/12 is close to 8/3 squared). The example is shown two ways: with an immersed, sealed rudder that benefits from a reflected image with twice the span, and with a transom-hung, surface piercing rudder that only has an effective span equal to its length. The lower induced drag with the longer effective span rudder is dramatic. But what is important to recognize is that the optimum load sharing distribution is quite different between the rudder styles. While the longer acting rudder can take 36% of the side-force leaving 64% for the keel, the shorter acting rudder can only take 12% of the side-force leaving 88% for the keel. That causes the lowest possible induced drag value to be 37% higher in order to produce the same 100 units of side-force. Again, the units are artificial, as the constants dynamic pressure and pi have been left out of the equation so we can just look at proportional relationships. A similar amount of drag reduction could be expected for the same style rudder that was replaced with one that had twice the span. Within the constraints of one-design rules, that type of change is usually not allowed, but there is still the potential to achieve a load sharing that yields the lowest possible induced drag for the configuration. The increases in induced drag as the proportions are varied away from the optimums are shown and give incentive to set the boat up to achieve loads that generate the lowest possible induced drag. Also evident is that being away from the optimum is more severe for the shorter span rudder configuration than for the longer span rudder configuration. By applying the relationship of span squared, the target loads can be determined for a specific boat. The challenge then is to achieve those loads. This is accomplished through changing the mast position, either by moving the mast step or adjusting rake in order to establish the location of the sails’ force so that the boat will sail straight with the rudder deflected to the desired angle that minimizes the induced drag of the underwater foils. As the mast is shifted aft, the rudder load required to make the boat sail straight increases, and as the mast is shifted forward, the rudder load will decrease. Finding the optimum can have a noticeable affect on performance. The goal is to efficiently use the spans of both foils. Often, a boat has the mast too upright and hence, is not properly loading the rudder. Raking the mast back can cause the rudder load to increase, which decreases the underwater foils’ induced drag, AND increases the span of the sail by making the longer leech more upright, which causes the sail to have less induced drag also. Appreciating the power of span squared can be useful when making decisions that affect performance. READ MORE

SAIL PLAN DIMENSIONS Figure Out Your Rig Dimensions When It Comes To Your Sails © Jesus Renedo The basic rig dimension for a yacht are generally understood. However, there are some differences in how some sailors describe these dimensions. Here is how we define them at North Sails. I – Height of Foretriangle Elevation of Forestay, measured down to elevation of main shrouds at sheer line. J – Base of Foretriangle Horizontal distance measured from front face of mast at deck to position of headstay at sheer line. P – Mainsail Hoist Elevation of upper mast band or maximum main halyard position, measured down to lower mast band or top of boom. E- Mainsail Foot Horizontal distance measured from aft face of mast at top of boom to boom band or maximum outhaul position. Is – Height of Inner Foretriangle Elevation of Forestay, measured down to elevation of main shrouds at sheer line. Js – Base of Inner Foretriangle Horizontal distance measured from front face of mast at deck to position of inner headstay at sheer line. Py – Mizzen Mainsail Hoist Elevation of upper mast band or maximum main halyard position, measured down to lower mast band or top of boom. Ey – Mizzen Mainsail Foot Horizontal distance measured from aft face of mizzen mast at top of boom to boom band or maximum outhaul position. ISP – Elevation of Spinnaker Halyard Measured down to elevation of main shrouds at sheer line. SPL – Spinnaker Pole Length STL – Spinnaker Tack Length Horizontal distance measured from front face of mast at deck, forward and horizontally to position of spinnaker tack attachment point. READ MORE

EFFECTS OF WINTER SUN ON BOAT SAILS UV Is Not Your Friend We all know that ultraviolet (UV) light breaks down traditional fabrics, which is why sunshine is bad for your sails. (FYI 3Di is composite technology, not a sail laminate. For info on 3Di sail care, read Sail Maintenance.) Even the lower sun angles of winter can wreak havoc on our sails. Here’s what you need to know about UV damage on traditional fabrics. Fortunately, there’s a way to protect your sails and extend their life expectancy: be diligent about covering them up when they are not in use. Once fabric is rotted from UV exposure, the only remedy is replacement. Read on for other factors that make a difference. Fiber type Some fibers have better UV resistance than others. For two fibers of the same type, a smaller diameter fiber will degrade more rapidly than a larger diameter fiber. Woven polyester fabrics are made with warp yarns that are almost always smaller than the fill yarn. So when dacron has been rotted by the sun, it will rip more easily across the warp (parallel to the fill). The simple test of your sail’s fiber integrity is to lightly scrape the surface of the fabric with a dull metal object, like the edge of a spoon or the thick side of a knife blade. If the fibers are still in good shape, the fabric will become shiny and smoother where you rubbed it. If the fibers are rotted, the filaments on the surface will fuzz up or sluff off of the sail. If the UV damage is very advanced, the fiber might rub away completely—the sign of a sail that is going to fail. Most UV exposure occurs when the boat is sitting with the sails down. Accordingly, some areas of the sail will get more exposure than others. The mainsail leech lying on top will rot long before the parts of the sail hidden beneath it. The same is true for a roller-furled headsail. The fabric on the inside of the roll will last much longer than the leech, which forms the outside of the roll. Sometimes the degraded area of a sail can be economically replaced. But more often, when the sail fabric is degraded enough to easily rub the fibers away, or to tear a Dacron fabric along the fill yarns, it is time to replace the sail. Suncovers You may be surprised to learn that your sail will degrade right through its sun cover. As the cover ages, it becomes less effective at blocking the rays of the sun. Heavier fabric provides a more effective barrier than lighter fabric, and dark colors provide better protection than light colors. If you spend time in the tropics, consider a multiple layer cover. It will be much more bulky, but your mainsail will last longer. Last but not least, the deck of your boat is an excellent UV barrier. Keep your sails below decks whenever possible. A suncover can help protect your sail from UV rays, but step one is making sure your sail is furled correctly so the suncover is on the outside. This image shows how the sun has damaged the sail material because the sail was furled incorrectly. Stitching Sewing thread will rot in the sun much sooner than a fiber of the same size woven into sailcloth, because it sits on top of the fabric and is more exposed. If resistance to UV rot were the only criteria for selecting the thread weight, bigger would always be better. But selecting thread too heavy for the application will result in a hopelessly puckered up seam and eventually the fabric will tear along the dotted line. A needle that is too small for the fabric weight can bend and deflect around large fibers, adversely affecting the timing tolerances of the machine. With these considerations in mind, the sailmaker typically chooses the lightest thread and smallest needle that the fabric will allow. Thumb Test Anyone with a thumb can test for rotten thread. If you can scrape the thread away with your thumbnail, it’s time to restitch your sail. Check each seam in several locations, especially along the leech tabling or on the sail cover of a roller furling genoa. Some areas will rot sooner because of the way the sail is rolled or flaked. If you can scrape away any of the thread, circle the area with a pencil and then start looking for more rotten thread. Restitching is an easy, time-consuming job, but less time-consuming if you catch the rotted thread before the seams come apart. Sun degrades stitching. It’s important to get scheduled sail service to address these types of issues to avoid disaster on the water. Straps and webbing When you inspect your sails, take a close look at the outside of any web straps. If you see any broken fibers, start planning to get the sail into a loft to have new straps sewn over the old ones. It is not a good idea to attempt to sew through an old corner strap with an onboard sewing machine, or any other light duty machine. The corners of the sail get harder as the sail is used, and you will be exploding lots of needles. Excerpted from The Complete Guide to Sail Care and Repair, by Dan Neri Webbing damage due to long-term sun exposure. READ MORE

10 TIPS FOR WINNING IN 2020 Accelerate Your Race Results This New Year Are you looking to improve your racing results this year? To help jumpstart your best sailing season yet, we’ve put together 10 favorite tips from our fast-growing collection of how-to articles. At North Sails, we are constantly pushing to learn and improve and #gobeyond. Let us know how we can help your racing program succeed and your performance improve in 2020! Interested in more local knowledge articles? Visit our How To page to find more. Have questions about tuning or sail trim? Contact your local expert today. READ MORE

SARASOTA BAY: LOCAL KNOWLEDGE IS KEY Vipers And VX One Winter Series Sarasota Bay has to be one of the most beautiful places to sail in the country. Its gorgeous blues and greens reflect off the sandy white bottom and a warm salty splash is always refreshing. Perhaps the only thing more heartwarming than leaving the Sarasota Sailing Squadron is the return back to the dock, where you’re always greeted with a cold beverage, a smile, and story from another sailing enthusiast. It’s no wonder why the Squadron’s racing calendar is constantly booked. This venue also delivers a challenging race track that keeps every tactician on their toes! The geography and weather patterns can provide just about every type of racing condition imaginable. A three day regatta might have 50 degrees temps and 25 knots from the north one day, a 3-12 knot easterly and 40 degree wind shifts the next day, and finish off with a building 8-15 knot sea breeze from the northwest. Perhaps the only people scratching their heads more than the tacticians are the PROs that have the pleasure of running our races! I learned to race on the Sarasota Bay when I was 9 years old and I’m very fortunate to get to return to my home waters quite often. I’ve been on both the right and wrong end of the Bay’s challenges, so here are some trends I’ve noticed along the way. Sea Breeze Day The sea breeze has a tendency to influence the gradient any time temperatures ashore get over about 80 degrees. If there is no other weather system in the area and the day is supposed to get that warm, you can fairly reliably look for a light easterly (often with a bit of south in it) when you arrive at the Squadron in the morning. Hopefully our PRO is reading this, because with this scenario there is really only one thing to do: POSTPONE! This morning easterly will pump in and out and shift slowly south as it dies. Keep an eye over the Van Wezel (it’s purple – you can’t miss it!) and look for puffy clouds to will build up until about 12:30pm. By 1:00 – 1:30, the easterly will have given up, and—as fast as you can snap your finger—the WNW sea breeze will make its grand entrance off the shores of Longboat Key. Now we’re in for a beautiful afternoon of racing. The sea breeze is fairly steady, but as the weather mark gets closer to Longboat Key the land can create 10 degree shifts. Shortly after the sea breeze comes in, look for more velocity on the right side of the race course. Make sure you play shifts to get over there, and then look for opportunities back to the top left closer to land. Later in the day, the pressure tends to even out and you start seeing more gains on the top left. But be careful, because if the course is too close to Longboat Key, the holes get bigger and bigger and you can get hung out to dry if you go too far left. On the downwind legs, try to keep an eye on the puffs settling in off the Key. Cold Front Day Any decent weather forecast will typically predict these a long time out. Unlike Miami, Sarasota occasionally gets hit with the big winter cold fronts that sweep across our country. Often these fronts pass through overnight (tie your boats down!) and we are greeted the next morning with a few inches of rain, temperatures in the 40s, and a NNW breeze that might be gusting over 30 knots. If the breeze does settle down enough to go racing, plan on shallower water because the wind will have blown a lot of water out of Big Pass (the Southern exit of the bay, near Siesta Key). This means “lots of sheep” as a popular class member likes to put it… steep chop to the rest of us. Plan on exercising your bailing arm and your hiking muscles as these days can be pretty full on. The wind is generally pretty steady, so it’s usually about starting at the favored end and minimizing tacks. The top priorities are boat speed and boat handling. Strong Easterly It’s fairly common in the spring to have an easterly breeze strong enough that it’s not affected by the sea breeze. It will often start out around 15 knots in the morning and die down to around 5 knots by the end of the day. This is the most dynamic condition on Sarasota Bay; the shifts and puffs are quite large and not always predictable. Get on the long tack early, and stay on it as long as you can. Point your boat at the mark, even if you have to sacrifice clean air to stay on the lifted tack. You can’t afford to sail away from the big shifts. Many times, it seems there is a left shift near the bottom of the course, a right shift in the middle, and a big left shift again at the top. But nothing can be counted as rock solid in this condition! Before the start, look up the course and try to start where you think the most pressure will be. From there, get on the lifted tack ASAP. Coming into the weather mark, decide what the shift is and get on the correct jibe right away as well. There’s a lot to be gained and lost there. Southerly It’s rare, but every now and then we get strong south breeze. In fact, last year’s final day of racing at the Midwinters was blown out by a building southerly. More often, when the breeze comes from the south it is lighter and more variable, often with big shifts and pressure from course right as the sea breeze endeavors to have its way. In a southerly less than 12 knots, my money’s on the right side of the course because it generally marches over to the right in a typical “clocking” fashion (with smaller “backs” to the left throughout the process). Early in the day it’s common to see huge right shifts with velocity, but as the direction works right the breeze settles in from the SW and the big shifts become less dramatic. The right seems more reliable, but it’s still possible to play the shifts on the left for a nice gain. Keep reading the water for velocity, and play the compass numbers above all else. There are some good rules of thumb that may help out when racing on Sarasota Bay, but this venue has stumped me plenty of times—even when I think I have a good idea of what’s going on! That is why the racing is so fun here—everyone has to be ready for anything! READ MORE

Preparing successfully to compete in the biggest offshore races requires putting your attention to every detail. When sailing the Transpac, Sydney to Hobart (or a similar race that heads well offshore such as the Newport Bermuda Race), you’ll need to win a different sort of race after crossing the finish line—the delivery back to your home port. READ MORE

In the lead up to your next offshore race, here’s a look at a typical mainsail reefing system and some tips for looking after the mainsail when reefing. READ MORE

For the majority of boats racing offshore distance, the crew size will be between 8-16. To get the best out of everyone while racing the boat hard around the clock, the skipper or sailing master needs a clear view of each crew member’s skill sets: their strengths and weaknesses, and where they will work best within the team.  READ MORE

NAVIGATING ROLEX SYDNEY-HOBART Meteorologist Chris Bedford Explains the Many Challenges of 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