NORTH SAILS BLOG

#NSVICTORYLIST: BREST ATLANTIQUES Second Major Offshore Victory For Gitana’s Edmond de Rothschild 📸 Yann Riou This article was published at 0400 on Friday December 6th. At this time, MACIF & Actual Leader had not finished. You can track them here. The 2019 edition of the Brest Atlantiques was known as the “flight of the giants,” with four super -charged Ultim trimarans driven by talented sailors and powered by North Sails 3Di. The race cast off on November 5th from Brest on a 14,000nm journey and has now reached an ending with three of four teams making it to the finish line. The winner, Gitana’s Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, crossed the finish line in the morning on December 5th, making this the second major offshore victory for the team this year, first being the Fastnet in August where they claimed multihull line honours. Covering a total of 17,084 nm at an average speed of 24.57 knots, and only 28 days to finish the race, skippers Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, and media team member Yann Riou kept their Ultim on the edge as much as possible, racing as fast as they could with a clean and clear strategy to snag the lead on the fleet. 📸 Yvan Zedda They didn’t have the lead until they crossed the Robben Island course off of Cape Town and worked hard to eliminate maneuvers and reel in Sodebo, who was at that time 13 hours and 53 minutes ahead. Battling the unstable tradewinds, Edmund de Rothschild couldn’t follow a course as direct as they had planned but they kept their heads in the game and to find the most optimum route across the Equator that would put them ahead of their competitors. Once they passed the Cagarras Islands, Actual Leader was close on their tail, so they knew they had to play it smart and sail fast to get ahead of the weather systems that were pushing in. Once Edmond de Rothschild had less than 2000nm to go, they knew they needed to reach the Azores quick so they could catch the front where the conditions were sporty but most ideal for their plan to get ahead of the fleet. MACIF and Actual Leader were still close behind, but now battling each other for second place, giving Rothschild a chance to break free and extend. Unfortunately Thomas Coville’s Sodebo suffered a collision with a UFO, which forced them to make a pitstop in Cape Town giving them no other option but to retire. Before the incident they were well ahead of both Edmund de Rothschild and MACIF, so it was a bit of bad luck that changed the race for the team. As amazing as it truly was, when Edmond de Rothschild made landfall in Salvador de Bahia, their stay would last roughly 13 hours and 40 minutes, and when they got back in the game, it would only take them a solid two days to catch up and take back their lead. Designed to literally fly offshore, Gitana’s Edmond de Rothschild is built for speed as is the standard for the entire Ultim trimaran fleet. Her sailors also deserve a big round of applause, both being recognized as Sailor of the Year at least once, if not twice as well as winning other major offshore races like the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Jules Verne Trophy, Route de Rhum and the Volvo Ocean Race. Spending time on the Ultim trimaran has given Franck and Charles that competitive edge, knowing how hard they can push the boat and be comfortable taking it to the next level. https://prmediazone.s3.amazonaws.com/videos/m26156_191204_bout-a-bout-arrivee-itw-en-aglais-beauty-shot_1080p_vi.mp4 READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ARRIVES IN LORIENT The Center For Offshore Racing & Technological Innovation 📸 Yann Riou North Sails has opened a new loft in Lorient, France. The new location will allow the company to welcome a large number of its clients who are based in the “Sailing Valley”, a strategic area in Brittany dedicated to offshore racing and technological innovation. “Our approach to be in close contact with the leaders in sailing and innovation in the Lorient area perfectly complements the links that we already have with our partners and collaborators who are our neighbors in Vannes,” comments Gautier Sergent, director of North Sails France. “The desire to settle in Lorient has long been a subject of discussion within North Sails,” he continues. “We are pleased that this initiative has finally materialized.” “Today more than 80% of French offshore skippers, from all classes including mini, Figaro, Class 40, IMOCA, Ultim and more, are present in Lorient,” explained Éric Gallais-Hamonno, production manager with North Sails. “It was clear we needed an outpost there, not only to strengthen the relationships with our existing clients but to also develop our local network and access new markets, such as cruising and local IRC.” “More than half of the sails that we service at our loft in Vannes are for boat projects based out of Lorient,” adds Thibaut Agaugue, service manager at North Sails. “So it’s a logical evolution. The goal is to better meet the needs of the sailing teams by offering local service and skills, with the added presence of technical-commercial experts and designers. Our presence across this area, including Port-la-Forêt, will simplify logistics and allow us to be even more responsive.” The North Sails loft has a new 500m² floor dedicated to service (after-sales service, modifications and repairs). “This will allow the floor space in Vannes to manufacture more efficiently and serenely,” says Thibaut. The Vannes loft will remain the production site for North Sails, and service for customers in the Vannes region. Thibaut Agaugue will be in charge of service in Vannes and Lorient and can be available as needed. The loft in Lorient also has office space and a 50m² meeting room to receive a team of five or six people (service, commercial and design). READ MORE

SAVE ON NORTH 1720 SAILS Celebrating 300 Years Of The Royal Cork Yacht Club In celebration of the Cork 300 Regatta in 2020 North Sails are offering a very special deal for the 1720 fleet. For all sails ordered before the end of December 2019 we are offering savings on the full range of sails. North Sails have been involved in the 1720 class since its inception and our sails have enjoyed some great results over the years. We were delighted to see our 3Di sails at the front of the fleet in 2019 and the feedback has been excellent. In recent times things have been a little quiet in the class but with the 1720 Europeans forming part of the Cork 300 celebrations, it seems like every 1720 within a 400 miles radius will be joining the fleet in 2020! So with that in mind, we decided to make a one time special offer to the class to allow more teams to experience what North Sails and 3Di can do for you. For prices and terms please do not hesitate to contact us at: info@irl.northsails.com We look forward to hearing from you very soon. Offer ends 31st December 2019. READ MORE

North Sails France s’installe à Lorient Un nouveau plancher de service ouvre ses portes à Lorient : the place to be North Sails France s’installera début décembre à Lorient La Base (Morbihan) dans l’ancien bâtiment de la voilerie Tonnerre. Ce nouvel emplacement permettra à l’entreprise d’accueillir un grand nombre de ses clients basés au cœur de la Sailing Valley, un lieu stratégique dédié à la course au large et à l’innovation technologique. Aujourd’hui, 80 % des coureurs offshore (Mini-Transat, Figaro, Class 40, IMOCA, Ultim, IRC, etc.) sont installés à Lorient, explique Éric Gallais-Hamonno, responsable de production chez North Sails. La nécessité d’avoir un point de chute là-bas devenait évidente, à la fois pour renforcer nos liens avec nos clients existants, développer notre réseau local et conquérir de nouveaux marchés (croisière/IRC local, …). « Plus de la moitié des voiles en service dans notre loft à Vannes sont des voiles de projets de bateaux dont le port d’attache est à Lorient La Base, ajoute Thibaut Agaugue, responsable service à North Sails. C’est donc une évolution logique de notre activité. L’objectif est de mieux répondre aux besoins des équipes navigantes en offrant un service de proximité et de compétences avec la présence également d’experts technico-commerciaux et d’un bureau d’études. Notre rapprochement sur cette zone et celle de Port-la-Forêt simplifiera la logistique et nous permettra d’être encore plus réactifs. » « Cette démarche d’être au contact avec les acteurs de la voile et de l’innovation dans le bassin lorientais complète parfaitement les liens que nous avons déjà avec nos partenaires et collaborateurs dont nous sommes voisins à Vannes, commente Gautier Sergent, directeur de North Sails France. La volonté de s’installer à Lorient est un sujet de longue date au sein de North Sails France, poursuit-il. Nous sommes heureux que cette initiative se matérialise enfin. » En effet, depuis quelques années déjà, North Sails France souhaitait s’implanter à la Base des sous-marins. À l’origine, l’entreprise devait récupérer la partie rez-de chaussée du bâtiment des défis, mais celui-ci a été détruit par un gigantesque incendie en juin 2018. La voilerie North Sails disposera désormais d’un nouveau plancher de 500m² dédié au service (SAV / modifications / réparations). « Cela préservera l’espace de production au plancher de Vannes pour fabriquer plus efficacement et sereinement, » informe Thibaut. Le loft de Vannes restera le site de production pour North Sails France, et de service pour les clients de la région vannetaise. Thibaut Agaugue devient responsable du service à Vannes et à Lorient. Il se rendra disponible en fonction des besoins. Le loft de Lorient compte également un espace de bureau et salle de réunion de 50m² pour recevoir une équipe de cinq ou six personnes (service, commerciaux et bureau d’études). Le nouveau plancher a nécessité quelques travaux de rénovation avant d’être opérationnel et son inauguration aura lieu prochainement. READ MORE

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

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: ARD VAN LEEUWEN New Year, New Boat, New Adventures Tell us about your journey to the J/112s? What was your biggest surprise when it came to the learning curve of the boat? There was hardly a learning curve to speak of. After two seasons on a J/88 the J/112e felt like a more forgiving version of the J/88. For racing it helped that we were now pretty much in the middle of the fleet in terms of boat length, PHRF and displacement. It made it easier to learn from what other boats were doing. How did you decide on your new inventory of sails? We decided to keep it simple for starters and just go with 105% jib, main and A2. The second year we added an A1/A3 hybrid. I wanted to do some point to point races and we thought a reaching spinnaker would come in handy. North Sails advice has been very helpful. As I’ve gotten more into racing over the last four years, I bump into the Toronto staff more and more. They run on the water racing clinics. They give seminars on sail trim in the winter. I’ve seen them crewing on boats I’m racing against. They volunteer to help organize regattas. They are plugged into the local racing scene and can offer advice accordingly. What steps did you take to learn more about the boat? How did these steps help improve your sailing? The most important thing was to just get out on the water in all kinds of conditions and experiment. That really helps to determine where the boat’s boundaries are. The polars were always a good reference point. Asking a lot of questions to people who’ve been sailing for decades is still a big help. The winter is (too) long so there’s was a lot of time to learn in different ways other than sailing. The biggest difference between this year and last on the boat? I learn best after doing it wrong the first time. Having had three seasons of doing many things wrong really helped. In terms of racing one big difference is that we are making fewer mistakes and recovering from them faster when we do make them. There’s less second guessing because we are now more confident about knowing the pros and cons of choices in front of us. What is your best piece of advice for anyone thinking about solo-sailing? Get a reliable auto-pilot and a furling headsail. The crucial parts are figuring out a way to get your sails down and how to get back on the dock by yourself. The rest is easy. For inspiration go to YouTube and search for the “Don't text and drive (with the big gennaker up)” video by Peter Gustafsson. It hooked me. What motivates you to keep going? To keep racing? It’s fun, relaxing and challenging all at the same time. Racing adds a little edge and excitement to that mix. A crew adds in teamwork and there’s always the social angle after the sail. And, let’s not forget the prizes. I won the “Best hat in the fleet” award at Mimico. What’s not to like? READ MORE

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

POST-REGATTA SAIL SERVICE Offering Service For Sydney Hobart / Australian Sailing Championship Sailors North Sails Certified Service Experts in Tasmania are here to get your sails repaired overnight post Sydney-Hobart. Our service van will be onsite offering pick-up and drop-off to the regatta venue. Things can happen after a 600nm race, but that doesn’t mean you are left without a key feature of your sail inventory! North Sails Tasmania is situated a short distance from the heart of Hobart and will be ready to service your sails as soon as you have finished the race. To make it easy and to accommodate the influx of yachts coming to Hobart, we are offering a pickup and delivery service at two ideal locations: Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, host of the IRC Nationals Peter Johnston Ship Chandlery, situated at the docks in Hobart If you are competing in the IRC Nationals after this year’s Sydney to Hobart, North Sails can be there to pick up your sails from Kings Pier as soon as you have completed the great race. Please feel free to contact our friendly North Sails team to assist with your service needs. We look forward to seeing you in Hobart! North Sails Tasmania 273 Kennedy Drive, Cambridge, Hobart, Tasmania READ MORE

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

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

MINI-TRANSAT LA BOULANGÈRE - ÉDITION 2019 Ambrogio Beccaria, vainqueur en classement série © Christophe Breschi / Mini-Transat La Boulangère La Mini-Transat La Boulangère 2019 a été officiellement clôturée dimanche 24 novembre avec l’arrivée du dernier concurrent en Martinique. Formidable école de la course au large, cette transatlantique en solitaire n’en reste pas moins éprouvante et difficile pour tous les skippers en lice. Créée en 1977 par l'anglais Bob Salmon, elle se dispute tous les deux ans sur des voiliers de 6.50 mètres sans aucun moyen de communication et avec le minimum d’instruments de navigation à bord. Axel Tréhin finit 2e au classement général en série prototype © Christophe Breschi / Mini-Transat La Boulangère Pour cette édition 2019, Alex Tréhin à la barre de Project Rescue Ocean (FRA 945, voiles North) s’était promis qu’il ne lâcherait rien, et il l’a fait. Après avoir gagné la première manche (La Rochelle - Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), il a remporté une magnifique 2e place au classement général en prototype malgré une avarie de spi. Il a franchi la ligne d’arrivée en Martinique tout juste derrière François Jambou (Team BFR- Marée Haute Jaune). En classement série, c’est Ambrogio Beccaria, grand favori, sur Geomag (ITA 943, voiles North), qui a terminé sur la plus haute marche du podium et 3e au classement général toute série confondue. Violette Dorange (FR 955, voiles North), la plus jeune concurrente (18 ans) de ce cru 2019, a décroché une belle 16e place en série pour sa première participation. Dans cette même catégorie, Felix de Navacelle (FRA 916, voiles North), Mathieu Vincent (FRA 947*), Guillaume L'Hostis (FRA 868, voiles North) et Julien Letissier (FRA 869*) ont fini respectivement 4e, 7e, 11e et 14e. Violette Dorange, la plus jeune concurrente, décroche une 16e place en série © Christophe Breschi / Mini-Transat La Boulangère Autres chiffres à retenir de cette 22e édition : 87 marins dont vingt bateaux équipés North (jeu complet ou partiel) étaient présents sur la première étape (La Rochelle – Gran Canaria), 82 skippers ont pu prendre le départ de la deuxième étape (Gran Canaria- Martinique, la plus longue également avec 2700 milles). Et sur les 78 navigants qui ont bouclé le parcours, 37 sont arrivés échelonnés en l’espace de 24 heures dans le port du Marin, une première dans l’histoire de la Mini-Transat. Les participants de cette édition 2019 se retrouveront le 7 décembre au Nautic de Paris à l'occasion de la remise des prix. *Inventaire partiel READ MORE

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

M32 CLASS SAIL CONSISTENCY Quality Assurance Production With North Sails 📸Drew Malcolm / M32 World Consistent Shape How does North Sails make sure that the new M32 sails are consistent in shaping? The process starts with the layout. For the 3Di mainsail, each sail is machine-taped from the same file so it is identical. For the paneled gennaker, sails are cut on a laser plotter using the same cut file, in a humidity- and temperature-controlled room. 3Di sails for one design classes are molded to the exact same shape. When more than one sail is made at a time, they are put on the mold one right after the other. Assembling paneled sails is done by the same experienced team, with each member of the team specializing in one specific job (eg., sticking the seams). The level of detail in the molding is such that when repeat sails are made at a later date, the same mold is used and the same shaping file is used to adjust it. This means that even if a sail is made 6 months later, it is molded to the same shape. 📸Raphael Demaret Consistent Finish How does North Sails make sure that the new M32 sails are consistent in finishing? To ensure that finishing on all the sails is the same, the full order of sails is added to the same work ticket and once again a team of experts completes the job. The work ticket specifies every detail of the finishing, including the length of the webbings, the position of the batten boxes back from the luff, and the location and size of the reef patches. It even specifies the stitching pattern and thread. For example, a set of templates locate the batten boxes in exactly the same place on the sail. This ensures that the boxes are the same distance back from the luff and at the same angle, on every single sail. 📸Raphael Demaret Consistent Size How does North Sails make sure that the new M32 sails are consistent in sizing? Once the sails are finished, they are all measured to make sure they’re within class tolerances. The rare sail that doesn’t measure correctly is either fixed or rejected. Measurements include perimeter dimensions, girths, batten lengths, batten boxes, luff offsets, and several other details. Once sails pass inspection, they are packaged and shipped to the distribution site where they are checked again. The battens are installed before they are shipped to the end user. Update for 2020: While the luff lengths for all the sails are identical, the specifications for luff tape and bolt rope tensions are going to be further refined to be within 5 kg of each other. Additionally, the batten pocket end finishing is going to be changed from cuben fiber to 3Di utility cloth for smoother finishing and increased durability. At the request of the class, the sail shapes are going to remain unchanged. 📸 Drew Malcolm / M32 World READ MORE

BISCAYNE BAY LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Get To Know Your Racing Area © Andrew Palfrey, Etchells Winter series Miami, FL To help you prepare for the 2019 Winter Racing Circuits, we asked the local Star and Snipe World Champion Augie Diaz to explain about his home waters of Biscayne Bay in Miami, FL. Biscayne Bay is I think pretty straightforward. The weather is driven by cold fronts approaching, and we don’t get as much breeze as we used to because the city’s grown so big. But generally, any breeze from the northeast around through the southwest is great sailing. From this direction, the breeze is usually under fifteen knots, with relatively flat water (chop but no swell). Spring and fall are the best seasons, because we don’t get many fronts. Dominant wind direction: easterlies The old rule of thumb is still the case: if the wind’s to the left of the south end of Key Biscayne, you go left. Near the Key, from 120-160 degrees, there is a little more pressure closer to the end of the Key, and also a geographical shift off the land. How favored is somewhat current-dependent; from 70 degrees to 160 degrees with an outgoing current, then left is really good, what we call the “Old Man Expressway”. At the top of the beat on the J/24 Worlds course, the Old Man Expressway could be important. On what I call the Cuba Course, where the Etchells sail, way down south of Matheson Hammock, there’s less left down there than there is closer to the point of Key Biscayne. So you have to keep in mind where you are on the Bay. Current Understanding the current is very important. People think the current comes in and out of the Bay from the east, but it actually runs in and out from Bear Cut. If you get close to what we call the Valves, which are the channels through the shallow areas that on the chart are labeled Biscayne Flats, there is a component of current going in and out of there. But you have to be very close to the Valves for that to be the net effect. Otherwise, the current basically ebbs from the southwest to the northeast, and goes the opposite way when it floods. As for the timing relative to high and low tide, I’ve seen it as much as an hour off, so I just use tide change as a gauge and then keep checking the buoys, all the time. Sometimes seaweed will show lines of current, but I’ve never really seen a change in the color of the water. Other wind directions Once the wind gets to about 170-180, it’s pretty important to protect the right. That’s true all the way to 220 degrees. Anything right of 220-230, it’s going to march quickly to the northwest because that’s a frontal-driven direction, which doesn’t doesn’t have the ability to stick. If the wind’s right of 230 degrees, I like coming in from the top left because you get some really nice puffs off the left shore. It depends where you are on the Bay; on the J/24 course, close to the west shoreline, you’ll definitely want to come in from the top left. Northwesters are like you’re on a lake: very shifty, very up and down. But in late October, it’s actually less frontal, so that’s less likely. Secret to success Focus on what the current’s doing, and in the easterly understand how important it is to go left. READ MORE

FROM 3DL TO 3Di AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN Jenny III Gets An Upgrade For Her Furling Headsail Ron Meredith-Jones is a longtime sailor and member of Mimico Cruising Club. You'll see him out on the course every week on his C+C 33 Jenny III with his crew, having fun and pushing the limits. He purchased his furling 3DL genoa from local North Sails expert Hugh Beaton almost 20 years ago and when it finally bit the dust this past year, it was time to upgrade. Hugh recommended the 3Di Nordac for him as it checked all the boxes: durable, better performance, greater control yet great value and a perfect fit for both racing and cruising. Hugh received the email below from Ron after it's first two weeknight races: "Jenny III has now had 2 races with its new 3Di genoa ... both were wins! Have attached results for these races as well as for a recent pre 3Di race (June 19, 2019). For the pre 3Di race. Jenny III was using it's North Sails NORDAC genoa (circa 2010). Jenny III's PHRF rating was 168 for both the undamaged NORDAC and the new 3Di genoa. Based on these results and ignoring in race screw-ups (in race one several boats misread the course and briefly headed to the wrong mark) ... switching to the 3Di seems to have allowed Jenny III to finish about 5 minutes..i.e about 10% faster than its pre-3Di performance. The most relevant comparison is Jenny III to Glayva II. Needless to say owner and crew are delighted and other MCC racers have taken note. Thank you for recommending 3Di as the replacement for our damaged genoa and thanks to the North Sails Toronto Crew for getting the new sail to us so quickly and professionally." Once we received this, we knew we had to speak with Ron further to hear more about his success with 3Di NORDAC. Tell us about your season this past summer. The first half of the season, we were mediocre. We generally fit in, there are two boats that are tough to beat: Blast and Glava II. We did manage to beat them over the season, but for the first half the most I can say is, I saw them at the starting line. We were having a good time. Middle of the pack, whatever. The boat's old. It was built in '75, but there are a couple of other boats in the fleet that are roughly the same era. We easily were in with them. If we did everything right, we might beat them. If we did one thing wrong, we would lose. Blast was an image that we occasionally saw. They would usually finish a leg ahead of us. How did things change once you put the new sail up? We plunked it up, went out. I think on that day it was probably 12, 14 knots. Usually, in that sort of wind range we don't do very well. The boat just can't go into the waves, and they will go on the wave. Lo and behold, I think we were certainly within sight of both GLAVA, but GLAVA II, and Blast as in on adjusted time, we beat them by a country mile. Fleet captain says it's the fastest Genoa in the club. What's the biggest change you've noticed between your 3DL Furling Genoa and the new 3Di Nordac Furling Genoa? We have a lot more power. An amazing amount of power. People said, "Where did you get that sail?" We said "North Sails." The word from everybody else was, "Don't touch it, don't touch it," or, "That's enough. I don't want to race against you. You got an unfair advantage." It was a spectacular increase from one week to the next. What everybody noticed was that this sail was spectacularly better than anything we'd had on the boat ever, including the 3DL. We do quite well, particularly in light winds with the 3DL. Much better than we were doing later. The 3DL met it's demise the last day of the year when I decided that we would go out sailing with my son and his fiance. We only had the Genoa up, and we were doing nine knots, when the normal technical maximum speed on the boat is about 6.9. We went for about 10 minutes until there's this mighty rip; the 3DL and I parted company at the disco dump. Would you say the sails performed to your expectations? Absolutely. Exceeded expectations. I was expecting we'd be back sort of, good in light air, and suffering because we never had enough power to really power through the waves every year. The boat would just plow into them, and slew down. This time we held speed going through them, which was really amazing. READ MORE

WATCH THE STAR SAILORS LEAGUE FINALS Don’t Miss The Action Streamed Live From Nassau 📸 Martina Orsini The elite of the sailing world will go head-to-head tomorrow in Nassau, Bahamas for the much anticipated Star Sailors League (SSL) Finals. The first four days of racing act as qualification rounds for the 23 crews, with the competition going up a notch on Saturday for the knockout stages. These single races decide who survives, with the first warning signal for the Quarterfinals at 11:00am. Later that day, the Final will see the last four teams compete, with the first to finish claiming the $200,000 prize. Saying this is an exciting line up would be an understatement. A selection of big name sailors make up each team, including 5.5 Metre World Champion and North Sails Expert Christoph Burger, Two-time Olympic Star medallist and Beijing 2008 champion Iain Percy, and Volvo Ocean Race winner and America’s Cup veteran Paul Cayard. Live Stream The Action: The racing will be live streamed on the SSL Facebook with expert commentary and drone footage. SSL Website and Race Results: Latest press releases, race news and media can all be found on the dedicated race minisite. Entry List Event Schedule Race Videos Race Photos READ MORE

HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE Supporting Mississauga Food Bank We're giving back this holiday season, help us support our local community. Our holiday food drive is on now until December 23rd. Our goal is to collect 250lbs of food to donate to the Mississauga Food Bank. Drop off items when you're picking your sails up or dropping them off at the loft - anything helps! Most needed items are listed below. READ MORE

Trevor Middleton’s team onboard the Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep celebrated a busy and rewarding 2018-2019 offshore racing season at the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) Annual Dinner and Prize Giving in London. As well as picking up first place in IRC Overall, the team won five other awards including Navigator and Consistent High Performance. The RORC Season Points Championship comprised 14 challenging offshore races at locations including the Caribbean in Antigua and Grenada, Lanzarote, Malta and the Netherlands. Missing just the Isle of Man Race and the Cervantees (due to the ship transporting the boat breaking down), Black Sheep very much earned her place at the top of IRC Overall. We talked with boat owner Trevor Middleton about their season success and when asked which race and venue was the highlight, there was little hesitation: “Definitely the Transat Race where we had all we could want – a really good race with fantastic downwind conditions. We averaged 200-mile days and even covered 240-miles one day, finishing the race just under 17 days. With regards to venues, what is not to like about leaving from Lanzarote and arriving in Grenada!’’ Naturally, the five-strong crew were slightly apprehensive about the Transatlantic Race on a 36ft boat, but three of them had been on a Clipper in the Southern Ocean in gusts of 86 knots so they were fully aware of what the ocean could serve-up. Trevor says “The feeling of satisfaction at the end of that race was immense.’’ Having started sailing 10 years ago, 26-year old skipper Jake Carter met most of the crew through the 2013-2014 Clipper and Rona Sailing Project. This year was Jake’s first full campaign with Black Sheep, “sucked in’’, he explains, “when Trev announced he was going for some trophies in 2019!’’ The team collecting their awards at the RORC Annual Dinner and Prize Giving in London 📸Sportography.tv Rob Craigie and Deb Fish’s Sun Fast 3600 Bellino was Black Sheep’s main rival throughout the year. We were interested to hear if Trevor felt they had an advantage or disadvantage being two-handed: “It varies by race; for a short race in lighter winds then I think two-handed crews have the advantage, whilst in longer, windier races (like the latter part of the Middle Sea), I think fully crewed boats are favored. However, I don’t think it always favors one or the other, especially as the boats have slightly different set ups – Bellino runs with symmetric and we run with asymmetric, which again hands different advantages for different races.’’ After buying the boat in 2016 with a plan of going for the overall win in 2019, the team focused their efforts in the first two years learning what worked best on the boat. “Good attention to detail helped us keep consistently good results this year,’’ Trevor explains, “as well as having a consistent, hard working crew and keeping the boat in top condition to reduce the risk of retirements. Jake did a great job of keeping us on our toes!’’ What are your key takeaways after the season? “Persistence – when all looks lost, don’t give up! We can also confirm that the 3600 is a great boat (we were thinking of changing but have now decided not to). Lastly, we have learned firsthand that nothing comes easily, you have to keep working at it.’’ Trevor confirms the sails performed well on the whole, despite some abuse from the crew. “The 3600 is very good at reaching’’ he says. “Our fastest leg had to be running downwind in the Transat with the A2+ pushing out 200+ mile days.’’ “Our fastest leg had to be running downwind in the Transat with the A2+ pushing out 200+ mile days.’’ The team’s Sails Expert, Ronan Grealish, explains “It is a testament to the durability of North 3Di Endurance that Black Sheep have used the same set of sails for three hard seasons, topped off in 2019 by their RORC season win. North Sails are looking forward to optimising Black Sheep for next season, with some new 3Di Raw sails being added to their inventory.’’ “It is a testament to the durability of North 3Di Endurance that Black Sheep have used the same set of sails for three hard seasons, topped off in 2019 by their RORC season win.’’ Jake comments “2020 is a real opportunity to set Black Sheep up well and we aim to apply what we have learnt this season to defend IRC3 and get some clear wins. After some great advice from North on our Superkote A2 in the past, we are now taking advice on 3Di Raw. The retained strength and weight saving of 3Di Raw is a big plus.’’ “The retained strength and weight saving of 3Di Raw is a big plus.’’ After completing a 10,000-mile season (including deliveries), it is time for both the crew and the boat to reset for next year, with Black Sheep having some repairs and refits to get her back where she needs to be. The plan for next season is still being developed, but Trevor hopes to shift his concentration on the upcoming RORC season. Congratulations to Trevor Middleton and his crew for an epic, jam-packed year of superb racing. We look forward to seeing you on the water next year. Black Sheep was equipped with an Offshore 3Di Endurance 780 Mainsail and a reefable 3Di J2+, Xi Code Zero, J1.5 NorLam Sport, J3+ reefable NorDac Radian, A2 Asymmetric in Superkote 60, A2+ and A5 in NorLon and an A0 in Norlam Code Xi. Light winds and bright sunshine during the race from Cowes to Dieppe for the Morgan Cup 📸Rick Tomlinson/RORC READ MORE

ORC/IRC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2020 Newport’s Hottest Event Of The Season 📸 Regate.com Calling all weekend warriors! The New York Yacht Club in Newport, RI, USA will be hosting the ORC/IRC World Championship this year, on September 25th – October 3rd. This is the first offshore championship to be held in the United States since 2001. “Any time a World Championship of this stature comes to Newport, it is special,” explained North Sails President Ken Read. “Preparation is already beginning to happen for locals and traveling teams alike. Having the ORC and IRC working together is key for handicap sailing around the globe, and you can be sure that our North Sails community and service team in Newport will be ready to support all teams arriving for this fantastic Fall 2020 event.” 📸 Regate.com The best part about this racing platform? Competitors are divided up into three classes, so each boat will only be competing with boats that have a similar setup, size, and speed. Three divisions consisting of many kinds of boats, meaning three world championship titles are up for grabs. Looking back to the 2018 Offshore Worlds at The Hague, competitors from all over the world racing everything from a GP26 to J/109s, Swan 42’s to 57-footers. This event is truly for anyone; club racers and cruisers, and the course offerings are fit for any program with any level of crew experience. This year the championship will also bring in the new Melges IC37 class, and from the current entry list, we’ll get to see a variation of boats between 27-52 feet. Teams from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, France, and Germany are already signed up and ready to represent. Competitors can expect 2-3 offshore or coastal style races, and 6-7 inshore races to complete an exciting six days of racing in Newport, RI, the sailing mecca of the USA. “Offshore sailing is part of the DNA of the New York Yacht Club,” said Commodore Philip A. Lotz. “Our waterfront clubhouse at Harbour Court combined with Newport’s tremendous sailing conditions and extensive marine infrastructure, provide what we feel is one of the greatest venues for offshore racing. The Club is very excited to welcome the world to our hometown for the 2020 ORC/IRC World Championship.” 📸 Regate.com This event is the primetime opportunity for club racers worldwide to experience the best racing in the crowd-favorite format, and it’s open to all. Up to 150 teams can register to compete and represent their respective countries for a chance to snag one of three world championship titles. Amateur Corinthian prizes will also be handed out in each class to those that apply. Registration closes September 10th, 2020. Extend your fall racing season in Newport, RI this year. The 2020 ORC/IRC Worlds is going to be the main event. Get your team ready, and get your game faces on! Our North Sails Certified Service team will be onsite to support the fleet with overnight sail repair service throughout the week. We’ll see you out there! Learn more about the event and view registrants here. There are 42 boats already signed up and ready to rumble. Are you on the list?! 📸 Regate.com 📸 Regate.com 📸 Regate.com READ MORE

CELEBRATING ANOTHER YEAR ON THE WATER CASRA Year End Awards North Sails is a proud supporter of Chicago racing, including in our continued gold-level sponsorship of Chicago Areas Sail Racing Association (aka CASRA). CASRA and North Sails share the common commitment to supporting the growth of the sport of sailing in the Chicago area. CASRA is an organization comprised of five Chicago-area yacht clubs. Combined, CASRA member clubs have approximately 3,000 members. Some of CASRA’s racing events include the Casual Race Series and the Charity Challenge. CASRA wrapped up another eventful season of organized racing with a Town Hall meeting and awards. CASRA past President Mike Hettel and current President Greg Miarecki, along with North Sails Chicago’s very own Keith Church, handed out custom-made flags for winners for various races and series. Here are the results for 2019. Chicago Race Week T-10 1st Place: Meat (Brian Kennalley, Edward Mui, Craig Roehl) 2nd Place: Water Works (Rick and Mary Ann Lillie) 3rd Place: Minister (Blane & Cindy Boynton) Buoy 1st Place: Momentus (Kevin Saedi / Raman Yousefi) 2nd Place: Eagle (Jerry & Shawn O’Neill) Distance 1st Place: Paradigm Shift (Dave Dickerson) 2nd Place: Valkyrie (Brian Bullock) 3rd Place: Mise En Place (Paul Thompson) CASRA Casual Race Series Winners, presented by Chicago Harbors Spinnaker Section 1st Place: Exeter (John Notch) 2nd Place: Success (Kasey Iwasyk) 3rd Place: Paradigm Shift (Dave Dickerson) Non-Spinnaker Section 1st Place: Solstice (Greg Bohmann) 2nd Place: Quicksilver (Vilia Sutkus-Kiela) 3rd Place: Jade (Mike Hoover) CASRA Charity Challenge Winners The Charity Challenge consists of three different events: the Gold Star Regatta; the Leukemia Cup; and the Chicago Regatta. All three events focus on raising funds for worthy charities making an impact in the Chicago area. GOLD LEVEL Flying Pig Global Nomads Jahazi Lucy Maskwa Ohana SILVER LEVEL Archimedes III Defiance Heartbreaker Ob La Di Paradigm Shift Spanker Skye We congratulate fellow racers and look forward to more future sponsorship with CASRA to promote the sport of sailing in Chicago. READ MORE

WINTER SEMINAR SERIES Join Us At North Sails Detroit For Education & Fun Building on the HUGE success of last Winter's Seminar Series, North Sails Detroit is pleased to announce this years Winter Series. All events are free except Feb 15th's full day seminar. Dec 18th at 7pm | "Team Building" with North Sails Expert Skip Dieball What can you do to build a successful team on and off the water? Skip Dieball has been a member of the North Sails team since 1997. He has been active in one-design and offshore sailing his entire life, and has won multiple National and World Championships, including the 2015 Etchells Worlds. This past Summer Skip represented USA at the Pan Am Games in the Lightning Class. Jan 29th at 7pm | T-minus 6 months with Bruce Burton "The Countdown to Tokyo"- Bruce Burton is a former President of US Sailing and is currently the Chair of the US Olympic Sailing Committee. Bruce will be talking about all the work that the Committee and Athletes have done in this cycle as well as the remaining lead up to the Tokyo Games. Feb 14th at 7pm | An introduction to Expedition with Peter Isler and Bill Gladstone An introductory look at all the "Bell's and Whistles" of Expedition Software. Peter Isler in Detroit teaching Expedition. Geared toward experienced and aspiring Expedition users, Peter Isler will lead a full day program to bring your Expedition skills to the next level. Peter is an Internationally renowned sailor, motivational speaker and author, Peter Isler has parlayed his love of sailing into a career. Inextricable from the America’s Cup since winning it as navigator aboard Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes in Australia in 1987. In all he has sailed in five Cup campaigns (most recently with the BMW Oracle Racing Team in Valencia, Spain), winning it twice. Feb 15th at 8am | Expedition Users Seminar with Peter Isler and Bill Gladstone One Day, Live, Peter Isler in Detroit teaching Expedition. Geared toward experienced and aspiring Expedition users, Peter Isler will lead a full day program to bring your Expedition skills to the next level. Peter is an Internationally renowned sailor, motivational speaker and author, Peter Isler has parlayed his love of sailing into a career. Inextricable from the America’s Cup since winning it as navigator aboard Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes in Australia in 1987. In all he has sailed in five Cup campaigns (most recently with the BMW Oracle Racing Team in Valencia, Spain), winning it twice.This will be a full day Paid Seminar presented by North U. For more information and to register here. March 19th at 7pm | Epoxy Tips and Techniques with North Sails Rep Joe Parker ** CANCELLED ** Successful use of WEST SYSTEM Epoxy products is easy when you follow some basic rules. We will discuss basic epoxy use, applications and safety. Joe will include strategies for success in all weather conditions and some secrets the pros use every day to build and repair boats. Joe Parker has been in the marine industry for 40 years; 25 of those years working for Gougeon Brothers Inc, makers of WEST SYSTEM Epoxy. Joe retired from GBI in 2014, but is still operating Bay Boat Works and is the Saginaw Bay Sails Rep for North Sails. April 8th at 7pm | Long Distance Race Strategy with North Sails Expert Perry Lewis ** CANCELLED ** Perry Lewis is a 40-year veteran of North Sails Chicago. His race trophies include a dozen national and North American championships, and another dozen overall Mackinac race wins. Perry will be talking about how he goes about preparing his strategy for distance racing. May 6th at 7pm | Managing and Maintaining your Sail Inventory with North Sails Experts Bill Lesnick, Mike Stark and Spencer Colpaert North Sails Detroit Team headed by Bill Lesnek a 40-year veteran of sailmaking and repairs shows you the best practices to maintain and grow your sail inventory both on and off the water, and what you need to do it. READ MORE

#NSVICTORYLIST: MINI-TRANSAT LA BOULANGERE Client Ambrogio Beccaria Wins MiniTransat Cruising Division 📸 Christophe Breschi Photography | MiniTransat 2019 Italian Ambrogio Beccaria is a twenty-eight year old nautical engineer, and he has completed the Mini-Transat after 13 days, 1 hour, and 58 minutes to win the cruising division and finish third overall. Ambrogio, onboard his Pogo 3 Geomag never lost command of his fleet, and he even found himself in the lead overall after choosing an impeccable racecourse. We interviewed Ambrogio after the finish to find out more about his program and why he chose North Sails to power his vessel across the ocean. “Sail development performances and speed are the part I’m most interested in these regattas,” he explains. “That’s also why I chose to sail a cruising boat because they are simple, but they are the ones where you can develop many aspects, including sails. I had also used North Sails in the previous Mini-Transat, and after moving to Brittany, France, I was able to work constantly with the sailmakers.” How did you develop your sail program? “After the first few miles with the first sail wardrobe, we started working on a second generation. Collecting photos and videos, we discovered some very interesting things. My boat is swift, but its aft shape has something like a motorboat deflector. When the sea state is up and from behind, it tends to put the bow in the water and can become dangerous. We designed a much flatter spinnaker so that I could sail at a higher angle. That choice turned into a winner!” What inventory did you carry? “Three gennakers, a Code 0, and a small heavy wind spinnaker that could be very reliable and fly as long as possible. With more than 20 knots of breeze, I can sail deep, down to 150 degrees TWA. For the mainsail and genoa, we used 3Di polyester because the mainsail must be Dacron, and the jib cannot have exotic fibers. For the Solent jib, 3Di was a revolution—seven boats in the first ten hoisted this sail. I didn’t choose a square head; some had a sail so large in the head that they had to lower it by 40 centimeters to tack. Compared to my setup, I would say that they did not have good VMG upwind.” 📸 Christophe Breschi Photography | MiniTransat 2019 How did you manage the sails? “At the start, I risked breaking the bowsprit. After that, I went back to what my coach Tanguy Le Glatin said; be the first to reduce the sails when there is too much wind, and then the first to hoist the sails, before the others. I pushed the boat hard with my bigger spinnaker, and it was there that I got in front of the prototype boats.” Are you satisfied with your results? Is the boat that won the prototype class that much faster? “On paper, the prototype which won his class goes much faster. But the prototypes are a lot less reliable. As soon as the conditions get tough, the skipper is often fighting to save the boat. Sailing at 20 knots makes you fear for the bigger blows you take on the hull. It’s complicated to know when to give it that gas and stay powered up, and when not to.” What are your impressions of the prototype that is equipped for foiling? “The prototype has some very special T-shaped foils with supporters on the rudders, and the original idea was to fly completely. Unfortunately, he had a problem with the forestay and was unable to push as hard as he wanted. They ended up in fourth, but very far from the podium. The DNA of the mini-prototype class is still experimental. The idea is to facilitate the foiling, which is now limited by the maximum width of three meters in port, so the foils must retract completely. Once this limit has been removed, it will be easier to push towards performance, as the Imoca boats do.” What are your plans for the future? “My current plan for the future is getting involved in a Class 40 project and competing in the 2023 world tour. I’m interested in the construction of the boat and will follow this new project personally. I’d love to succeed.” Learn more about Ambrogio’s Geomag. Learn more about Ambrogio’s sailing success. READ MORE

#NSVICTORYLIST: CEEREF IS RC44 SERIES CHAMPION Igor Lah’s Team Seals The Deal In The 2019 Series Finale 📸 Martinez Studio | RC44 Class Slovenian Igor Lah has claimed the 2019 season title, and all in the final moments of the RC44 Cup. Going into the last race, the points were tight, and the final race would produce just one overall season winner. The first day of racing was canceled due to weather, so with only a three-day event to make it happen, it was all or nothing. Acknowledging that their season did not go as well as they had hoped, they were hoping to at least have a solid race finish in the last event of the series. “Our goal was to come to Palma and win,” said their tactician. “If you don’t sail well, it is easy to be in the back- which we know!” Ceeref had their work cut out for them, going into the final event from far behind after a rough season of bad luck. In the last race, the Bay of Palma delivered a strong breeze, and Ceeref was ready to give it their all, coming off the line at the pin-end and crossing the fleet on port. They worked course left, rounding the windward mark in third just behind clients on Bronenosec and Charisma, the 2018 Season champs. Coming into the bottom of the course, Ceeref took their chances, splitting sides with leaders and was able to catch the first shift that kept them in the lead to the top of the course. Great speed and boat handling launched them ahead of Charisma, who was nipping at their heels in second place, to snag the bullet. Taking chances is what earned them the upper-hand on the tiebreaker, to take first overall in the RC44 Cup Palma and first overall for the season with 11 points after one discard. 📸 Martinez Studio | RC44 Class The RC44 season consisted of five events; Porto Montenegro, Adris, the Worlds in Marstrand, Cascais, and Palma. Ceeref started out strong, winning event one in Porto Montenegro with a seven-point lead. However, the event in Adris, the Worlds, and Cascais, they suffered from bad luck, which didn’t give them much of a chance to pull through and end their season on a bright note. Perseverance and smart sailing kept them in touch with the fleet, not to mention scoring four bullets in Palma gave them enough to squeak ahead with 27 points total to win it all. To win the overall trophy in one of sailing’s most competitive ‘big boat’ one-design classes is quite the accomplishment. For Igor’s Ceeref to win it again, their first time being in 2016, then again in 2017, now in 2019, was a great feeling. “I was sure that it would be impossible,” said Igor, who only found out when the boat hit the dock that the team had pulled it off. This was a great way to end the event, and the 2019 racing season. “Going into the last race, we knew it was mathematically possible, and the math was on our side today!” said Igor. “We needed this.” Ceeref is built for pure speed and powered by North Sails 3Di RAW 880. For more information on North 3Di, contact your local sail expert today. 📸 Martinez Studio | RC44 Class 📸 Martinez Studio | RC44 Class READ MORE

NORTH SAILS BRINGT SPANNENDE VORTRÄGE Auf der Bernau Boatshow in Süddeutschland von 29. 11. - 1. 12. 2019 Mehr Segeltage und Spaß mit Zusatzsegel Vortrag 1: Samstag, 30. 11. 2019 um 11:30 Uhr Mehr Spaß und Sicherheit am Segeln durch richtigen Segeltrimm vom Segelmacher in wenigen Schritten erklärt Vortrag 2: Samstag, 30. 11. 2019 um 11:30 Uhr Vortrag 2: Sonntag, 01. 12. 2019 um 13:00 Uhr Ort Yachtcentrum Bernau: D-83233 Bernau am Chiemsee · Chiemseestr. 65 Öffnungszeiten Freitag 29. 11. und Samstag 30. 11.: 10 - 18 Uhr Sonntag 01. 12.: 10 - 15 Uhr Erleben Sie eine einmalige Vielfalt auf der größten Segelyacht-Hausmesse in Deutschland und informieren Sie sich über die neuen Produktlinien 2020 von North Sails. Andrea Seidl und Ralph Koper, North Sails Österreich, präsentieren die neusten Segeltücher und interessante Messerabatte am North Sails Messestand im Foyer 1. Stock. Kontakt office.at@northsails.com oder Tel.: 0043 662 87 5507 READ MORE

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT: SAILWASHING What You Need To Know Are your sails and canvas looking a little dingy? DON’T WORRY! We can fix that! At North Sails Detroit we have many options to bring back life to your dirty sails and canvas. Not only do we offer new UV covers, Mainsail covers, and genoa socks, we also offer sail & canvas wash plus waterproofing for your old canvas. Get your sails looking their best for next spring with these service tips. Washing can be done year round, however, we recommend the best time to get your sails in for washing is at the end of the season. In terms of frequency, washing your sails does not and should not be done annually. We recommend getting your sails washed every two to three years, or as needed. Dacron sails and canvas benefit the most from this washing process. If your laminated sails are moldy, there are other options besides washing to clean them up. Contact us directly to learn more about this option. Getting your Dacron sails and canvas washed can remove all of those nasty spider stains, bird droppings, mold and mildew that have accrued over the course of the season. The sails and canvas are submerged for 48 hours in a cleaning solution then gently rinsed and hung to dry. Not only will your sails and canvas look brighter, but it will also expose any rotting stitching, which can be easily detected and addressed by the service team. A good addition to washing your canvas items is getting them waterproofed. Over time, Sunbrella can become porous and let water through getting your nice clean sails dirty. For any questions or quotes call our service team at North Sails Detroit or e mail Bill.Lesnek@northsails.com or Mike.Stark@northsails.com READ MORE

Thank you for choosing North Sails for your Harbor 20. We hope using this tuning guide will help you get the most from your new North Sails. Our goal is to give you a rig set up that is fast in all conditions and easy to adjust. Some relatively minor modifications are necessary to the standard Harbor 20 layout in order to get the most from your boat and sails. General Shroud Adjusters It is important to have the proper shroud set up for effective rig tuning. Notice the picture above, the keeper allows you to make adjustments with the shroud locking mechanism so you can make adjustments to the rig based off the conditions. The keeper and third hands will also prevent the shrouds from spinning off while sailing. These can be purchased in a variety of different rig shops. Adjustable Backstay In order to properly control the shape of the jib and mainsail it is a big help to have a easily adjustable and fairly powerful backstay. Making sure your backstay is running smoothly will allow you to de-power your sail in moderate wind conditions. Mast Tuning Before Sailing First loosen shrouds until they are making 5” circles. From there tension the upper shrouds until they read 20 on the loose gage. From there fill your bucket half full of water and untie your stern from the dock so your boat is head to wind. Attach the bucket to the main halyard and let your boom sit on the cushions in the cockpit. Hang the bucket over the starboard side of the boat, and cleat the main halyard so the bucket handle sits flush with the bottom of the cap shroud. Then, without uncleating the main halyard, take the bucket and hang it over the port side of the boat. If the bucket handle is hitting the same part of the cap shroud on both sides, this means your mast is in the middle of the boat. If the handle is above the mark on the port side that means your mast is to starboard. If it is below the mark then the mast is leaning to port. Adjust the shroud to get the mast in the middle of the boat. **Note: it is important that the boat is faced into the wind. Likewise it is important that just one person is in the boat during this exercise, and that person sits in the same spot on both the port and starboard side. Do the exercise multiple times before making adjustments.** After getting the mast in the middle of the boat, tension the lower shrouds to 10 on the loose gage. Sight the mast to make sure it is straight. Now you should be ready to race! You should also sight the mast on both starboard and port to ensure the mast is symmetric side to side while under sail. Sail Trim Light Air (0-8 knots) MAIN Outhaul should be tensioned so their is about 3.5” between the boom and the foot of the sail. Traveler should be centered. Never let your traveler go to leeward in any situations. There are folks in the fleet who actually screw their traveler to the deck so there is zero chance of it moving. JIB Tension jib halyard so that there is a hint of wrinkles in the luff.  Be careful not to over tension.  Adjust jib lead dependent on the jib.  If top telltales luff first, move the lead up on the clew board.  If bottom telltales luff first, move the lead down on the clew board. Backstay should be adjusted so you have about 1.5” of forestay sag at base setting. Moderate Air MAIN Pull on the outhaul until there is 1.5” between the foot and the boom.  Tension mainsheet so top telltale flies 70% of time; top batten will be parallel to the boom.  This helps to generate power.  Tension main halyard/ cunningham to just remove horizontal wrinkles in luff. Use the main sheet to tension the headstay along with shroud adjustments. If you are easing main sheet, you are loosing headstay tension. Pull on backstay to help with headstay tension and to flatten the sails. JIB Trim sheet so sail is 2-3” from end of spreader.  Tension backstay to medium setting.  This will straighten headstay and slightly flatten sail Ideally you want zero sag in the headstay. Heavy Air MAIN Outhaul out to band – max tight.  Tension halyard or cunningham hard to keep draft forward.  Tension lower shrouds to keep mast from bending too much.  Backstay on very tight.  Top batten should be outside of parallel.  Tension the vang tight enough so that the boom does not go up when the mainsheet is eased. This will allows you to “vang sheet” to keep boat on its feet.  Remember, flat is fast.  Play the mainsheet aggressively in the puffs to keep the boat flat. JIB Tighten halyard quite tight to keep draft forward.  Trim sail so it is 3-4” off end of spreader.  Tighten backstay very tight to make headstay as straight as possible and flatten sail. *Please note that the above trim settings should be taken as starting points only.  These are meant to show the range of settings from light to heavy air.  We have found it useful to keep a logbook every time we go sailing to note fast settings or ideas. Harbor 20 Quick Tuning Chart – California UPPERS LOWERS WIND SPEEDKnots UPPERS(PT1) LOWERS(PT1) Steps Turns from  base* Steps Turns from base* VANG OUTHAUL JIB LEAD < 6 -4 -2 – 2 -4 – 2 -2 0 3” Lower 6-8 -2 -1 – 2 -2 – 1 -1 0 2.5” Lower 8-10 20 10 BASE BASE BASE BASE Snug 2” Neutral 10-13 2 1 2 2 1 1 Snug 2” Neutral 13-16 4 3 2 4 2 3 Tight 1” Neutral 16 – 19 5 4 1 5 1 4 Tight Max Upper 19-22 6 5 1 6 1 5 Tight Max Upper 22+ 6 6 1 6 1 6 Tight Max Upper * The number of turns is an estimate and could be different from boat to boat. It is important to check your settings, and the number of turns between the settings, before going out on the water. Harbor 20 Quick Tuning Chart – Chesapeake Bay UPPERS LOWERS WIND SPEEDKnots UPPERS(PT1) LOWERS(PT1) Steps Turns from  base* Steps Turns from base* VANG OUTHAUL JIB LEAD < 6 -2 -1 – 1 -2 – 1 -1 0 3” Lower 6-8 14 10 BASE BASE BASE BASE Snug 2.5”+ Lower 8-10 2 1 2 2 1 BASE Snug 2” Neutral 10-13 4 2 3 4 2 2 Snug 2” Neutral 13-16 6 4 3 5 3 4 Tight 1” Neutral 16 – 19 7 5 2 6 2 5 Tight Max Upper 19-22 8 6 2 7 2 6 Tight Max Upper 22+ 8 7 2 7 2 7 Tight Max Upper * The number of turns is an estimate and could be different from boat to boat. It is important to check your settings, and the number of turns between the settings, before going out on the water. READ MORE

Mast: C section Mast Foot: 2700mm (From aft transom to aft face of the mast foot)Spreader Length: 395mm (From the outside of the shroud perpendicular to the bearing surface of the mast track)Spreader Deflection: 155mm (From the centre of the straight line drawn from tips of the spreaders to mast) Mast: Kappa section Mast Foot: 2700mm (From aft transom to aft face of the mast foot)Spreader Length: 380mm (From the outside of the shroud perpendicular to the bearing surface of the mast track)Spreader Deflection: 145mm (From the centre of the straight line drawn from tips of the spreaders to mast)   Wind Speed Light 1-8 knots Moderate 9-15 knots 16+ Knots Sea State Flat Choppy Flat Choppy Flat Choppy Mast Rake (Ft/Inches) 21″ 11″ 21′ 9″ 21′ 7″ Rig tension (lbs) 330 297 264 Mast Ram Pull forward to flatten the main Pull back to keep the mast straight as kicker is applied Pull back to ease over bending Cunningham None Take out minor creases Lower the cunningham block further by 30mm Outhaul Hard Ease 20mm Ease 20mm Hard Kicker Take up slack Keep top tell-tale flying 90% Hard Centreboard Leading edge vertically down Raise 1-2’’ Raise 3-4’’   Jib Fairleads The position of the fairleads affects the foot and leech tensions; pulling the fairleads forward is the same as pulling the barber haulers on. Moving them back in the boat increases the foot tension and allows the top half of the jib to twist open (see the top tell-tale break before the lower ones). Moving them forward has theopposite effects of opening the foot slightly, and closes the leech. Light Winds (1-8 knots) The pulley for jib sheeting should be set so if you follow the line of the jib sheet it bisects the clew at roughly 45 degrees. The general rule for light air sailing is to keep the flow of air moving through slot (leech of the jib to the luff of the main). Aim to have the higher tell-tales lifting before the lower ones as this shows the direction of flow is more biased to the top of the leech (twist) Moderate winds (9-15 knots) As the breeze starts to build you should be aiming for max power. Here you will be able to move the fairlead forward to close the slot to help stop losing power at the head of the jib. Again, sheet the jib aiming to get the higher tell-tales lifting before the lower ones. Heavy winds (16 knots+) The jib sheeting should be moved forward again to help close the leech. If the luff of the main starts to turn inside out the slot is being stalled, you may need to ease the sheet and move the fairleads back to help open and keep the flow of air exiting the sails as quick as possible. Spinnaker Trim The spinnaker should be flying so the two clews (two bottom corners) are level, then ease the leeward sheet so the luff (sail edge nearest the wind) just starts to flicker back on itself. A handy tip is the tie the halyard to the head of the kite so there is 2 inch gap from the knot to the edge of the sail, this helps the kite fly freely. This is purely a tuning guide and has been prepared to help you get the most out of your North Sails as quickly as possible. Some of these numbers will differ from boat to boat. Feel free to modify and experiment in small steps to find what suits you best. If you find settings that really work well, mark these clearly and please keep us informed. READ MORE

NORTH KITEBOARDING Sign Up for our Newsletter Today and Receive a North Hat and Jacket! At North, we’re for the seekers. The adventurers, the explorers, the freedom-junkies. Those who are their true selves when they’re at one with the elements. North Kiteboarding | Enter To Win! First Name * Last Name * Email Address * Address Address Address Address City City State/Province State/Province Zip/Postal Zip/Postal Country Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Côte d'Ivoire Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Barthelemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French part) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Dutch part) Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Country Submit READ MORE

ANDY ROY WINS J/105 MASTERS Local Sailors Come Out On Top Right after crossing the finish line 1st to win the regatta How did your team prepare for racing in San Diego? We had intended to get some practice time in by getting out in a J/105 in Toronto Harbour, but it just didn’t work out due to busy schedules. The five dudes in front of me on the boat, Scott Collinson (Main Trimmer), Dave Jarvis (Tactician), Andrew van Nostrand (Jib Trimmer), Rob Emery (Spin Trimmer) and Fraser Howell (Bowman), all race on J/105s throughout the season, so that of course was a nice factor in our preparation. Scott and Dave also were involved with a lot of highly competitive IC37 racing in Newport, RI this past summer, which really upped their game. My lack of recent J/105 or any kind of keelboat racing was a bit of concern from a preparation standpoint, as my racing is almost exclusively in Lasers. So not having even seen a J105 in a year meant our prep as a full team came down to emails, phone calls and one practice day at the event. Certainly not optimum, but we would just have to work with it. We went over the pros and cons from our 2018 regatta where we finished 2nd overall. I called up old friend, Dave Perry skipper of the winning team at last year’s regatta, to get his thoughts on what worked for his team. He kindly provided a few insights and reinforced some general strategic concepts we had picked up in last year’s regatta. One of the great things about the International Masters Regatta is that SDYC works hard in advance to equalize the boats. The owners “loan” their boats to the club for the event, which are then emptied of all excess gear, the rigs are tuned to the same shroud tensions, the identical sets of sails are club owned and used solely for this and one other event, and brand new jibs were provided this year. Teams rotate through the boats following each race. Volunteers go through each boat at the end of the day and a diver cleans the hulls each morning. The result ends up being a true test of sailboat racing, with equipment differences effectively removed from the equation. There are a several boats among the 11 that seem a little faster typically finish well each race; however, since everyone gets the same shot at each boat –it’s completely fair. What elements helped your team perform well together? What did each contribute? I think the key strength of our team is that each member knows his position to the level where there’s full trust and confidence in each other at all times. We have a very quiet and calm boat. I can only recall about three moments over the series where there was a bit of, shall I say, “tension” on the boat (and any that did occur originated from the nut at the end of the tiller). Scott has solid J/105 expertise in keeping the boat at its maximum speed and VMG towards the mark. For example, he will typically rip his hat off on downwind legs so that he can better sense slight apparent wind angle changes on the back of his neck. He’s all over me (in a positive way, of course) downwind to assist me in guiding the boat at the precise optimum angle. Combined with Rob’s spin trimming, these were definite advantages, as we felt we were the best performing crew off the wind. Scott is also a strong team motivator. For example, he would announce on the way to the course area our motivating/team-bonding “word of the day”. On the all-important final race day, his word of the day was “United”, and that was ideally timed. We sailed as a united team throughout, even when things weren’t working out quite to plan in the first couple of races of the day. Dave is an excellent tactician, both strategically and tactically. He’s calm and calculated, nails layline calls and decision making in general to keep our air clear and position us nicely for the critical mark rounding approaches. Andrew and Rob trim the jib and spin to perfection. Andrew stays on top of jib halyard tension and lead position as conditions change, and with Rob I can’t recall one moment when the chute luffed and needed an aggressive trim or ease. Rob and I have positive communication with each other downwind, where Rob is consistently communicating “good pressure” or “a little soft”, etc., which of course is essential for me to make very slight course alterations to maintain constant optimum VMG towards the leeward mark. Similar to our sail trimming, Fraser’s work on the pointy end was flawless. I can’t recall a hoist, takedown or other maneuver where we had any kind of sail handling issue. Fraser, Andrew and Rob also are all sensitive to our correct heel angle, and rarely does Scott or I need to call for more or less weight on the rail. It just quietly happens. Tell us about racing. What were conditions like? The conditions were pretty much the same all three days of racing. I’d call it 8-12 knots, flat water, small oscillations here and there, and typical variations in puffs and lulls. Overall a fair racetrack, with a few opportunities to make up ground or lose it if not on the correct side of the course. Tidal current would play a factor when the RC set the windward mark more to the east of the Bay, which was closer to a deeper shipping channel. This added an interesting tactical consideration. What was your favorite race? Easy question: it was the 11th and last race, which came down to a “who-beats-who” battle between the local “Team Sinks” crew and us. Chuck Sinks, an experienced racer, had as is tactician the legendary Vince Brun, former Olympian and multi-class world champion (and former President of North Sails One Design). The crew was also loaded up with seasoned top sailors, so we knew going in they would be a challenge. As is typically the case, getting a good start would be vital in the last race, as there wouldn’t be many passing lanes once off the line. With about 40 seconds before the start gun we were on starboard with sails luffing near the committee boat end. The Sinks boat tacked to starboard a few boats to leeward of us. Dave spotted a potential opening below Sinks where we could try to establish a leeward position on them. I looked down to leeward, saw the “hole” Dave had eye balled, and immediately decided, yes, there’s just enough space to slide in there. I pulled the tiller to weather, snuck behind their transom and starting heading up with just enough room above the next boat to leeward. We then began a slow luff to head-to-wind taking the Sinks boat up with us. We could almost sense a collective “UH OH” coming off their boat, as we quickly had them where we wanted them. With about 10 seconds to go we bore off for speed with a nice start leaving them struggling to get up to speed when the gun went. The bulk of the fleet headed to the right side of the upwind leg to get in the helpful upwind current towards the shipping channel and we were headed there as well, with Sinks directly to leeward of us. They tacked to starboard a little early for the layline we thought, but it gave us a perfect opportunity to tack right on their air. This pretty well put them away for good, and realistically we just had to sail a clean race from thereon. Fortunately, the current was stronger than I think anyone anticipated, and with a touch of luck involved, we were pushed upwind to where we ended up just making the mark without needing to tack. Beauty! We rounded with a couple lengths lead and held it nicely to the finish – a very satisfying final race! The press boat drove up and handed us a bottle of chilled champagne and our cooler bag, and the hour-long motor back to SDYC was rather enjoyable. Did anything surprise you about the event, conditions or the racing itself? No real surprises, per se, other than that most of the other 10 crews were very solid, with a few having some well-known sailors onboard including former Olympians. There was really only one or two boats not capable of putting in a top 5 race, so racing was tight. Also notable, although not surprising, was the flawless race management work. What does it mean to you to win the Masters International? What I’m particularly proud of is that, although we were happy last year with our 2nd overall finish, we knew we had what it takes to challenge for the overall title. We established the goal, maintained our confidence and executed our game plan. It’s nice to be the first Canadian crew to have won this event. How does this win stand out from others? As most of my racing in recent years has been in the singlehanded Laser, winning a competitive regatta like the IMR, in evenly matched/rotated boats, really stands out because it was a total TEAM WIN. This, in addition to the fact we came back a year later to “take care of some unfinished business”, made it a special victory. What advice can you provide to other sailors? The number one factor towards success is what I like to call putting in the “BTUs” for Boat Time Units. Now, as admitted earlier, we didn’t have time to put in the BTUs for the regatta, but we performed well because the other five guys had been sailing as much as they can, while the Laser helming time I’ve had translated nicely to steering the J/105 and being able to squeeze into tight spaces. So my advice is to get as many BTUs in with your crew as you can throughout the season. Don’t solely get together for racing, but rather get out for some solid practice time, where you’ve mapped out what you want to work on in advance, work on weaknesses, practice starts and mark roundings, and follow it all up with positive debriefs and note taking. And, of course, always make it fun! READ MORE

THE IN'S AND OUT'S OF RADIAN FURLING HEADSAILS North Sails Expert Spencer Colpaert Shares All Many cruisers love the ease of their roller furling headsails. Here is all you need to know about North's Radian furling headsail. When looking at Dacron sails you have two panel layouts of choice, the more traditional Cross Cut sail and the more advanced Radial construction. The most standard and economical option you will see on the water is the Cross Cut layout, meaning that the panels are oriented horizontally from luff to the leech. This is a very basic layout for sails which began in the mid 1800’s and is still being used today when building sails. While this layout is a perfectly good sail for most applications, when looking for a roller furling headsail you want to make sure that your sail has great shape holding properties for a prefect roll every time. North Sails NorDac Radian cloth stands alone as the premier cloth in the world for minimum stretch resistance. Our Radial panel layouts help to evenly disperse the load throughout the sail to help keep a better flying shape in your sail for a longer period of time, over a Cross Cut sail. This is especially so when looking at the impact a sail sees when being furled in and out numerous times over the years. There is a slight increase in price when moving to a Radial sail construction, however that will save you more in the long run when looking at the ease of use. When looking into great options to help extend the life of your sail, and make it easier to use, we always suggest some sort of UV protection for your sail. This is especially so if you are planning to leave the sail furled on the headstay for any period of time. Two great options are either the UV leech and foot cover or a Genoa sock. The leech and foot cover are a sacrificial UV preventative material that is sewn along the leech and foot of your sail so that when your sail is furled up there is no actual sail cloth being exposed to the sun. Over the life of your sail cover it is omen for the threads holding the cover down to deteriorate quicker than the cover itself will. This can be fixed by a simple re-stitching of the cover to make sure that the cover does not begin to pull away from the sail. A second option for UV protection is a genoa sock. This sock is a long piece of material that is attached to a halyard and zipped up along your sail while furled on the headstay. Here at North Sails our Genoa socks also include a line wrapping thought the sock to tighten up the excess material around the headstay preventing it from excessively flapping in the wind. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS FOR CHRISTMAS A Surprise Like No Other When John and Ellie came into the loft in early November they divulged that they were looking for North Sails and North Sails swag for their son for Christmas. As we were talking I thought that this is a great story about parents doing something special for Christmas for their son, an avid sailing enthusiast who makes a living as an architect. I was able to ask them a few questions about what they are doing and what gave them the idea of getting new North Sails for their son. This is part one of the story. The second half will continue after Tom receives his new sails. *Last names have been omitted in order to keep the secret safe until Christmas.* You and your wife are getting your son a set of North Sails for his boat for Christmas, what gave you the idea to do this? Well the idea came up because the kids come up every summer, they live in a cottage in North Carolina where his boat, a Harpoon 4.6 is kept. The only time he gets to use the boat is during the summer when he visits. At one point he was wanting to sell the boat and I said no we’re not going to sell the boat, we’ll keep it right here in our pole barn and it’s going to be there when you want it. Which I think that was the answer he had wanted to hear. Anyhow, he was visiting us last year and the sails looked a little aged when he was out on the lake. I said to my wife, you know, we ought to have new sails made. We talked to him about it and initially asked would you go for some pretty colored ones that stand out on the lake? He says; "no, no. They've got be white." North Sails are white so they’ve got to be white. He’s a purist when it comes to his sails. Taking that into consideration and knowing that he’s a purist when it comes to sails; we said, you know, "it’d be kind of neat if we could surprise him and just put new sails on the boat for him." What made you chose North Sails? Back in the 90’s we had a place, in Florida on the gulf and a marina had a store that carried North Sails. He went crazy! I didn’t know about North Sails up until that point. He’s the one that kind of set it in motion, and that was after he had already had the boat. Is sailing something you have done as a family? How did your son get into sailing? How he got into sailing was because my sister, her husband, and their children lived on Lake Muskegon and they had a sailboat. So as their children, their oldest son got into sailing. They invited Tom up for a weekend and that was all it took. They got caught in a gale that came across Muskegon Lake that was pretty dangerous. We were on the way up to the cottage and had to stop under a viaduct because the wind was so bad. Being out in that and the adventure Tom had with his cousins really cemented it in. That’s how he got interested in it and it seemed so comfortable for him that it just engrained in his blood. Who knows how people get enthusiastic about one particular thing but they do. He still has a huge passion for it. He’ll watch the sailing races any time he can. Is he more of a cruiser over a racer? Cruising is more of what he does. He also has a 16-foot Whaler. In fact, his son Noah last year, he was 11, it was a little rough so he didn’t go. He’s trying to get Noah into it. It’s going to take a little time. His son is on the spectrum as he has autism, so he didn’t want to push it. But I think once he gets a nice calm day out there, he’ll be hooked. That’s how Tom got hooked. He already knows all the verbiage and the angles of sailing. Do you have any other stories about your son’s interest in boats and boating? I think he has read every book ever written on the Edmund Fitzgerald. He is enamored with that story. When he was about 12 years old he asked me for a 3ft piece of a 2x4 and I asked said "for what?" He said he was working on a project so he carved up this piece of wood into a hull. He made a replica, I mean to scale, of the Edmund Fitzgerald. He was 12 or 13. We still have it. He’s got a power boat now too, on the lake at the cottage that he uses on the weekends for the kids, but he says real boating is sailing. His love is sailing. I this gift coming as a surprise? At first we were going to tell him. Then we thought, let’s keep it a secret and we’ll give it to him at Christmas. So we’re not going to say anything at Christmas, unless we have our hands on them. If we don’t, we’d rather just bring them down once they are made and surprise him. He’ll be excited about next summer to get back into the Harpoon; he’ll really get motivated. READ MORE

FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR GOOD MEMORIES Edison Boat Club Closes Their Doors After 105 Years On September 29th 2019, Edison Boat Club closed their doors one final time. Founded in 1914, EBC has been a mainstay in the Detroit Area Sailing Community. Earlier this Spring, DTE which owns the property where the Club sat, informed the membership that they had sold the property. The local team at North Sails in Detroit are saddened, and wish the members of Edison Boat Club the best. A positive side of this announcement is that it gave the membership a Summer to celebrate their history and when it came time for their Annual Regatta, the DRYA membership showed up in mass to help say goodbye. This was one of the best attended DRYA regatta parties in many years. It was great to see the support from the local community. Edison Boat Club is the club where I grew up sailing. My father Fred Kuspa was Commodore there in 1981 and has been a member now for over 55 years. On Saturday August 18th they held their Annual Flying Scot Regatta. I was fortunate enough to convince my friend Kerry Pebbles to drag his boat down there so we could sail the regatta, one last time. Kerry took the helm for the first race and despite a mix up on our end with the starting sequence (the crew's fault), we were able to claw back from way behind to pull off a second place finish. In the second race Kerry handed the helm over to me and we sailed a pretty clean race. Note, the new crew did a better job with the starting sequence, hence we won the race. The highlight of the day for me is when Kerry gave the boat over to my sister and I so that my sister could skipper the woman’s race. My sister no longer lives in the state and has not sailed a Flying Scot since 1989. She hopped on the boat and you would have thought she had been sailing regularly ever since, taking home the victory with ease. From the smiles on our faces, this is one more memory to add to our lifetime of memories provided by Edison Boat Club. READ MORE

VICTORIAS EN FORMATO ONE DESIGN Nuestros clientes de clases one design continúan cosechando grandes resultados. 📸 Pedro Seoane Es el caso de Jacobo García y Antonio Ripolle, ganadores de la Copa del España de 420 celebrada en el Club Náutico de Altea (31 de octubre a 3 de noviembre). En categoría Optimist, North Sails propulsó el barco de Alejandra Lencina para ganar la XX Semana del Atlántico – Meeting Internacional de Optimist Ciudad de Vigo (31 de octubre a 3 de noviembre) en categoría femenina y conseguir la tercera plaza absoluta por detrás del portugués Augusto Castelo-Branco, también con velas North Sails. Igualmente en Vigo, el Laguardia & Moreira patroneado por Gonzalo Araujo se impuso en la primera cita de las J70 Villalia Series (9-10 de noviembre). READ MORE

ÉXITOS DE SALÓN North Sails España ha participado con éxito en el Salón Náutico Internacional de Barcelona (9-13 de octubre) y en el Valencia Boat Show (30 de octubre a 3 de noviembre). Dos excelentes oportunidades en las que nuestros expertos pudieron mostrar a los visitantes todo el catálogo de velas North Sails, destacando como novedad más importante la gama HELIX, velas de proa sin cabo antitorsión para barcos de prácticamente todas las esloras. Los stands North Sails de ambos salones disfrutaron de una gran afluencia de público. READ MORE

CONSEJO NORTH SAILS Almacenar las velas durante el invierno requiere seguir ciertos criterios para evitar daños innecesarios. 📸 Ian Roman En primer lugar, debemos asegurarnos de que están limpias y completamente secas, ya que la humedad supone un foco de problemas, especialmente por la generación de moho, manchas y el siempre desagradable olor a humedad. También resulta recomendable enrollarlas o plegarlas de manera diferente a como lo hacemos habitualmente para evitar que queden marcas de doblado. Para su correcto almacenamiento, evitaremos la intemperie (y, en la medida de lo posible, el propio barco si no se estiba en tierra), buscando un lugar preferiblemente libre de frío extremo, sol directo y humedad, lejos del alcance de insectos y roedores, y evitando colocar objetos pesados encima. Estas medidas prolongarán la vida de nuestras velas. Ante cualquier duda, nuestro agente North Sails nos indicará la mejor manera de preservar nuestras velas hasta la próxima temporada. READ MORE

SIN RIVAL EN THE NATIONS TROPHY La segunda edición de The Nations Trophy constó de tres jornadas de intensa competición que mostraron un dominio absoluto de los clientes North Sails. 📸 Carlo Borlenghi La competición organizada por Nautor’s Swan en la bahía de Palma coronó al Skorpios de Dmitry Ryboloblev (con táctica del español Fernando Echávarri) como nuevo campeón del mundo de clase ClubSwan 50, al Fever de Klaus Diederich como campeón del mundo de Swan 45 y al Mela de Andrea Rossi como campeón de Europa de clase ClubSwan 42. El ClubSwan 50 Cuordileone de Leonardo Ferragamo y el Swan 45 Ulika de Andrea Masi lograron para Italia el título absoluto de The Nations Trophy 2019. Enhorabuena a todos, ¡y gracias por confiar en North Sails! READ MORE

REFERENCIA EN EL MUNDO IMOCA La nueva generación de monocascos IMOCA debuta en el cruce transatlántico de la Transat Jacques Vabre dejando espectaculares imágenes a medio camino entre la potencia y el funambulismo. 📸 Mx Horlaville / disobey / Apivia North Sails trabaja directamente con seis equipos en el diseño y evolución de sus velas bajo la dirección de Gautier Sergent, responsable de North Sails Francia y experto en 3Di. La velocidad con la que evoluciona la clase dificulta los ensayos en el agua, por lo que herramientas como North Design Suite resultan esenciales para el diseño de las velas. "Nos permite no sólo realizar simulaciones, sino seguir evolucionando y ser más rápidos en las respuestas a los cambios, proporcionando información muy valiosa a expertos en otras áreas como hidrodinámica, estructuras, ergonomía...", explica Gautier. El equipo North Sails ofrece soluciones a medida con expertos dedicados a cada proyecto. "Ya hemos establecido un plan de acción para utilizar lo aprendido en esta Transat Jacques Vabre para seguir avanzando. Veremos novedades antes de la próxima Vendée Globe". La salida será en junio de 2020. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS DOMINA LA ROLEX MIDDLE SEA RACE La 40ª edición de la Rolex Middle Sea Race (19-26 de octubre) reunió a 113 barcos de 23 nacionalidades para enfrentarse al mítico recorrido de 606 millas alrededor de Sicilia, con salida y llegada en Malta. 📸 Rolex / Kurt Arrigo Clientes North Sails ganaron nueve clases, incluyendo la victoria en tiempo real y el título absoluto en IRC. El estadounidense Rambler de George David fue el monocasco más rápido por quinta edición consecutiva y el triunfo absoluto correspondió al maltés Elusive 2 de la familia Podesta. De acuerdo con el patrón Chris Podesta, "las velas North Sails son esenciales para nuestras prestaciones. Hemos notado importantes mejoras con las velas de popa, y nuestros J4 (de 2018) y J3 (2019) proporcionan mucha potencia de avance". Desde North Sails felicitamos también por sus victorias a Black Pearl (IRC 2), Bewild (ORC general y ORC 3), Arobas2 (ORC 1) y Blur (ORC 5). ¡Muchas gracias a todos por confiar en North Sails! READ MORE

HELIX LUFF CORD Enrollado top-down para velas Helix North Sails y Future Fibres desarrollan conjuntamente la estructura de grátil Helix Luff Cord, la última evolución en tecnología de reparto de cargas Load Sharing Technology para velas de través. Un producto sin precedentes que combina el sistema de enrollado top-down con las ventajas en prestaciones, ligereza y facilidad de uso de las velas North Sails Helix. Diseñado exclusivamente para las velas Helix de North Sails, este innovador producto permite el enrollado top-down (de arriba hacia abajo) en velas tipo código con estructura Helix. El Helix Luff Cord de Future Fibres es una solución de ingeniería muy ligera y plegable, que aplica las ventajas del enrollado top-down a velas con tecnología de reparto de cargas. Los cabos son diseñados con la rigidez necesaria que proporciona un óptimo reparto de cargas entre el cabo y la vela. Los cambios de trimado no varían el ratio de tensión entre el cabo y la vela. Esto se traduce en un enrollado de arriba hacia abajo más seguro y fiable con los beneficios de proyección hacia adelante y a barlovento de una vela Helix. El director de ingeniería y diseño de North Sails, JB Braun, y el director de proyecto de Future Fibres, Seth Cooley, decidieron combinar las herramientas de diseño de Future Fibres con el North Design Suite para validar el concepto Helix Luff Cord y entender el comportamiento de la aeroelasticidad en diferentes condiciones de navegación. The Helix Luff Cord (right) delivers reliable top-down furling at a fraction of the size, weight, and stiffness of traditional anti-torsion cables (left). Membrain, el software de análisis de cargas exclusivo de North Sails, ayudó al equipo a entender las cargas en el barco, el mástil y las velas, incluyendo los ratios de cargas específicas entre el cabo y la vela. Los diseños se pasaron posteriormente por Flow, que analizó las presiones de viento por la vela a medida que se ejercía tensión en cabo y vela. "A medida que el concepto Helix crecía exponencialmente a lo largo del pasado año y medio, resultó evidente que el sistema de enrollado bottom-up (de abajo hacia arriba) del 75% de las velas de rango medio eran como mínimo poco fiables", explica el director de North Sails, Ken Read. "Hubiera sido fácil simplemente adaptar cabos de torsión covencionales al Helix, pero ese no es nuestro estilo. Necesitábamos desarrollar un sistema que incorporase ligereza y facilidad de uso junto a ventajas claras en cuanto a forma y prestaciones de las velas. Un reto difícil. Afortunadamente, JB, Seth y el resto del equipo acabaron proponiendo un producto que supone una auténtica revolución". El Helix Luff Cord permite un sistema de enrollado top-down con menos grosor, peso y rigidez que los cabos de grátil convencionales. A cambio, ofrece las ventajas de reparto de cargas y de forma asociadas a la estructura de una vela Helix sin las limitaciones de rigidez, peso y diámetro de un cabo antitorsión convencional. "Este es el siguiente paso en la evolución de la tecnología de reparto de cargas", explica JB Braun. "El Helix Luff Cord y la vela, trabajan conjuntamente frente a lo que ocurre con un pesado cabo antitorsión, diseñado para sostener el aparejo. Y los mismos ratios de carga entre vela y cabo se mantienen con los diferentes cambios de trimado. Esto permite que las velas cambien de forma con los ajustes de amura al tiempo que mantienen la óptima tensión de grátil". Desde su presentación, Helix se ha convertido en una referencia para navegantes de crucero, regata y Grand-Prix porque ofrece unas formas de vela mejoradas con menores cargas sobre el aparejo. Velas tipo código, asimétricos con tejido laminado, velas de través y trinquetas se benefician de los diseños Helix exclusivos de North Sails, y el Helix Luff Cord añade ventajas de facilidad, fiablidad y manejo de estas velas a los muchos beneficios de la tecnología de reparto de cargas. "Ahora, cualquiera puede enrollar, desenrollar, izar y arriar nuestro código cero Helix, y en cualquier ángulo de viento aparente", destaca Sam Richmond, director comercial de North Sails UK. "Hemos estado desarrollando y probando cabos de grátil para el Jethou a lo largo de los últimos cinco meses, especialmente con nuestros códigos cero Helix. El Helix Luff Cord nos permite beneficiarnos de las ventajas del diseño Helix con una radical reducción de cargas en el botalón y el mástil, todo ello al tiempo que disfrutamos de la seguridad y fiabilidad del enrollado top-down. Ya no tenemos que preocuparnos por perder esloras mientras enrollamos o desenrollamos, ni por el peligro asociado a manejar velas enormes con enrollado bottom-up". READ MORE

17. Jabuka kompletno gotova za 22 sata! Regata Jabuka je ove godine bila zahtjevna i u natjecateljskom i u logističkom pogledu. U dosadašnjih 16 izdanja flota se velikom većinom mogla smjestiti u vodiškom portu, iza Parapeta, ali ovogodišnje jugo je znatno povećalo promet marine u susjednom Tribunju. Jako, vro jako, a i povremeno olujno jugo, puhalo je skoro cijeli tjedan prije starta regate. Osim standardnih pitanja koja su međusobno postavljali organizatori iz JK Tijat, morali su se sebi postaviti i nekoliko novih. Osim mogućnosti da vremenske prilike osujete dolazak jednog dijela natjecatelja, pojavilo se pitanje gdje će se tolika flota smjestiti po tako jakom jugu. Svima koji su bili u Vodicama u vrijeme održavanja Jabuke poznata je slika zakrčene gradske luke u kojoj su jedrilice u iščekivanju starta vezane "alajo" do desetak u nizu i tako po nekoliko skupina sa svake strane rive koja vodi do Parapeta. Ove godine zbog sigurnosnih razloga to nije bilo moguće. Istina, bile je nešto jedrilica vezano na ovaj način, ali to nije bilo ni približno slici koju smo viđali ranije. Susjedna ACI marina nije mogla primiti sve ostale jedrilice koje se nisu mogle smjestiti u luci. To je već uobičajena situacija, jer je gro vezova zauzet u ovo doba godine, a ne postoji klasični tranzitni gat. Zato je uprava tribunjske marine dobrosusjedski stavila svoje slobodne vezove u tehničkoj zoni na raspolaganje po akcijskim cijenama za sudionike regate. Drugi logistički zahtjev ovako velike dislokacija flote je bila organizacija pregleda nužne opreme po jedrilicama, kao i omogućavanje službene prijave sudionika u uredu Regatnog odbora. Zato je organizirana transportna služba s dva kombija koji su jedriličare vozili na relaciji Tribunj - Vodice i natrag. Sam petak u Vodicama je započeo s lijepim i ugodnim jutrom bez vjetra. Takvo stanje je vladalo do ranog poslijepodneva kad se jugo počelo dizati. Do mraka je već bilo respektabilnih dvadesetak čvorova, dok su u vrijeme održavanja sastanka kormilara s Regatnim odborom refuli bili i značajno jači. Do tih trenutaka glavno pitanje u Vodicama je bilo o vremenu starta. S obzirom na prognozu već se ranije krenulo s nagađanjima o odgodi starta, a možda i o skraćenoj ruti. RO zajedno s Organizacijskim odborom regate nije davao informacije o tome da li su već donijeli neku odluku, već se pričekao najavljeni sastanak u 19 sati da se oglase urbi et orbi ta dva najtraženija odgovora dana. Regatni odbor je dobro odlučio što je start prebacio za subotu ujutro u 7:00! Mogu reći da je adrenalina sa strane sudionika bilo već nekoliko dana prije samog starta regate u smislu što će se desiti i kakva će odluka biti s obzirom na vremensku prognozu. Sa strane sudionika dobili same pohvale, koje jasno, treba opravdati i narednih godina, a mi ćemo dati sve od sebe da to i bude tako. Ovim putem se još jednom želim zahvaliti članovima mog kluba, JK Tijat i ljudima sa strane koji su nam omogućili održavanje regate. Među njima posebno želim istaknuti članove JK Val iz Šibenika s kojima surađujemo od samog početka, ne samo u smislu pomoći s ljudstvom, već i s materijalnom pomoći. Naravno, bez podrške u svim oblicima od Grada Vodica i Turističke zajednice Vodica sigurno se ne bi upuštali u ovako zahtjevan projekt. A po pitanju odmaka od standardne rute moram reći da smo imali sastanak u četvrtak na kojem je uz članove Organizacijskog i Regatnog odbora u konzultantskoj ulozi sudjelovao i renomirani slovenski metereolog i jedriličar g.Jure Jerman. Pregledali smo puno prognoza i zaključili da će biti stvarno puno mora, kao što je i bilo, te da bi u kombinaciji s nestabilnim vjetrovima koji su trebali puhati u zoni jedrenja rute prema Blitvenici to bilo prenaporno za natjecatelje, a u kombinaciji sa skraćenim ograničenim vremenom jedrenja bilo bi upitno koliko bi jedrilica rutu odradilo na jedra. Ovako smo ih praktički natjerali da odmah jedre prema kopnu, jer je u najavi bilo da će pred kraj dana biti bure s kojom će moći dojedriti do Vodica. Istina, bure je bilo malo, ali ipak je stigla i odradila ono što smo od nje i očekivali, a to je omogućavanje ugodnijeg povratka u Vodice. Stanko Skočić, predsjednik JK Tijat Flota je bila podijeljena po Open-u i ORC-u. U Openu je podjela bila na 8 skupina klasičnim sistemom. Najmanja dozvoljena veličina je 9.40 metara, a skupine su se dijelile svakih idući metar. Još su bile i dvije monotip skupine, za Firsteve 45 i Seascapeove 27. Inače, Seascape 27 je jedrilica čija LOA je 7.30m, što je više od dva metra manje od minimalno dopuštene duljine, ali ovi maleni bolidi imaju "wild card" već godinama. Po ORC-u je jedrilo 46 jedrilica, skoro polovica flote i bili su podijeljeni u dvije skupine, a kriterij podjele je bio koeficijent CDL, a granična vrijednost 10.500. Rezultat podjele je 25 jedrilica u skupini ORC 0 i 21 u skupini ORC 1. U skupini ORC 1 jedrile su manje jedrilice, a najveće među njima su bile dvije četrdesetice. Pobjeda odlazi u ruke vrlo iskusne slovenske posade na Sun Fastu 3200 imena Shark. Iako je riječ o relativno malenoj jedrilici, njena ekipa je nekoliko godina bila vrlo aktivna i sudionik skoro svih važnijih Jadranskih regata, a također se mogu pohvaliti i jedrenjem na Middlesea Race-u. Ove godine su u cilj u Vodicama ušli 47 sekundu iza ponoći, odnosno kao drugi u ovoj skupini jedrilica po realnom vremenu. Realno brži od njih su bili samo njihovi sunarodnjaci na Aurora Pirnar koji su bili brži sitnih šest sekundi! Na kraju je matematika pokazala da su Sharkovci bili korigirano brži za čak 40 minuta. Takva korekcija im je donijela i ukupnu pobjedu u ovoj skupini, dok je Aurora završila na 4. mjestu. Između njih su bili Hebe V (M34), češka posada, brončana na ovogodišnjem ORC Svjetskom prvenstvu odjedrenenom u Šibeniku i još jedna češka posada... Paula (Dufour 34). Ukupno četiri hrvatske posade su jedrile u ORC 1, a najbolji među njima je bio Žarko Juraga s posadom na jedrilici M&M (Elan 340). Oni su bili 60. u generalnom plasmanu, dok su nakon korekcije zauzeli 9. mjesto u skupini ORC 1 i 3. mjesto u skupini 7. U istoj ovoj skupini mjesto ispred njih u realnom mjestu završava Shark. U skupini ORC 0 svrstale su se jedrilice veće od 40 stopa. Najmanji su bili Farr 40 i Elan 400/S5. Tu su samo četiri posade bile čisto ili većinski hrvatskog predznaka. Slično kao u skupini ORC 0, pobjeda je otišla u ruke još jednim veteranima Middle Sea. Ovaj put slavodobitnici su bili momci i cure predvođeni Cirilom Vrančićem, a jedrili su na njegovoj Bavaria 46, Srna V. Osim što je Ciril okupio jednu od najmlađih ekipa na regati, nastavio je jedan projekt koji je obilježio prošlu godinu, a riječ je o obučavanju studenata Pomorskog fakulteta iz Splita jedriličarskim vještinama. Istina, nije baš u službenom obliku kao što je to bilo dok su studenti jedrili na Elanu 450 Adio pameti, ali definitvivno izniman ljudski potez koji će ovim budućim profesionalnim pomorcima pružiti uvid u još jednu dimenziju plovidbe. Više o regati i o ovoj temi ispričao nam je sam g.Vrančić. Bilo je dosta čupavo, vremenski uvjeti su bili promjenljivi. Bilo je puno mora i puno kiše koja je stizala s vjetrovima sa svih strana. Trebalo je biti dosta oprezan. Dolazile su nevere... Jedrili smo sa svim jedrima koje smo imali. Uglavnom su gore bili jedro, flok i genaker. Jedro nismo kratili u niti jednom trenutku, a prednje jedro nam je u principu flok. Na Srni nemam klasičnih genova od 110% ili 120%. Od letećih jedara uglavnom smo koristili genaker A3, a poslije Mula smo napravili dobar potez kad smo podignuli A1.5, jedan veći genaker. Tada smo izašli malo više vani, oko 2 milje, jer je tamo bilo nešto više vjetra nego uz obalu i stvarno smo lijepo vozili. Što se tiče taktike, cijelo vrijeme se promatralo gdje su fronte, gdje se treba prebaciti... a po pitanju rute nema nekih tajni. I po trackeru se vidi da smo svi zajedno pokušavali pogoditi dobitni potez. Da li smo mi u nekom trenutku prije skinuli genaker ili je nekom nešto puklo... to su detalji koji su možda donijeli prednost u nekom trenutku. Htio bi naglasiti da su u posadi bili studenti Pomorskog fakulteta u Splitu. Jedna mlada ekipa koja nije jedriličarski školovana. Jedrile su tri djevojke i pet momaka. Pokazali izniman interes za jedrenjem i uz par treninga koje smo napravili prije ove regate u njoj, po zahtjevnim uvjetima na moru, pokazali su zadivljujuću smirenost. Dolazi nevera, treba skinuti genaker... tu nije bilo nikakve panike. Radili su ono što smo vježbali na treninzima. I to je funkcioniralo vrlo dobro. Nismo oštetili niti jedno jedro! Za vrijeme jedrenja samo nam je pukao karel na lijevog klizaču od škotine floke, ali to se dogodilo uslijed sile. Drago mi je što sam ih uspio privući. Rekao sam im da je Srna u Kaštelima i da dođu da jedrimo kad god mogu. To se pokazalo dobitnom kombinacijom... mladi ljudi željni učenja, spremni raditi, pokisli su do kože jer nemaju prava jedriličarska odijela i nisu se bunili! S ovom ekipom ću nastaviti suradnju i dalje. Plan je da jednom tjedno imamo treninge. Nastojat ću angažirati nekog da nam pomogne u smislu taktike i tehnike. Do sada nam je stručni savjetnik bio Kolja Dumanić. Stvarno nam je puno pomogao, pokazao je na što treba paziti dok se jedri, što treba gledati na jedrima... savršena suradnja. Tako da kao rezime mogu reći da je uspjeh Srne V, koja je charter jedrilica Bavaria 46, plod suradnje studenata Pomorskog fakulteta u Splitu, charter tvrtke Yacht 4 You i vrsnog splitskog jedriličara Kolje Dumanića, koji je napravio onaj finalni dodir i sve posložio na svoje mjesto! Ciril Vrančić, Srna V U vrhu ORC 0 skupine završila je većina jedrilica koje su ostvarile izvrsne rezultate i u realnom vremenu. Iza Srne V, na drugom mjestu je Taia 2 & White Goose (Arya 415 MOD), pobjednici regate u realnom vremenu. Na trećem mjestu završava Toto Travel (Farr 40), inače trećeplasiran u realnom vremenu. Srna je finiširala skoro sat i pol iza spomenutog dvojca, ali nakon matematičke obrade rezultata bila je brža od Taie za oko pola minute, dok je Toto kasnio skoro pola korigiranog sata. S obzirom na nekoliko jedrilica koje su se mogle pronaći na startnoj listi ovogodišnje Jabuke, teško se moglo očekivati da će razvoj situacije u cilju biti u znaku "normalnih" jedrilica. Dva imena su definitvno dominirala u svim predviđanjima imena pobjednika. To su bili VOR 60 - Cleansport One i Cecarelli 53 - Molo Longo Tutta Trieste. Nakon starta flotu je predvodila Taia 2 & White Goose, ali nakon pliči Sestrica lidersku poziciju ipak preuzima Molo Longo. Tu se brzo odvaja od pratnje i nakon zaorcavanja i prolaska između otočića Dugo i Komorice, te prebacivanja na lijeve uzde njegovoj ekipi preostaje samo kontrola flote ispod njih. Već ova zona je dosta otvorena na val koji dolazio s juga, a posebno nakon prolaska južne punte Žirja i otočića Mažirina. Nešto malo više nakon sat vremena od starta, vjetar počinje ići na zapad i flota lagano okreće u desno. Nakon još pola sata jedrenja posada Molo Longa donosi odluku o povlačenju s regatnog polja. Razlog je ispadanje iz ležišta dijelova koji su bili postavljeni između jarbola i palube na mjestu gdje jarbol prolazi kroz palubu. Zbog toga su se udarci provom u valove prenosili u obliku neugodnih vibracija na jarbol koji je na tom mjestu, u najboljem slučaju, mogao biti oštećen, a jedna od mogućih posljedica je sigurno bila i lom jarbola. U tim trenucima Cleansport One, Swanovi i ostali prolaze Molo Longo i kompletna slika na regatnom polju se mijenja. Cleansport tada ostaje najveći favorit regate i kao takav dolazi do Jabuke, zajedno s Farrom 40 i jednim od Swanova. Na putu do ove točke obaveznog obilaska gubi dva genakera. Osim njega, genakere i oštećenja na drugim jedrima ima još dosta jedrilica. S obzirom da su se svi morali probijati kroz valove, opterećenje na prednjim jedrima je bilo ogromno. Po manje valovitom moru ta opterećenja su mnogo konstantnija i nema naglih trzajeva kao što je to bio slučaj ovaj put. A kako je velika većina sudionika stigla iz chartera nakon vrlo duge i intenzivne sezone, materijal je morao negdje popustiti. Nakon obilaska Jabuke, svi su morali nastaviti jedrenje s kurom u orcu. Također i ekipa Cleansport One-a koja je tada bila sigurna da na toliko dugu orcu u kombinaciji sa stanjem mora, nemaju više konkurencije. Međutim, sad opterećenja postaju prevelika i za njihovo glavno jedro, koje se kompletno raspada. FOTO: MARIO HRVOJ Novonastala situacija je otvorila vrata ostalim jedrilicama koje su bile manjih dimenzija i sličnijih brzina, te regata postaje mnogo zanimljivija, a popis potencijalnih pretendenata na prvo mjesto postaje mnogo veći. Jedni od njih su i slovenska ekipa na jedrilici dugog imena, Taia 2 & White Goose. Iza imena stoji kombinacija posada dviju jedrilica, Taia i White Goose, koje su ujedinile svoje snage nakon što je stigla Taia 2. Da bi se istaknula ova sinergija, ime nove jedrilice je izabrano da bude kombinacija dviju prethodnica. Za potrebe ovogodišnje Jabuke, posada je pojačana s još dva vrlo važna člana. Jedan od njih je Samo Žvan kojeg inače susrećemo na regatama za kormilom Asiline (Generali), a drugi je jedan od najtrofejnijih slovenskih jedriličara, Branko Brčin, iskusni taktičar s višestrukim naslovima svjetskog prvaka u Melgesima i "đejevima". Par riječi o svemu ovome je rekao g.Žvan: Dosta zanimljiva regata, teška za jedriti. Ne toliko zbog jakog vjetra koliko zbog tramontane od 10-12 čvorova s genakerom, a skoro pa ravno u provu imaš val od metra, metra i pol, što je ostao od juga. Mislim da je to bilo najzahtjevnije. Imali smo par kišica i par refula iz drugih smjerova koje smo mi uspjeli dosta dobro iskoristiti. I onda na povratku s Jabuke prema Mulu trebalo je pravilno izabrati stranu. Mi smo išli kroz sredinu, niti previše lijevo niti previše desno... osjećali smo da ne treba ići na ekstreme. Uvjeti su bili takvi da se na par stotina metara udaljenosti između dvije jedrilice mogli stvoriti toliko različiti uvjeti da se tog drugog nakon sat vremena više nije moglo niti vidjeti. To se nama desilo. Desetak milja prije Mula smo bili još uvijek zajedno s Crazyjem (Class 40) i Go Racing (Club Swan 36), a kad smo mi stigli do Mula njih više nije bilo u blizini. Čak su ga okretali i više od sat vremena nakon nas. Inače, mislim da je je bila vrlo dobra odluka organizatora što su pomaknuli start regate na subotu ujutro. I tada je na startu bilo nekoliko sudara, ali po onim uvjetima start u noći bio bi masakr, a i u noći bi bilo mnogo štete. Što se nas tiče imali smo jednu štraorcadu i tada smo rasparali jedan genaker. Brzo smo se izvukli iz nje, ali genaker se omotao oko prednjeg štraja i rasparao. To nam se desilo kad je došao najjači reful tramontane od 23-24 čvora, 6-7 milja od Jabuke. Samo Žvan, Taia 2 & White Goose FOTO: SCREENSHOT RUTE TAIA 2 & WHITE GOOSE - SAMO ŽVAN Osvajanje Jabuke u realnom vremenu je ovoj ekipi samo šlag na kraju vrlo dobre jedriličarske sezone. Prije Jabuke osvojili su ORC Kup Slovenije i postali su i Prvaci Slovenije po ORC-u. Spomenuti Swan je bio s većinskom češkom posadom uz pojačanje dva "local knowledge guys". Šest stopa kraća jedrilica je kraću vodenu liniju uspješno nadoknađivala s foilom. Iako offshore uvjeti nisu ono za što je predviđen ovaj bolid najnovije generacije, obje posade su vrhunski odjedrile kompletnu rutu, a kao što vidimo, na kraju jedna čak završila i na postolju. S brončanim statusom regatu je završila kombinirana hrvatsko-češka posada na Farru 40, Toto Travel. Toto je ovog puta za vrijeme predstartne procedure bio negdje oko sredine startne linije. Tu mu se desila i jedna nezgodna situacija. Dok se odbrojavalo vrijeme uz njega je bilo jedno veliko More 55 i u trenutku kad je Toto imao namjeru krenuti More još uvijek nije bilo nagnuto, pa je Toto s jarbolom zapeo za bočne pripone Mora. Srećom, incident je prošao bez materijalne štete i obje jedrilice su odmah nastavile s jedrenjem. Nakon starta smo bili 5-6. brod i vozili lašku orcu do Sestrica nakon kojih smo svi uletjeli u oblak i kišu. I tu se desilo prvo razilaženje i biranje strane. tko će pogoditi, a tko ne. Mi smo tu dosta dobro prošli, pogodili smo stranu. Mi, VOR i Molo Longo smo otišli desno. Tada smo jedrili s Code 0 jer je pala bonaca, pa je bilo izvlačenje i spašavanje. U jednom trenutku nam je Bambi (Club Swan 36 - Go Racing) došao na pedesetak metara. Virao je i otišao lijevo, a onda smo mi ušli u vjetar i pobjegli svima, a on je ostao daleko iza. Tu se u stvari raščistila situacija, te smo mi i ovaj drugi Swan (Facing Future) produžili desno. U tim trenucima je VOR-u pukao genaker i onda smo praktički mi i Swan prvi stigli do Jabuke. Do nje smo stigli praktički u 50 metara, ali tada Swan upada u jednu problematičnu situaciju, a to je zamjena floka (Swanovi nemaju žlijeb na prednjem štraju u koji se uvlači flok, već se hvataju oko štraja, a to izistkuje mnogo više vremena od običnog podizanja i spuštanja pomoću žlijeba - op.a.) i ostaju ispod Jabuke da to naprave do kraja. Do Jabuke smo se mi sjurili s brzinama od 16-17 čvorova. Ispojavalo nas je ravno na Jabuku i to nam je bio najbolji potez, jer nas je toliko ispojalo da smo na jednim uzdama genakerom stigli do Jabuke, a oni su otišli previsoko pa se nisu mogli spuštati na Jabuku s genakerom već su se morali prebaciti na flok. Iza je još stigao i VOR koji nas je onda, normalno, uhvatio u orcu. Išli smo desno od Jabuke, a u tom trenutku kad nas je ulovio rasparalo mu se glavno jedro. Nakon toga smo do Mula praktički vozili match race sa Swanom. Pola regate smo bili jedni do drugih. Nakon što je pao mrak na Mulu nam je u mraku doletio još jedan brod za kojeg nismo znali tko je. To je bila Taia. Oni su Jabuku okrenuli desetak minuta iza nas, ali ovih 40 milja orce su nas sustigli. U par minuta smo svi troje okrenuli Mulo i onda su oni vozili s Code 0 po sredini, jednako kao i mi, a Swan je otišao desno pod Zlarin i stao je u bonaci. U tom trenutku smo mi bili ponovno drugi, ali Swan se vratio još jednom, a taj brod čim je malo laškiji kurs stvarno leti! I do kraja je bila konjska trka... Mario Hrvoj, Toto Travel 16-17 minuta nakon Tota u cilj stiže četveroplasirani, a to je u ovom slučaju prva jedrilica s kompletno hrvatskom posadom. Riječ je o regatnom krstašu jedriličarskog kluba Orsan. Ova izrazito regatna jedrilica uspješno je držala kontakt s vodećima i ponovila rezultat iz 2016. godine kad se Jabuka zbog vrlo jake bure jedrila na skraćenoj ruti, Vodice - Blitvenica - Mulo - Vodice. Te godine je povjedu odnio VOR70 Green Dragon, a na drugom mjestu je završila Ola (Class 40), dok je na trećem bio klasik oceanskog regatnog jedrenja IMOCA60 - Austria One. Te godine, četvrto mjesto, je bilo najbolji rezultat Dubrovnika na ovoj regati, a ove godine su Orsanovci dokazali da to nije bilo slučajno. Dobro smo startali i bili smo dobri na okretu Sestrica. U nastavku smo prošli lijevo od Mažirine iznad koje je u to vrijeme bio oblak koji je napravio kišnu zavjesu.Vidjeli smo da su jedrilice šoto nas usporile, a mi smo išli ravno u tu kišu. Ali u tim trenucima se pojavio raz tramuntane s desne strane i jedrilice s desne strane su već podigle genakere, pa smo se i mi prebacili na gornju stranu da uhvatimo taj vjetar. Ali to nije dugo trajalo, jer taj oblak, umjesto da ga je tramuntana potjerala prema istoku, on se stacionirao i gušio je vjetar koji je dolazio sa sjeverozapada. Tako da smo mi čas imali vjetra, čas smo ispadali iz njega, baš smo bili u graničnoj zoni. A vratit se dolje više nismo mogli. Jedrilice koje su bile ispod nas oprala je ta kiša, ali onda je probio vjetar i do njih pa su nam i oni pobjegli. Nas je u stvari granica tog vjetra stalno tjerala sve više prema vani. Onda smo u jednom trenutku okrenuli i tada nas je oprao još jedan pljusak. Taj prvi dio regate smo jedrili s Code 0 i tek nakon ovog pljuska dižemo genaker. Previše je bilo valova, inkrožanog mora, a premalo vjetra. U tim uvjetima nam genaker ne bi bio baš najbolje rješenje. Kad smo dignuli genaker vjetar je sve više jačao, ali i okretao prema sjeveru. U nekim trenucima je i puhao iz čistog sjevera. I što smo više prilazili Jabuci vjetar je bio sve jači, a jedrili smo brzinama od 15-16 čvorova. Tada smo izbrojali deset jedrilica ispred nas, ali nismo baš bili sigurni da je to točan broj jer zbog kiše nismo vidjeli ni tko je bio oko nas ni ispred nas. Nakon okreta Jabuke vjetar je sve više jačaopa smo se prebacili na dvojku, manju genovu. Zbog manjeg vala i jačeg vjetra smo jedrili više prema Svecu, a kad smo virali val koji je ostao od tramuntane nas je malo usporavao. Tu nas je jedna jedrilica prestigla, ali kako su i oni povremeno mijenjali stranu jedrenja tako je u nekim uvjetima njima manje odgovaralo, a nama više i obrnuto. I na kraju je pogriješio jer je otišao lijevo, a svježi vjetar je stalno dolazio više s levanta, tako da smo mi forsirali tu stranu i tu smo napravili najbolji posao. S tim izborom smo prestigli sedam jedrilica do Mula i njega obišli kao četvrti. Kad smo ga obišli vjetar je bio stvarno dobar i vozili smo 7-8 čvorova, malo laško i kasnije smo dignuli Code 0 i vozili preko 8. Ali negdje prije Komorice smo upali u bonacu. Nakon jedrenja od 7-8 čvorova odjednom je brzina pala na 1-2 čvora. Srećom to nije dugo trajalo, ponovno ubrzavamo, vjetar jača i skidamo Code 0 jer smo puno padali, te nastavljamo s genovom. Kako nije bilo najoštrije brzina nam se penjala i do 9 čvorova. Prava orca nam je bila tek kod Prvića. Što se tiče štete na brodu, jedino nam je pukao nosač senzora instrumenata za vjetar. Kako brod ima dosta ravno dno, tako je svaki udarac na valovima bio neugodan i stvarale su se vibracije na jarbolu koje su slomile taj dio opreme. Ali dobra stvar je što su windex i anemometar samo kliznuli niz glavno jedro na palubu pa smo ih uspjeli uhvatiti. Još smo imali i problem s košuljicom konopa mure, koja je prsnula dok smo jedrili prema Jabuci. Tada je mura proletjela kroz štoper, ali srećom genaker nije odletio jer je na kraju mure bio čvor koji ju je zaustavio. Isti problem je bio i s gindacom genakera, ali ovaj put gore na vrhu, tako da obavezno moramo sanirati ta dva konopa. A sad, da li je moglo biti bolje ne znam... sreća je na ovakvim regatama vrlo važan element, vidiš da je negdje kiša i da jedrilice stoje, onda nemaš što, već ići tamo gdje jedrilice idu i gdje vidiš da vjetra ima i da su brzine jedrilica veće. Nema smisla ostati negdje na pola, već hvataš priključak tamo gdje vidiš da je bolje. Nismo metereolozi, a i oni griješe :) Tonči Kordić, Dubrovnik Još jedna hrvatska ekipa je jedrila brzo, a jedno vrijeme i bila u samom vrhu regate. Riječ je o momcima i djevojkama s Crazyja, open jurilice koja se nedavno vratila s regate na Malti, a ovo proljeće je u doublehanded kombinaciji pobijedila Cinquecento, 500NM bez stajanja od Caorle na sjeveru Jadrana, oko Tremitija i natrag. Posada koja se ove godine okupila na Crazyju je bila impresivna i u sličnim kombinacijama smo je viđali na prethodnim Jabukama, a da ovu vrstu jedrilica i akvatorij poznaju vrlo dobro pokazali su i ovaj put. Njihov put do 8. mjesta ispričao je alfa i omega jedrilice, Fabijan Roić: Jabuka je bila dobra s obzirom na uvjete na moru. Ostalo je puno vala, mislim stvarno je bio ogroman. Mi smo vrhunski startali, izletjeli smo prvi zajedno s Taiom, tamo uz Prvić. Međutim, imali smo problem na startu... kolega, kojeg neću imenovati :), je napunio krivi balastni tank. Napunio je tank u zavjetrinskoj strani... i mi vozimo vozimo, trimamo, mučimo se, ali vidimo da nešto nije dobro... Slučajno jedan ode unutra i vidi da je šoto tank pun, a ispraznit se ne može dok se ne vira. I onda smo morali prisilno virati da to ispravimo, malo smo tu izgubili i nastavili dalje. Kod Žirja svi su se nagurali tamo pod tramuntanu, a mi smo ostali negdje u sredini. Dignuli smo veliki genaker i počeli juriti prema dolje, čak smo bili i vodeći brod jedno vrijeme. Bili smo u super poziciji za nastavak, dealan kurs prema Jabuci, vjetar je sve više pojačao... baš naši uvjeti. Jedrili smo s oko 15-16 čvorova, sve je bilo super i na oko pola milje do Jabuke, trebali smo pojalabandati genakerom i planiramo ga tek kod nje skinuti i dignuti flok i prvi ćemo sigurno obići Jabuku, jer su Toto i Swan već počeli spuštati genakere i prelaziti na flokove, a VOR-a smo već ranije prošli. Međutim, mi napravimo pojalabandu, a bilo je već 26-27 čvorova, kad "bam" genaker se razleti. Problem je bio što je ovaj genaker bio za 15-16 čvorova, a ovdje je diglo za bar 10 čvorova više. Sve je otišlo u more i sad ga treba skupiti, dižemo flok i vozimo prema Jabuci. Nju obilazimo sad kao treći, krećemo u orcu i kad smo malo dokacavali gindac floka ponovno "bam", ovaj put puca gindac floka. Brzo to rješavamo prebacivanjem na gindac od 7/8. Ponovno je flok gore i nastavljamo borbu dalje. Jedrimo, brzina je dobra, napredujemo, ali tada radimo grešku što smo se uhvatitli match racea s Bambijem umjesto da gledamo prognozu... nismo išli na levant, nego smo išli na pokrivanje. Oko 5 milja od Mula oni nas prolaze jer su imali puno bolji kut, a svi ostali stižu s levantom. Da smo pazili na to i prebacili se u levanat na vrijeme sigurno bi bili prvi na Mulu. Nakon što smo ga obišli dignuli smo Code 0 i počeli smo nadoknađivati, jer je skupina ispred nas jedrila s genakerima i flokovima. Tu smo prošli Munjeka i još jedno More 55 i još jedan brod. Tu je vjetar bio dosta stabilan i na granici izeđu Code 0 i floka, a mi smo se dosta dobro držali na Codu. Stalno smo trimali i radili i nismo upali ni u jednu bonacu za razliku od nekih ispred nas. Valjda je nama došao neki svježi vjetar. Puhalo nam je od 8 do 13 čvorova, a na momente smo vozili čak i 10-12 čvorova. Da je ta dionica potrajala malo duže vjerujem da bi i Swana uhvatili koji je s nekom malom prednošću ušao ispred nas u cilj. I moram reći da mi stvarno nije jasno zašto su nas poslali na Mulo, mislim da bi bilo puno zanimljivije i natjecateljski, a i nježnije za brodove i opremu da smo išli na Blitvenicu. Ovako smo mogli birati ili lijevo ili desno, a tamo bi svi bili na istom pravcu i mislim da bi prvih desetak brodova zajedno stiglo u Vodice u vrlo kratkom vremenu. Više bi morali raditi na brzini broda, a ne ovisiti o pogađanju strane. Fabijan Roić, Crazy I za kraj nam je ostao kormilar Go Racinga, jednog od dva Club Swana 36, svjetskog noviteta i definitivno najzanimljivijeg modela na ovogodišnjoj Jabuci, a ujedno i voditelj projekta koji bi ACI trebao na velika vrata vratiti na svjetsku scenu, Ivan Kljaković Gašpić. Već smo spomenuli da je drugi Swan bio s većinski češkom posadom i dva hrvatska jedriličara, dok je na ovom Swanu situacija bila obrnuta. Uz Ivana i posadu jedrio je jedan gost iz Italije. Na regati je trebao biti i dopredsjednik Nautora, tvrtke koja proizvodi Swanove, ali na kraju je jedrio samo njihov direktor zadužen za monotip regate, inače višestruki svjetski prvak u nekoliko različitih klasa krstaša. Naravno, to je Federico Michetti, a kad bi se krenulo s nabrajenjem njegovih titula sigurno bi ih se nekoliko zaboravilo. Ove dvije jedrilice su stigle s Palma de Mallorce, ali kako to već biva s velikim transferima, dio opreme je negdje zapeo i stigao je u posljednji tren. Zbog toga su se jedrilice pripremale do petka i nisu napravljeni treninzi, već je izlazak na start regate bio i trening i regata. Već su ostali natjecatelji spomenuli da su oba Swana stalno bila u vrhu i da su pokazivala neke nedostižne performanse u određenim uvjetima, a nešto više iz prve ruke saznat ćemo od Ivana Kljakovića Gašpića koji je s Go Racingom dojedrio do 7. mjesta u generalnom plasmanu. Došli smo dosta u knap s vremenom u pripremi brodova. Kako su brdovi dolazili s regate na Palma de Mallorce i s testiranj za nagradu Boat of the Year, sve je stiglo u zadnji čas. Jedan dio opreme je stigao baš u zadnjem trenutku, tako da sam bio stvarno dosta umoran i praktički neispavan sam startao regatu. Sam start je bio totalno van kontrole. Nismo startali gdje smo htjeli, pa smo se kasnije morali izvlačiti. Na početku smo jedrili stvarno dobro i brzo. Nakon starta nije bila čista orca, možda 6-7° laškanija i brod je išao fenomenalno u odnosu na ostale. I kad smo izašli van na jugo, poslije pliči Sestrica, bili smo u blizini VOR-a i Molo Longo. Tako da smo i bili na istoj strani (desno) i zajedno s cijelim tim dijelom flote smo dočekali tranziciju vjetra. Ta tranzicija je bila relativno brza i odmah smo nastavili jedriti ravno prema Jabuci na desnim uzdama. I onda malo nakon Žirja nas je uhvatio jedan oblak i zalila nas je ogromna kiša. Sigurno smo bar 45 minuta plutali u mjestu a sve ostali koji su bili i s lijeve i s desne strane su nas zaobišli i nastavili jedriti. Onda je krenula bura i krenuli smo jedriti s genakerom. Na kiši nam se smočio mobitel preko kojeg smo trebali raditi routing, tako da smo već od tog mjesta bili osuđeni na jedrenje bez prognoze i na čisti osjećaj. U cijeloj toj krmi do Jabuke par puta smo ponovno upali u bonacu a najgore je bilo u rupi od nekih dvadesetak minuta kad smo imali jedna 4 čvora vjetra. Tako da nam je cijela krma bila bez nekog orijentira... stihijska... Onda je pred Jabukom pomelo i tu smo imali super brzinu broda, međutim, odlučili smo se mijenjati flok s jedinice na trojku. Tako da smo tu dosta izgubili, jer smo morali usporiti da posada na provi broda može to fizički napraviti. Tu smo izgubili još dodatnih dvadesetak minuta, iako smo i tada jedrili s 9-10 čvorova brzine. Kad smo to promijenili ponovno smo se zaletjeli s 18-20 čvorova. Meni osobno je to bio heighlight regate... na 25 čvorova bure i kontra val jedrili smo brže od 21 čvora! Stvarno je bila fantazija... čudo... tih 5-6 minuta jurnjave sigurno ću zapamtiti za cijeli život. Nakon toga je sve prošlo OK. Mislim da smo okrenuli Jabuku kao 5. ili 6. brod i orcu smo krenuli voziti, možda ne baš najbolje, ali par driceva smo lijepo odigrali i onda napravili kardinalnu pogrešku regate što smo u jednom kratkom dricu s desne strane odlučili virati i krenulo nas je vrtiti u skroz nepovoljnom smjeru. Kako nismo imali prognozu tek kasnije smo shvatili što smo napravili. Vjetar je otišao na levanat, mi smo ostali ispod lay linea, praktički 6-7 milja smo mi odjedrili u kontra dricu i to nas je koštalo sigurno sat vremena u konačnici. Do tada smo imali priliku spojiti se s vodećima, ali tu smo ostali van igre i izgubili sve što smo napravili do tada. Stvarno mi je žao što nismo iskoristili ovu priliku READ MORE

BREST ATLANTIQUES: NORTH SAILS FAVORITE VIDEO & PHOTO PICKS What “Great” Means In Our Offices Four Ultims are participating in the Brest Atlantiques to test the latest generation of extreme trimarans. The race began on November 5th after a weather-induced postponement. All four of the 32m tris are using 100% North Sails, and the team also spent many R&D hours with our sail designers in France. Since its start, there have been at least a few emails circulated around the North Sails offices with links and photos as we all watch in awe. We’ve curated our favorite footage from this 14,000-mile race to share with all our readers. Know Your Power: Our initial reaction to these photos was “what is going on here? Are they racing? Can we show this video with hardly any sails up?” Our next move was to email our North Sails team in France, who are our in-house (and trusted) experts on the Ultims. Here is their answer: The photos show the reality of power for the Ultims. Sailing with a main-only is fast in certain conditions, it is safer (super important on these monsters), and easier to control the power. The sail configuration is something North Sails helped model in aero and VPP and is, therefore, an integral part of the Ultim sail package and boat design. Wait For It… Check out this video of Macif and their North Helix sail. Keep in mind the Ultims have no runner; they rely on side rigging and mostly mainsheet tension to support the forestay. This set-up provides plenty of headsail luff tension when sailing tight angles, but can become problematic when the mainsheet is eased and the load goes down, not providing a lot of support for the headsail luff for downwind sailing. Simply explained, there is a large amount of luff sag, which gets worse when the mainsail is reefed. The Helix sail with Load Sharing Technology provides a solution to this issue. The Helix structure supports the luff of the sail and dramatically reduces luff sag. True to its intended purpose, the structure keeps the sail forces projecting forward and harnesses the wind force to maintain stable forward propulsion. Nothing catching your eye in the video? Hang on until after 46 seconds… Beasts of the Ocean Perspective is everything. It’s easy to lose that when looking at the Ultims. Notice Thomas Coville up the rig in the video, he is so small on the scale of the 32m mast. We often need to remind ourselves that these boats are being sailed with one or two people on board. With this in mind, reliability is key as any breakdown can be terminal because it is so hard to fix short-handed. Plus, the Ultims are so fast that any stop or reduced speed periods translate into hundreds of miles lost, which we have seen this past week. While this video may look peaceful, these boats are anything but. They are like the contrast of the Albatros; super-fast, powerful and elegant when they are powered up, but equally clumsy and inefficient in lighter conditions (below TWS13). They have two distinct modes. Non-foiling, the Ultims are (relatively) slow and underpowered, yet foiling they are fast and overpowered. For that reason, the sail plan needs to cater to both with a minimal amount of sails. READ MORE

#NSVICTORYLIST: TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE Doublehanded IMOCAS Take On The Atlantic Trade Route Originally in 1993, the TJV was a race that was solo, but since 1995 has turned into a race for double-handed duo’s who are itching to tackle the historical maritime Atlantic trade route from Le Havre, France to Cartegna, Columbia. The Transat Jacques Vabre is a true testament to offshore sailing and perseverance, with an 4,350 mile-long race track, anything is possible, and anything can be expected. From structural breakdowns to UFO’s, and major wipeouts that can turn the boat 360 in a matter of seconds without warning, the challenges of the TJV is what keeps these doublehanded duo’s coming back for more each edition. North clients filled eight of the top ten IMOCA overall after 4,350 miles of non-stop racing, highlighting the talent and the importance of having the best equipment for offshore sailing. After seeing our clients success in the second official offshore race for the Imoca class for both foiling and retro-fitted foiling hulls, we know that teams are ready to take on the Vendee Globe next year. North 3Di sails were put to the test again here in the 14th edition of the TJV, and shined brightly throughout the race. The race results speak for themselves, and after the Defi-Azimut, which was just the beginning, we know that our clients are up for their next offshore challenge. As we set our sights on the Vendee Globe next year, we acknowledge the importance of client-designer relationships that help us better understand what is needed to raise the bar in performance, and we will continue to refine products for the IMOCA class to assure that clients are equipped with the best possible sail products so they can perform at the highest level. Charlie Dalin and Yann Eliès raced Apivia to the overall win in the 14th edition. They completed the race on November 10th, in 13 days 12 hours 8 minutes after their start in La Havre. They were not in the lead at first, but made smart navigation decisions that lead them out of the Tropic Convergence Zone. 📸 MxHorlaville /disobey/Apivia In what is now known as the closest finish in the history of the TJV, Kévin Escoffier and Nicolas Lunven snagged second place, finishing just six minutes and 18 seconds ahead of Charal. 📸 Jean-Louis Carli For Jérémie Beyou,( winner of the TJV in 2013), and Christopher Pratt had a great comeback from sixth place, but struggled with boat speed in the latter part of the race giving them a third place finish. Not exactly what they were hoping for, but still a great accomplishment! 📸 Jean-Louis Carli North Sails Charlie Enright, first timer to finish the TJV in the Imoca Class and French co-skipper Pascal Bidegorry took fourth overall, finishing in 14 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes, and 23 seconds.📸 Jean-Louis Carli Thomas Ruyant and Antoine Koch on Advens for Cybersecurity, have finished fifth after 14 days, 5 hours 55 minutes and 41 seconds. 📸 Jean-Louis Carli Clarisse Crémer and Armel le Cléac’h finished sixth after 14 days, 08 hours 46 minutes and 24 seconds. Co-skipper Clarisse Crémer is now the first woman to finish in the Imoca class. Banque Populaire is also the first Imoca to finish the race without foils. 📸 Jean-Louis Carli Louis Burton and Davy Beaudart, on their 60ft monohull, Bureau Vallée 2, have finished eighth overall, after 14 days, 14 hours 51 minutes and 43 seconds. 📸 Jean Marie Liot Fabrice Amédéo and Eric Péron on Newrest – Art et Fenêtres, finished tenth after 14 days, 16 hours 1 minute and 7 seconds. 📸 Jean Marie Liot READ MORE

TOP-DOWN FURLING IS BACK The Helix Luff Cord Changes Everything North Sails and Future Fibres co-engineered the Helix Luff Cord, the latest advancement in Load Sharing Technology. This exciting new product was designed and manufactured by North Sails partner Future Fibres, who took their vast experience and technical expertise in torsion cable and furler integration to the next level on this shared R&D project. Designed to work exclusively with North Helix sails, this innovative product brings top-down furling back to self-supporting Code sails. The Future Fibres Helix Luff Cord is a very light, thin, and pliable engineering solution that brings the benefits of top-down furling to Load Sharing sails. The cords are built to the precise tensile stiffness which allows for optimal Load Sharing between the cable and the sail. As the sail trim changes the cord to sail load ratio remains the same. The onboard benefit is a safe and reliable top-down furl while reaping the benefits of a free-flying, forward projecting Helix sail. North Sails Head of Engineering and Design JB Braun and Future Fibres Project Manager Seth Cooley employed Future Fibre design tools in combination with the North Design Suite, validating the Helix Luff Cord Concept, and then understand the details aeroelastic coupling through a range of sailing conditions. Membrain, the North exclusive load analysis software, helped the team understand the loads on the boat, mast and sails, right down to the specific Load Sharing ratios between cord and sail. The designs were then run through Flow, which analyzed wind pressures across the sail as cord and sail load up together. “As the Helix concept has grown exponentially over the past year and a half, it became clear that bottom-up furling of 75% mid-girth sails was unreliable at best,” says North Sails President Ken Read. “It would have been easy to simply retrofit standard torsion cables back into Helix, but that isn’t our style. We needed to develop a system that incorporated lightweight and ease of handling along with clear sail shape and performance advantages. A tall task. Fortunately, JB, Seth and our teams came up with a product that is a true revolution.” The Helix Luff Cord allows for “top-down” furling at a fraction of the size, weight, and stiffness of past luff cables. This, in turn, allows the Load Sharing and shape of the Helix sail structure to fly unencumbered by the stiffness, weight, and diameter of a conventional cable. The Helix Luff Cord (right) delivers reliable top-down furling at a fraction of the size, weight, and stiffness of traditional anti-torsion cables (left). “This is the next step in the evolution of Load Sharing Technology,” JB Braun explains. “The Helix Luff Cord and sail work together, as opposed to a heavy anti-torsion cable which is designed to hold the rig up. And the same sail/cord load ratio is maintained through changes in sail trim. This allows the sails to change shape through tack line adjustment while maintaining optimum luff tension.” Since its introduction, Helix has become the choice for cruisers, racers, and Grand Prix sailing because it offers superior flying shapes with less overall loading. Code Sails, laminate A-Sails, reaching headsails, and staysails have all benefited from the North exclusive Helix designs, and the Helix Luff Cord adds easier and more dependable Code sail-handling to the many other benefits of Load Sharing Technology. “Anyone can furl, unfurl, hoist and drop our Helix Code Zero now, at any apparent wind angle,” says Sam Richmond, sales manager for North Sails UK. “We have been developing and testing luff cords on Jethou throughout the past five months, mainly on our Helix Code Zeros. The Helix Luff Cord allows us to reap the benefits of the Helix design with its forward-flying luff and a radical reduction in loads on the bowsprit and mast, all while adding the safety and reliability of top-down furling. We no longer have to worry about losing boat lengths during a furl or unfurl, or the danger of handling big sails with bottom-up furling.” To find out more about Helix and the new Future Fibres Helix Luff Cord contact a North Sails representative near you. The Helix Luff Cord is exclusive to North Sails, part of our mission to make sailing better for all types of sailors. Read more about the Helix Luff Cord here. READ MORE

GEWINNER DES JUBILÄUMS-WETTBEWERBS Die Gewinner des Wettbewerbs anlässlich des 30 jährigen Jubiläums von North Sails Schweiz sind bekannt. Wir gratulieren! In der Box waren genau 133 Teile. 3 Personen haben auf 132 Teile getippt, eine kleine Losfee hat die Gewinner an unserem Jubiläumsapero gezogen: Samuel Graf aus Rüschlikon hat den Hauptpreis, einen Gutschein über CHF 1'000, gewonnen Simon Lussy aus Oberdorf erhält einen Gutschein über CHF 500 Peter Winteler aus Lichtensteig darf sich über einen CHF 300 Gutschein freuen Das Team von North Sails Schweiz gratuliert herzlich! READ MORE

SVERIGES KANSKE MEST ERFARNE SEGELMAKARE Vi på North Sails har en jubilar att fira. I år är det nämligen 50 år sedan Peter "Peppe" Lundqvist fick sitt allra första jobb som segelmakare. Peppe skulle komma att få en spännande och händelserik karriär som seglare och segelmakare. Och den är inte över än. Hösten 1969 var Peppe Lundqvist en knappt 18-årig yngling med ett brinnande intresse för segling. Nu hade han fått upp ögonen för segelmakeribranschen. Det verkade vara ett kul yrke och att få betalt för att hålla på med segling lät ju fantastiskt. Det sena 60-talet var en brytningstid. Plasten hade fått sitt definitiva genombrott i mitten av 60-talet, och det bokstavligt talat sprutades fram nya segelbåtar. Utvecklingen påverkade även vår bransch. Många av de etablerade segelmakarna började närma sig pensionsåldern och företagen de ledde var illa rustade för att möta de nya tider som väntade; bara några år senare skulle de flesta av de gamla segelmakerierna vara borta eller reducerade till bleka skuggor av sina forna jag. Istället trädde en helt ny generation segelmakare fram på scenen. Först ut var Gransegel, som hade startats i mitten av 60-talet av Arved von Gruenewaldt, och det var han som hösten 1969 tog Peppe under sina vingar. Ett hektiskt 70-tal Arved von Gruenewaldt, även kallad ”Greven”, var en kappseglare av rang, med internationella mästerskapsmedaljer i både Finnjolle och Soling. Därtill en man med mycket idéer, stor drivkraft och en vilja att skapa någonting nytt i en traditionell bransch. Gransegel skulle under 1970-talet utvecklas till ett av de större segelmakerierna i Sverige, men när Peppe klev in över tröskeln var företaget ännu i sin linda. Bortsett från grundarna och en viss Stefan Winberg, som jobbade extra på loftet vid sidan av studierna på KTH, blev Peppe Gransegels allra första fastanställda medarbetare. Han skulle bli kvar på Gransegel i nästan 15 år, och fick under den tiden vara med om en ganska remarkabel resa. Båtboomen rullade på i allt snabbare takt. Hela marinbranschen präglades av nybyggaranda och utvecklades, på gott och ont, till något slags Klondyke. Segling blev en bred folksport och Gransegel växte i snabb takt. Tempot var högt för det mesta. "Vi kunde göra femtio IF-genuer på en och samma gång", minns Peppe. Peppe hann ändå med att kappsegla mycket under den här perioden. Han hade bakgrund i jolle, och under 70-talet gav han sig i kast med Tornado, 505 och Laser. 1979 var han med på Laser-VM. Det gick i Perth och blev ett minne för livet. 1979 lanserades också Albin Express, och Peppe var snabb att haka på. Det var han inte ensam om. På mindre än tre år byggdes över tusen båtar – och många köptes av inbitna kappseglare. Mästerskapen samlade ofta över åttio båtar och på Lidingö Runt kunde det vara hundra Expresser på startlinjen. Det var ett riktigt getingbo, med OS-seglare, världsmästare och segelmakare i var och varannan båt. Peppe vann aldrig SM i Express. Men han fick med sig både ett SM-silver och ett SM-brons. Idag kan han stoltsera med ett tiotal SM-guld i flera andra klasser, och han är stolt över vartenda ett, men det är ändå SM-medaljerna i Express som han håller allra högst. Konkurrensen i klassen var stenhård och en SM-medalj var något som imponerade på vilken seglare som helst. Peppe 1996. Mycket har hänt under årens lopp, inte minst på materialsidan. Men en hel del är sig också likt: Dacron är fortfarande ett gångbart alternativ och symaskinen på bilden används faktiskt än idag. Nya vägval, nya möjligheter Peppe trivdes bra på Gransegel men började känna att han ville prova sina egna vingar. 1983 gjorde han slag i saken, flyttade med familjen till Nyköping och öppnade ett eget loft. Det döptes till Blue Peter och logotypen hämtades från signalflaggan med samma namn. Starten underlättades förstås av att Peppe vid det här laget hade jobbat femton år i branschen och var väletablerad som både segelmakare och kappseglare. Blue Peter blev snart känt för att göra snabba segel till bland annat Express och IF, och när Peppe började intressera sig för klassiska båttyper gjorde han sig ett namn även i klasser som M30, A22, Rival 22 och Smaragd. Att driva eget var kul och utmanande men också lite ensamt, och efter tio år under egen flagg i Nyköping lystrade han till lockropen från huvudstaden. 1993 kontaktades han av Stefan Winberg, som efter en lång sejour på Gransegel hade startat eget segelmakeri och nu ville ha över honom dit. Peppe nappade, började jobba på Stefans loft på Lidingö – och han har blivit kvar i samma lokaler ända sedan dess. Mycket har dock förändrats under de mer än tjugofem år som Peppe varit på loftet på Lidingö. Det började ganska omgående med att Stefan Winberg Segelmakeri anslöt sig till danska Diamond Sails. Och bara något år senare, 1995, gick Diamond ihop med North Sails. Rent konkret innebar detta att namnet Diamond försvann, men att de danska ägarna tog över ledningen av North Sails i Europa. Peppes dagliga rutiner ändrades inte särskilt mycket under de här turerna. Han fortsatte att åka till loftet på Lidingö varje morgon och jobbade på ungefär samma sätt som tidigare. Men nu jobbade han på North Sails, och det skulle snart visa sig att det hade sina fördelar. Då som nu hade North Sails en dominerande ställning inom Americas Cup och Volvo Ocean Race (eller Whitbread som det ju hette fram till 1998), och det nya North-loftet på Lidingö skulle snart få sin beskärda del av de här mumsbitarna. När Peppe blickar tillbaka på den här tiden kan han konstatera att han gjorde segel till ett Whitbread-projekt, två Volvo Ocean Race-projekt och ett Americas Cup-projekt. Det är mer än vad de flesta segelmakare ens kan drömma om. Seglen designades och tillverkades på Lidingö och tempot under de här åren var stundtals oerhört högt. När det var som mest intensivt jobbade man i treskift. Maskinerna gick bokstavligt talat dygnet runt. Fokus på service och reparationer Idag tillverkar vi inte längre några segel i Sverige. Inte i så många andra länder heller. De flesta North-segel görs istället i våra två stora anläggningar i USA och Sri Lanka. Lite trist är det allt, tycker Peppe. Det var kul att få se ett nytt segel växa fram på golvet framför sig. Men det går inte till så längre. Moderna prestandasegel är så tekniskt avancerade att de måste tillverkas med hjälp av industrirobotar och lamineringsmaskiner i speciella fabriksliknande anläggningar. Det är inget som går att göra lokalt i liten skala ens om man skulle vilja. Numera ägnar sig därför Peppe mest åt service, reparationer och modifieringar. Tillsammans med Oscar Wetterling och Tomas Mark tar han hand om alla segel som kommer in till Lidingöloftet. Tillsammans har de i runda slängar 80 års erfarenhet, och de har stött på det mesta ifråga om skador och slitage. Med övriga på loftet på Lidingö är det nog över 200 år av erfarenhet. Om Peppe med sina 50 år i branschen ska ge ett enda råd till Sveriges seglare, så är det att för guds skull se till att skydda seglen från solen. Man seglar sällan sönder ett segel, menar han. Det är istället UV-strålningen som gör störst skada: "Att slarva med UV-skyddet är ett snabbt sätt att bränna pengar." Och i framtiden? Peppe är 68 år och efter 50 år i branschen är det väl helt i sin ordning att trappa ner lite. Men än är han kvar här på Lidingö, och vi gör allt för att han ska stanna kvar så länge som möjligt. Med hans erfarenhet och yrkeskunskap blir allt som lämnar hans händer riktigt bra. Eller "stabilt" som han själv säger. Och segla, det tänker han göra länge till. Han har kvar sin gamla M30, som han skaffade sig för många år sedan, och på senare år har han tagit upp Laser-seglandet igen. Han brukar köra en kväll i veckan. Det är en enkel och kul seglingsform, och ett bra sätt att hålla kroppen i trim. Han kappseglar en hel del - planerna för 2020 omfattar bland annat SM i M30 och Neptunkryssare - så det är inte inte omöjligt att du stöter på honom under någon regatta. Ambitionsnivån är kanske inte riktigt lika hög som för ett par decennier sedan, och antalet träningstimmar per år är avsevärt lägre. Men möter du honom på banan lär du märka att han inte är lätt att tas med. Segling är ju en erfarenhetssport, och om det är något Peppe har så är det erfarenhet. Både som seglare och som segelmakare. READ MORE

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: BRIAN RUTTER One Beneteau Owners Dream Come True When retirement came for Brian Rutter all he wanted to do was sail, all year long. This meant summers in Toronto and winters in the Caribbean - a dream come true for many sailors. When it came close to time when he was looking at retiring, Brian decided to pull the trigger and see his life long dream of wintering in the Caribbean come true. Not a huge winter sports guy, this made sense for the next chapter of his life. He shares his journey to year round sailing, owning a Beneteau 36.7 plus a Beneteau 44.7, and helping grow the local sailing scene on the lake. How did you go about picking a boat and figuring out where to keep it? What's involved in that? I've always been used to sailing a relatively good performing boat, so I didn't want to buy the typical clunker. I wanted to do the trip south, so I bought the boat from RCR in Buffalo. We bought it in the winter, so sort of February, four years ago now. So then started to get familiar with the boat and then left in September. We sailed it from Buffalo down to Norfolk, Virginia through the Oswego canal. Then the coast down to Norfolk. We left it there for about two weeks until the end of hurricane season. On November 1st, we went straight from Norfolk to the BVIs, which was a 1,500 mile passage. It was a 'get to know yourself' voyage; it was a beast the whole way in about 25-knots of breeze. Tell us about how you pick where you'll go every winter. We spent the first winter down there in the BVIs and then hauled out there. We launched it the following January and went to Antigua. Following that, we spent our time in Grenada. What's been your favorite Caribbean event so far? You know, they all are quite different. The BVIs is the easiest in that there's lots of places to go. Antigua is really neat and has more superyachts racing. We've done basically the whole chain of events now because we've been to most of the islands. The boat's in Puerto Rico right now as we sailed it North from Grenada. We'd like to do the Bahamas at some point. We'll likely tackle that in another year or so, but we're going to do the St. Thomas and the BVI's this year. It's always blowing down there in the trades. 15 knots is a normal day! © Parker Media Management What's different about living aboard your race boat in the Caribbean? It's a little bit unsettling at first because it blows 24-hours a day. So the boat is dancing around on the anchor constantly. You hear the wind humming through the rigging all the time. Tell us about your involvement as fleet captain at Mimico Cruising Club & how you maintain your large start line for weeknight racing. It's a huge time commitment that while I was working, it wasn't possible so when I stopped working, it was sort of time to pay back. When you do have the time that you can put into it, it's rewarding to give it back. , I wouldn't want to say by accident or anything, but it just kept growing and growing in the Spinnaker fleet with a relatively narrow performance range. So most of the boats are not that far apart from each other. It just sort of snowballed is that we had a fair number of people who came from other clubs to see what kind of a start line we have. They quit their club and join ours. I think this year we had 18 teams registered in the Spinnaker division. I think the least we ever had was maybe 14. What would be your best advice for people who are thinking about getting into racing and for other clubs that are trying to figure out how to grow their racing? Just do whatever you can to make it fun. Larger starts make it fun with more boats on the line. I think it's better than dividing up the fleet into a whole bunch of divisions , where some divisions will only start with five boats. Even if they're separate divisions for scoring, start them together. We try to make it a lot of fun coming back to the club afterwards to share a beer and wait for results, which brings everyone together too. How do you attribute or do you even attribute your inventory to part of your success on the water? I guess I've been a big fan of the North product. I think you could see from my records from a long time ago and just they seem to fit what I want. There's no question the sails have been getting better and better. Not only from a shape performance standpoint but with the new 3Di product, things last much longer. I guess for the 36.7 this will be my third mainsail from North. The first 3DL sort of had a couple of seasons on it. I think that was about five or six years and just way superior to the first one. The main that I have right now, there's nothing wrong with the shape or anything, even thought its 3DL. The strings are fine, it's just the mylar is disappearing. The shape holding ability with all of North's products is terrific. Brian has a new 3Di RAW mainsail for the upcoming 2020 season. READ MORE

PERFECTING 3Di FOR THE MELGES 24 Worlds Success Built On North’s Infinite Goal To Refine Sail Design The popular and competitive Melges 24 Class recently completed their World Championships in Sardinia. North Sails clients were proud to have an unrivaled marketshare and see strong results in the regatta, with eight teams in the top ten, and 21 teams in the top 30, all racing with North inventories. As the world leader in One Design sailmaking, North Sails recently introduced a latest generation M-2 mainsail and J-3 jib. Monsoon, who finished second at the World Championships, used the latest generation M-2 and the J-3. The World Championships illustrated once again that North Sails never stop refining sails and perfecting designs to deliver faster and user-friendly products for One Design racers around the world. Giulio Desiderato, One Design Manager with North Sails Italy “The Melges 24 World Championships was a great event with some really competitive sailing. We were excited to see three boats fighting all the way until the last race to claim the title. Monsoon and Bombarda, who took second and third respectively, are two owner-driver teams racing with North Sails who pushed Maidollis, helmed by a professional sailor, right up to the end of the regatta in a tight battle. This illustrates not only that our sails are fast, but as importantly that they are user-friendly. That is our commitment to One Design classes across the board – we are always looking to push boundaries, improve the sailing experience for our clients, and power them to better results.” “This illustrates not only that our sails are fast, but as importantly that they are user-friendly. That is our commitment to One Design classes across the board – we are always looking to push boundaries, improve the sailing experience for our clients, and power them to better results.” The design for the new generation of M-2 and J-3 sails focused primarily on improved load distribution to deliver enhanced durability and performance. The small layout changes and refinements also ensured a lighter feel and handling experience. The designers also sought cosmetic changes, resulting in a beautiful smooth black sail with less visible wrinkling. The new sails, composed of blended aramid, Dyneema and polyester materials, is testament to the North Sails commitment to One Design classes to deliver continuous improvement and a better product. The design team continues to turn their attention to other popular classes such as the Melges 20 to implement similar developments. Andrea Pozzi, skipper of Bombarda, who secured his best results at the recent World Championships with a podium finish, sees the sails as a critical part of the boat’s preparation and performance “I think that the present and the future is with 3Di technology. We realized this when we tried the full set of 3Di sails in Miami during the Bacardi Cup. I really like the approach that North Sails took to develop the M-2 Mainsail and J-3 jib; I think that the key to success and the reason why so many teams choose North Sails for their campaign is that they are continuously working to improve the sails by listening to the feedback from the sailors directly from the regattas. The new generation of sails that we had onboard for the World Championships were for sure the best we used throughout the whole season; they are fast and all purpose.” The owner and skipper of Monsoon Bruce Ayres, who has been racing with North Sails for close to 18 years, added, “In the hotel business where I work, if a contractor isn’t supplying you with the best product or service you get a new contractor. It’s the same with sailmakers; and simply put, North Sails have been the best. I have been very fortunate to get not only the best products from North Sails but also a first class customer service if we ever have any little issues or changes. North continues to deliver a product that uses the latest technology and designs. They have the professionals there to back it up, especially the likes of Vince Brun, Harry Melges and John Bowden. On the water, I always try to have the best equipment. Whether it’s rigging or boat, North Sails always delivers for me. ” 📸 Zerogradinord READ MORE

VELCRO STUFF BATTEN POCKET Installation Guide North Sails Velcro Stuff batten pockets are simple to use yet require proper installation in order to ensure maximum sail performance. Step 1: Lay out the sail and identify the battens Lay out the sail with the batten pockets facing up. Check the label on the batten to determine the order in which they go into each pocket; #1 is the bottom batten. Note the arrow showing which end should go toward the luff. If there is no arrow label, insert the tapered end first. Step 2: Insert the batten into the pocket With the Velcro tensioner lying flat, insert the batten into the pocket making sure that the arrow on the label is pointing in the correct direction (tapered end goes in first). The batten should be placed between the Velcro tensioning strap and the Velcro top piece (sewn inside the pocket). Insert the batten as far as it will go without forcing it. When properly inserted, the batten should stick out of the sail a little bit. Note: On new sails, the batten pocket reinforcement at the inboard end my be creased, preventing the batten from being fully inserted. Should this occur, smooth out the reinforcement and re-insert the batten until it slides all the way in. Step 3: Insert the tensioner Insert the end of the batten loader (the small “batten” included with your sail) into the capped end of the tensioner, with the removal cord positioned off to the side of the Velcro. Insert the tensioner into the pocket end above the batten. Apply the desired amount of batten tension. Note: When inserting the tensioner, make sure that the batten removal cord (attached to the tensioner) is not lying on top of the Velcro strip. Step 4: Secure the pocket When the batten has been loaded and the desired tension applied, remove the batten loader from the pocket and secure the pocket Velcro by rubbing firmly on the top of the pocket. Important: When removing the batten, first slide the batten loader into the pocket to split the Velcro bond. Pull the removal cord and loader back simultaneously, allowing the Velcro tensioner to come out of the pocket with ease. Always try to align the removal cord over the middle of the pocket before you pull on it. READ MORE

METEOROLOGICAL CONSULTING FOR COMPETITIVE SAILING Chris Bedford’s Sailing Weather Service “Don’t confuse your weather app with a meteorology degree and 30+ years of experience.” Sailing Weather Service is respected world-wide for the experience and expertise in marine and coastal meteorology provided to the world’s most accomplished and successful sailors. Chief meteorologist Chris Bedford and his team are sought out for their straight-forward, honest, and practical approach to using weather knowledge as a competitive advantage. Join our clients – who range from top-end professional teams including America’s Cup and Volvo racers to local weekend racers – and let us help you and your team maximize your chances of success on the race course. Services offered include: Analysis, forecasting and routing for offshore racing Customized forecasts and briefings for day racing Live or recorded weather briefings for races or regattas Bespoke weather training for navigators, decision makers and team members as well as race committees and Organizing Authorities Historical weather analysis and data to help you plan for future events, design a new yacht or optimize your sail inventory Global scope—any sailing venue in the world or the open oceans Contact us at admin@sailwx.com to see how we can help you! READ MORE

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR J/70 JIB North Experts Explain The Advantages of the J-2 and J-6 2019 J/70 World Champions powered by the J-6 jib, F-1 mainsail and AP-1 spinnaker. 📸 Sportographytv One of the common questions we get at North Sails is “Which jib is better, the J-2 or the J-6?” The answer is: Both jibs are great, but they fill different roles. We sail in different venues, have different sailing styles, and have different teams and equipment. So, after a lot of development and testing, we have two amazing jibs in our inventory. Understanding how the sails perform will help you make the right choice on your next order. First, let’s start with what the sails have in common. Both are made out of our exclusive NPC Radian fabric. North NPC Radian makes possible a more sophisticated radial panel construction and offers superior shape holding over all other materials. Both the J-2 and the J-6 have been designed to take advantage of NPC Radian’s benefits. Both jibs are constructed with a high clew, to allow for in-hauling and proper jib trim. The other commonality is the results they produce. These jibs are fast and deliver top performance on the race course. In 2019, the J-2 won the Europeans, while the J-6 was used to win the Worlds and the North Americans. At the NA’s we saw both jibs finishing in the top four and winning races. 2019 European Champions powered by the J-2 jib, XCS-2 mainsail and AP-1 spinnaker. 📸 Zerogradinord   Here’s What Makes Each Jib Special: We repeat: Both jibs are great, but they fill different roles. Which will be right for you depends on where you sail, your team, and your style. We can confidently recommend either, because no matter which jib you choose, the top guys are translating all that development and testing into success on the race course. Read also: Which mainsail is best for your J/70 team? For more info on the world’s fastest J/70 sails, visit the J/70 Inventory page. 2019 J/70 World Corinthian Champions powered by the J-2 jib, XCS-2 mainsail and AP-1 spinnaker. 📸 Sportographytv   Oivind Lorentzen’s Team Nine, 2019 North American Champions powered by the J-6 jib, XCS-2 mainsail and AP-1 spinnaker. 📸 Chris Howell /J/70 Class Association   READ MORE