NORTH SAILS BLOG

Bestill nNå For Levering I Høst Plaser din ordre mellom 1. august og 31. oktober Seilene blir levert mellom første oktober og 30. november Terms & Conditions: Tilbudet gjelder alle en-type klasser bortsett fra Grand Prix One Design. Din ordre må være inne, innen 31. oktober 2018. Seilene vil bli levert i oktober og november eller når ordren er komplett. Dette tilbudet kan ikke kombineres med andre rabatter. Betalingsbetingelsene er 50% ved bestilling, resten ved levering. READ MORE

WK zeezeilen Den Haag Beau Geste pakt de wereldtitel! 📸 Sander van der Borch / www.sandervanderborch.com 85 teams streden in juli 2018 op de Noordzee voor de kust van Den Haag tijdens allereerste gecombineerde IRC/ORC wereldkampioenschap zeezeilen. Crew van in totaal 85 zeiljachten, variërend van 9 tot 20 meter, vochten in drie verschillende klassen om de titel. De meeste teams hadden voor het evenement een flinke bak aan ervaring aan boord gehaald, de felle concurrentiestrijd op het water liet weinig ruimte voor fouten. Het evenement startte met enorm licht weer; voor de specialisten op dat gebied een uitgelezen test om te kijken of ze in deze omstandigheden meteen de leiding konden nemen. De start van de race was door deze omstandigheden weinig spectaculair maar daarna werden de uitdagingen voor de teams des te groter. In klasse A was Beau Geste de hele week al in extreem goede vorm en claimde uiteindelijk ook de winst en titel. "Het was een spectaculaire week hier in Den Haag en we zijn ontzettend blij met ons resultaat," reageert Karl Kwok, de eigenaar van Beau Geste. We spraken met North Sails designer Dave Lenz, tacticus aan boord van Karl Kwok's Beau Geste over het geheim achter dit succes: "Het uitpluizen van de nieuwe handicap IRC/ORC regels en het optimaliseren van boot voor dit WK was echt de basis van ons succes hier. De boot was in optimale conditie gebracht en de voorbereiding was goed. De snelheid van de boot was perfect en het team draaide als een geoliede machine. Hierdoor konden we continu voorin meevaren." Beau Geste was uitgerust met 3Di zeilen, Lenz en trimmer Dave Swete waren onder de indruk: "De sterke maar toch lichte zeilen maken de zeilwisselingen aan boord een stuk eenvoudiger tijdens dit soort wedstrijden, heel erg geschikt voor IRC/ORC racing." Hun geheime wapen voor de offshore races was de Helix Luff Code Zero. Team Van Uden - 📸 Sander van der Borch / www.sandervanderborch.com Het Nederlandse Team Van Uden, ook uitgerust met North Sails werd nipt derde, met één punt voorsprong op de Nederlandse boot Hitchhiker. Gerd-Jan Poortman, ervaren Volvo Ocean Race zeiler, coachte het jonge team samen met Lobke Berkhout naar het podium. Poortman is dik tevreden. “Al hebben we het onszelf nog wel een beetje moeilijk gemaakt vandaag," geeft hij toe na de laatste race. "We zeiden vanmorgen nog, je moet zeker niet te vroeg starten en domme dingen doen, wat doen we: te vroeg starten.” Op de van Uden varen voornamelijk jonge zeilers die worden opgeleid op grote boten te varen. Poortman is een van de coaches aan boord. “Die te vroege start is dan toch een beetje de onervarenheid in het team, ze willen te graag winnen en drukken dan te hard. Het mooie is wel dat iedereen vervolgens in de hyerfocus zat, zoals ik dat dan noem. Er werd de hele race geen woord gezegd, het was alleen maar kei en keihard varen.” Stuurman Hans van Dam zit sinds de start van dit project, begin vorig seizoen, in het team. “Het is heel cool om tussen die professionele zeilers te varen deze week, en ze ook nog eens deels te verslaan. We worden door hen echt gepusht om steeds beter te varen. Deze week hebben we dan ook veel stappen gemaakt, vandaag waren we echt beter dan aan het begin van de week. We gaan steeds harder, de boothandling wordt steeds beter en de starts gaan ook beter. Op die van vandaag na dan...” J Lance 12 - 📸 Sander van der Borch / www.sandervanderborch.com Gideon Messink, won met de, met North Sails uitgeruste zeilen J Lance 12 in Klasse C. De J/112e domineerde de wedstrijd en ging er met de eerste prijs overall vandoor. Voor het team is dit het tweede grote succes nadat ze de Europese Kampioenschappen IRC wonnen een paar maanden geleden (J Lance 12 crowned IRC Europan Champion). Bekijk hier de highlights van het WK Zeezeilen Den Haag vanuit de lucht door Wiebe de Jager! Bekijk hier het uitslagen van het WK Zeezeilen Den Haag READ MORE

OFFSHORE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Beau Geste Crowned Overall Champion 📸 Sander van der Borch / www.sandervanderborch.com Eighty-five teams competed on the North Sea in the first-ever IRC/ORC Offshore World Championship in The Hague. Yachts ranging between nine to 20 meters battled for podium space across three classes in this highly competitive regatta. Close racing left little room for errors throughout the week of varying conditions and race courses. In the end, Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste was named World Champion; a title they credit with being well prepared and executing spot-on boat handling. “Understanding the handicap rule, and then optimizing the boat was key to our success in The Hague,” commented Dave Lenz, North Sails designer, and Beau Geste tactician. “It is quite a challenge to get a boat optimized for IRC/ORC racing. You have to run your ideas through simulations in advance, where you’ll often find there are conflicts. Some rules favor a certain boat setup, and identifying potential gains and losses ahead of time helps us make well-informed decisions.” Lenz was also quick to point out the strength of the Beau Geste crew. “It was my first time racing with this team, and I was impressed by the collection of experience and expertise onboard. Team captain Gavin Brady is a great leader and was on the helm all week. Our hardest part of racing was fending off second place Outsider who was close to matching our boat speed. The crew did a great job staying focused, especially when we had to execute some match racing skills to fend off Outsider.” Fellow North Sails expert Dave Swete has been with Beau Geste for five years and joined Lenz onboard as lead-grinder. Both Swete and Lenz expressed their satisfaction in the boat’s 3Di inventory, and agree the sails were light, easy to handle and well matched for IRC/ORC sailing. Beau Geste’s secret weapon offshore was the 3Di Helix Luff Code Zero. “Our new Helix Luff Code Zero proved handy and performed well in the offshore race,” said Lenz. “It can be tough using a Code sail between a spinnaker and jib when you need to cover a wide range. I feel that the Helix Code did just that in an offshore race which gave us 100 and 110-TWA. Our North Sails Helix Code was the perfect option with a lot of breeze.” Beau Geste works closely with the North Sails team in New Zealand and designer Magnus Doole. “Our owner Karl highlighted that he wanted to win the event, so we knew getting a jump on our closest competition was critical,” reflects Swete. “There was a lot to consider each race because we needed to perform well under the two rating systems. Magnus and the team in New Zealand did a great job getting the boat exactly what she needed. We are feeling pretty good after our accomplishment at the Worlds.” 📸 Sander van der Borch / www.sandervanderborch.com Van Uden’s bowman, calling distance to the line 📸 Sander van der Borch / www.sandervanderborch.com In a tough battle for third place in Class A with Van Uden, Hitchhiker finished fourth, still sailing a great week with seven finishes within the top five. 📸 Sander van der Borch / www.sandervanderborch.com To find out more information on IRC/ORC Ratings and how teams were scored at the Worlds, click here. Full Results Offshore World Championship Class A 1 Beau Geste / Karl Kwok 3 Van Uden / Gerdjan Poortman Class B 3 Olympic / Tiit Vihul Class C 1 J Lance 12 / Giddeon Messink 3 Pro4u / Patrik Forsgren * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory READ MORE

NUR NORTH SAILS AUF DEM PODEST DES EURO CUP ESSE 850! Leider fanden sich in diesem Jahr nur 15 Boote in Malcesine ein, um vom 20.07. – 22.07.18 ihren Gardasee Meister zu küren. Trotzdem tat die ‘Fraglia Vela Malcesine’ wiederum alles, damit wir uns rundum wohl fühlen und viel segeln konnten. Dies war allerdings nicht immer einfach, da die Wetterlage sehr instabil war. Nach dem Briefing am Freitag konnte pünktlich um 13.00 das erste Race bei schwacher Ora (Südwind) gesegelt werden. Dieses gewann Alain Marchand auf ‘OttoCinqueDue’. Den zweiten Lauf entschied Daniel Schroff auf ‘sail NORTH’ für sich. Ein drittes Rennen musste abgebrochen werden und wir wurden angewiesen, schnell in den Hafen zu fahren, da ein Gewitter mit Blitz, Donner und Regen im Anmarsch war. Der Samstag ging im gleichen Stil weiter: Wir fuhren für einen Start um 9.00 h mit starkem Vento (Nordwind) raus, doch wurden noch in der Vorstartphase wieder reingeschickt, da die nächste Wetterfront kam. Danach konnten 3 Läufe mit zu Beginn noch recht starkem Nordwind gesegelt werden, wobei dies kein richtiger Vento mehr war, da die Richtung nicht ganz stimmte. Die Sieger der Läufe 3, 4 und 5: Alain Marchand, Clemens Wiedemann auf ‘Maitresse’ und Franz Schollmayer auf ‘Firlefranz’. Ein 4. Lauf konnte an diesem Tag nicht mehr gesegelt werden, da es am Nachmittag nochmals ein sehr starkes und langes Gewitter gab. Die vielen unterschiedlichen Sieger zeigen übrigens, wie eng alles in der Klasse geworden ist: Heute fahren alle schnell und hoch und es entscheidet sich nur noch an Kleinigkeiten, ob man siegt oder verliert. Am Sonntag ging es wieder am Morgen raus. Das Wetter hatte sich beruhigt und so wehte um 9.00 h ein sehr starker Vento. Am besten zurecht mit den Verhältnissen kam noch einmal Franz Schollmayer, danach gewann Julien Monnier auf ‘Zebrabox’ den Lauf Nummer 7, der am zweiten Luvfass abgekürzt werden musste, da der Wind einschlief. Ganz knapp haben es noch alle ins Ziel geschafft. Eigentlich dachten alle, wir fahren nun in den Hafen und warten auf die Ora. Doch nichts da, wir konnten gleich ins ‘Ora-Startgebiet’ fahren, wo bald zum 8. und letzten Race bei schwacher Ora gestartet wurde, welches nochmals Alain Marchand für sich entscheiden konnte. Somit sicherte er sich auch den Gesamtsieg vor Röbi Hartmann auf ‘blanc sur blanc’, der zwar keinen Laufsieg aufweisen konnte, doch sehr konstant immer vorne mit dabei war und Julien Monnier, alle drei Boote mit North Sails ausgestattet! Wir gratulieren herzlich und danken für das Vertrauen, denn von den 15 teilnehmenden Booten waren deren 11 komplett mit North Sails ausgestattet. Rangliste READ MORE

HARD WORKS NETS POSITIVE RESULTS Refocused Efforts Paying Off in the 2018 52 Super Series 📸52 Super Series The TP52 fleet is coming off the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais, Portugal last week where North Sails powered four of the top five boats. The TP52s have one of the most competitive circuits in sailing today, and require the most progressive sail technology and design. A few years ago North Sails recognized an opportunity to improve results and their 52 market share by doubling down their efforts within the class. North designers Mickey Ickert and Juan Meseguer are both deeply involved in the development of North’s TP52 products and use events like the Worlds to see first hand the feedback they’re getting from the trimmers. Mickey and Juan are in agreement that the last few years of hard work are evident this season. “There is no question that the communication and cooperation within the North Grand Prix designers has gotten even better,” said Juan. “Our design group is more effectively applying our use of software and data to help guide the design process and deliver performance information to trimmers. This is coupled with introducing 3Di RAW 880, the highest performance, most carbon dense sail developed specifically for the TP52. The key indicator of the performance shift is North clients are sailing with a lot of confidence this season.” Three events down and two remain in the 2018 52 Super Series circuit. The season to date has been positive, but the results do not surprise Mickey. “North Sails has put a lot of smart people and powerful tools towards the TP52 fleet. You have to believe all that hard work will pay off and that’s what we’re seeing now. I really think the North 3Di product continues to show why it’s so good, especially towards the end of the season where the sail cards will be limited. It would not come as a huge shock to see two North powered boats on the podium in the Series overall results.” 📸52 Super Series The final day of 2018 Worlds saw the two top ranked owner-driver teams of Sled and Alegre going head to head with Alegre coming up a winner. Azzurra and Quantum Racing, the two top pro-driver teams, went to battle through the final racing in a who-beat-who for the World Championship crown. A special congratulations to Andy Soriano’s Alegre who not only won the owner driver award, but collected their first Super Series podium finish this season. “The results from Cascais reflect the experience of the veterans teams, and their boat handling in the winder conditions,” commented Mickey. “Sled and Alegre both have very strong owner-drivers who have pushed their teams to the top limits. During the event someone commented that the gap between the owner-driver and fully pro teams is getting smaller and smaller. This is a great credit to the owners who keep improving their skills and building teams of great sailors.” 📸52 Super Series 📸52 Super Series 📸52 Super Series READ MORE

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: KINGSTON YACHT CLUB Kingston Yacht Club Hosts 2018 Eastern Yachting Circuit Kingston Yacht Club hosted the 2018 Eastern Yachting Circuit for a weekend of racing with over 300 participants. Sixty-one boats registered for the weekend with 56-crossing the starting line in four PHRF Divisions and a Shark fleet. Thursday July 12th saw the long distance race take place - 20 nm total, including the circumnavigation of Melville Shoal, Simcoe Island and Bayfield shoal. A one-hour postponement occurred due to light air and then the infamous Kingston 9-11 kt thermal fired up. The lead boats finished in four hours! Course racing began on Friday July 13th, continuing through the 14th. Five course races of approximately four nautical miles were completed over the two days with winds ranging from four knots to 11 knots from the West-Southwest. All five divisions enjoyed sailing the same windward-leeward course. A great time was had by all participants and volunteers throughout the event. North Sails Toronto was happy to contribute to the weekend of fun for racers. Congratulations to all competitors and podium finishers! Eastern Yachting Circuit Long Distance PHRF 1 Warpaint PHRF II Blaze PHRF IV Casual PHRF V Maia Sharks Shanti Overall Warpaint Couse Racing PHRF I Long Time Running PHRF II Cara Mia V PHRF III Casual PHRF IV Maia Sharks JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory READ MORE

J/70 UK NATIONALS Mark Lees and team win the J/70 UK Nationals with a fresh set of North Sails The 2018 National Championship saw the growing J/70 fleet at its full strength, with thirty-five boats entered for the 3-day event held by the Royal Southern Yacht Club. With light winds in the forecast for the weekend, there was high hopes for the Solent seabreeze. Fortunately PRO Stuart Childerley delayed racing each day guaranteeing great afternoon racing in the summer seabreezes. Mark Lees onboard SeriousFun with his young team were crowned 2018 UK National Champions after ten races, with a lead of 20 points and four bullets. They raced on a brand new boat with new North sails straight off the shelf the day before the regatta. In second place overall was reigning J/111 World Champions, Martin Dent with his team onboard Jelvis and rounding off the podium in third place was Doug Struth’s DSP who were also first corinthian team. All three top teams were powered by North! We caught up with Mark Lees to learn more about their experience: Brand new boat and brand new team – What did you do to make sure the boat was ready for racing? Not a lot! We only got the boat the day before the regatta and didn’t expect to be ready in time. The forecast was for a light weekend and we thought it would be a good chance to shake the boat down. We made sure we checked the rig setup thoroughly and went into the racing with very open minds. To have the boat go as well as it did was a very pleasant surprise. Why North Sails? Which models did you use? When starting out in a new class I thought it was important to reduce as many variables as possible. I have a good relationship with the guys at North Sails from previous campaigns and they advised which sails most of the fleet were using – the whole process couldn’t have been easier. We used the XCS-1 mainsail, J-6 Jib and AP-1 spinnaker. Did you follow the North Sails Tuning Guide? We started off bang on the North guide and didn’t stray too much. We thought we were on the lighter side as a crew so we changed up a little earlier than the guide. The J/70 is not the only class you sail, what experience did you bring from Etchells to the J/70? The basics are key. As mentioned we weren’t as well prepared for this event as we would have liked. We didn’t put pressure on ourselves with any expectations, which was definitely an advantage, but we focused very hard on the basics. We followed the tuning guide, we started well – choosing a side of the course and then aiming for a clean start in that half of the line but away from the pack. From there we tried to keep it simple and fought hard to stay in clear air. Tell us a little about your team onboard I had a fantastic team of close friends and very good sailors. My girlfriend Hannah Peters has been doing a lot of J/70 sailing recently which really helped us. It was fantastic for us to sail together. Toby Mumford used to match race with me and we’ve sailed together for a long time. He’s good for me as he always gives an honest opinion about how I am sailing – good or bad! Annabel Vose, our tactician, who I have sailed with and against many times. She did a great job this weekend and made my life a lot easier. There are a lot of very good sailors in this fleet so I’m glad she was on our boat! This is a testimonial to not only Mark and his team’s racing skill but also to the production and consistency of the boats and the sails. Here at North Sails we pride ourselves in our worldwide consistency in the production of our One Design sails and Mark’s win is a true testimonial to this. Congratulations to Mark and team SeriousFun. To find out more about the North Sails tuning guide or to speak to one of our J/70 experts, head to the class page! J/70 UK Nationals 2018 1 SeriousFun / Mark Lees 2 Jelvis / Martin Dent 3 DSP / Doug Struth 5 Calypso / Calascione/ Ripard 6 Eat,Sleep,J,Repeat / Paul Ward 7 Sorcha J / Peter Harrison 8 JDog / John Greenland 9* Darcey / Clive Bush * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory Full results READ MORE

Classic Regatan aikaan päivystämme kilpailupaikalla ja purjeneulomolla ovat ovet kiinni. Purjeiden noudot, toimitukset ja varaosat onnistuvat etukäteen puhelmessa- tai sähköpostilla sopimalla. mikko.rottluff@northsails.com 02 2753 050 READ MORE

MY FIRST TIME ON A VX ONE How Mike Marshall sailed a VX for the first time and won 7 out 8 races After hopping in a VX One for the first time at the 2018 Newport Regatta, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Lucky for me, I had a great crew in Jeff Eiber, whose boat USA 175 we were sailing. He was able to get the initial tuning in place so that I could spend the regatta getting to know the boat and what makes it go fast. Because we had winds from 4 to 15 knots, I got to experience the VX One in a wide range of conditions. What transpired was a lot of falling down in the back of the boat, a lot of getting tangled up in lines, and a whole lot of learning coupled with a whole lot of fun. “The VX One rewards the fundamentals of sailing” -That’s my catchphrase for this boat. What does it mean? It means that the VX One rewards clear air, good boat handling, clean starts, great boat balance, hard work, and letting the boat talk to you about what it needs – in short, the basics of sailboat racing. VANG ON As expected, sailing this boat flat is the key upwind, but you also need to be able to put the bow down. There are two solutions to this problem: Add weight to the rail or pull the vang on and hike. Since the boat is very weight-sensitive and more weight hurts you downwind, the best solution is to use the vang, and a lot of it. On the windiest day, with 15 knots, I pulled the vang as hard as I could get it. This allowed me to ease the sheet to stop the boat from heeling while still maintaining the leech tension for point. Consequently, I was able to put the bow down and get the boat sailing flat while keeping the leech engaged and forcing the boat upwind. For a short-cord keelboat, the faster you go, the better the foil works, and therefore the boat slides to leeward less, but at the same time the boat also “releases.” By this I mean that it frees up and becomes easier to sail. Small rudder movements do more to change the boat’s direction instead of just creating drag. The mainsheet becomes easier to play because instead of having to dump and trim 6 feet of sheet, you have to play only 1 to 2 feet. The increase in speed powers the boat through waves instead of having the feeling that you’re hitting them and bouncing off. All this means that you can spend more time going fast and less time worrying about your speed relative to other boats. The key to the whole mix is the vang. Whenever I felt the boat bound up, I’d try pulling on a little more vang, and off we’d go again. This was true even in the lighter air. RIG TUNE Another piece of the puzzle was the rig tune. Thankfully, Jeff did most of the work here, but by the end of the event, I had asked enough questions that I was starting to understand what he was looking for. In any condition going upwind, he’d start from a base setting and observe the leeward upper. He was looking for it to be just going slack. Then I’d trim the main in harder than I normally would, and we’d look for over-bend wrinkles. Jeff wanted the large wrinkles from the spreader to be traveling about half way down to the clew of the sail. If they extended more than that, he’d tighten both lowers the same amount. If the wrinkles extended less than that, he’d ease off the lowers. This procedure kept the main looking flat enough in the breeze and full enough in light air. As for the base setting, Jeff would always set the boat up for the lightest wind that we were expecting during that particular race. STAY OUT OF THE BACK OF THE BOAT Next on my list of things learned was to stay out of the back of the boat. This lesson applied to doing anything, not just normal sailing. It was so easy to get too far back in the boat in a gybe, but that would simply stop us. The same was true for tacks, although they were a bit less critical. Staying out of the back rewarded us with good roll tacks and good roll gybes. And the reward didn’t just come from rolling hard or staying forward. It came from exiting the tack or the gybe at the correct angle so that the boat would power up right away. Upwind, if you’re too low, you’ll give up boat lengths, whereas if you’re too high, the boat will stop. The same concept holds when sailing downwind, but in the opposite direction whereby giving up boat lengths comes from being too high. FIND A CLEAR LANE In virtually all sailboat racing, you need to sail in a clear lane, but doing so was particularly important for our VX One. Because we were light on crew weight (350 lbs.), we needed to be very careful about having a heavy boat above us that could roll us or a light boat to leeward with insufficient vang on that was pinching. With a clear lane, we could fall into our bow-down mode, and within three boat lengths, we were the same point as the boats around us, by going faster than they were and in turn sliding sideways less. In closing, I want to give a plug to the VX One. It’s really fun to sail. Hike hard and try to be as fast as possible all the time, and the boat will reward you in spades. With luck, I’ll get back out on a VX One soon. I’m just hoping that the next time will be in 15+ knots with the spinnaker flying! Learn more about the North Sails fast VX sails. READ MORE

LAKE ONTARIO 300: A TRUE TEST Powered By North Sails, Team Blast Battled In Grueling Conditions The Test of Time After three plus days of offshore racing and over 300 miles traveled, Team Blast endured one of the toughest tests of perseverance and tenacity that the annual Lake Ontario 300 Challenge (LO300) could throw at them. For 29 years, the LO300 has been the hallmark event for extreme and committed sailors around North America; a pilgrimage for those enticed for long distance racing in the midst of July, giving sailors a measurable challenge to circumnavigate 300+ miles around the waters of Lake Ontario. For the crew of Team Blast, this years LO300 will be one not forgotten. With the lack of breeze, emotional highs and lows, starting in 1st to 6th to 2nd, and not to mention battling with fatigue and discovering new species of bugs the size of small birds. This race was one of the toughest yet for Team Blast. The Race: “A Constant Uphill Battle” Prior to starting, the wind forecast called for showers throughout the day on Saturday with 0-3 knots and not showing to pick up until Monday evening to 10-15 knots with the potential of severe thunderstorms. The crew knew this scenario very well, as specializing in light breeze has become a common occurrence for the crew on Lake Ontario. This meant there was a potential for periods of zero breeze. To combat this, the team knew their brand new custom A2 spinnaker would be their secret weapon, along with a new 3Di main sail. This, with their laser focus mentality to never give up, no matter how light the breeze, would take them through the race. On their first leg they were able to jump into the lead heading downwind along the rum line to Oswego. By the time they arrived, their position swapped to sixth place around Main Duck then they clawed their way back to second and held it to the finish. The team is very pleased with the result, considering the conditions they endured. Words from Blast helmsman Mike Hasko describe the teams friendship and dedication to the race: “What made me most proud was that even during the most difficult (drifting backwards, melting on deck from heat) moments, not once was their mention of giving up and retiring. While turning on the engine and motoring back to air conditioning and work commitments would have be an easy out, the fact that we were determined to finish made me proud to call you friends and be part of Team Blast.” The Aftermath So the inevitable question is asked, “Will Team Blast be returning next year for another go around the lake?” Right after every LO300 the grimacing answer is often “Please never again.” However after several days - the answer almost always changes to the later, with a positive yes. As the team members of Blast come out of their post 300 daze, they are looking forward to enjoying a drink all together celebrating yet another Lake Ontario 300. READ MORE

A CHALLENGE OF NEW PROPORTIONS: LAKE ONTARIO 300/600 300 NM Of Skill Testing Conditions Hot. Humid. Flies. Light Air. Muggy. How one would describe the annual Lake Ontario 300/600 Challenge, presented by DriveHG, out of Port Credit Yacht Club. A 300 nm race around Lake Ontario beginning and ending in Port Credit, Ontario would be a true test to every sailors’ skills both mentally, physically and technically. The light air made it one of the most challenging editions of the race to date. With average winds maxing out at four knots in the beginning of the race, it made many racers question why they were participating. That said, many hung on and continued to race, hoping conditions would improve. The heat increased, and the ever so known flies made their usual appearance throughout the courses. North Sails client Afterburn, a Soto 40 from Port Credit, saw six knots at the beginning of the race and took off, rounding Ford Shoal first and then Main Duck Island. Not far behind, Suspect, a Perry 59 outfitted with all new 3Di this year, battled it out with Volvo 60 Esprit de Corps IV for most of the race – the entire way around Main Duck Island. Suspect, with local North Sales Expert Hugh Beaton onboard, saw up to 15-knots on the leg to Niagara. Hugh noted; I was looking forward to the race and getting a chance to see how the boat performed after her extensive re-fit. We had worked hard over the winter to develop a simple, versatile inventory that would be used for offshore cruising, and yet also used for some distance racing on the Great Lakes before heading for Blue Water. The boat is a treat to sail on, with all the equipment needed for a comfortable 300-mile race. Our inventory was minimal; 135% roller furling genoa, full batten mainsail, furling code zero and A2 asymmetric spinnaker. The mainsail and genoa are 3Di ENDURANCE 760, making them very versatile and resilient. Even though it was a light air race, we did reduce canvas on the last leg when the front came through and our systems worked great. The most important sail turned out to be the furling code zero which was easy to use and fast in a wide range of conditions when we had to sail higher angles. A must-have for distance racing and passage-making. As in every race we learned a lot and are eager to do it again - hopefully with a little more wind this next time! The crew of Afterburn took home the IRC division win for the LO300 this year. MDC-IRC-FS-FC-1 too, being winners of the Sperry Cup and Sperry Gold Cup! Meanwhile, Beneteau 10R Blast battled with another local Benteau 10R Zoom from Main Duck to Niagara in the light air; finishing second place in their division, MDC-PHRF-FS-FC-2, with a corrected time of 3:01:19:54. Solo sailor Kim Piller on Live Wire, a J/109 withstood the conditions and finished the race with a corrected time of 3:04:41:15 placing second in MDC-PHRF-SH-1. Racers on Scotch Bonnet experienced light winds as well, not as brutal as Main Duck the first night, but still equally as testing. By Sunday morning racers had not reached or rounded Scotch Bonnet Island yet. After lots of patience, competitors began catching some wind and gaining ground on the finish line. The first batch of racers did not cross the finish until Monday evening around 10PM, with the majority of the fleet coming through after midnight and 6AM. Long time North Sails customer Michael Brown with his C&C30, Windburn, finished second in SBC-HRF-FS-DH, with a corrected time with 2:06:05:39. While most were happy (and relieved) to finally finish the LO300, a few continued on to complete the Lake Ontario 600 – another 300 nm around the lake. We applaud all those who partook in this feat. As exclusive sailmaker for the Lake Ontario 300 and 600 Challenge, the team from North Sails Toronto was happy to be onsite before and after the race to assist racers with any last-minute sail needs; including post-race pick-up and delivery to the loft. READ MORE

J/70 ITALIAN CUP – MALCESINE Petite Terrible wins the Inaugural J/70 Italian Championship whilst Calvi Network take the Italian Cup The third act in the J/70 Italian Cup 2018 was combined with the first ever Italian Championship in Malcesine, with seventy-four boats turning up for the event. Lake Garda’s typical conditions of light winds in the morning followed by strong thermal winds in the afternoon came through in style across the three-day event. As the 2018 Italian Cup has gone on, the competition has been getting tighter and tighter across the fleet as boats get into the groove. In eight races there were eight different race winners, seven of them powered by full North Sails inventories. Overall, Gianfranco Noe’s Calvi Network kept their cool throughout the regatta with consistent results in the top ten places of the scoreboard securing the win in Malcesine and putting them also in the lead of the Italian Cup standings. “I’m very happy about our performance and I can say that we were super fast on the water. The team work and the good tactics call in some difficult situation have been the key of the success.” Giulio Desiderato, Trimmer onboard Calvi Network The results for the 2018 Italian Championship were taken from the weekend’s results and boats with entirely Italian crew were eligible. In third place overall and winner of the first ever Italian Championship was Claudia Rossi’s Petite Terrible. Claudia and her team were using a full North Sails inventory consisting of M-2 Mainsail, J-2 Jib and AP- 1 Spinnaker. Congratulations to all North Sails clients who won races in Malcesine, for what turned out to be the tightest regatta yet. If you are interested in buying any North Sails products, or want to find out how these teams are using their North Sails to full advantage, get in touch with one of our J/70 experts today! J/70 Italian Cup – Malcesine 1 Calvi Network / Gianfranco Noe 3 Petite Terrible / Claudia Rossi 4 Team Notaro / Luca Domenici 5 Viva / Tommaso Pavan 6 L’Elagain / Franco Solerio 7 Uji Uji / Alessio Marinelli 8 Enfant Terrible / Alberto Rossi 9 Alice / Federico Leproux 10 Joyfull / Denis Cherevatenko * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory J/70 Italian Championship 2018 1 Petite Terrible / Claudia Rossi 2 Team Notaro / Luca Domenici 3 Viva / Tommaso Pavan 4 L’Elagain / Franco Solerio 5 Uji Uji / Alessio Marinelli 6 Enfant Terrible / Alberto Rossi 7 Alice / Federico Leproux * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory Full results READ MORE

2018 ILYA MC SCOW INVITATIONAL North ZMax Powers Winners in All Divisions This past week MC Scow sailing really started heating up with another big championship regatta with the ILYA MC Invitational Regatta at Nagawicka Lake in southern Wisconsin. The 42 boat fleet had some of the best MC sailors in the country in attendance and for sure you could tell they were getting ready for the biggest two events of the year coming up soon. Just in a couple of weeks you have the ILYA MC Championship at Upper Minnetonka and a few weeks after that the MC National Championship at Pewaukee. The Regatta This is one of our few three day regattas held each year and for many attending it was four days with setup and practice. A beautiful lake in Nagawicka Lake , a great club with over the top volunteers made for a great event this past week. The weather brought a huge high pressure system with big heat, humidity and dew points. Some unstable conditions but a fantastic PRO and RC team timed things out well and we raced 6 of our 7 races scheduled. All challenging but all fair. Race 7 was cancelled last day due to unstable winds. The Sailors Forty two teams were signed up on this busy weekend of sailing in scow country. The E Invite which has a lot of MC sailors was held this past weekend as well so we know 10-20 MC sailors who would normally attend MC Invite were missing. However, the group was tough. We had former national champs, Inland Champs, Masters Champs, Youth Champs and many other great skippers on hand. It was a tough group and a fun group to race with this week. The Results The sailing was tight with the forward two, three, four boats each race. Seems like the conditions of light to light-medium winds with big areas of wind and big light spots always allowed the forward group to sneak away quickly starting around the top mark each race. The rich got richer every time. Then usually about 5-20 was always pretty tight. Bill Colburn a favorite coming into this event had a great shootout early on with Dan Quiram and Ryan Grosch. In fact before race 5 and then race 6 (which gave us a dropout) it was really close between these three. The last day was a cut and dried deal. Bill went out and won both races sealing the championship win. North-powered clients with the ZMax finished 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and all divisions! Lessons Learned Al Haeger did a nice 30 minute Q&A for SailZing and the group attending. Probably the highlight of this Q&A with the top five finishers after four races was a real zinger from Bill Colburn. He said something really good but how he got there was funny. He started by saying “I like to have no plan” and the question was how do you prepare. He finally got to what he meant and that he felt being agile and flexible with shifting conditions was important. Be ready to shift gears and do something quite different than have a rigid plan. Regatta arbitrator Peter Keck (C Scow National Champ and more) added that really where planning is important was pre-race and that so much is accomplished then in getting ready to be in a good position to do well on the race course. Great comments from all. Certainly having panels after good days of sailing and many races helps all. We also focused on how folks at the back of the pack and in the middle could do better as well. “Like I always say try to get 10% better each week you sail. That is a doable goal but a big goal everyone can attain.” – Eric Hood Other Regatta News In closing we have to give huge kudos and thanks to Craig Heinze, his wife Michele, son Ethan and about 30 other volunteers both on and off the water. This club knows how to put a regatta on. The whole event for sure was very well done and I for one MC sailor will go back anytime Nagawicka holds an event. Get ready to sail in the big ILYA Championships soon at Upper Minnetonka. Register and get details at www.ilya.org then of course the big National Championship at Pewaukee the end of August. Register for Nationals at www.mscow.org Learn more about North fast MC Scow sails. READ MORE

2018 J/80 Worlds First-takes From A New Team Nigel Young, from North Sails in Ireland recently competed in Les Sables d’Olonne, France for the 2018 J/80 World Championship. Competing with a new team, there was much to learn as they sailed together throughout the week. We caught up with Nigel after the regatta to get his insights being a new team taking on some of the best J/80 sailors in the World. Here is what he had to say about their experience. The J/80 fleet in Europe is highly competitive. With the size of this latest event, the strength of the fleet is noticeable. In Les Sables, the downwind legs of the races were a bit tricky, as they set the course so competitors would have more of a close reach to the left gate. The finish was also tough because of this as it forced each boat to have a tight rounding at the top of the mark with an immediate jibe to port to make the favored end of the finish line. It’s very hard to catch up or pass any boats when the course is set like this. “My team used North Sails T-6R mainsail, the BTY-15 and APi-1 3Di RAW jib and the MR-5 spinnaker. We noticed great speed throughout the event, and even won a race in the middle of the week which was definitely our team highlight. A few other teams used 3Di jibs too, and they were notably fast. The product is very durable and stable for the J/80, and teams that are using it can see its benefits.” Pat O’Neil, skipper and owner, has only been competing in the J/80 class for about 15 months now, which made this experience at the Worlds very beneficial for him. Nigel really enjoys competing in the class because the J/80 is enjoyable and the fleet is competitive. He’s competed in two World Championships prior to this one, with a little bit of local fleet racing in between. His normal suit is a Melges 24, and he explained how the J/80 is a “toned-down” version of that. “The J/80 the mast is made of alloy and the boat is a bit heavier, but again this is a great class to be involved in and there is always something to learn or improve. They typically race us at some nice venues too, so no complaints there!”, said Nigel. “The best part of racing last week was surfing downwind in 25 knots. It was very exciting! Everyday it was very warm and sunny, which allowed the thermal to fill in -in the afternoon giving us perfect sailing conditions.” With Patrick O’Neil at the helm, their tactician/jib trimmer was Ryan Glynn, and Gareth Kyne did bow and helped with strategy. Nigel focused on rig set up and tuning, sail trim, main trim, and spinnaker trim. Three things to know about the J/80 that will allow you to be competitive from Nigel Young: Rig set-up must be spot on. Max crew weight is very crucial. The backstay is very important to constantly be playing, especially in building pressure. “Competing in a World Championship in this class is a great experience. It is truly the best way to test your speed and set up. You’ll know very quickly if you are fast or not. Sailors that compete in this class are very talented, and if you can keep up with them, you are testing your skills at the highest level.” This event was very challenging for the new team. There was a lot to say about the regatta organization in Les Sables, which was beyond first class. The race officer was one of the best Nigel said he’s ever had the pleasure of racing with. The teams from France and Spain were very competitive and quite good. Nigel concluded; “It was very hard to do well in this class, consistently. We look forward to our next chance to race against the best and improve as a team.” For more information on our J/80 products, contact your local expert today. North Sails J/80 Tuning Guide READ MORE

LIGHTNING ATLANTIC COASTS North Powers Rob Crane to Win and All Top 10 Boats The month of July features a packed schedule of events for the Lightning class this year and the Atlantic Coast Championship, held at Nyack Boat Club, Nyack NY this past weekend, were the featured “mid-point” event. Twenty-three teams found there way to the Hudson River venue sailing just underneath the newly constructed Tappan Zee Bridge. Olympian Rob Crane, with his sister Kelly and Andrea Fisher, mastered the challenging currents and wind shifts that the river brought and posted a 1,1,5,2,1 scorecard over the 5-race series to bring home the title. Saturday brought warm weather, plenty of sun and pleasant 5-9 mph southwesterly breezes which allowed the race committee to press on and provide four fair and challenging races. The teams that stayed patient and found the stronger velocities were rewarded with consistent finishes while those who “chased” the puffs often times found themselves arriving to late to catch the breeze that those ahead had found. Sunday morning dawned with far less promise of sailable breeze to get the final scheduled race completed. Undeterred, the fleet “sailed” to the middle of the river and, after a 45 minute postponement, a light southwesterly filled and the fleet headed off on a 5-leg WL race. Bucking a strong incoming tide the balance was between finding wind and getting towards the shallower water near the west side of the river. Rob Crane and his team found some great lanes in the middle of the course which got them to the weather mark with a nice lead which they held to the finish. Congratulations also to Bob Sengstacken and his crew, wife Penny and Maud Lindsay (and Dan Zitin as a Sunday fill in) who won the Met Districts that were held in conjunction with the ACCs. The big takeaways from the weekend were to stay patient and keep your head out of the boat. The importance of teamwork really played out as the skipper needed to constantly work on boat speed in the ever changing velocities and shifts while the crew worked on finding wind and the best path to the next pressure while monitoring the current. Learn more about North fast Lightning sails. 2018 Lightning Atlantic Coast Championship 1 Rob Crane / M5, 5A+, R2 2 Justin Coplan / M5, 5A+, R2 3 Stephen Constants* / North R75 jib 4 Doug Clark / MF2, JF2, R2 5 Jim Crane / M5, 5A+, R2 6 Bill Bogardus* / MF2, JF2 7 Eric Heller / MF2, JF2, R2 8 Bob Sengstacken / MF2, JF2, R2 9 Brian Hayes, Jr / MF2, JF2, R2 10 Hugh Hutchison* / MF2, JF2 * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory READ MORE

ASHBY WINS ANOTHER WITH NORTH SAILS Multihull Superstar Glenn Ashby Wins 2018 A-Class Europeans Glenn Ashby has many titles to list on his CV; World Champion, America’s Cup Defender, and he can now add 2018 A-Class European Champion after an impressive regatta in Warnemunde, Germany last week. In a week plagued by varying conditions and postponements, Glenn’s sailing remained consistent over five races; he won four of five races, with the second closest boat 10 points behind. “The biggest thing that culled a lot of people out was the seastate,” Glenn remarked on the conditions. “It was quite wavy and quite difficult conditions, particularly for foiling. I didn’t expect the wave state to be quite so high, but you adapt and rely on the experience you have collected over the years and different conditions.” Some of the world’s best sailors enjoy the challenges of the A-Class and the 87-boat fleet in Warnemunde listed many well-known names from the multihull community. Racing an A-Class catamaran is an experience made for true speed-racing enthusiasts who thrive on a rush of adrenaline. Glenn advises balancing risk and reward as a critical factor in the competitive A-Class fleet. “At times pays to be a little bit conservative with how you sail the boat and not risk a capsize,” suggests Glenn. “That is certainly true in the windier conditions we saw at times during the Europeans. Back off at times, but also know when you should push hard and take the gains.” Multihull superstar by experience and sailmaker by trade, Ashby partnered with North Sails in 2016 to design and market the Glenn Ashby Signature Line of A-Class sails. Glenn, along with other North Sails clients, used the Decksweeper 2 during the Europeans. This sail is designed to achieve optimum speed and power at high speed, while still being able to cope in the lighter wind where foiling is more challenging. “I am pleased with how the Decksweeper 2 performed, both for myself and all the North Sails clients,” commented Ashby. “Everyone was happy sailing better than their expectations; always a pleasant thing. Lots of A-Class sailors have gotten onboard with this design, and I think there is going to be a lot of interest in this sail in the lead up to Worlds.” The 2018 Worlds is the next major event on Glenn’s A-Class schedule. With Team New Zealand obligations for the next few weeks, Glenn is dedicating September and October to preparing for the Worlds, which will be held in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia this November. And what is Glenn thinking about for a sail choice? “At the moment I am planning on using the Decksweeper 2F, the next generation of the standard Decksweeper 2. The sail is just slightly flatter than the standard and better suited for Hervey Bay.” Editor’s Note: When we spoke with Glenn, he was on a train (somewhere in Germany) at the start of his long trip to get home. Once back, Glenn will rejoin Emirates Team New Zealand at their home base as they plan their America’s Cup defense. Rumor has it a few of the ETNZ guys are quite keen to get back in the A-Class. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the Worlds entry list. READ MORE

OK Dinghy Worlds 2018 North Sails Powers André Budzien to Victory in Warnemunde at the OK World Championship © Robert Deaves The OK Dinghy has seen a huge resurgence in recent years, increasing numbers at both club and the international level. This year around 140 competitors took part in the World Championship in Warnemunde. This fleet attracts a huge amount of World class sailors, including many well-known names from several Olympic sailing teams. This year’s competition was a true test of skill. The week started off with heavy conditions, which allowed for surfing downwind, yet still making it challenging for the upwind legs. The fleet was split into two flights due to overall headcount. On the first day two races were completed, and by the end of the day there were four different race winners, making it extremely close at the front end of the fleet. This really set the standards high for the rest of the week. With a day missed mid-week due to the wind, sailors were keen to get back on the water for the penultimate day when the weather came through with near-perfect conditions. Coming into the final day, only four points separated the top four competitors, making it anyone’s game going into the final races. The last race saw pre-worlds winner André Budzien score a bullet, confirming his victory in front of Fredrik Loof, the pre-event favourite. Rounding off the podium in third place was Jan Kurfeld, fresh from his win at Kiel Week. Fortunately his solid scoreline earlier in the week meant the UFD in the last race was discarded. Jan was just one point behind second place, the podium positions could not have been closer! We caught up with Andre Budzien after the regatta. Here is what he had to say about his North KAP-1 Mainsail : “I used the KL-1 for the Pre-Worlds and it worked well. Since I was using the KAP-1 in the training prior to the event, I chose to use it for racing. It is a very nice looking sail and very powerful with lots of twist in the top area. This gave me some fast upwind legs, with great speed and point. Downwind was also super!” North Sails has once again proved itself to be the preferable sailmaker of choice for another One Design class, with it’s dominance at the top end of the fleet, including the new 2018 OK World Champion. If you are interested in any North products or want to speak to an expert to find out how to make the most out of your OK sails, then get in touch today! OK Dinghy World Championship 2018 GER 1 Andrè Budzien GER 3 Jan Kurfeld GBR 4 Charlie Cumbley SWE 5 Thomas Hansson-Mild NZL 10 Luke Gower * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory © Robert Deaves © Robert Deaves Full results READ MORE

18FT SKIFF WORLDS 2018 Interview With The 18ft Skiff World Champion After three prior attempts, Matt Steven and his crew onboard Honda Racing accomplished their ultimate goal of winning the JJ Giltinan World Championship in Sydney representing Royal Akarana Yacht Club and the Auckland Skiff League. ©Suellen Davies / Live Sail Die Matt, New Zealand North Sails expert is a keen match racer and keelboat sailor, taking part in the World Match Racing Tour and the Extreme Sailing Series. He also has a passion for Skiff sailing and was recently named World Champion after coming a close second two years in a row. The 18’ Skiff is at the pinnacle of sail and hull development and North Sails are proud to have kitted Matt’s boat with a 3Di mainsail. We had a chat with Matt about his success and what helped him to get there. Matt, give us a brief overview of the conditions at the Worlds and your main competition? We had a full mix bag of conditions ranging from 5 knots to 25 knots and SW through to NE. The NZ fleet have really stepped up in the last few years with some top young sailors coming into the class. We knew our toughest competition would be from the young NZ Maersk team who we had been training with back home. What were your goals going into the regatta? We only had one result in mind as our outcome goal after finishing agonisingly close to the top spot in the previous two years. We had a clear plan of keeping clean, sailing conservatively and minimising risk. In your opinion, what were the key aspects that helped you win the Worlds this year? Keeping calm and self-belief I think. We faced some adversity on the first day. Our bowman tore two ligaments in his ankle before the start of the first race in a practice tack, still not sure how but he got through the pain! Once we started we were fouled by a cruising boat and found ourselves in last place at the top mark, but fought our way back to fourth. That ended up giving us the confidence that we were fast. A good debrief on day one set the tone for the regatta, which led to a more conservative approach. This ended up being a winning formula. Tell us a little about the sails you use and what makes them so fast. We use 3Di RAW for the mainsails and our 3DL jibs from the previous year. We’ve transitioned to 100% 3Di for the coming season. We have worked closely with designers, giving them lots of feedback and just making small improvements each year. It has been a big catch up game to compete with the Aussies, but we now feel at least on par speed wise using the right sails and design. The biggest gain with the 3Di sails is every time we go sailing the sail shape is exactly the same there is very low stretch and they last extremely well. What’s your top tip for success in any boat/fleet? Understand what gear you have and how to use it. It’s not the quantity of training it is the quality, if you always have small micro goals and tick them off you will see large gains in the long run. We know you are also competitive in other classes around NZL, what are your plans for the rest of the year? At the moment I am sailing in the Auckland Keelboat fleet, sailing with different customers each week through the winter series. I am also aiming to do the NZ Match Racing Nationals. Come summer we will be back in the 18, gearing up to defend the title and get a few more kiwi boats up to the top of the fleet. I also love cruising. Having grown up cruising every summer as a kid I have a strong goal to take some time off this year and get out and see the wider Hauraki Gulf. If you are interested in North 3Di products, get in touch with Matt Steven to see what we can do for you. READ MORE

THEY’LL TAKE ANOTHER Inga from Sweden On Fire 📸Melges 40/Barracuda Communication First Palma and then Porto Cervo, Inga from Sweden is taking the Melges 40 class by storm. The team has won the first two regattas in the Melges 40 Grand Prix, with world-renowned sailor and North Sails expert Cameron Appleton calling tactics for the team. Richard Goransson, owner of Inga was quick to praise Appleton for his efforts. “This regatta has been Cameron’s regatta,” remarked Richard. “Cam called all the right moves.” For Cameron, winning the second Grand Prix event meant being successful in executing Inga’s game plan, limiting their losses, and staying focused to capitalize on other’s mistakes. The week in Porto Cervo saw the team picking up trends, within the fleet and the weather, and also trusting their teamwork. Cameron checked in with North Sails HQ after landing back in his hometown of Newport, Rhode Island earlier this week. Read on for his perspective on this event and the exciting Melges 40 class. On the Melges 40: “The Melges 40 is a new and developing class, just five boats right now. The boat is unique; it has a canting keel, and is a slightly different concept. It’s a step in a little bit of a different direction, more Grand Prix than traditional one-design classes. The boats are fantastic; they perform well, and across varying conditions. Events like Porto Cervo help to showcase the class and, hopefully, encourage new people to join the fleet.“ 📸Melges 40 Grand Prix/Zerogradinord On Inga: “We has some dream races in the wind when the Mistral kicked up. We had our windiest sailing day to date, but had to fight for every inch to win races. Everything is new, and we are developing our skills and knowledge of the Melges 40 as we move through the season. The team is still learning this boat, and my focus was to keep the boat balanced in the good conditions and keep the boat ripping.“ 📸Melges 40/Barracuda Communications On Sails: “North 3Di RAW is featured on two boats in the fleet; Inga and Alessandro Rombelli’s Stig. Giovanni Cassinari and Marco Capitani have been instrumental behind the Melges 40 sail designs. Christian Kamp and I work closely with the designers to collect feedback from the water and incorporated that into each generation of sails. We have seen good speed across a range of conditions, even though extremely light is not Inga’s strength. We’ll get a new delivery of sails in August, designed specifically for the conditions we expect to see for the remainder of this season.“ 📸Melges 40/Barracuda Communications On What’s Next: “The Melges 40 Grand Prix 3 in Palma early August. For Inga, our goal is to try and stay up on the leaderboard. We have a great crew, we’re handing the boat well, and the team dynamics are working right now. And I think that’s showing in our results.“ 📸Melges 40/Barracuda Communications READ MORE

2018 LIGHTNING YOUTH WORLDS North Powers US Team GEN 5 To Dramatic Comeback Not all World Championships are won with unlimited budgets and on-hand support staff. Some are won by sailors who are just determined to make their dreams happen. Team Gen5, consisting of Jeffrey Hayden (helm), Brian Hayes Jr. (tactics) and Meredith Ryan (bow), qualified for the 2018 Lightning Youth Worlds last August in New Jersey, and while they all had a desire to compete in Greece, they lacked one important component; the financial resources. They decided to overcome that obstacle by selling t-shirts, setting up a Go-Fund-Me account, organizing talks and presentations to local sailing clubs to gain donations, and got the support from family and friends so they could take their grass-roots program overseas and sail against the best Youth Lightning sailors in the world. The result was three-young adults, with only a small amount of sailing time together, who strung together back-to-back race wins in the final two races of the championship that moved them from 7th place to the top of the podium on the final day to win the 2018 Lightning Youth World Championship. The event was held in Voula, Greece by the NAOV of Voula, with support from the Yacht Club of Greece. Sixteen teams from seven countries with many top junior sailors in the field including three-time Junior North American Champion, Tanner Probst, Jenna Probst and Maya Weber. Strong teams from Brazil, Chile, Greece and Canada were also in attendance. The seven-race series featured a fabulous mix of conditions with light to moderate breeze in five of the seven races. Two races had much trickier conditions that gave the fleet puffy and shifty offshore seabreeze (yes, offshore!) that made it very challenging for sailors, testing their skills and endurance. On day one light-dying breeze from the WNW greeted teams. Jeff Hayden’s team (USA 14748) took an early lead in the light air and extended to a large lead as the breeze died, which worked out well when the RC shortened the course. One hour later, the seabreeze filled in over the Greek peninsula rewarding teams with a solid 14-22 mph offshore breeze with large shifts and a variety of pressure changes. Each of the final two races of day-one were sailed in these beautiful conditions. Team Brazil (BRA 15333) won the second race, and locals (GRE 14817) took the win in the last race of the day. Day two had a more typical Voula 6-10 mph breeze from the WSW eventually shifting SSE. BRA 15333 and GRE 14817 both found the conditions to their liking and each won one race to set the stage for a final day of racing. The scores were scattered with some protests and redress hearings, which put the pressure on the competitors on Saturday, the final day of racing. The final day brought a little bit of everything. USA 14748 did very well in race six, repeating their win with a nice lead. Now that the fleet had completed six races, a throw-out was granted which really tightened up the top of the scoresheet. Going into the final race with five teams within three points of each other was the real deal. The key was to find a clear lane and be on the correct side of the shift. Team Gen5 executed a near perfect start ⅓ up from the pin. Having a nice hole to leeward, they were able to accelerate and punch-out from their competitors. They sent it to the port layline, extending their lead to win the final race of the World Championship and seal the deal for team USA, deeming them the 2018 Lightning Youth World Champions. Way to go team USA! All top ten teams were powered by North Sails. Learn more about North fast Lightning sails. Start of race #7. Note hole to leeward of 14748 as they race to the left. © Nigel Vick READ MORE

Det er nu et år siden North Sails lancerede 3Di NORDAC og dermed revolutionerede tursejlads og cruising marked. 3Di Nordac lovede at levere en bedre oplevelse for tursejleren, på et marked, der ikke havde set nogen egentlig produktudvikling i over 60 år. Her efter et år, kan vi fejre vores udviklingsteam, som arbejdede hårdt for at bringe 3Di NORDAC på markedet samt vores kunder, som har oplevet og afprøvet 3Di Nordac og givet os værdifuld og meget positiv feedback fra hele verden. 3Di teknologi, tilpasset til tursejlads “Vi så for os at vi kunne revolutionere markedet for tursejl. Vi ville konstruere et sejl som kunne præstere bedre end traditionel Dacron sejl uden at skulle ofre holdbarheden. For at gennemføre den vision, satte vi os for at udnytte North 3Di teknologien, som uden siddestykke er verdens mest avancerede sejlmager teknologi og kapsejleres foretrukne sejlkonstruktion. 3Di NORDAC giver optimal sejl facon meget længere, hvilket ultimativt betyder mere værdi for tursejleren.” - Bill Fortenberry, North Sails Global Market Segments Manager 3Di teknologi Pittman Innovation Award 3Di NORDAC blev belønnet med SAIL Magazine’s 2018 Pittman Innovations pris i cruising kategorien. “North Sails har kombineret den store omkostningseffektivitet og holdbarhed fra traditionelle sejl med 3Di processen… en win-win for tursejlere over hele verden.” - Charles J Doane, SAIL Magazine Editor Læs mere Det startede med en idé… “Vi startede med at udforske idéer til et nyt produkt til tursejladsmarkedet i 2015. Vi så en mulighed for at skabe et prismæssigt overkommeligt sejl med alle 3Di’s fordele. Vi var sikre på at det produkt ville ændre tursejlads til det bedre, og et år senere sejler over 1.000 både rundt med 3Di NORDAC. Det er meget givende at få positive tilbagemeldinger fra bådejere, som oplever forskellen ved 3Di for første gang.” -Dan Neri, CEO of North Sails Læs mere Udtalelse “Vores nye 3Di NORDAC storsejl og genua bliver ved med at begejstre os. Begge sejl har en facon og finish, som kan konkurrere med de bedste sejl jeg nogensinde har set eller brugt i løbet af mine over 40 år som sejler. Rullegenuaen præsterer helt fantastisk, specielt på kryds!. Vi er yderst tilfredse med disse sejl.” - Steve Fredrick, Beneteau First 42, USA 3Di NORDAC Anmeldelse I tal Efter et år, har 3Di NORDAC været en ubestridelig succes for både North Sails og dets stigende antal kunder som har fået 3Di Nordac på deres både. Patenteret North 3Di teknologi tilbyder overlegen præstation med traditionelle polyester materialer. READ MORE

PREVENT ANY PROBLEMS WITH YOUR SAILS North Sails Certified Service Winter Deal North Sails Certified Service offers sailors with any brand of sail the benefits of North's superior technology, experienced personnel and worldwide network of over 100 lofts in 25 countries. Every sail serviced by North undergoes a thorough inspection designed to identify maintenance issues early, so they do not become major problems later on. Annual inspection of your inventory will aid significantly in extending sail life and maintaining peak performance. Clean and treat with anti-mold, minor repairs, fixed price $200 + GST * FREE pickup and delivery FREE general check over assessment FREE no obligation quote on necessary repair work Find Your Loft Call us now! +64 9359 5999 * Deal ends 15th September. Pick up of bricked sail available from Westhaven, Bayswater, Gulf Harbour, Orakei, Bucklands Beach, Half Moon Bay, Pine Harbour, and Westpark Marina's. Offer applies to boats under 60ft LOA READ MORE

2018 LIGHTNING EUROPEANS North Teams finished 1,2*,3,4,5! The 2018 Lightning European Championships were held June 28th-July 1st at the Yacht Club of Greece in Pireaus. Twenty-two teams representing six countries were in attendance for what was a fabulous weekend of sailing. Team Verginadis, sail number GRE 14791, with 10 points in the 5-race series, including 2-race wins, secured the European Championship and the coveted Lightning Class Silver Flash. The first day of the championship brought sunny skies and warm temperatures however a weather system also brought strong winds that averaged near 25-knots all day, with gusts reaching 40-knots. Though the Race Committee held out with hopes of getting some racing in, they eventually cancelled for the day. During the delays, North Sails Lightning expert Brian Hayes held a tuning session for many of the competitors in the parking lot and fielded questions on prebend and rig tension. After lunch, roughly 60 sailors squeezed into the meeting room as Brian did some video reviews from the practice race showing where each team may find some opportunities for improvement when it comes to sail trim, rig set up, or sailing style. This “brief” gathering lasted until nearly 5:30 pm that evening, which showed the eagerness of the fleet to continue to get information on how to improve and get their boat up to speed. The second day of racing opened with a brisk breeze near 15-knots which softened all day to around 10-knots. The top three teams began their string of consistent finishes as all three kept their finishes in the top four, creating a three-way tie on the leaderboard by the end of the day. This basically created a showdown on Sunday between the top three teams for the European Championship crown. The first race saw Team Verginadis chase down Team Argyropoulous on the final run to gain the win while Team Vasilas held their own at 11 points. Team Tsoulfas had nine points. The final race was dramatic as Team Vasilas caught the big left shift and had a large lead at the first mark with the other two teams deeper in the fleet. However, the Race Committee weighed the fairness of this large 50-degree shift on the first beat and abandoned the race. Not to be dissuaded, Team Vasilas once again leapt out to a big lead but the other two teams stayed close behind and finished third and fourth, giving the title to Team Verginadis by a slim two-points. Team Vasilas’ last race win earned them the runner-up position, followed by Team Tsoulfas to round out the podium. Thanks to the Yacht Club of Greece and the event organizing committee for an outstanding event and gracious hospitality. The Lightning Class in Europe is excited to be hosting the 2019 World Championships in Finland next June and the entire fleet at the Europeans is eager to test their skills against sailors from around the world. Race results | Event Photos by Nigel Vick Learn more about our championship winning Lightning sails. Tem Verginadis, 2018 European Champions. North Sails Brian Hayes’ parking lot boat tuning session READ MORE

SOLO NON-STOP NAVIGATION OF THE GREAT LAKES A Canuck, A Pacific Seacraft, And A World Record Attempt By the time he’s completed sailing all five Great Lakes next Summer, John Lecznar will be 70 years old and have completed a non-stop solo navigation on his Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20. A feat that has not been done before and has caught the eye of The Guinness World Book of Records. “The records would be: Smallest boat, sailing boat, sailing vessel, oldest guy in a single season.” A sailor for all of his adult life, John has raced all different types of boats from DN Iceboats to Tornados to Nacras to Catamarans. His love of being on the water a driving force behind his desire to get into sailing and try as many different boats as possible. Originally a kayaker from an early age, John spent most of his Summers on Lake Ontario with his family and up north at his cottage on Lake Superior spending as much time on the water as possible. By the age of 30 he decided to pick up and sailing, then he was hooked and began racing. He has sailed all over from the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Gulf and through the Great Lakes, which is ultimately his favorite. John recalls; “There's nothing like sailing in the Great Lakes. Fresh water, it's clean, you've got all conditions. You've got light air, heavy air. You've got it all .” Now that John is retired, he’s looking to have more adventures on the water. His latest project being the Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20 outfitted with new 3Di NORDAC sails. When it came to new sails for the boat, John based his decision on experience and reputation, stating, “North Sails has a fantastic reputation, you guys have very good sails. I’ve known it for 30 years”. He needed something that would last long and stand up to the varying conditions of the Great Lakes. North Sails Detroit expert Karl Kuspa knew 3Di NORDAC was the perfect fit due to its durability, performance and longevity. “I have the greatest confidence in North Sails. Karl, of course, is an outstanding sailor and so I trust his advice. Having talked to him about the conditions and what my expectations are, he recommended these sails and I am completely confident in this decision.” For Karl, it was a no brainer to use 3Di NORDAC, explaining, "When John first approached me about new sails for his boat, he told me about the adventure he was planning for 2019. He told me he wanted sails that he could have trust in. After reviewing the benefits of 3Di NORDAC such as strength and durability, John was sold." The route for the trip is centered around Lake Superior as it is a lake that John has a great deal of respect for as it is a “very powerful body of water”. He’ll depart from Port Huron on the Michigan side the first week of May. Then follow the Michigan coastline on Huron all the way to Mackinaw and enter Lake Michigan. Follow Lake Michigan around and then Sturgeon Bay and then the southern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan back to Mackinaw. By the beginning of June, he plans to be in Sault St. Marie via Dummond Island and St. Mary’s River. From there, John plans to follow the Northern Peninsula coastline (southern part of Lake Superior) to the Duluth, then follow the Canadian Side up the rest of the way. “ go through the Sault Ste. Marie again, St. Joseph's River, St. Mary's and the North Channel. Follow the North Channel to Georgian Bay and then follow the Lake Huron Canadian coastline shores to Sonya. My expectation is that I'll be back around August first into Lake Eerie, entering Lake Eerie, and then I hope to be in Toronto area around the middle of August. Then follow the US coastline in Lake Ontario and Lake Eerie and back up. And I'm hoping depending on when I depart and how things work out, first week of September to the second or third week of September, complete my journey.” It’s not just the sailing that John loves about this upcoming adventure, he also enjoys the planning side of it. With a background in the automotive industry and quality management, he sees it as a way to transfer one skill set to another area and help develop his passion for sailing. Saying, “It's not old hat stuff that I'm doing here because the adventure side of it is, I'm looking forward to the challenges that I will be presented with. The boat is small, I have to make sure that I have supplies just right and look at what contingencies I may have to consider and deal with and go from there.” “The Flicka is a very good solid boat. It has a great following. People have circumnavigated in that boat even though it's so small. And it was built back in 1979, so it's an old boatie, like myself.” The journey will see John face all kinds of conditions throughout the Great Lakes, something to which he is looking forward to. A Canuck living in Michigan, fueled by “The love of the water, the love of the Great Lakes, and the love of sailing”. A real adventurer, John enjoys adventures on and off the water READ MORE

SIEG AM URISTIER-CUP 2018 38 Boote (darunter 4 Esse 850) trafen sich am Samstag, 30. Juni 18 um 12.30 h Höhe Tellsplatte zum Start des legendären Uristier Cups, der zum ersten Mal vom Regattaverein Brunnen durchgeführt wurde. Das Ganze fand bei traumhaftem Segelwetter mit Sonne satt, bis 27 Grad und 25 Knoten Wind statt… Wie immer lagen Start und Ziel im unteren Drittel des Kurses. D.h. nach dem Start gab es eine lange Kreuz, gefolgt von einem sehr langen Downwind und am Schluss eine kurze Kreuz ins Ziel. Gestartet wurde in zwei Gruppen, Racer und Cruiser. Samstag Der RVB Brunnen schaffte es, am Samstag drei anspruchsvolle Wettfahrten durchzuführen. Auch bei Windspitzen bis 25 Knoten half es, wenn man den Urnersee und seine Eigenheiten genau kannte. Auf der Esse 850 ‚sail NORTH‘ waren wir in einer neuen Formation unterwegs: Daniel Schroff an der Pinne, vorne Roman Juchli und Claudia Böhm. Somit segelten wir ohne grosse Erwartungen. Die Lockerheit, der guten Bootsspeed und die guten Revierkenntnisse von Daniel Schroff liessen uns am Samstag alle drei Läufe für uns entscheiden. Am Abend kam aber im Clubhaus die Bestätigung: Wir hatten im dritten Lauf einen Frühstart und damit wohl den Streicher bereits eingezogen. Sonntag Mit dem kleinen Rucksack vom Vortag (Frühstart) galt es heute, noch einmal die Lockerheit vom Vortag zu finden. Im ersten Lauf rundeten wir als dritte das Luvfass. Auf dem Vorwind konnten wir aber alles wieder gut machen und kreuzten schlussendlich die Ziellinie wieder als erste. Mit den Rängen 1, 1, 2 war auch der Sonntag äusserst erfolgreich für das Team SUI-156. Einzig im letzen Lauf mussten wir uns berechnet von der Esse 750 schlagen lassen, da die hinteren Boote mit Wind angerauscht kamen. So klar wie das Resultat aussieht, war es aber nicht. In jeder Wettfahrt wurden wir von den anderen Esse's gefordert. Nur durch den Fact, dass es nicht immer die gleiche Esse war, erscheint das Resultat so klar. Wir sind auf jeden Fall mit unserem Bootspeed (gesegelt sind wir mit einem 3DL Grosssegel und einer 3Di Fock) und der Crew-Leistung zufrieden. Fazit: Ein schöner Anlass, der vom RVB super (notfallmässig) organisiert wurde – ein grosses DANKE dafür! Und der Urnersee ist und bleibt eines der schönsten Segelgebiete der Schweiz! Leider gab es am Sonntag noch ein paar Schäden. Wir drücken die Daumen, dass die Schiffe für Malcesine wieder fit sind! Resultate READ MORE

SOLO NATIONS CUP 2018 North Sails expert Charlie Cumbley takes the victory with near-straight bullets Charlie Cumbley has won the 2018 Solo Nations cup in Lake Garda, carrying eight first-places on his scoreboard out of 10 races. The event saw forty-eight entries from the Netherlands and the UK come together for some spectacular racing in very testing conditions for most of the regatta, with only one light wind day. Rounding off the podium in third place was Tim Law. Tim was tied on points with the second placed boat however due to count back took the bronze position. Charlie and Tim were both using the North P-2 Mainsail. “The P-2 mainsail is a great all-purpose sail, it performed really well in both the light and heavy wind days” Charlie commented The next event in the calendar for the Solo class is the UK Nationals in three weeks time in Hayling Island where ninety boats are currently entered. If you want to get your hands on this championship winning sail, contact your North Sails expert today. Check out this video of Charlie racing! Solo Nations Cup 1 / Charlie Cumbley 3 / Tim Law 6 / Michael Hicks 8 / Gareth Henshall * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory Full results READ MORE

LES FACTEURS D’USURE D’UNE VOILE Note : Les photos sont disponibles dans le dossier « Fatigue du tissu ». Les quatre principales causes de vieillissement d’une voile sont : la flexion, la compression des fibres, le battement et le faseyement. Introduction : Quel que soit le matériau d’une voile, il finit par s’user. Mais en suivant quelques simples consignes d’entretien et d’utilisation, on peut considérablement augmenter la durée de vie d’une voile. Dan Néri, président-directeur général de North Sails, présente dans cet article les principaux facteurs d’usure des voiles. Il expose les problèmes structurels que ces facteurs entraînent dans les voiles et explique comment minimiser les dégâts. Fatigue en flexion Tout comme l’exposition aux UV lorsque l’on navigue par beau temps, la fatigue en flexion est inévitable, particulièrement dans le vent fort et la houle. Toute sollicitation sur la membrane qui implique un va-et-vient répétitif dégrade progressivement le matériau. Le battement des voiles pendant le hissage, l'affalage par vent fort, le roulage des voiles sur enrouleur ainsi que le battement pendant le virement de bord et la prise de ris sont à l’origine de la fatigue du matériau. Si les nerfs de chute ne sont pas correctement tendus dans un vent fort à modéré, les bords des voiles battront rapidement. Et dans des vents légers sur des angles de navigation abattus, les voiliers peuvent rouler assez violemment au point de faire claquer les voiles, entraînant alors une flexion du tissu et appliquant une certaine charge dynamique sur l’accastillage. Pour éviter la fatigue en flexion : Éliminer ou réduire le battement. S’assurer que les nerfs de chute et de bordure sont correctement réglés pour éliminer le faseyement sur les bords de la voile. Changer de cap dans des conditions légèrement clapoteuses pour réduire les battements. Il est possible de diminuer les dommages causés par la prise de ris en pliant la voile en dessous du ris et en amenant le tissu du côté opposé à la bosse de ris. Compression des fibres Lorsque le tissu à voile est plié, une face du tissu est étirée et l'autre face (l'intérieur du pli) est comprimée. Les fibres comprimées vont alors se fragiliser petit à petit. Celles qui présentent la plus haute résistance à la contrainte, comme le carbone ou le Kevlar, se détérioreront encore plus facilement. Parfois, certaines fibres implosent, se désagrègent et se transforment en poudre. D'autres se brisent et se cisaillent longitudinalement à l’image d’une branche d'arbre verte qui se fracture lorsqu'elle est pliée en deux. Une fois que la fibre d’un tissu à voile se brise, sa structure intérieure est exposée aux UV. La fibre se dégrade par la suite et finit par se fissurer complètement dès la prochaine flexion. Causes Les causes les plus fréquentes de fatigue par compression des fibres sont le pliage de la voile au moment du stockage et lorsque la grand-voile est écrasée sous les bosses de ris. Quand vous pliez vos voiles de manière lâche avec les plis parallèles à la bordure, la voile n'est pas endommagée. En suivant cette même méthode de pliage pour ranger une grand-voile sur une bôme ou un foc de course dans son sac zippé de pleine longueur, les voiles resteront en bon état. Cependant, lorsque vous pliez une voile parallèlement à la bordure et que vous la repliez perpendiculairement à la bordure afin de la glisser dans un sac à voile standard, vous créez un pli marqué à 180 degrés et les fibres à l'intérieur du pli seront comprimées. Les fibres en polyester et en Spectra utilisées dans les tissus de voiles de croisière résisteront à des douzaines de cycles de pliage. Elles se fragiliseront légèrement à chaque usage. Lorsque vous rangez vos voiles dans un sac, il est préférable de ne pas répéter les plis aux mêmes endroits pour éviter de casser la fibre sur un pli déjà marqué. Pour éviter les problèmes de compression des fibres : Plier les voiles de manière lâche quand cela est possible. Éviter de plier une voile sur le même pli lorsqu’on la range dans son sac. Lorsqu’on arise une voile, amener le tissu du côté opposé à la bosse de ris. Le battement Lorsqu'on laisse une voile battre, c’est la chute qui sera nettement plus endommagée que le milieu de la voile ou le guindant. Imaginez un dompteur de lions qui fait claquer un grand fouet. Au niveau de la poignée du fouet, l’amplitude est moindre, mais plus on s'éloigne de la poignée, plus le fouet parcourt de la distance et plus il claque violemment quand il change de direction. Les fabricants de voiles ajoutent des renforts progressifs depuis le corps de la voile vers les zones épaisses de la chute. Ces renforts échelonnés permettent à la fois d'atténuer les effets de battement et de répartir la flexion de la fibre sur une plus grande surface. Vous pouvez réduire la fatigue de flexion en minimisant la durée et la force de battement de votre voile. Grand-voile Les grands-voiles sont soutenues par deux bords sur trois, et les lattes de pleine longueur permettent d’atténuer les battements au niveau de la chute qui, elle, n’est pas supportée. Dans un vent de moins de 25 nœuds, une grand-voile de croisière bien conçue avec des lattes de pleine longueur ne battra pas. Elle ondulera au moment du hissage ou de l’affalement. Une grand-voile avec des lattes courtes (aussi appelées « lattes de chute ») est plus ajustable et plus légère, mais elle se détériorera rapidement si on la laisse battre. Voile d'avant Les voiles d'avant ne sont supportées que sur un seul bord, et peuvent battre jusqu’à se rompre si on les laisse choquer. Par conséquent, un équipage de croisière doit être vigilant et effectuer les manœuvres et les réglages des voiles d’avant aussi efficacement que possible. Cela signifie que les écoutes des voiles d'avant doivent toujours être lovées et dégagées avant un virement de bord, un empannage ou un enroulement. C’est une procédure a minima et il serait également avisé de s’inspirer des équipages de régate même lors de simples balades en mer afin de minimiser les battements de la voile d'avant. (Pour plus d'informations, lisez Club Racing: How to Improve Your Tacks) Pour réduire les battements : Veiller à un réglage des voiles correct autant que possible. Avancer suffisamment le point de tire de la voile d'avant pour contrôler la partie supérieure de la chute. Utiliser un point de tire extérieur pour l’écoute de la voile d’avant pour les allures débridées et portantes. Se préparer à virer avant de choquer complètement l’écoute de la voile d'avant. Hisser la grand-voile sous le vent d’un relief par vent fort. Abattre pour enrouler votre voile par les jours de grand vent. Opter pour des lattes de pleine longueur lorsqu’on achète une nouvelle grand-voile. Garder toujours les écoutes un tant soit peu bordées lorsque le bateau est momentanément à l’arrêt. Enrouleur Lorsqu'il faut enrouler la voile d'avant, les deux écoutes doivent être claires et la personne chargée de tirer sur la bosse d'enroulement doit se tenir en position pour la manœuvre. Si le système d’enroulement est actionné à l’aide d’un winch, il faut freiner un peu l’écoute pour minimiser l’amplitude des battements de voile. Si l'enroulement s’effectue sans winch, les écoutes doivent être choquées suffisamment pour que la manœuvre soit le plus rapide possible. Chaque fois que vous le pouvez, positionnez le bateau au vent arrière avant d'enrouler la voile. La force du vent apparent est réduite d'environ 1,5 fois la vitesse du bateau et la voile d'avant peut être partiellement déventée derrière la grand-voile. Faseyement Le faseyement de la chute ou de la bordure est un battement d’amplitude moindre. Quand il n’y a que le bord d'une voile qui faseye, il y a moins de surface de voile en mouvement, mais la fréquence est significativement plus élevée. Aussi parce que le faseyement d’une chute ou d’une bordure ne secoue pas le bateau, cela peut passer facilement inaperçu. Mais ne pas s’en rendre compte ou l’ignorer n’élimine pas le faseyement pour autant. Ce dernier continue son travail de sabotage et détériore les fibres. Si l’on y ajoute les effets néfastes des rayons UV, la chute ou la bordure finiront par céder. Après de nombreuses heures de faseyement, le tissu le long de la chute a enduré des milliers de battements, compressant alors les fibres à chaque fois au même endroit. Si l’on y ajoute les effets délétères du soleil, la voile finira par se déchirer le long du gallon. Le faseyement de la chute est provoqué par un écoulement d’air instable sur le bord de fuite de la voile. Si l'air s’échappe plutôt rapidement du bord de fuite, la force de l’écoulement d'air fléchira le bord non supporté (bord de fuite). Cette déflexion provoquera une dépression, et le tissu reviendra à sa position initiale ; le cycle se répétera, et ainsi de suite. Le bord faseyant claque à la manière d’un jeu de cartes que l’on mélange à l’américaine. Considérez ce claquement comme un signal pour border le nerf de chute. Les navigants en compétition apprennent à tendre le nerf de chute le moins possible pour éviter le béquet de chute. En croisière, les marins peuvent utiliser la même approche, mais il est préférable de trop tendre le nerf de chute plutôt que pas assez, excepté dans le vent très léger. En effet, mieux vaut avoir un léger béquet de chute qu'une chute déchirée. Pour contrôler le faseyement de la chute : Régler le point de tire de foc ou le chariot de grand-voile de façon que l'angle de tire soit dans l’axe de la chute. Tendre correctement les nerfs de chute. Extrait de : Guide complet d'entretien et de réparation des voiles, Dan Néri. READ MORE

J/70 LIGHT AIR SPEED NOTES Tim Healy’s quick tips to optimize speed in light conditions After a week of intense training with the Japanese teams in Newport, RI culminating with the New Your Yacht Club One Design Regatta, a lot was learned about light air tuning and trimming. Here are Tim Healy’s notes reinforcing some important points indispensable for optimizing the J/70 speed in light air conditions. RIG TUNING Ease rig to get about 3/4 inch of middle side sag in the mast. This is done by going off two full turns on the uppers and off two turns on lowers. If you are not getting 3/4 inch side sag, keep easing lowers until you do In big chop, use a little backstay to control the rig from excess movement. Just enough to control the rig but not too much to take out all headstay sag SAIL TRIM In big chop and swell, keep speed up by twisting both sails thus making a large steering groove Never stall the upper jib leech telltales. Trim until you see them stall then ease until 100% flowing Jib leads 6-7 factory holes showing in front of jib car counting from behind front mounting bolt Weather sheet trimmed to get clew at cabin house in flat spots, and 1.5- 2 inches off in big chop and waves. Remember to move lead forward with less windward sheet and back with more windward sheet Ease jib halyard to show 8-10 inches of wrinkles in luff of jib in light and choppy conditions Main traveler up to get boom on center when boat is up to speed out of tacks. Traveler at 75% up out of tacks for bow down acceleration BOAT TRIM AND TURNS Weight forward both up and downwind. Bow person in hatch up and down, out of hatch to help with roll tacking and jibing Downwind: Tactician forward and to leeward and trimmer to weather. Both forward next to bulkhead Upwind: Tactician forward next to bulkhead and trimmer as far forward as possible. Also, trimmer is first to control heel angle Build speed first both up and down, then work on best VMG Don’t let speed crash! It takes too long in light air to get going again Make smooth turns and BIG rolls tacking and jibing Keep momentum in focus when starting and at mark roundings The three-day training camp coupled with the NYYC One Design Regatta, where teams had an opportunity to apply the new techniques and tips learned. We are extremely pleased with the each teams’ results. Here are the results within the top 10, powered by North Sails: NYYC ONE DESIGN REGATTA J/70 1 Team Vineyard Vines / John & Molly Baxter 2 USA 2 / Tim Healy 4 Rimette / John Brim 5 The Sled / Eiichiro Hamazaki 6 Natsuko / Yasutaka Funazawa 7 Sled / Takashi Okura 8 Polar / Doug Clark 9 It’s Sled / Hideyuki Miyagawa 10 Spring / Dave Franzel * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory Full Results Hiroo Kodama and Team Black practicing downwind techniques Lots of learning in the three-day J/70 training camp with the Japanese teams Short races at the North Sails training camp in Newport, RI Tim Healy coordinates the Japanese J/70 Training Camp in Newport, RI READ MORE

North Powers Sigma 33 National Champion Seven out of the top 10 boats were powered by North Sails at the UK and Irish Championship in Dublin Bay Philip Lovegrove's "Rupert" flying 3Di NORDAC sails The Sigma 33's had a stunning weekend's success at their recent UK & Irish Championships hosted by the Royal St. George YC in Dublin. Seven out of the top 10 boats had North Sails in their inventory which included the overall winner Leaky Roof, who flew their North Sails PX15T No. 1 Genoa and Norlon 75 spinnaker, to seal their overall win with a scoreline that included three race wins. Maurice "Prof" O'Connell from North Sails Ireland was on the water helping to set-up Dick Lovegrove's Rupert with her new 3Di NorDac mainsail and no. 1 genoa. Shane Hughes was also afloat assisting Meltemi, from Dunmore East with his new 3Di NorDac No. 1 genoa. Speaking after the event, North Sails Ireland's Nigel Young said, "We were delighted to see so many North Sails Sigma 33 customers afloat over the weekend. North Sails Ireland, UK South Coast and Scotland all look after Sigma 33 clients, delivering the fastest and most durable sail technology at an affordable price. Congratulations to the Sigma 33 fleet on a successful event." Full results READ MORE

52 SUPER SERIES UPDATE North Sails Inventories Sweep Podium at Super Series Event Two 52 SUPER SERIES Zadar Royal Cup 📸Martinez Studio Two regattas in and the 52 Super Series is shaping up to be an event to watch this season. The best of five series hosted the first two regattas in Croatia in May and June; a new venue for the Series and new territory for many of the professional sailors in this event. North Sails Grand Prix Sales Leader and Super Series vet, Paul Westlake commented pre-season that newness was a theme running through the 2018 Super Series. “We’re finished with two events, which were arguably the toughest events of the Series. You’re in a place the fleet has never sailed before, Sibenik and Zadar Croatia, respectively. On top of that, nine of the 12 boats are new this season, with endless developments in control systems, rigs, and most importantly sails. There is a considerable learning curve to understand the performance and the balance of this latest generation of boats. Plus very flat water and relatively light air makes for trying conditions on the race track. Sibenik turned out to be very light and Zadar ended up having a mixture of light and then some pretty good breeze over the last couple of days.” Based on results, the most improved title goes to Luna Rossa and Phoenix, while Sled gets the consistency award. Luna Rossa sailed to the top of the podium in Zadar, rebounding from a sixth-place finish in Sibenik. Sled has not only been on the podium for both events, but has also dominated both coastal races and now sits comfortably in second overall for the series with 77 points. The fleet will now turn its focus towards Cascais, Portugal, host of the 52 World Championship in mid-July. This location almost always guarantees good wind and swell, and a high probability of a tricky wave pattern. Recent conditions in the Series have not given a clear picture of a speed advantage, but Westlake feels we’re starting to see a little bit of a cream beginning to rise to the top. On Luna Rossa: “My prediction early on was that Luna Rossa would get stronger and stronger as the season developed. For them to win their second event as a newbie in the fleet is impressive. Yes, they’ve got a very experienced afterguard in Francesco Bruni, Jimmy Spithill, and Vasco Vascotto, but the majority of the crew is young with a dedication to improving their knowledge and skills every minute on the water. The program is showing that if you put the groundwork in and you trust the design and technology available, you have a solid foundation. I still think they’re going to get stronger and stronger throughout the series.” 📸 Martinez Studio On Phoenix: “Phoenix’s driver Tina Plattner is what every skipper dreams of, ending up with a podium finish in their first Super Series event. Being the first lady skipper in the history of the Super Series, and coming away with two wins and a podium finish whilst sailing at the highest level of our sport is nothing short of amazing. Hasso must be incredibly proud and it is no surprise that he has been instrumental in creating the Phoenix team which is doing a great job all around with very close attention to their rig and sail setup which leads to solid boat speed, it’s a fantastic team effort.” 📸 Martinez Studio On Sled: “You can’t underestimate how hard it is to win the coastal races in this fleet, and Sled has won both so far. We’ve always seen a trend of the boats that dominate in coastal races are usually regarded as one of the quickest boats in the fleet. We’ve seen light conditions so far and Sled is showing some real legs in the light air and flat water.” 📸 Martinez Studio On What’s Next: “The feedback on the North Sails design support and the latest 3Di RAW 880 upwind developments from all our teams has really been extremely positive. Everyone continues to push their equipment really hard because it is a long season. The top guys are keeping a careful eye on their sail program and the aging of the sails, and also the modifications and tweaks that they want to make as they learn their boats and look for those extra millimeters around the race track.” Westlake, along with Grand Prix designers Mickey Ickert and Juan Meseguer, will be in Portugal in July for the World Champs. The pressure is on for 52 teams and the North Sails experts who support as the World Championship closes in. Every team that signs up for the Super Series has the ultimate goal of winning the season, but to be crowned a World Champ is still the Holy Grail. Westlake expects we’ll see another level of intensity over the next three weeks. Cascais can be windy and kick up big waves, the team will therefore refocus their energy on conditions that will be demanding on their equipment and crews, whilst providing dividends to those who are fast both upwind and downwind. 📸 Max Ranchi 📸 Martinez Studio READ MORE

LAKE ONTARIO 300 & 600 CHALLENGE Check Off Your Race Preparation List. At North Sails, our mission is to provide you with expert repairs, maintenance, and upgrades in a timely manner. Whether you race or cruise, your sails are a major investment, and we are committed to helping you maximize their performance and lifespan. With the Lake Ontario 300 & 600 Challenge approaching, we want to make sure you are covered and your sail care preparation is taken care of. Bring your sails in for that vital tune up and order your race supplies before you cross the start line on July 14th. READ MORE

WALLY / GIRAGLIA ROLEX CUP // VICTOIRE DE 'TANGO' Après sa victoire en temps réel lors de la course Offshore de la Giraglia, le Wally 100 'Tango' mené par Marc Pajot, avec à son bord Laurent Delage, a remporté dans la classe Wally le classement Overall. © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo Du dessin des voiles à l'optimisation des réglages : Une implication à la mesure d’un projet hors norme. Laurent DELAGE (Responsable du développement du jeu de voiles et équipier en charge de la stratégie) : "Sur un bateau aussi pointu, le travail ne manque pas : les réglages du mât (cintres et quêtes) et ses influences sur les voiles nous ont bien occupé et aujourd’hui nous travaillons sur de nouveaux systèmes d’affalage de Spi. Quand on sait que ce dernier fait plus de 1000m2, on comprend vite l’importance que cela peut avoir…" La fiche technique Le bateau : Wally Cento (100 pieds) Les voiles : Voiles plates en 3Di RAW (Dynema/Carbon) Voiles de portant en 3Di DOWNWIND (Code Zero) et NPC DOWNWIND (A1, A2,A3,A4) READ MORE

IRCA / GIRAGLIA ROLEX CUP // VICTOIRE DE FRECCIA ROSSA. Tenant du titre et récent vainqueur overall de la Rolex Capri Sailing Week en ORC, le TP52 'Freccia Rossa' s’est de nouveau imposé dans sa classe et conserve sa couronne. © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo De la gestion de projet au réglage de la GV : Une collaboration de tous les instants Jean-Philippe GALLOIS (Project manager et régleur de GV à bord) : "Nous avons un équipage Pro-Am très performant avec un propriétaire très impliqué qui, depuis cette saison, a pris la barre. Nous remportons la Giraglia pour la 3e fois de suite. Nous espérons performer sur la prochaine Copa del Rey fin juillet, l’objectif majeur de notre saison". La fiche technique Le bateau : TP52 Les voiles : Voiles plates en 3Di RAW Voiles de portant en 3Di DOWNWIND, NPC DOWNWIND READ MORE

IRC / CHAMPIONNAT D’EUROPE // VICTOIRE DE J LANCE 12 J Lance 12 a été sacré champion d’Europe IRC 2018 à Cowes. Le bateau skippé par Didier le Moal a fait preuve de beaucoup de maîtrise dans les dernières étapes pour s’imposer au terme d’une semaine de régates intenses. Apporter une réponse pertinente aux experts les plus exigeants Quentin PONROY (Chargé de la mise à poste et de la validation des voiles : "Didier LE MOAL est un expert (Président de J Composites) exigeant, qui te pousse dans tes retranchements. Même si il reconnaitra plus volontiers les qualités de son bateau plutôt que celles de ses voiles, nul doute que celles-ci ont fait partie des atouts qui l’ont mené à la victoire". La fiche technique Le bateau : J 112 Les voiles : Voiles plates en 3Di RAW Voiles de portant en NPC DOWNWIND READ MORE

FIGARO-BÉNÉTEAU 2 / LE HAVRE ALLMER CUP // VICTOIRE DE SÉBASTIEN SIMON (BRETAGNE CMB PERFORMANCE) En montant sur le podium des 5 manches disputées (3, 3, 3, 1, 2), Sébastien Simon remporte la Le Have Allmer Cup 2018. 7 des 8 premiers de la Le Havre All Mer Cup sont équipés de spis North Sails © Alexis Courcoux Développer en permanence pour répondre aux exigences de la monotypie Quentin PONROY (Commercial/dessinateur, en charge de la classe Figaro) : "Sébastien est notre client-développeur sur cette série. Ses résultats ainsi que ceux de nos autres clients sont une véritable récompense, étant donné l’investissement en temps de navigation, écoute et réflexion que représente l’optimisation de chaque voile." © Alexis Courcoux READ MORE

IRC / DUO CAT-AMANIA // VICTOIRE DE GIRARDIN / THOMAS (J120) Le duo Philippe Girardin / Gwénaël Thomas a remporté haut la main la Duo Cat-Amania 2018 avec trois victoires d’étape. 3 des 5 premiers sont (à une voile près) intégralement équipés de voiles North Sails. Tenant du titre, Laurent Tilleau, associé à Philippe Sauzières à la barre du JPK 1010 'Crescendo' termine 5ème. © Sylvain Huet Courir aux côtés de SES clients pour mieux comprendre leurs besoins Laurent TILLEAU (Commercial IRC) : "Les marins de cette classe restent certes des amateurs, mais très éclairés, aguerris à la course, teigneux sur l’eau et exigeants dans leur préparation et celle de leur monture. La plupart des concurrents s’entrainent réellement et sérieusement. Ils sont très demandeurs de conseil et d’expertise. C’est pourquoi il est très important d’être à leurs côtés : sur les pontons bien sûr, mais également sur l’eau." La fiche technique Le bateau : J 120 Les voiles : Voiles plates en 3Di RAW (Aramid / Dyneema) Voiles de portant en 3Di DOWNWIND et NPC DOWNWIND READ MORE

A RACE OF SUPERLATIVES Ken Read Reflects On The Closest Volvo Ocean Race In History Dongfeng Race Team was named winner of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 after a late pass in during Leg 11. 📸 Martin Keruzore/Volvo Ocean Race Like every other serious sailor on the planet I was glued to the Volvo Ocean Race tracker and live updates through the last day and a half of the Volvo Ocean Race. I woke up half a dozen times in the middle of the night to check what was going on as the fleet started to split at the exclusions zones. Unbelievable drama with the thrill of victory and the brutal agony of defeat all mixed into one as the boats finished within minutes of each other. With the dust now settling, you can’t talk about this race without first remembering the John Fisher tragedy. And the question is how can offshore sailing adapt to have better safety onboard in order to avoid such tragedy? Because these boats aren’t going to get any slower; with semi-foiling boats, offshore racing is only getting faster and and safety is going to become more of a priority. Secondly, from a North Sails perspective, I just couldn’t be prouder of our people and 3Di sails that were designed and supplied for this race. And how much better our products get by the day thanks to races like this. Bouwe Bekking said this was the windiest race he has ever done; the abuse that got put upon these sails and how good they looked coming into the finish line is unfathomable. Drone footage fully exposed the brutality of the Volvo Ocean Race like it’s never been seen before; how hard these boats are pushed and what the sails went through. Those of us who have done the race understand it, but even with onboard footage we’ve never been able to really show the world how brutal it can be to man and machine. The drone footage shows that the fleet tried to destroy their sails 24 hours a day for weeks at a time and 3Di lived through it! And not just lived through it, but the boats finished with sails that looked like they just did a Tuesday night beer can race. That’s how good 3Di sails are. It’s unbelievable and I’m incredibly proud of North Sails. The funny thing is, our company and the sailing world is starting to take 3Di performance for granted; but no other rival sail manufacturing technique could withstand anything close to what the Volvo sails did. Not even remotely close. It’s an unbelievable takeaway. We can’t get used to it because 3Di’s performance is incomparable and it is so beyond anything that has ever happened in our industry before. I remember when 3DL was first used on the Volvo 60’s and we saw performance rise to new levels, yet everyone was holding their breath as to whether a film-on-film sail would make it through each leg. But 3Di, obviously without film, has totally eclipsed that breakthrough and left laminates in its wake. To the point where we have now retired North 3DL sails and focused production entirely on 3Di for racing sails and performance cruising sails to meet demand. It’s also worth noting the ease of making long-lasting repairs in the worst spots possible. A tube of 5200, a piece of 3Di material and a bit of time for the glue to dry; any repair is complete. 3Di’s durability and unique construction has eliminated the need for teams to carry a sewing machine onboard. Interestingly, we had a complete debrief with every single Volvo team during the Newport stopover, 80% of the way through the race. The discussion covered the good and the bad. As a company we are committed to constantly improving, which is why we always do these debriefs after every major sailing event. There are always little details where we can do better. Three years ago feedback from the Volvo teams was all over the map, with a lot of both critical and positive analysis of the sails. The unique thing about this edition of the race was that the few small details the teams brought to us were tiny issues which are simple to clean up. Secondly, and I think more interesting, every teams’ detailed analysis was consistent; almost always exactly the same as the others. Gautier Sergent (North Sails Head of R&D, and designer of the VO65 sails) has brought everything together beautifully to create a solution for the race that is close to perfect. MAPFRE finished second overall in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 📸Volvo Ocean Race It’s important to recognize as well that the females onboard are no longer just girls sailing, they are Volvo Ocean Racers, so it will be interesting to see what programs pick them up going forward. I hope the crews don’t go back to the status quo. These sailors are now experienced, big boat Volvo sailors; I hope big boats start calling them as much as they call the guys to go racing. The proof is in the pudding and that’s where you find out where the talent is, who now gets the invite? And there’s no reason why they should not get lots and lots of invites because Lord knows they have the experience, and they’ve sailed with best and have seen the toughest conditions. For me helping females succeed in all levels of our sport as well as keeping kids sailing in their 20’s and 30’s is key to the growth of our sport. Without female opinion leaders and female superstars, and female owners real growth is not going to happen. We have to keep pushing very hard in our sport to involve more women and youth. Looking to the future, it seems like the IMOCA relationship is set with the Volvo Ocean Race. Whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant, but I’m certainly curious to see how it works out. For me, the Volvo must always be a fully crewed race. The rules for youth and women sailors, and the introduction of onboard reporters, have been crucial to showing the world what sailing looks like. So I would not want to create a boat that weeds out in essence those three huge breakthroughs. It’s therefore critical to put a crewed boat out there. With the IMOCAs hopefully the crew does not become too small and that it is considered a 60ft boat where you have a proper crew and you can continue with the female, youth and reporting onboard. Personally, I would also love to see owners back in the race with an old Whitbread-style, second ‘Big Boat’ Class or open division, inviting 70’ through 100’ crewed boats to race around the world under a rating band – attracting those boats competing in other races like the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Newport-Bermudas, TransAtlantics, TransPacs and Rolex Fastnets. Whatever it might take to get more boats in the race. It means opening things up and saying to owners “we want you back”. At the end of the day offshore racing will continue to grow and evolve, and events like the Volvo will continue to push our products to improve, and boggle our minds with drone footage bringing it all to our living rooms. Which is fantastic for the sport. Boats will become faster. Hopefully women and young sailors are to be included more often. And we have to keep pushing safety as boats get inherently less safe. We need to pause and remember that we as North Sails have a strong say in our sport as well as a massive advantage in the marketplace today, and into the near future, and we should make the most of it; whether for a race boat or a cruise boat that wants the best. The fastest sails in the world are in fact the most durable. Something that has never been said in the history of sailmaking. Carolijn Brouwer hoists The Netherlands flag after winning the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, the first edition of the race to require mixed crews. 📸 Pedro Martinez/Volvo Ocean Race READ MORE

CONSEJO NORTH SAILS El cuidado de las velas es clave para prolongar su vida útil y prestaciones, pero también es importante prestar atención a las bolsas en las que las guardamos. Desde North Sails os recomendamos que las limpiéis regularmente con agua dulce para evitar que se acumulen suciedad y salitre (que podrían afectar a la integridad de vuestras velas) y que realicéis un mantenimiento básico de las cremalleras. ¿Cómo hacerlo? Muy sencillo: enjuagarlas con agua dulce, completando el recorrido completo de la cremallera para eliminar salitre y suciedad, y cuando sea posible, lubricarlas aplicando silicona en espray. READ MORE

¿VELAS NUEVAS? ¡APROVECHA AHORA! ¿Conoces nuestro programa de precios reducidos en base a la capacidad de producción de la velería a nivel mundial? El precio venta público (PVP) de las velas North Sails está calculado para picos de producción, cuando nuestras velerías trabajan a pleno rendimiento, pero cuando disponen de mayor capacidad de producción, ese PVP recibirá un interesante recorte. Actualmente se ofrece para velas que se entreguen en agosto, septiembre y octubre. Así que ya sabes: si quieres renovar o reforzar tu inventario con velas North Sails, ¡pregunta por nuestro programa de precios reducidos! READ MORE

DONGFENG RACE TEAM, CAMPEÓN DE LA VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2017-18 Han tenido que completarse las 11 etapas y la circunnavegación del mundo para conocer la identidad del equipo ganador de la Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, la edición más disputada y emocionante de la historia. © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race Tres equipos llegaban al último asalto empatados a puntos al frente de la clasificación, por lo que la victoria se decidiría en la etapa más corta de toda la vuelta al mundo, la que unía Gotemburgo con La Haya, de sólo 700 millas. La incógnita se mantuvo literalmente hasta la línea de meta, y finalmente sería el equipo chino Dongfeng Race Team el que se llevaría el título. El español MAPFRE finalizó segundo, a tres puntos del campeón. El equipo liderado por Xabi Fernández se proclamó ganador de las In-Port Series. Desde North Sails queremos felicitar a todos los equipos por el magnífico espectáculo que nos han ofrecido, su demostración de marinería, su esfuerzo, su profesionalidad, y por haber contribuido a demostrar una vez más la calidad y prestaciones de las velas North Sails, velería oficial de la Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18. READ MORE

LA 3Di NORDAC TRIUNFA En junio de 2017, North Sails revolucionó el mercado de las velas de crucero con el lanzamiento de la 3Di NORDAC, un producto que por primera vez combina el tradicional tejido de poliéster con la tecnología 3Di. Un año más tarde, ya se han comercializado más de 2.000 unidades 3Di NORDAC en 26 países. ¿Cuál es la clave de su éxito? © Amory Ross Nació como una idea, y hoy es uno de los productos de mayor éxito en el extenso catálogo de velas North Sails. La 3Di NORDAC debe su nombre a la combinación de dos términos: NORDAC es un anagrama del Dacron (poliéster) del que está compuesta; 3Di se refiere a la tecnología exclusiva de North Sails con la que se fabrica en moldes de tamaño real, la misma con la que se crean las velas de los barcos de alta competición. El Dacron lleva años demostrando su excelente compromiso entre estabilidad, resistencia y precio, características especialmente valoradas en navegación de crucero. Aplicando la tecnología 3Di al tejido de poliéster, North Sails ha logrado crear velas de una pieza, sin costuras, moldeadas en 3D que aportan un grado inédito de prestaciones y durabilidad a los inventarios de crucero. La 3Di NORDAC está disponible para barcos de pequeña y mediana eslora, con grátil máximo de 24 metros. “En 2015 comenzamos a explorar ideas para un nuevo producto para el mercado de crucero”, explica Dan Neri, director general de North Sails. “Identificamos una oportunidad de crear una vela blanca asequible con todos los beneficios del 3Di. Estábamos seguros de que el producto mejoraría radicalmente la experiencia de la navegación en crucero, y un año después de su introducción más de mil barcos navegan con 3Di NORDAC”. Luis Martínez Doreste, director comercial de North Sails España, destaca que “la 3Di NORDAC aporta un valor añadido en durabilidad y rendimiento que ninguna otra vela de poliéster puede alcanzar”. Un argumento que convence a los clientes de la firma en nuestro país: “No dejamos de recibir comentarios positivos de los clientes que apuestan por la 3Di NORDAC”. El pasado enero, apenas seis meses después de su llegada al mercado, la 3Di NORDAC recibió el Pittman Innovation Award 2018 de la revista SAIL Magazine en categoría crucero, un reconocimiento basado en la combinación de las “magníficas virtudes de coste-efectividad y durabilidad de las velas tradicionales con el proceso de fabricación 3Di aplicado al poliéster, un acierto seguro para navegación de crucero”. Doce meses después de su lanzamiento, North Sails ha comercializado y entregado 2.162 velas 3Di NORDAC en 26 países. READ MORE

QUEL BON MILLÉSIME CE MINI FASTNET 2018! Régater à vue pendant 4 jours avec une telle intensité n’est pas donné à tout le monde…et à ce petit jeu, Axel Tréhin et Fred Denis sur « Tartine » FRA 945, ont été impériaux. Fraichement mis à l’eau 3 semaines plus tôt, le dernier plan Lombard fabriqué par « Mister Axel himself » vient nous rappeler que les nez ronds ne sont pas totalement prophètes en leur pays…Les 2 compères ont imposé un rythme soutenu du début à la fin ne laissant que des miettes à la concurrence et s’imposent (classement proto) en 3 jours et 14h. Ambrogio marche sur l’eau et signe un fabuleux hat-trick !!! Pour cette occasion, Bogi « Wanted Sponsor » ITA 943 a choisi un équipier de choix en la personne de Tanguy Le Turquais, qui, entre 2 épreuves de Figaro, est revenu à ces premiers amours. Il faut dire qu’aujourd’hui, régater en Pogo 3, c’est comme le Figaro…il faut une photo finish pour départager les concurrents. Pendant près de 4 jours, ils ont repoussé les assauts incessants d’Amélie Grassi/ Davy Beaudart (FRA 944) et d’Erwan Le Draoulec/ Clarisse Cremer (FRA 903) pour signer une superbe victoire après celles de la Mini en mai et du trophée MAP. (classement série) READ MORE

COMMENT BIEN PROTÉGER VOS VOILES DU SOLEIL ? Les marins sont bien placés pour savoir que le soleil n’a pas seulement des bienfaits. Les rayons ultraviolets qui brûlent notre peau et blanchissent les ponts en teck provoquent également de sérieux dégâts aux voiles. Il convient de protéger vos voiles comme vous protégez votre peau et de bien les couvrir lorsque vous ne les utilisez pas. Car, une fois le tissu détérioré à la suite d’une exposition prolongée au soleil, il n’existe pas vraiment d’autre recours que le remplacement de la voile. Tissus Certaines fibres présentent une meilleure résistance aux UV que d’autres. Si l’on considère deux fibres de même type mais de diamètre différent, celle d’un diamètre inférieur aura tendance à se dégrader plus rapidement. Les tissus en polyester tissé sont fabriqués avec des fils de chaîne presque toujours plus petits que les fils de trame. Par conséquent, quand le Dacron est endommagé par le soleil, il se déchire plus facilement dans le sens de la chaîne (parallèlement à la trame). Pour tester l’intégrité des fibres de votre voile, il suffit de légèrement gratter la surface du tissu avec un objet en métal non tranchant, comme le bord d’une cuillère ou le côté épais d’une lame de couteau. Si les fibres sont encore en bon état, le tissu deviendra brillant et plus lisse à l’endroit où vous l’aurez frotté. Si les fibres sont abîmées, les filaments à la surface boulocheront ou s’effilocheront. Et quand les dommages causés par les UV sont très importants, la fibre risque de se détacher complètement. C’est donc le signe alarmant que votre voile est sur le point de céder. La plupart des expositions aux UV se produisent lorsque les voiles sont affalées. Certaines zones de la voile seront par conséquent plus affectées que d’autres. Ainsi, la chute de la grand-voile reposant sur le dessus se détériorera plus rapidement que les parties en dessous. Quant au tissu à l’intérieur de l’enroulement d’une voile d’avant sur enrouleur, il sera, lui, préservé du soleil plus longtemps que la face extérieure. Parfois, la solution la plus économique est de réparer ou de remplacer les parties endommagées par les rayons ultraviolets. Mais le plus souvent, lorsque le tissu présente un état de dégradation avancée au point que les fibres se cassent facilement ou que les fils de trame d’un tissu en Dacron cèdent, c’est qu’il est temps de remplacer votre voile. Protections anti-UV Vous serez peut-être surpris d’apprendre que votre voile peut se dégrader à travers sa protection anti-UV. À la longue, la protection devient moins efficace contre les rayons du soleil. Un tissu épais protègera davantage la voile du soleil qu’un tissu léger. De même que les couleurs foncées offrent une meilleure protection que les couleurs claires. Si vous naviguez sous les tropiques, envisagez donc une protection anti-UV épaisse. Votre grand-voile sera certes plus encombrante et lourde, mais ce revêtement prolongera sa durée de vie. Dernier point et non des moindres, le pont de votre bateau constitue une excellente barrière contre les UV. Stockez vos voiles en soute dans la mesure du possible. Couture Un fil à coudre se dégrade au soleil beaucoup plus vite qu’une fibre de même diamètre d’un tissu à voile. Parce qu’étant cousu sur le dessus, le fil à coudre est davantage exposé aux rayons du soleil. Si le choix de la grosseur du fil ne dépendait que de la résistance aux UV, on privilégierait les fils épais. Mais avec un fil trop gros, la voile risque de se perforer le long de la couture et finit par se déchirer le long des pointillés. Tandis qu’une aiguille trop fine relativement au grammage du tissu peut fléchir et dévier autour des fibres plus grosses, ce qui peut affecter le bon déroulement de synchronisation de la machine. Compte tenu de ces facteurs, le fabricant de voiles choisit en général le fil le plus léger et l’aiguille le plus fine possible en fonction du tissu et de son grammage. Test du pouce N’importe qui peut vérifier l’état de dégradation d’un fil avec son pouce. Si, en grattant le fil avec l’ongle du pouce, il s’effiloche, c’est qu’il est temps de remplacer les coutures sur votre voile. Inspectez chaque couture sur plusieurs endroits, notamment le long du galon de chute ou au-dessus de la bande anti-UV d’un génois sur enrouleur. Certaines zones se détériorent plus vite en raison de la façon dont la voile est enroulée ou pliée. Munissez-vous d’un crayon à papier et encerclez les zones qui s’effilochent facilement, puis cherchez d’autres endroits où le fil est usé. Le repiquage est certes un long travail, mais il reste relativement simple à effectuer, et peut être rapide si vous repérez les fils fragilisés avant que les coutures ne lâchent complètement. Sangles Lorsque vous inspectez vos voiles, regardez de près l’extérieur des sangles. Si vous remarquez des fibres cassées, contactez votre voilerie pour remplacer vos vieilles sangles. Les nouvelles sangles seront cousues sur les anciennes. Il serait peine perdue d’essayer de coudre à travers une sangle de point de tire en utilisant une machine à coudre portable ou avec toute autre machine à coudre légère. Les coins sur une voile deviennent de plus en plus rigides à mesure de son utilisation, et vous casseriez immanquablement de nombreuses aiguilles. Extrait de : Guide complet d'entretien et de réparation des voiles, Dan Néri. READ MORE

22nd ANNUAL SUPERYACHT CUP North Sails Powers Overall and Three Class Wins In Palma © Claire Matches / SY Cup The Superyacht Cup, Europe’s largest and longest running superyacht regatta this year featured 16 yachts, beautifully designed, and sailed by the best for a chance at the 2018 title. As always, Palma delivered fantastic racing conditions, setting the scene for a beautiful showing of some of the largest racing yachts in the world. Starts occurred in two-minute intervals, giving spectators watching ashore action-packed final moments before each fleet took off. Racing was also full of excitement for crews, with some classes having match-race style pre-start techniques and finishes within seconds of each other. “It was fantastic out there today. Great conditions here in Palma with a nice nine to 12 knots sea breeze, and quite challenging at times. I like this place- It’s really special. The unique geography puts a bend in the wind that you have to get right every time. The first race is always pretty key. Anything is possible,” commented Cameron Appleton, onboard Highland Fling. The breeze built over the duration of the week, keeping the racing close and competitive. Some teams fared well in the lighter air within their class, like Highland Fling who won their first race of the event. Others saw improvements come as more breeze filled in throughout the week. Points were tight in each class making every second count at the finish, especially going into the final day of racing. Many scores were within one point, and for some teams it came down to tie-breakers, showing how competitive each yacht and crew is. © Claire Matches “We had a good tussle with Svea in both races,” commented Velsheda’s tactician Tom Dodson. “They showed good speed in the first race to cross ahead on the first beat. In the second it all worked for us, we got the cross and hung on. Both boats are owner-driver and sailed to such a high standard – if we get everything right we can still win races against the newer boats.” It was impressive to see the two J Class superyachts match racing, close in points and even closer on the race course. “We got our start right, taking the right-hand side of the first beat,” commented Dodson, “We weren’t a 100% sure about it, but we were pretty sure that side would work out, and then we saw a couple of the locals going that way, so we felt pretty good about our decision.” After three days of racing, only the fastest and most consistent teams survived. Clients on 33m Win Win took 1st overall in Class A, with Saudade and Highland Fling close behind in second and third overall. J Class Velsheda won the tiebreaker in Class B, with a total of six points. Q the 51.7m Dubois took 1st in Class D, the Corinthian class, battling each race against 46m Scorpione of London. Congratulations to our clients on a successful week in Palma! J Class SY Velsheda, Winner of Class B. © Claire Matches / SY Cup “We were honored to win the event on the oldest boat in the fleet that is still helmed by her owner of 30 years. Velsheda herself is 85 years old this year. I and many of the crew have been with her since 2001.” –North Sails Tom Dodson, Auckland NZL Win Win, Winner of Class A © Claire Matches / SY Cup “It was an absolutely superior event with some of the best sailing you can imagine. 28 degrees and 10 – 15 knots sea breeze and Palma showing herself from her best side. First time on Win Win which I enjoyed a lot. Great owner with a great team. Tough but great competition with Saudade and Highland Fling being within minutes of each other the whole way around in all the races. Already looking forward to next year. This event is a must do event regardless of which class you are racing in.” – North Sails Jens Christensen, Herlev, Denmark © Claire Matches / SY Cup “Sir Peter Harrison’s Sojana was incredibly sailed by his long-standing and loyal crew. She has been optimized for speed and shows true elegance when under sail. Great conditions on the Bay of Palma with sea breeze and sunshine suited her, giving her everything she needed to perform to her fullest. Her crew enjoyed racing and was very pleased having a great season under their belt. Great times spent on and off the water to top off our season after placing second in St Barth’s, first in Antigua, and third here in Palma behind the illustrious Velsheda.” -North Sails Brad Favelle, Palma, Spain © Claire Matches “This year’s Palma SY Regatta was well run and a blast to sail in. Palma delivered perfect champagne sailing conditions with 9 – 14 knots of wind and flat water. I raced on the Swan 115 Highland Fling in Class A where there was a 3 way tie for first going into the last day. I can’t remember a superyacht regatta where the racing was this close.” – North Sails Mike Toppa, Ft. Lauderdale, FL © Claire Matches / SY Cup “The racing was very close in our class. Conditions were great and each day our team improved. The onshore social aspect of the regatta was also a great time. Our crew won the SUP race after day two of racing. It was a lot of fun.” -North Sails Marc Patino, Palma, Spain Q, Winner of Class D © Claire Matches / SY Cup It takes many hands to do big work on the SY Svea © Claire Matches / SY Cup © Claire Matches / SY Cup © Claire Matches / SY Cup © Claire Matches / SY Cup © Claire Matches / SY Cup © Claire Matches / SY Cup © Claire Matches / SY Cup 2018 Superyacht Cup Class A 1 Win Win 2 Saudade 3 Highland Fling Class B 1 Velsheda 3 Sojana 4 Svea 5 Ganesha 6 Missy Class D- Corinthian 1 Q * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory READ MORE

2018 C SCOW NATIONALS Congratulations to Peter Keck – A Win Without a Question! Start line at ethe 2018 C Scow Nationals ©Larry Kmiecik The C scow National Championship was hosted in the beautiful Lake Delavan with sixty-three teams attending from thirteen different fleets. Peter Keck, alongside with crew Ben Porter, placed his name on the C Scow National Championship trophy for the fourth time (2018, 2014, 2005, 1997). Keck battled a tough competition including four past National Champions (Gluek, Skotarzak, Eckert and Reilly). Keck was, by far, the most consistent C Scow on Delavan Lake last weekend. He started out his domination with a bullet in the first race and he never took his foot off the pedal, finishing with a 2, 3, 2, 7 and no need to sail the last race. North Sails continues to bring speed to the C Scow Class – This year’s National Championship saw North clients finish 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Unparalleled performance. Learn more about the fast C Scow sails. 2018 C SCOW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 1 N 181 / Peter Keck 3 B 12 / Kent Haeger 4 A 14 / Paul Reily 5 OO 99 / Dave Keck 6 BL 3 / Patrick Lynch 7 E 111 / Mathew Prange 8 B 217 / Joe Skotarzak 9 A 136 / Ed Eckert 10 A 36 / Tom Eckert * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory ©Larry Kmiecik ©Larry Kmiecik ©Larry Kmiecik ©Larry Kmiecik READ MORE

KIELER WOCHE 2018 North-powered Clients Claim Multiple One Design Class Victories Matt Belcher & Will Ryan reign again in the mens 470, sweeping yet another title © Sasha Klahn Kieler Woche, the world’s biggest sailing event attracted roughly 4,000 sailors from 50 nations for the nine-day event in Northern Germany. Entries range from ORC, to Olympic Dinghies, to paralympic teams. With the Sailing World Championships in Aarhus later this year, many olympic hopefuls used Kieler Woche as a training event. In the 470 fleet, Olympic Silver Medalist and reigning World Champions Matt Belcher and Will Ryan continued their streak of success, snagging the title over Swedish team Anton Dahlberg & Fredrik Bergstrom. In the women’s fleet, Silvia Mas & Patricia Cantero won the medal race to secure their victory from Maria Bozi & Rafailina Klonaridou, from Greece. ©Sascha Klahn North Sails clients also filled the top end of the Finn fleet, with Kiwi Josh Junior taking the championship after finishing fourth in the medal race. Second place in the medal race secured second place for Anders Pederson. Rounding off the podium was current European Champion, Ed Wright. The OK Dinghy fleet had an impressive sixty-one boats racing from all over the world including Australia and New Zealand. Congratulations to Jan Kurfeld for taking the overall win. Jan was using his North M-20 Mainsail, which has again proven itself to be a championship winning sail. Congratulations to our clients on yet another successful week in Kiel. Jan Kurfeld, winner of the OK Dinghy Class © www.segel-bilder.de © www.segel-bilder.de Returning J/24 champion, Mike Ingham and crew on Nautalytics, enjoyed their time in Kiel and are already looking forward to next year. After 11 races and one discard, Mike racked up four bullets, and had five races within the top five overall, making his last race more of a victory lap. Congrats to Mike and team on sailing a great regatta. Full Results ©www.segel-bilder.de Keeping an eye on the competition, close behind ©Sascha Klahn © Sascha Klahn Kieler Woche 2018 J/24 1 USA 5443 – Mike Ingham OK Dinghy 1 GER 18 – Jan Kurfeld Finn 1 NZL 24 – Josh Junior 470 – Men 1 AUS 11 – Matt Belcher & Will Ryan 470 – Women 1 ESP 18 – Silvia Mas & Patricia Cantero 420 1 GER 56086 – Felix Kaiser & Jonas Royla J/70 1 GER 929 – Bjorn Beilken READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ARE HERE FOR YOU From choosing the correct sail for your needs to making the most of your sails on the water our team of experts all over Australia are here to help North Sails are committed to designing, producing, delivering and servicing the best sails in the world, no matter what your boat or style of sailing. Within Australia, North Sails has a network of seven sales and service centers providing, coverage Australia-wide. Our sailmakers have an average of 20+ years in the industry, with experience in every size and type of boat and sails from small One Design classes such as Sabot’s to the largest Superyacht’s in the world. Meet Some of The Australian Team Michael Coxon In 1978 while running his own sail loft, Michael was invited to become part of the North Sails network. He jumped at the opportunity and began work as the One Design Manager. In 1984 North Sails head office, based in the USA recognised Michael’s potential and invited him to purchase North Sails within Australia. His team has gone on to make one of the largest and most successful sailmaking operations. Over the years North has given Michael great sailing opportunities at the highest level worldwide and locally. “I look upon each day of my career of over 40 years as a highlight. I left school to started a sailmaking apprenticeship, then owner/manager in my 20s and have enjoyed every day since, in particular helping my staff recognise their potential in our industry.” Mark Bradford Mark started sailmaking in 1987 and has 30 years of experience across all disciplines of the sport. Mark’s One Design background is in 125’s, 420’s, 470’s, Etchells, Star Class and Farr 40. This interest has seen him compete in 19 World Championships. He also has experience in the America’s Cup working with BMW Oracle from 2003-2007. He is currently the Skipper of Peter Harburg’s Black Jack sailing team. Alby Pratt Starting as an apprentice sailmaker in 1988, Alby has held almost every position within the loft: sailmaker, service manager, project manager, sales consultant and today sales manager. “Dealing with great customers, a great group of people using the best technology everyday make working for North Sails a dream job.” Aaron Cole Aaron Cole is the Loft Manager in Melbourne. He is a former America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race & Audi MedCup sailmaker with 22 years experience. Aaron has a wide range of expertise in both offshore and inshore high-performance yacht racing. He’s competed in 16 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races and is highly regarded as one of Australia’s top primary trimmers. Aaron’s vast knowledge of the very latest materials and sailmaking techniques offers customers the highest level of technology and service. If you are interested in any North Sails products, get in touch with the team! READ MORE

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: AFTERBURN Soto 40, A True Downwind Flyer It's hard to miss her walking down the dock. A Soto 40 out of Port Credit Yacht Club, Afterburn, is looking to turn heads this season. Owners Craig Pirie and Darren Gornall worked with local North Sails Expert Hugh Beaton to improve their sail inventory for 2018. The end result? A new 3Di RAW Square Top Mainsail and A2 Spinnaker. The new sails arrived days before the Susan Hood Trophy Race, an overnight distance race around Lake Ontario, with just enough time to be installed. The North Sails Toronto team delivered the sails with Hugh to the boat, and Hugh spent the day before the race installing both sails to ensure a perfect fit. Afterburn had a gorgeous start to the Susan Hood on the Friday evening with a fantastic breeze and a beautiful sunset backdrop. She finished at 5:42am with a corrected time of 12:00:01. Following the race, Hugh had the following remarks on how she performed with her new sails: "Sailing the Soto 40 Afterburn in the Susan Hood was a real pleasure. She lived up to her billing as a downwind flyer, hitting 15-16 knots pretty easily during the first half of the leg to Niagara. We started with the Masthead Code 0, and then peeled to the A2 about 90 minutes into the race as the breeze went aft. True wind speed 17-18 and a true wind angle of 145 degrees is a great combination for this boat." – Hugh Beaton, North Sails READ MORE

SUMMER INTERN: REGINA TREJO Tell us about yourself. I am from Chicago and grew up in a large family of sailors. I am a rising sophomore at Syracuse University, studying television and accounting. I’m on the sailing team, getting great collegiate racing experience against other competitive schools. In my free-time I love to read, take photos, and of course, be on the water. How long have you been sailing and/or involved in the marine world? I have been sailing my entire life. As a kid, I sailed with my family on our Alberg 35, and eventually raced dinghies and keel boats as I got older. What are you most looking forward to about working at North Sails? I am looking forward to learning more about sailmaking and meeting some great local sailors. Working for North Sails is a great opportunity to further immerse myself into one of my passions. What’s your favorite part about Summer? I love being able to travel and sail in warm weather. Spring and fall sailing in upstate New York is too cold! It's nice to be able to relax and have fun on Summer break. What boats do you race (outside college)? I race the Vanguard 15 weekly, and will jump on any keel boat that I have the opportunity to be on. Recently, I sailed on a Santana 30-30 and a Melges 24. What are you focusing on during your internship at North Sails? I am focusing on how keel boats work and how different sails are employed under certain conditions. If you could be a part of any racing program, which would it be? I would love to sail vipers. When I raced against them recently, they were so powerful downwind and looked like a perfect mix between dinghy boats and keel boats. When is your next regatta? I do not know what my next regatta is quite yet, although I have always wanted to participate in the Race to Mackinac or the Tri-State. When you sail, do you prefer to be at the helm? When sailing dinghy boats I am most comfortable as a crew member, but I love to skipper when the opportunity arises. On keel boats I enjoy trimming kite. What’s your earliest memory of being on the water? My earliest memory sailing is wearing my Sesame Street life jacket with Elmo and Big Bird on it! READ MORE

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: RUM KIST Weeknight Racing Powered By New 3Di RAW Sails A gorgeous Tuesday evening with a SW breeze allowed for a great night racing with Bill Morland on Rum Kist, a Beneteau 10R, out of Etobicoke Yacht Club. Local North Sails Expert Hugh Beaton came by to race with Morland, who's owned the boat for a little over a year now. Hugh offered his tuning tips for their new 3Di RAW main and jib. "The 10R was responsive and easy to get into the groove upwind. Conditions were ideal with 10-12knots of wind, making for a fast trip around the course. The new 3Di mainsail was very responsive to main sheet tension, giving us a nice high mode with no loss in speed." - Hugh Beaton, North Sails READ MORE