VINCE BRUN INDUCTED INTO US NATIONAL SAILING HALL OF FAME

North Sails Congratulates Former One Design President With Words of Appreciation

It was no surprise to the North Sails team that Vince Brun was inducted into the US National Sailing Hall of Fame, Class of 2018. After winning nine world titles in five different one-design classes (Soling, Star, J/24, Melges 24, Etchells) and dedicating over 40 years to developing fast one design sails, Vince is part of North Sails history and an important key to its success worldwide. Here’s a bit of his incredible story, told by his sailing mates and colleagues at North:

“I met Vince when he was 18 or 19 . Vince had asked me to crew for him in a boat similar to a Lightning. During that experience I noticed that he was a thoughtful skipper, didn’t pound on the crew, he was pleasant to sail with and everyone liked Vince. Vince was successful in sailing, he had all the qualities that make a successful sailor. Vince was doing what he loved and that makes a great sailor!”

“Vince Brun could quite possibly be the most versatile sailor of his time. He has won many races and regattas at the highest level in so many different boats both as a skipper and as a crew. There isn’t a single boat that Vince can’t make go faster and learn to sail better. In fact, his talent makes him an excellent coach, as well. Vince would be at the top of my list for any sailing campaign anywhere in the world. He has a unique combination of talent, discipline, eye, and feel, as well as a perfect temperament and personality for winning races.

North Sails would not be where it is today without Vince’s valuable commitment and expertise. His eye for fast sail shapes is unrivaled. I am very proud to say that I have worked with him and learned from him for 30 + years and I value his friendship more than I can say. He is truly a superstar of our sport.”

“Vince has not been given the credit he deserves for being one of the best sailors in the world since winning the J 24 worlds. It is always a big treat to have Vince sail with you he has a vast knowledge of how to make a boat go fast! Great eye for how to make a better, faster sail!”

“When Lowell North was setting the foundation for our company, he decided that he would recruit the best sailors in the world to manage the company. He figured that great sailors had many of the skills required to be successful in business, and that they would also be good people to work with. Vince Brun was without question Lowell’s best pick. He made winning World Championships look easy and he transformed North Sails One Design from a shop in San Diego to a Global network of manufacturing and service organizations. He was a demanding boss and shipmate while taking care of his sailing crew, sail loft crew and customers with equal concern. Also, he is very cool. All of us at North Sails could not be more proud of Vince for his well deserved induction into the Sailing Hall of Fame.”

“Vince constantly pushed the North One Design team to become experts in the classes we sailed, in order to truly understand what made the boats go faster. From there we were expected to develop faster and more durable sails. The product needed to be the best available but the relationship with the customer was even more more important to Vince. We needed to be able to provide the customer with the latest tuning and trim information so they could consistently get the most out of our product. This is the way Vince built the North Sails One Design team and it proved to be a winning formula that we wholeheartedly believe in today.

I remember many long, interesting conversations with Vince about how to get a J/24, Etchells, Melges 24 or J70 to go faster. Those conversations helped shaped my understanding of all the variables involved in achieving better boatspeed and how to prioritize those variables. No one else has the One Design sailing experience, results, and knowledge base that Vince has and he taught the One Design team to give everything that we learned back to the customer.”

“Vince is the main reason our team has won the past two Melges 20 World Championships. His ability to not only generate boatspeed, but also his experience, guidance and mentoring were crucial to our success. The most important words he ever said to me were, “Enjoy the journey… the results will come.” Over the past 4 years he has become one of my closest friends and mentor, on top of being my coach. The winning was great, but pale in comparison to the great times and friendships we created along the way.”

“I count myself very fortunate to have had Vince call me back in 1992 and offer me a job at North Sails in San Diego. We had an incredible Star fleet in San Diego at the time and we tuned for hours against each other. It took me a long time to be able to keep up with him but thankfully he was patient! Vince could make any boat go fast. He has made so many great sails, helped so many people go faster, and won so many events over the years that he is such a worthy inductee into the Sailing Hall of Fame and I am proud to call him my friend. Thanks for the great times, look forward to sailing with him again soon, congratulations and thanks Vince!”

“I had the privilege of working for Vince for 25 years at North Sails One Design. Having someone like Vince as your boss, with his passion for his work, changes you in a positive way, it makes you better. I have never met anyone who truly loved what they did more than Vince. He loved sailing first and foremost, but what he really loved was solving the puzzle of making a boat go faster. He always believed and taught us that nothing that could get in our way of figuring out how to make a boat faster or develop a faster sail especially if we worked together as team. It was really cool, fun and challenging! His influence made North One Design what it is today.”

“The induction was at my home club, Lauderdale YC. It was great to hear their stories about the beginnings of their sailing careers and their motivation to be the best. What I forgot about but resonated with me after hearing it again, was the fact that Vince won World Championships both crewing and skippering, which tells a lot about a person’s personality and their will to win, regardless of what position they are on the boat.”

“Vince’s impressive sailing accomplishments speak for themselves. Anyone who has known Vince and followed his career feels vindicated that Vince was admitted to the Hall of Fame. Vince is one of the larger than life characters and not just because of his amazing sailing. What’s most interesting about Vince is his ability to think outside the box. He has a sixth sense, always approaching the problem or the situation in a unique and sometimes surprising way. I suspect this is one of the key reasons Vince is such a great sailor. He sees different sides of the issue or person than most. It’s never boring speaking with Vince. He makes you think.

I’m allowed one quick story. Many years ago, Vince crewed for me in my Etchells. After the regatta, I knew what boot camp in the marines was like. “Don’t you dare look at anything but those telltales”. With eyes in the back of his head – another trait of all great sailors – he knew the instant I snuck a look around. I paid the price each time. After one race, we were sailing back to the start of the next. Vince was quiet (unusual) and thinking. Yet, he was staring at me. I waited in fear of the inevitable critique. Instead, he said, “Jay, those are the ugliest foul weather pants I’ve ever seen”. (They were yellow. Of course he was right).”