NORTH SAILS BLOG

2018 VIPER 640 ATLANTIC COASTS Congratulations Peter Beardsley, Rachel Beardsley and Simon Karstoft Jensen North Sails Viper expert Zeke Horowitz caught up with Peter, Rachel and Simon for a quick interview to learn what worked for them including their trick of switching drives when going downwind. It was our first time on the Vipers in the Cheasapeake Bay. We had a lot of confidence on our boat speed, we setup the boat to the North Tuning Guide and were really aggressive on sail trim…” – Peter Beardsley 2018 Viper 640 Atlantic Coast Championship 1. Peter Beardsley 2. Zeke Horowitz 3. Geoff and Mary Ewenson 5. Carl Smit 9. Thomas Loutrel 10. Joe Healy/Bob McHugh * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory Learn more about North fast Viper 640 sails. READ MORE

La nouvelle crew collection est arrivée! Depuis quelques mois, North Sails a lancé une ligne de vêtements techniques et performants afin d’équiper les navigants aussi bien à terre que sur l’eau. Toutes les pièces peuvent être personnalisées avec logo, nom et numéro de voile, afin que vous puissiez porter haut les couleurs de votre équipage ! Pour avoir plus d’informations, voir la marchandise ou obtenir un devis personnalisé, prenez contact avec Margaux Jorand . READ MORE

OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS FOR YOUTH SAILING WORLDS North Sails & Nautivela Join Forces for 420 Youth World Championship North Sails and Nautivela are joining forces for the 420 Youth Sailing World Championship in Corpus Christi, Texas this summer. Over 50 nations will be represented at the regatta. “Youth sailing is a priority for North Sails and we are proud to work with Nautivela for the Youth World Championship” – Matteo Sangiorgi, North Sails Italy. The North supplied inventory is the M-11 mainsail, J-13 jib and S-O5 spinnaker. Sails are today to train with the regatta models and gain that competitive edge before the Championship. Click here to find out more information about rigging and tuning of your North Sails. Nautivela will supply boats and North Sails will provide sails for the competitors, which will be available for purchase after the regatta. Contact 420 expert Matteo Sangiorgi for more details. READ MORE

2018 52 SUPER SERIES PREVIEW The World’s Best Grand Prix Monohull Racing Circuit Starts Its Seventh Season On May 23rd © Martinez Studio “It’s going to be exciting,” predicts Paul “Flipper” Westlake, VP of North Sails Group and a SUPER SERIES veteran. Twelve boats, nine of them new for the 2018 season, a handful with aspirations to win the America’s Cup in 2021, will sail the series opener in the brand new venue of Sibenik, Croatia. After ten races, it could be anyone’s regatta. And with four more events through the summer and no throw-outs, every single result will count toward the overall prize. Flipper will be onsite, along with North Sails Grand Prix designers Mickey Ickert and Juan Meseguer, to support the nine boats using new 3Di RAW 880 inventories. “We’ve got two kinds of clients here,” Flipper explains. “The ultimate client of North Sails is the owner of the team. But I also consider every single one of the sailors on board as clients as well, as they are hands-on with our product and deserve all the support North Sails can provide to maximize performance.” Each team can declare up to 18 sails for the season. Flipper expects most teams to declare around 10 sails for this first event, in order to cover the entire wind range. “All the upwind sails are 3Di RAW 880, our new high-carbon content Grand Prix product that we developed specifically for the TP52 class in 2017. Downwind, they are all nylon and polyester asymmetrics.” Some owners elect to steer their own boats, while others hire a pro driver. Either way, they are all competing for the same prize. “They do have an owner/driver award, but I can assure you that every one of the owner/drivers is equally passionate and focused on trying to win the whole circuit.” Returning Super Series Champions, Azzurra © Martinez Studio The forecast for Sibenik is for light air and flat water, which will level the playing field so much that Flipper refuses to pick a favorite—other than predicting that “a North Sails boat will win the first event.” Since that includes two-thirds of the fleet, it seems like a safe bet. “Azzurra just won Palma Vela, with all the latest 3Di RAW 880 sails,” beating all but two of the other new boats. But Flipper cautions that the well-prepared older boats can’t be counted out either, because teams sailing new boats will need to switch from the ‘boat-building’ mode of trying to optimize a new toy to “racing the thing like it was your old pair of runners.” Experience helps, of course. “Obviously the established teams that have been doing this for a number of cycles will always be the benchmark. But I really think it’s a very open event, because it’s a new venue, and you’ve got nine new boats. It’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be exciting.” Here’s a list of North Sails clients, all contenders for the 2018 Super Series. Alegre Azzurra Gladiator Luna Rossa Paprec Recyclage Phoenix Provezza Sled Xio Hurakan © Martinez Studio © Martinez Studio READ MORE

Encomenda já as tuas North Sails para 420! Como sabes o Campeonato Ibérico e o Europeu de Juniores 420 acontecem, este ano, em Sesimbra em semanas consecutivas. A Equipa North Sails Portugal vai estar presente nas regatas para sail advice e com o serviço de reparações de emergência em funcionamento, para ambos os eventos. Faz já a tua encomenda para garantires a entrega das tuas novas velas. Já só faltam 6 semanas para estes campeonatos! Buy 420 Sails Local 420 News North Sails com Hugo Rocha no Estágio de Natal de 420, em Cascais A convite do CNCascais, a North Sails marcou presença com o Hugo Rocha Read More → Primeira Clínica de 2018, com Hugo Rocha, contou Onze Equipas de 420 2018 arranca com a realização da nossa Primeira Clínica do ano para a Classe de 420. Read More → Share Tweet Forward Marina de Cascais, Loja 27B, 2750-800 Cascais, Portugal Unsubscribe | View this email in your browser READ MORE

KEN READ’S LEG 9 PREVIEW Don’t Underestimate the Homestretch of the Volvo Ocean Race If you think the hard miles are behind the Volvo Ocean Race, you’re dreadfully mistaken. This race is not over, and the final legs of this race can be brutal. My first long Volvo leg was transatlantic with Ericsson in the 2005-06 edition. During that race, we saw Movistar sink and then be rescued by ABN AMRO who were dealing with a loss of life onboard. The fleet was up against three vicious storms which stacked up one after the other. I am not trying to spook the herd, but do not underestimate the Atlantic Ocean this time of year. President of North Sails & Volvo Ocean Race veteran Ken Read, skipper of PUMA Ocean Racing in the 2011-12 edition © Amory Ross All the teams are acutely aware that this is not the Caribbean and this leg is notoriously cold, nasty and less than ideal sailing conditions. There are several shorter legs once they touch down in Europe and plenty of opportunity for movement on the leaderboard. I believe 30% of the points are still at play in the three remaining legs. Race leaders Mapfre with skipper Xabi Fernandez know they have a race on and are anything but confident at this point; this is what makes it fun for all us spectators at home. I was sailing with second place Dongfeng on Wednesday, and they are chomping at the bit to get offshore. And the same is true for third place Brunel who keep improving and are within range to keep this race interesting. The final few weeks of the Volvo Ocean Race are a fascinating finale to this fantastic race. And the 2017-2018 edition has been filled with its fair share of excitement as well as tragedy. I wouldn’t say the sailors are refreshed after their North American stopover, but they are for sure excited to get back out there. MAPFRE © Volvo Ocean Race Brunel © Volvo Ocean Race Dongfeng Race Team © Volvo Ocean Race READ MORE

OPTIMIZED FOR MULTIHULL Sailing multihulls have unique attributes: higher speeds, higher stability, higher loads. It’s very important that multihull sails have the correct fit, form and function. While finished sails for multihulls may not look that different on the water, our understanding of multihull attributes and performance makes the difference in producing high quality sails. OPTIMIZED SAIL SHAPE Through decades of multihull experience, North sails has developed and maintains an extensive library of validated multihull “mold” shapes. Shapes are classified by performance requirements, wind range, aspect ratio, and other factors. Designers use this library as the basis for camber, draft, twist, and geometry before customizing to each individual sail’s specific requirements. Straight Masts Most multihulls do not have backstays. The mast is supported by the main shrouds, as well as diamonds or lower shrouds or both. Many multihulls have aerodynamically efficient, longer chord-length masts. As a result, multihull masts are generally very straight in the fore and aft direction – with only mainsheet and cunningham to control mast bend. Straight masts are more challenging for the sail designer, who must rely on sail material, structural engineering, and shape distribution for the perfect fit. Thanks to the power of the North Design Suite, North designers are able to optimize multihull sails for straight masts. Rotating Masts Some multihulls use rotating masts to improve aerodynamic efficiency and control sail shape. Mast rotation impacts luff curve and flattens the overall sail shape – but not too much. North designers account for the amount of rotation along with the size of mast (chord-length) to optimize the mainsail performance. Headstay Sag Headstay sag is an important design consideration for upwind headsails, and multihulls can often sail with more headstay sag than monohulls. Too much headstay sag usually reduces upwind performance. North Sails designers optimize for this extra headstay sag through specialized shape distribution, ensuring fast, easy to use sail shapes. Tight Wind Angles Multihulls have higher righting moments and less drag for faster sailing. Faster sailing means closer wind angles, which requires flatter, more specialized sail shapes. This is true for both upwind and downwind multihull sails. North Sails optimizes for the tight apparent wind angles of multihulls. OPTIMIZED SAIL SIZE Mainsail Roach profile is one area where multihulls stand out – the absence of a permanent backstay allows a variety of large roach designs. The shape of these roach profiles has evolved over time and the optimum profile depends upon a variety of factors: optimal sail area and distribution, aerodynamics, camber depth, twist profile, and ease of handling/stowage. Today, North Sails offers two distinct types of mainsail roach profiles. Square Top Mainsail This modern feature adds area on top, allows twist higher up the leech, and permits more tension on the mainsheet which translates to better performance upwind. The extra power on top also increases downwind speeds. When performance is a top priority, square top mainsail are the best choice. A key feature sail designers optimize is the head width as a percentage of the foot length. Some square tops include a head cut out and vertical batten to maximize sail area while minimizing drag at the top of the mast. High Roach Mainsail A more traditional approach to multihull mainsail design is a high roach mainsail which usually has a batten arrangement that allows easy stowage of the sail on the boom without disconnecting the head from the mast. High roach sails are well suited for woven polyester material, which cannot always support a square top design. High roach mainsails are optimized for cruising. Rig Geometry Cruising catamarans often feature mainsails and headsails with high clews. Sail designers might need to accommodate deck features such as hard tops, biminis, and the relative heights of a headsails clew and tack. Each of these can affect sail shape and engineering. Here is a photo of a mainsail and headsail that accommodate the unique deck geometry of a cruising catamaran. Offwind Sails The wide multihull shroud base allows a range of reaching and downwind sail types. A key factor when designing these sails is the desired apparent wind angle, which will determine if the sail sheets inside or outside the shrouds. Close reaching sails that sheet inside must respect the shroud geometry. Downwind spinnakers that sheet outside can be larger in size and deeper in shape. Please read the North Sails Multihull Downwind Sail Guide for a full explanation of the different North multihull offwind sail types. OPTIMIZED SAIL STRUCTURE A multihull’s higher righting moment means higher sail loads, which in turn require stronger, lower stretch materials. North Sails uses a sophisticated tool to determine the modulus requirement (stretch resistance) for a given sail. Boat performance, wind strength, sail size, aspect ratio and trimming characteristics will all factor into the optimum sail multihull structure. Once structural requirements are understood, North Sails has a variety of racing and cruising materials that will meet your performance, durability and budgets. North Sails offers a variety of sail material choices for multihulls, but 3Di composite molded sail technology is uniquely suited to producing the best multihull sails where high strength, low stretch and extreme durability are essential. Some key aspects of 3Di sails that are important for multihull sailors include: • 3D molded for optimized sail shape • Spread filament composite construction for high strength and low stretch • Ultra PE reinforced for ultimate durability • Variable fiber mass • Secondary and compressive load resistance • Specialized multihull structural tape layouts Sail Finishing Beyond optimized sail size, shape, and structure, North Sails optimizes the finishing details for multihulls. Some of the sail details optimized for multihulls include: • Mainsail reefing systems, tack and clew attachments • Mainsail luff hardware, battens and slide attachments • Mainsail head attachments and jacklines for square-top and high-roach sails • Vertical battens for specialized mainsail head cut outs • Mainsail Reefing pull down lines • Headsail furling systems for fixed, free flying and structural furlers READ MORE

NORTH SAILS IRELAND SPONSOR J/109 CHAMPIONSHIPS North Sails Ireland have announced a sponsorship package for the two Irish J/109 class events in 2018. The package will cover the J/109 East Coast Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club on May 19th & 20th and the National Championships on October 6th and 7th at Howth Yacht Club. The package will include North U on the water support, with video analysis and de-briefing after racing and prizes and goodies for competitors. Speaking at the announcement, Irish J/109 Class Captain Andrew Craig said, "The Irish J/109 class are delighted to continue our partnership with North Sails. Last year's "post-match" de-brief by Prof and Nigel was both informative and entertaining and the North goodies were very much appreciated by all competitors." Maurice "Prof" O'Connell from North Sails Ireland said, "North Sails have worked closely with J-Boats, going all the way back to the launch of the J/24 in 1975. Our 3Di upwind sails and "V-Series" downwind sails are proving to be a fantastic investment for J/109 sailors and are more durable and faster than ever. We look forward to supporting the class at this year's Nationals and East Coasts". READ MORE

Class leader Brian Janney answers your speed and boat handling questions. Who sails a Melges 20? The boats are just plain fun to sail. They are keelboats, but you sail them more like a dinghy. Naturally, people come out of dinghy classes but also down from bigger boats, attracted by the acceleration a boat like the Melges 20 delivers. The boats have a wet, fast downwind ride that really gets going in 12 knots of breeze with a “lazy plane” mode. The boats are also physical, so the three-person teams need to be in good shape. Some teams with a small person on the helm will sail with four—there’s no weight limit. Downwind in lighter air, the crew sits forward and close together. While soaking low is a goal, boats in a fleet typically match angles and speed. Owner/drivers must be amateurs, but the Melges 20 Class Association puts no restrictions on professionals as crew. That was an advantage when the class got started in 2009, but the gap between teams with pros and the rest is narrowing, and Corinthian teams are now winning races, too. We usually have a debrief after racing, pulling some top people from the crowd to do a Q&A. People also get together for dinner. What you can count on, if there’s been any wind, is that everyone hangs out on the dock together, and everybody is smiling. What kind of sailors do best in this class? Sailors need to be in good shape. You sail with legs inboard and no hiking is allowed, but that means you lean back against the padded lifeline and need to support your body while you’re constantly playing the controls. Core strength is at a premium. What are the top 3 things needed to compete successfully in the Melges 20? Crew practice allows you to make big gains on downwind boathandling. The class uses sail buttons: invest in new sails and pull them out when it counts. Be sure the jib furler and shroud cars are in good operating condition. Who does what on the boat? The owner/helmsperson drives upwind and down. Because the boats have no backstay or traveler, the middle crew always plays mainsheet. The forward person trims the jib sheet, plays the vang, and adjusts the shrouds, which are on track-mounted cars. What is the ideal crew size? With no crew-weight limit, teams are anywhere from 550 to 620 pounds—sometimes more. Typically, most sailors are male. When women or teenagers sail, it’s common to carry four in the crew. How physical is the crew work? The forward position is the most physical—you play all the controls while hiking and giving feedback on the racecourse. The middle crew vang-sheets the square-top main. The keel isn’t very heavy, so the mainsail has to be played like a Laser or 420 or you’ll heel over—it never gets cleated going upwind. The helm position may be the least physical but it isn’t an easy position; you have nothing to hang onto except the tiller. You must lean out to hike, using your core to keep yourself balanced. Melges 20 teams sail with three or four crew, total weight ranging from 550 to 620 pounds. Upwind, crew lean out against a strap along the rail and in light air, one will move forward of the shrouds. New boats or used, what are the options? Several hundred boats have been built in the short time the Melges 20 has been sailing, and the hulls last a long time. In North America, there are quite a few good boats for sale in the range of $22,000-$37,000. Besides the amount of wear and tear based on usage and care, price differences are often due to the quality of the electronics, with some boats having newer B&G equipment. Some older boats had a retrofit on the mast-step bulkhead to tab it in better, which is important. A lot of boats have a foam deck in the cockpit, as well, which will raise the price. A new boat with all covers and sails costs between $60,000 and $65,000. Beyond the basics, what kind of prep is needed to make a Melges 20 competitive? If you buy a used Melges 20, inspect the top swivel of the jib on headstay and plan to replace the ball bearings—they wear out quickly. Some teams buy a second swivel and replace it every regatta. That really helps with the furl in heavy air. You’ll also likely replace the ball bearings in the shroud cars. How does a Melges 20 move around on land? Boats typically come with “keel-up” trailers that have one or two dock boxes on the tongue. The boat itself weighs 1,146 lbs. (520 kgs.) so it doesn’t take a big vehicle to tow the boat. There are a couple of tricks for launching and retrieving, depending on whether you are using an electric hoist or a launch ramp. The North Sails Tuning Guide covers these in detail. What's involved in rigging/derigging? One person can step the mast, but it’s safer with two people. The mast hooks into a deck-step fitting, and you just push it up from the stern. At regattas, one crewmember can rig the boat in one to two hours. What kind of inventory does North recommend? The Melges 20 class has sail purchase limits. To make Melges 20 sails last longer North Sails shifted to 3Di, which has no Mylar in the laminate. It had previously been used only on boats above 30 feet, but after testing a number of different fiber combinations, 3Di sails won a third of the races at the 2017 Worlds. North products for the Melges 20 continue to evolve. The spinnakers take some abuse due to the takedown system, so most people replace them fast. The style of spinnakers has changed over the years. When the boat was first launched, everyone used a Runner as on the Melges 24. As we sailed the boats more we noticed that the 20 can plane sooner than the Melges 24, so the fleet started to sail more "bow up" in a lower wind range and the Reacher spinnaker became more popular. North offers both styles. Some teams carry two Reachers, but most carry one of each. Sailing upwind in waves, the shrouds on these Melges 20s have been tightened to increase prebend and flatten the sails. The crews shift aft as needed to keep the bow up. Melges 20 Tuning What are the most important ways to tune this boat to good all-around base settings? Setting mast rake is a fundamental starting point, measuring from the tip of the mast to the transom. But unlike many other one-designs, the boat not only has upper and lower shrouds, but also diamond shrouds, which help support the mast and change its mast-bend characteristics. You first set the tension of the diamonds before you raise the mast, and then once the mast is up, as you add upper shroud tension, your diamonds become softer and you need to firm them up. Eventually, you find a good balance point. You don’t need to do this every time you sail, only when stepping and tuning the mast in a new location. For detailed instructions, read the North Sails Tuning Guide. In light air upwind, the main leech is sheeted relatively tight and the crew sits far forward to keep the stern up. Melges 20 Upwind Sailing Upwind, where does the Melges 20 crew sit? In all conditions, the crew sits right next to each other. In light air, the forward or bow person can be forward of the stanchion and the other two push as far forward as possible. In medium air (8 to 15 knots) and flat water, the forward person moves 10 to 12 inches aft of the stanchion, and all three crew sit shoulder to shoulder. If it gets any windier, move everyone one half to a full body width aft. What are the key changes in different conditions? The Melges 20 hull has a little chine aft, and in light air we like to get it out of the water to reduce drag. However, the bow is very fine, and it will start to dig in as the breeze comes up. Sometimes you’ll hit a wave and the bow will go right down, until the deck is nearly under. That’s a good indication it’s time to move crew weight aft. What do you focus on when trimming main? There’s no traveler, and most people set the bridle in “max up” position. In light air, trim will typically be not quite two-blocked—3 to 4 inches between blocks on the mainsheet bridle. We sail with almost no vang or cunningham. The head of the main is the most closed in light air, as we’re trying to generate power, but we watch that the top two telltales don’t completely stall out. We’re be constantly easing and trimming the main, and the leech telltales are stalled about 90 percent of the time. The jib is relatively small, so we’re always trying to generate power off the main. In medium air (8 knots and up), we’re quick to go to the vang because that’s all that holds the boom down when we ease the main. As the breeze increases, keep squeezing on more vang—the mainsail has a square top, so it twists open easily and the telltales are always flying now. It’s fast to let the sail twist some, but not too much. We recommend putting a number strip or number marks on the vang track and learn what works best. Above 12 knots, we’ll be eased at least 4 to 8 inches on the mainsheet—and even more as the breeze builds. Over 15 knots, we max out the vang and start tightening the cunningham. The cunningham not only pulls the draft in the mainsail forward; it also flattens the square-top and increases twist. First we take the wrinkles out of the luff, and then when the breeze builds to 18, even more cunningham is needed. A distinct vertical wrinkle appears along the luff, and the head really flattens out as the square-top section starts to ”float” a little bit. That’s a fast mode. The top battens are lightly inverting but not flogging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwoEAZNC6uk What do you focus on when trimming the Melges 20 jib? Under 8 knots of wind, we keep the jib’s top leech telltale streaming 100 percent of the time, which might mean a lot of ease. This helps keep flow going across the small keel and rudder. At 8 knots, we begin to trim the jib tighter. The jib lead is all the way forward, and that’s when we start inhauling the weather sheet, gradually moving the clew to windward, up to 25mm. With a 2:1 sheet, we’re moving the windward sheet a total of 50mm. The jib is so small, there is not a lot of sail area to drive off; inhauling creates extra power aft in the sail. At about 12 knots, we might need to move the jib lead back one hole to begin to depower, flattening the foot and creating a little leech twist to match the main. The jib is high aspect, so we don’t have to move the lead much to open the leech. As it gets windier, the trim stays similar, although we might trim the leeward sheet a bit tighter and inhaul less because we don’t need the power in the lower part of the sail. When the jib starts backwinding the main, that’s a good indication to ease. The Melges 20 sailplan is more like a skiff than any other kind of boat, with a similar trimming circle to a 49er or a 470. Who is in the typical dialogue loop and what's a typical conversation? A good helm will give feedback about how much pressure they feel on the tiller, especially in 8 to 15 knots, when fully powered. The bow is either “floating” or “not floating.” That feedback helps the rest of the team make adjustments to reduce or increase helm. A good question to ask the helm is, “Can you put the bow down when you need to?” If there’s too much pressure, it feels like the boat will tip over when the bow goes down; too little pressure means it’s hard to bring the bow up to point. Because the boat is so short, the helm can easily feel when the jib is not trimmed right. Another important communication is when the main trimmer needs to ease and says, “We need to start going ‘Vang on.’” The forward person is usually looking forward and may need to be told to tighten the vang. They will also be ready to move the shrouds aft to tighten the headstay and depower the sailplan. Melges 20 Downwind Sailing Where does each person sit when sailing downwind? In less than 8 knots, the jib will be furled and everybody in the crew will push forward. The spinnaker trimmer will be up next to the shrouds. The mainsheet/tactician will be sitting to leeward by the shrouds. The helm will sit as far forward as they are comfortable steering with the tiller extension. The goal is to get the chine near the transom out of water. This is VMG running, what we call “soak” mode. We don’t heel the boat to weather; in fact, a couple of degrees of leeward heel is usually fastest. In light air, the spinnaker trimmer presses up to the shrouds with the helmsman as close by as is comfortable. In medium air (8 to 15 knots), all three crew are typically to windward and still well forward. As the forward person trims the spinnaker, the tactician moves around the most to adjust the trim of the boat. At 12 to 13 knots, the boat is sometimes planing. To shift from “soak” mode for the puffs,, we move to weather and slide aft a little if the bow starts digging. This is “lazy planing” mode, and everyone is still relatively forward. Oncewe’re in full planing mode, the tactician moves behind the driver, who also moves aft. The spinnaker trimmer then slides back just in front of the helm. The trimmer and helm are now leaning outboard as best they can. The tactician’s job is to just stay aft and not fall off the boat! What do you focus on when trimming main and spinnaker in lighter air? In lighter air and soak mode, ease out the main. Then simply pull it in when it starts to bubble. We typically sail in light to moderate air with no vang on. The spinnaker is eased and rotating to weather as we try to turn the bow downwind further. Most boats have speedos, and we’ll set a target, no faster than 7 knots. If we have more speed than that, we bear off more. The target is never fixed; it’s always fleet dependent. In soak mode, it’s important to stay in a similar mode to the other boats. Once we are lazy planing, we start trimming the chute in as the apparent wind moves forward; we’ll have the jib unrolled and might need trim that, too, and then the main will need to come in a bit as well. In “lazy planing” mode, the crew still sits in the middle of the boat and pumps spinnaker and main to promote surfing. What is your sail trim focus on the Melges 20 when “lazy planing?” In medium air, in puffy conditions, we often furl and unfurl the jib regularly, depending on the puff. Once the breeze hits 10 to 12 knots, the jib acts like a staysail and and gives extra speed, but in less wind it is slower. We furl the jib whenever we are sailing a steady course and the jib sheet goes limp. If it’s tensioned, it’s working. In general, we recommend keeping the jib trim slightly eased, on verge of luffing. We are aggressive with spinnaker trim: there are no pumping rules for the spinnaker in the Melges 20, so if we’re in waves and the trimmer is strong enough, we can pump the chute and gain an advantage. The mainsail is restricted to one pump per wave; we keep it trimmed in a little bit, then let it back out when the apparent wind goes aft. Boats with strong, fit trimmers can be incredibly fast downwind in moderate conditions. What is your sail-trim focus on the Melges 20 when fast planing? When fast planing, there’s less spinnaker trimming. We keep the sheet eased as much as possible without collapsing the sail, which takes pressure off the bow and allows the helm to drive where they want. If the spinnaker is over-trimmed, it loads up the helm. We think of mainsail trim almost like a trim tab when fast planing. We trim to heel the boat a couple degrees, keeping the boat loaded on its leeward chine. A consistent angle of heel reduces rig movement and maintains smoother airflow. Imagine that there’s a box drawn around the masthead; at a perfect angle of heel, the mast stays right in the center of the box. In this condition, the mainsail leech will be pretty twisty, with the vang eased. The main boom will be over the leeward corner of the boat, which helps provide a little leech tension and a bit of tip support for the mast. What are the key changes in different conditions? On a big wave, in marginal planing conditions, we stay in a bow-up mode if we’re in any doubt. Some Melges 20 sailors have a tendency to bear off too soon, hit the next wave, and slow down. If the waves are right for a lazy plane, but not big enough to surf consistently, it’s better to sail bow-up at a consistent speed, even if we sail a bit more distance. Who is in the typical dialogue loop downwind and what's a typical conversation? In lighter conditions, most of the dialogue is between spinnaker trimmer and helm, with the trimmer talking about the load on the sheet. On our boat, the tactician will chime in with information on the boat’s speed or angle compared to the fleet, which helps the trimmer know if we’re at a good target boatspeed. We have the same dialogue on sheet load when in planing mode. Often, the trimmer is coaching the helm to sail up or down. In this condition, it’s also important for the tactician to call the puffs. In 15 knots and more, the boat will want to nosedive at times and there’s a fine line between when to come up and when to keep driving down; easing the spinnaker and heading up keeps the bow from diving. The masthead spinnaker is as big as a Melges 24 chute, and sometimes the trimmer will have to ease and halfway collapse the chute to take pressure off the bow—then quickly trim back in. This is also a good idea because it reduces the risk of breaking the mast. With the breeze up, whether sailing with three or four crew, weight must be moved aft to promote planing. With the apparent wind forward, the main is trimmed close to the aft quarter, supporting the top of the mast. Melges 20 Boathandling What's a typical start like in the Melges 20 class? At the start, if the wind is above 8 knots, jibs remain furled until the last 20 seconds. The main is big enough to set up on the line and slowly creep forward. The boat accelerates really quickly and can be at full speed in 10 to 15 seconds. Below 8 knots, the jibs come out sooner. What are three top tips for starting the boat well? Create a good hole to leeward. The blades are high aspect and the boat will slide sideways when the jib is unfurled. Communicate! The tactician often calls trim and coaches the helm through the start. The jib trimmer watches for “snipers” coming in to leeward. Practice downspeed maneuvering and holding a spot. Some of the unique features of the Melges 20 include inhauling or weather sheeting the jib, a spinnaker storage bag on the port side of the cockpit floor, and a compass/speedo on the mast that's useful for tracking when a boat is slowing too much in the prestart. What tips can you offer for downspeed boathandling? Get used to the boat’s acceleration in a given wind speed, and set a bottom target speed for the forward person to watch—usually 2 to 2.5 knots on our boat. Below that, when we trim in, we drastically slide sideways before going forward. What mistake slows down the Melges 20 most in a tack? Don’t over-steer. The boat pivots quickly, and it’s easy when starting out to come out too deep and too heeled over; that makes the boatgo sideways. It’s better (although not by much) to have a slightly thin tack and come out going a little too slowly. What does each crewmember do in a tack? In light air, the crew will do a slight roll tack, delaying the move across the boat, but as soon as you have 8 knots of wind, all will switch sides immediately. The boat has plenty of power. Other than that, the helm steers through tack, and the middle person eases and trims the mainsheet. The forward person handles both jib sheets, backwinding the jib in light air for only a moment. The trimmer will cross the boat and lean out on the lifeline, trimming the jibsheet on the way across the boat. We mark the jib sheet between the lead and the ratchet block. Coming out of the tack, we leave the sail eased one inch but then quickly go to max trim and squeeze on the weather sheet (inhauler). The boats tack so fast they may only lose half a knot of boatspeed. What are the keys to a good Melges 20 tack? In light air, don’t let the boat heel over too much coming out of the tack—the main trimmer should ease the sheet quite a bit to prevent that. In heavy air, it’s as simple as getting to the other side quickly and hiking. What are the keys to a good jibe in lighter air? When sailing in “soak” mode, start to rotate the spinnaker before the main comes across. The helm will slow the turn slightly when dead downwind, so the clew should come around the headstay before the boom jibes across the boat. The middle person’s primary job is to pull the mainsail across and roll the boat. The forward person handles both sheets and rotates the kite. What are the keys to a good jibe when it’s windier? When full planing, the goal is to do what is called a “blow-through jibe,” but first things first: the tactician is behind the helm and the forward person is just forward of the helm. Usually the tactician jibes the main from the back purchase of the mainsheet, and the key move is to get the purchase over the helmsman’s head. The trimmer has a lot going on. Both the jib and spinnaker are flying, so the first thing to do is to take the slack out of the windward spinnaker sheet and cleat it. Next, reach to leeward and trim on the jib sheet on that side. As the jibe starts, the trimmer will pull in an arm-length of spinnaker sheet, which provides both leech and foot tension. The helm turns the boat quite quickly compared to a soaking jibe. This causes the spinnaker to invert and get plastered against the rig, which acts like a ramp for the spinnaker to slide around the headstay. The trimmer then grabs the lazy (windward) spinnaker sheet, drops the active sheet, and trims the new one as fast as possible. The spinnaker comes around and fills right away. The advantage of the blow-through jibe is that you don’t have to over-trim the kite to get it to fill on the new side and risk rounding up in the process; it’s already eased and full and the helm has a lot of control. If executed well, you stay on a plane through the jibe, which gives the tactician options. This takes a lot of practice—when our team learned it, we spent a whole day doing nothing else. It’s quite different for the helmsman and trimmer. For the trimmer, the mechanics take some time to get right, and for the helm, it takes getting used to a fairly quick, deliberate turn from one downwind angle to the opposite angle. Come out too high and you’ll wipe out; too low and the kite doesn’t blow through to new jibe. What is your No. 1 tip for jibing practice on the Melges 20? Use an old spinnaker. What is the key to a fast spinnaker set? The Melges 20 is low to the water. We put a mark on the spinnaker sheet and cleat it before the set. The forward person hoists the spinnaker, and the tactician must wait for half the kite to be hoisted before the pole goes out. Otherwise the kite wants to dump straight into the water. The sail lives in a spinnaker sock on the port side of the mast, and the pole and tack line are one line. Before arriving at the mark, we discuss whether the jib will be furled or not on this downwind leg. Except in super light air, there’s no rush to furl it. What is the key to a clean spinnaker takedown? Because the Melges 20 has a takedown line, douses are relatively easy. The tactician moves to the middle of the boat where the takedown line is located. We recommend pre-loading that and counting down “3, 2, 1” to when the halyard is popped and spin sheet released. Count off two or three more seconds and then release the line for the tack and pole. Waiting the extra couple seconds allow the tactician to pull the whole sail in. If in soak mode, unfurl the jib first. If the jib is already unfurled, trim it in a little so it doesn’t get caught in takedown line. Windward takedowns are easier and cleaner than leeward takedowns, because the line through the takedown patches turns the spinnaker into a flag. It comes right around the headstay and into the boat. On a leeward takedown, if you forget to remove all of the slack from the takedown line, you risk dropping the sail in the water. Keeping weight well forward in lighter air, a crew approaches the leeward mark, retrieves the spinnaker, and retracts the pole before turning upwind. How easily does the Melges 20 broach or capsize? Pretty easily. Downwind it’s easy to wipe out on the blow-through jibe if you come out too hot. If that happens, the boat usually comes back up quickly—backwind the jib and the bow comes back down to course. Sometimes you’ll need to drop the spinnaker to re-right the boat. What are the most common boathandling mistakes made in this class? During the set, if you send the pole and tack out too quickly, the spinnaker will go in the water. What is the coolest thing about the Melges 20 class? That’s easy to answer. It’s such a fun boat to sail, which is why people are so happy when they come into the dock. As soon as you have 10 knots of wind, you’re close to planing. READ MORE

J/70 ITALIAN CUP – EVENT 2, Porto Ercole Enfant Terrible Holds The Lead In A Super Tight Finish With winds from 6 to 18 knots in Porto Ercole, the weekend was a true test for fifty European J/70 teams, with nine nations being represented, at the second event of the 2018 J/70 Italian Cup. North clients Alberto Rossi’s Enfant Terrible and Noe Gianfranco’s Calvi Network once again fought for the first place finishing with only two points difference. Congratulations to team Enfant Terrible, their consistency lead them to win the regatta. “It was a great fight between the top three boats and the victory was decided in the last meters of the last downwind leg!” said North expert and tactician on Calvi Network, Giulio Desiderato In the Corinthian division, Peppu Marinelli’s Uji Uji took the lead finishing in an exceptional sixth place overall, followed closely behind by Alessandro Zampori’s Noberasco Das, who finished in seventh place. Rounding off the podium in ninth place was Paolo Tomsic’s La Femme Terrible. All top three Corinthian teams were powered by North Sails, proving again that there is no faster and more forgiving sails for the J/70 class. Learn more about North’s fast J/70 sails. J/70 Italian Ranking 2018 1 Enfant Terrible / Alberto Rossi 2 Calvi Network / Noe Gianfranco 4 L’Elagain / Franco Solerio 5 Notaro Team / Luca Domenici 6 Uji Uji / Alessio Marinelli 7 EWA / Krzysztof Krempec 8 Arttube / Valera Kovalenko 9 Viva / Alessandro Molla 10 Societa Nautica Grignano / Paolo Tomsic * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory Full results READ MORE

NORTH SAILS PROTAGONISTA A PALMA DI MAIORCA Apertura di stagione in grande stile per North Sails che a Palma di Maiorca, in occasione di Sail Racing PalmaVela, ha centrato affermazioni in quasi tutte le classi, comprese quelle riservate a TP52, Melges 40 e Wally, considerate tra le più competitive. Tra i TP52, dopo sette regate caratterizzate da condizioni medio-leggere, l'ha spuntata Azzurra, il cui progetto vele è seguito dal team North composto da Juan Garay, Giovanni Cassinari e Marchino Capitani. Nei Melges 40, protagonisti di nove prove, si è imposta Inga From Sweden di Richard Goransson, seguita anch'essa da Marchino Capitani e con a bordo il North Sails Specialist Cameron Appleton. Tra i cinque Wally in regata, invece, ad avere la meglio è stato il Wally 95 Magic Blue di Toni Cacace che a bordo ha impegnato tra gli altri Stefano Orlandi del team North Sails e che si è avvalso dell'esperienza del sail designer Michele Malandra. Per le classifiche READ MORE

NORTH SAILS POWERS GRAND PRIX CLIENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE An Impressive Start To The Racing Season From Palma, Spain to San Diego, California, and down to the island of Antigua, North Sails Grand Prix clients were faster than ever claiming victories across the globe. Starting in Palma, clients won across six divisions, ranging from the Wally to the Swan 45 Classes. Teams were tested with little to no margin of error, and most division wins came down to the last day of racing. Congratulations to Wally Magic Blue, TP52 Azzurra, Melges 40 Inga From Sweden, ClubSwan 50 Earlybird, and Swan 45 Elena Nova for your first place overall finish. In San Diego, CA, close competition at the Yachting Cup challenged sailors in the Pac52 fleet, with Invisible Hand placing on top of the podium. The Yachting Cup was the first event of the year for the Pac52 class. The fleet will meet again in Long Beach, CA at the end of June. Beautiful sea breeze and perfect waves for surfing at Antigua Sailing Week gave sailors great racing and ideal conditions, and North powered clients winning across six classes. A special congratulations to 3Di-powered Grand Prix clients for their podium sweep in CSA 1; Warrior claiming first overall, Black Pearl for her second place finish, and Riff Raff, placing third. Warrior also claimed the new race record in the famous Peters & May Round The Island Race. North-power dominated first and second place in CSA 2, with Farr 115 Sojana* and VO60 Ambersail. CSA 3 also saw competitive sailing, with Farr 65 Spirit of Juno taking the win. Lord Nelson Trophy winner Sojana* was also the best performing yacht in Antigua. CSA 4 second place finisher was RP 37 TAZ, powered by 3Di. Check out our favorite photos from around the world. PALMA VELA- In the Wally division, Magic Blue with Toni Cacace out-performed her competition placing 1st overall, just one point ahead of J One, with owner Piers Richardson. © Mauro Melandri / ZGN PALMA VELA- ClubSwan 50, Earlybird with skipper Hendrik Brandis and team swept her fleet winning the title, and Morten Kielland’s Mathilde placed 2nd overall, shown here battling with OneGroup’s Stefan Heidenreich who finished third. © Maria Muina/Sail Racing Palma Vela PALMA VELA- Swan 45 class was dominated by Elena Nova with skipper Christian Plump. © Maria Muina/Sail Racing Palma Vela PALMA VELA-TP52’s first place finisher, Alberto Roemmers and team on Azzurra came out ahead in this highly competitive fleet. Santi Lange, tactician of Azzurra, champion of class TP52: “I’m very happy, obviously. I had a lot of pressure, there is always pressure, but this is good because I know that the team has worked very hard during the winter. They have done an incredible job to put the boat in the water . Others will move forward and we’ll have to keep doing it better; it’s about continuing to learn.” © Nico Martinez/Sail Racing Palma Vela 2018 PALMA VELA- Placing first in the Melges 40 Class, Inga from Sweden skippered by Richard Goransson excelled with flying colors. Cameron Appleton, tactician of Inga, champion of class Melges 40: “It was a long and complicated race. Very long days to complete nine of the ten regattas in difficult conditions. Sailing among other fleets has been complicated at times, but the competition has been really equal, and during the last race we became third. We were first all week, but it was hard. We have a good group of people aboard. We are improving little by little and we’re all learning.” © Melges / ZGN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, USA – Pac52 winner of the Yachting Cup, Frank Slootman’s Invisible Hand shown here battling out of the leeward mark with Tom Holthus’ BadPak. © Bronny Daniels / Joysailing ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK-Stephen Murray Jr.’s Warrior broke the Peters & May Round the Island race record at Sailing Week, also placing first overall in CSA 1. ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK- Stefan Jentsch’s Carkeek 47 Black Pearl 2nd Place CSA 1. ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK – Loz Marriott’s Sojana*, Farr 115 wins the Lord Nelson Trophy for best performing yacht, also placing 1st in CSA 2. ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK- Bernard Evan-Wong’s RP37 TAZ, 2nd Place CSA 4 ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK- Brian McMaster’s Riff Raff, Cookson 50 placed 3rd in CSA 1 READ MORE

NORTH CLIENTS ALL OVER THE ANNAPOLIS NOOD PODIUM Exceptional Service Delivered by the North Team John Brim, overall winner of the 2018 Annapolis NOOD. His J/70 Rimette is fully powered by North Sails. The 2018 edition of the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta in Annapolis was dominated by North sails clients on the water and the North team also did an amazing job sailing with clients, servicing sails that needed overnight repair, holding debriefs, docktalks, and much more. As we congratulate all our clients for their great performances (North-powered boats dominated the podiums, see scoreboard below), we also want to congratulate our Annapolis team for the job well done: Chris Larson did an awesome job with the weather. He sailed on the winning Farr 30 Ramrod and helped giving the North Sails awards at the parties. Allan Terhune sailed on the winning J/111 with Pete Colby on Velocity and held the J/ 111 dock talk. Allan also gave the Pursuit Race trophy out on Saturday. Steve Pickel sailed with Cuyler Morris in the Etchells competing against our one design sail designer Ched Proctor. Steve was at the North tent each night talking with clients. Zeke Horowitz won the J/22 class and ran two docktalks. Zeke also gave the North Boat of the Day award out to the AYC Youth Team, Helly Hansen Sponsored, in the J/80 class. Will Keyworth drove North Sails coach Chuck Allen around in the power boat. Having Wilbur take Chuck around was like having a local knowledge guru. Not only did Wilbur know what the breeze was doing or going to do, he also knew many of the boats in all classes. Chuck, by the way, did a great job taking photos and debriefing sailors. A huge shout out to Ridgely McKenzie and Bill Birmingham, the Annapolis North Sails Service team. Bill was there each day at the truck and got sails back together for the next morning. Always smiling and engaging the clients. The key to any event is the local presence of the North Team. We have a great group in Annapolis and everyone stepped their game up. A huge thank you to Lorraine McKenna from the North Sails Marketing team for helping putting all together. North Sails’ commitment to the NOOD Regattas continue stronger than ever. Next stop, see you at the NOOD Marblehead in June. Martin Roesch’s team Velocity, J/111 Class winners powered by North 3Di, sailing with North expert Allan Terhune.   Annapolis YC Juniors, winners of the North Sails Boat of the Day with North expert Zeke Horowitz.   2018 HELLY HANSEN ANNAPOLIS NOOD J/70 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 / Jonh Brim – Regatta Overall Winner! J/70 Corinthian 1,2 / Jennifer & Ray Wulff J/22 1, 2, 3, 4*, 5, 6, 7, 10 / Zeke Horowitz VIPER 640 1*, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 / Mary Ewenson ETCHELLS 1*, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 / Matt Lalumiere J/111 1,2 / Martin Roesch FARR 30 1, 2 / Rodrick Jabin J/105 1, 2, 3, 4 / Cedric Lewis/ Fredrik Salvesen J/30 1, 2, 3 / Bob Rutsch * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory   J/30 winners – Bob Rutsch’s Team Bepop powered by North 3Di.   Great times at the North tent!   USA 53408 Auntie Jean – James Sagerholm & Jerry Christofel, winners on the J/35 class   Jon Opert, winner of the North Rally Race on his Hanse 372 “Orion”   J22 “Uncle Fluffy” skippered by Zeke Horowitz wins the J22 Class. Read Zeke’s Takeawys on the J/22   READ MORE

Annapolis NOOD: Road to the J/22 Worlds Zeke Horowitz on overcoming the challenges of Chesapeake Bay J22 “Uncle Fluffy” skippered by Zeke Horowitz wins the J22 Class This year’s edition of the Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD brought almost 200 boats to the Chesapeake Bay for one of the biggest one design festival events of the year. Among the 14 one design classes, the J/22 class was the largest with 32 boats competing. There is lots of excitement amongst the J/22 class as we approach the 2018 World Championship in Annapolis this September. While, as usual, the J/22 fleet was focused on having fun and visiting with old friends, there was definitely a sense of urgency as every team wanted to give it their all and get some solid practice in at the Worlds venue. Day 1 brought a beautiful southerly to the mouth of the Severn River where our course was set and run by the Race Committee from the Severn Sailing Association. With a dismal forecast for days 2 and 3, the RC was determined to get as much racing in as possible. Every start went off with an I over Z penalty which led to lots of letters on the score-card after the 5 race day. While the breeze was certainly the best of the 3-day regatta, it was anything but steady on our course. The holes on the course were absolutely tragic and it wasn’t uncommon to see a competitor five boat lengths away from you going twice your speed. Combined with the typical Chesapeake Bay chop, this made for some pretty frustrating moments. Patience was key and the left side paid almost every time. It was imperative that the helmsman stay 100% focused on sail trim and tell tales so that the boat was always moving as fast as possible while the tactician kept their head out of the boat to find the pressure and avoid the holes. With upwind current most of the day, it made starting at the pin relatively easy because you could set up lower in the starting box and let the current help carry you up to the line. Since the left side of the course was so favored, it really came down to execution. If you could nail a pin end start and get left, you would usually be in the top group at the weather mark. Of course, as soon as we figured this was a 100% game plan, the final race saw another wind reset and the boats that came out of the right won the first beat! Welcome to Annapolis! Days 2 and 3 saw a very similar forecast with light winds out of the North and some rain showers throughout the day. Pre-race homework including watching the fleets in front of us was key to deciding on our game plan. It seemed like often times the fleet would start in a left shift, but the pressure would wind them right shortly after the start -ultimately leading to more pressure at the top left. We saw this repeatedly with the fleets in front of us so our general game plan was to start middle-boat so we could take advantage of the initial right pressure and get us to the left at the top. Of course our game plan didn’t always work out due to some bad starts and some pretty whacky conditions with several total glass-offs and fleet inversions. Nonetheless it was a great lesson in pre-race home work and how important it is to develop a solid game plan based on what you’ve learned. Our team managed to squeak out a victory over the immensely competitive group that raced at this regatta. But much like the rest of the group here, the primary focus was on coming away with some good lessons that can be applied to the rest of the season as we prepare for the Worlds. Here are a few takeaways from our team that we look forward to improving upon on the road to the Worlds: Don’t underestimate the impact a large fleet has on wind speed and direction. Especially in light air, the group of boats all gathered on the starting line drastically decreases the wind speed and makes your angle of attack to the starting line greater. Keep this in mind to avoid being late and in the second (or third) row at the start. Take the time to perfect your rig-tune before each race and always error on the softer side. The J/22 has a pretty sensitive “groove” as it pertains to rig tune so it’s crucial to do numerous checks before each race to make sure you have the right amount of “dangle” in your leeward shroud and side sag (or poke) in the middle of the mast. It’s better to be caught too loose than too tight! Define the roles on your team. Boat speed is king and that should be the helmsman’s primary focus. There are big gains to be made from minor tweaks in sail trim set up and accurate driving. Don’t let the driver look around too much! It’s the responsibility of the tactician and other crew(s) to make sure the boat is in the right places on the course. Be conservative and avoid big mistakes! Often times at the end of a regatta it’s the team that made the fewest big mistakes that comes away with the hardware. Keep this mind in the starting area and at marks especially. If you are fast, you can get away with conservative starting and tactics and that is always the recipe for success! Feel free to contact Zeke, our local Annapolis J/22 expert if you need assistance getting ready to the Worlds. Learn more about North’s fast J/22 sails. Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD J/22 Class – Powered By North Sails 1 Uncle Fluffy / Zeke Horowitz 2 Hot Toddy / Jeff Todd 3 Dusty / Pete Levesque 4 Scooby / JR Maxwell* 5 Rythmic Pumping / Aden King 6 Mo’ Money / Victor Snyder 7 The Jug 4 1 / Chris Doyle 10 Capstan Consulting / Brad Julian * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory READ MORE

ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK 2018 North-powered Clients Celebrate Antigua Style, Dominating Six Division Class Wins, Honorable Awards, And A New Race Record 116 Teams from all over the world arrived in Antigua for the 51st edition of Sailing Week. Not only a great showing for the visiting sailors, but the local racing fleet showed their true colors in representation- making for a fantastic week of competitive island racing. Each day the racing was amazing, with breezes ranging from 16-25 knots with 12-foot swells, giving sailors a real taste of Antigua. With 54 courses to choose from, race committee volunteers kept the sailors on their toes each day with long, exciting, and very different races that allowed for some of the most breathtaking views. Seven races were completed by the end of the week, giving teams a forgiving discard, which made the scoresheet very competitive in each class. Round the island with Warrior- New race record! Starting the week off in a fast way- client Stephen Murray, Jr.’s modified VO 70 Warrior came out hot in the Peters & May Round the Island Race, a 53-mile course, in a record time of 3 hours 55 minutes and 38 seconds, blowing away the previous race record held by Peter Harrison’s British superyacht Sojana* by over 42 minutes! With breeze reaching 25 knots, no one could hang with the Warrior or Anthony McVeigh’s GF51 trimaran 2 2 Tango, who swept line honors in the multihull division. Congratulations to both teams for your stedfast performances, kicking off Antigua Sailing Week 2018. Starting with CSA 1, clients Stefan Jentzsch’s Carkeek 47 Black Pearl came in 2nd, followed by Brian McMaster’s Cookson 50 Riff Raff in second and Eduardo Plass’ Camiranga, a Soto 65, in third. In CSA 2, client Sojana* claimed the fame, taking 1st overall as well as the Lord Nelson Trophy for best racing class yacht. Ambersail, with owner Simonas Stepnavicius, was close behind in 2nd. CSA 3 class win was awarded to Arran Chapman’s Spirit of Juno*, a Farr 65, followed by Oyster Starry Night of the Caribbean. IN CSA 4 RP37 TAZ claimed a podium position, placing 2nd in class after an unexpected rig failure in the last race on Friday, giving Dingo a chance to move in for the kill. Swan 48 Sleeper X, Winner of CSA 5 powered by 3Di In CSA 5 Jonty and Vicky Layfield’s 3Di-powered Swan 48 Sleeper X haunted our dreams with an impressive first place streak, followed by Scarlett Island Girl, a Dufour 45e, with owners Ross Applebey and Ossie Stewart who sailed a great regatta. In third was Rob Butler’s modified Reflex 38 Touch 2 Play Racing* from Collingwood, Ontario. Touch 2 Play* also claimed the CSA Travellers Trophy, for best overall results across the board in the Caribbean circuit this year. CSA 7 was dominated by locals on NSA Spirit, with owner Jules Mitchell with a solid lead over 2nd place finishers Maella, X-yacht 34 with Raphael Magras, followed by David Cullen’s Pocket Rocket, a J/109. In CSA 8 Biwi Magic with Robbie Ferron, a modified 6-meter and local topped the fleet with 10 points after one discard. Our multihull clients had their fair share of fun too, with Robert Szustkowksi’s R-Six taking first place followed by Thirst, a Gunboat 55 with owner Seamus Hourihan. Congratulations to our clients for your outstanding performances across the board. Another fun sailing week with new friends, spot-on teamwork, and beautiful racing- that’s a wrap! *indicates partial inventories Heading upwind with CSA 5 Sojana* , winner of the Lord Nelson Trophy Scarlet Island Girl, 2nd in CSA 5 Perfect racing conditions- with the best views! READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ARE HERE FOR YOU From choosing the correct sail material to making the most of your sails, the North Sails team of experts based in Gosport are here to help North Sails are committed to designing, producing and delivering the best sails in the world. We are also equally committed to working as a team with our customers. North Sails UK relocated to the new, larger loft in Gosport in 2015 in order to fulfil the increasing demand for sails in Europe and around the world. As technology develops, boats are getting bigger and so are the sails! The Gosport loft fulfills the requirements, with three dedicated work benches; the largest covers 3500m², which is big enough to lay out a J Class yacht mainsail. On this finishing bench, panel sails are stitched together and the finishing touches are added to the 3Di blanks received from Minden and Sri Lanka. Our other work benches are dedicated to Service and One Design. The Certified Service bench was recently increased to ensure we meet the needs and requirements of all our customers. We offer a one year guarantee for all new sails, and our experts also provide support at many events around the world. This year in the UK, we will offer certified service at the J-Cup, Cowes Week, and several other events. Our day-to-day servicing covers everything from laundry and storage to re-cuts and repairs. The One Design team have a bench specifically for outputting One Design sails. They are able to make anything from Optimist sails to asymmetric spinnakers for sports boats, using a variety of North panel cloths. The team of highly skilled sail makers work hard and with a great attention to detail, in order to make every sail comply to the company’s high standards in sailmaking, as well as making sure they are championship-winning sails! We also have a team of class experts in hand to help you choose the right sail for your One Design sailing. This team is lead by World Champion and One Design superstar Charlie Cumbley. We are located just outside of Portsmouth, next door to the Solent—the heart of sailing in the United Kingdom. We offer pick-up and drop-off of sails from several locations along the Solent. Our team is available for you at every stage of your sailing; from measuring your boat, to fitting the sails, to making sure you get the most out of your inventory on the water. Our service manager, Rob Dyer will be able to help with all of your servicing needs, from quoting to advising. The North Sails European design team, led by David Lenz, operates out of the Gosport loft. David has been working for the company since 2000 and offers a wealth of experience, both in designing sails and in using the sails he designs. We have eight in-house designers, each using North Design Suite to study sails in their actual flying shape. We can measure how they behave when sheets are eased and the sail begins to twist, using the same controls that a real boat has. That means our designs have exactly the sail shape you need. “At North Sails our experts are on hand to advise you on each step of sail buying, including product selection, sail care, rating optimisation, measuring your boat, and of course fitting your new sails." Sam Richmond, UK Sales Manager. If you are interested in any of our North products or want to chat to our service team and see what we can do with your sails, then do not hesitate to get in touch. READ MORE

FRECCIA DEL CHIENTI CONQUISTA I LINE HONUORS A LA DUECENTO Esordio in grande stile per il Farr 400 Freccia del Chienti che, a poche settimane dal varo e dalla consegna di un full set North Sails 3Di, si è imposto ne La Duecento, conquistando i line honours del raggruppamento x Tutti. Lo scafo di Piero Paniccia ha tagliato il traguardo sabato 5 maggio alle 23.38, anticipando di circa mezz'ora Margherita di Piero Burello, Victor-X di Vittorio Margherita, Talitha di Maurizio Merenda e Luna per te dello Sporting Club Duevele Paniccia, che durante la regata ha avuto al suo fianco tra gli altri il North Sails Specialist Andrea Casale e Nigel Owen King, si è detto emozionato per essere tornato a Caorle dopo dieci anni da vincitore: “E’ stata una regata molto impegnativa: ci sono stati molti salti di vento e dopo Parenzo la flotta si è compattata, tanto che ci siamo ritrovati circondati. Alla fine dell’Istria il vento ha girato a est e siamo riusciti a girare bene Sansego, poi fino all’arrivo abbiamo dovuto lottare per mantenere la testa della flotta”. “E’ stata una regata molto tecnica - ha fatto eco Chicco Capecci, anch'esso a bordo di Freccia del Chienti - Il Mare Adriatico riserva sempre molte sorprese e fino all’ultimo miglio abbiamo dovuto fare moltissimi cambi vele”. READ MORE

BAYVIEW ONE DESIGN REGATTA The Perfect Arena For Premium Racing The Bayview One Design Regatta began in 2012 with our own Karl Kuspa as Vice-Chairman with then Governor of Bayview Yacht Club Hanson Bratton. Fast forward six years and the regatta is still going, growing in popularity each year and providing a quality weekend of One Design racing. The regatta is hosted by Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit, sitting right on the Detroit river, connecting out to Lake St. Clair. A perfect arena for premium racing and post-racing events. As one of the co chairs of the first Bayview One Design Regatta, this event will always be a special one for me. The event is a great kick off to the sailing season here in the Lakes. For the sailors, it is great competition but also a lot of fun on shore. Karl Kuspa North Sails Regatta Services Our Detroit team will be providing overnight regatta repair. Contact Skip Dieball (419-392-4411) or Karl Kuspa (586-530-2602) during the event to arrange pick up. Cal 25 - Friday post racing Roundtable: Karl Kuspa |Bayview Yacht Club J/70 - Friday post racing Dock Talk | Paul Abdullah | Grosse Pointe Yacht Club Lightning - Saturday post racing Dock Talk: Skip Dieball | Crescent Sail Yacht Club Weather Forecast - Sign up below to receive a complimentary weather forecast, powered by North Sails and provided by Sailing Weather Service READ MORE

MIKE INGHAM WINS 2018 J/24 NORTH AMERICANS Tough conditions, three bullets to secure the title in a tight ending The 2018 J/24 North American Championship were hosted by Charleston Yacht Club. For those that have not sailed there before there is a LOT of current, it is shifty and there are obstacles such as land, towers, and barges that all come into plan. It is a place where you need to sail heads up and have a sense of humor. You are going to make mistakes – lots of them, there is no avoiding them! But with all that, boat speed matters. We had good speed and with that, we often won our side. Even if we were wrong, we could get out alive to claw back. Another advantage of speed in that crazy stuff is that we could break free from our pack and were able to then take advantage of a shift or other opportunity. Conditions were flat water and all genny (no blade), but within that, we had a wide range of velocity form almost drifter through top end of the genny. Since it was flat water, we set the genoa leads to “touch –touch”, meaning when we over-trimmed the genoa, it touched the spreader and the chain plate at the same time. Then we sheeted hard on both main and genoa because we were now looking for power, and when we can get away with it in flat water, the J24 likes to sail high. But with all those shifts and the wind up and down a lot, shifting gears was the key to consistent speed. Here are the priorities we came up with: Shifting Gears in Underpowered Conditions (0-about 8kts) Body weight first. We tried to move crew weight to keep a constant heel of 5 degrees or maybe even a little less. I would say we sailed almost uncomfortably flat. My helm was neutral or even a had to push a little. I had the team move to keep that heel and they would make their best stab at it and I would fine tune it with “2 in” (meaning 2 crew would lean in), “3 out” (meaning all 3 were fully hiked) We trimmed the genoa tight, maybe 3” off the spreader, but would ease both main and genoa a little for some waves or to help through any transition. With any puffs, we would trim a little tighter to keep the leaches tight, in lulls we would ease to keep the leaches from getting too tight. Shifting Gears in Overpowered Conditions (8kts +) “Full hike” would let the team know that I need them all to hike as hard as they could and that would also be a reminder to myself that my mode has changed from underpowered to overpowered. If I am looking to depower my first move is the backstay. With the backstay on, I would trim the main a little more because while the backstay flattens the sail, it also opens the leach too much. Conversely I had to remember to ease the mainsheet when easing the backstay so the leach would not be too hooked. If that was not enough to depower, pinching a little in that flat water seemed ok. The cunningham and genoa halyard went on too to help depower. My last resort was easing the sheets. We rarely had to do so this weekend, and I only do this if I have exhausted all the other depower options. We talked about this at our dock talk after racing Saturday. See video below. Learn more about North’s fast J/24 sails. 2018 J/24 North Americans 1. Mike Ingham 2. Will Welles 3. John Mollicone 4. Carter White * 5. Nicolas Cubria * 6. Andrew Carey 7. Robby Brown 8. Steve Kirkpatrick 10. Kenneth Porter * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory READ MORE

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR THE SUMMER SERIES? Join our crew for the 2018 C.O.R.A Summer Series. READ MORE

ASZIMMETRIKUS VERSENY SPINNAKEREK KÖNNYED, GYORS ÉS STABIL North Sails V-szériás aszimmetrikus spinnakerei egyenesági leszármazottjai az America’s Cup és a Volvo Ocean Race vitorláknak. Fejlesztésüket az aucklandi egyetem szélcsatornájában, és a NORTH SAILS Virtual Wind Tunnel bőszeles áramlást szimuláló softwarrel végezték. Az eredmény stabil aszimmetrikus spinnaker, ami nagyobb teljesítmény mellett, kisebb légellenállással és szélesebb szélspektrumban használható, ami kiemelten fontos a modern, könnyebb, jobban gyorsuló hajók számára. NORTH V széria hétféle széltartományra optimalizált típusa, és a legnagyobb teljesítményű bőszeles anyagok közül választhatunk. ELÉRHETŐ VÁLTOZATOK A1 Light-Air Reacher A3 Masthead Reacher A5 Fractional Reacher A1.5 Light-Air Runner A2 Medium-Air Runner A4 Heavy-Air Runner JELLEMZŐK • szabadalmaztatott számítógépes tervezés • TrueRadial szerkezet, minden illesztésnél formázott • széles színválaszték • rozsdamentes sarokveretek, hevederes erősítéssel • állítható Dyneema élkötelek • vitorlaszám, országjelzés • hitelesített felmérés • spinnaker zsák OPCIONÁLIS • többféle anyagvastagság vitorlán belül • külső haulzolást segítő Gybulator • antitorziós kötél betekerőkhöz • egyedi grafika • SailKote Plus bevonat • lehúzószemek READ MORE

SZIMMETRIKUS VERSENY SPINNAKEREK BIZONYÍTOTT, ERŐS TELJESÍTMÉNY North Sails V-szériás szimmetrikus spinnakerei egyenesági leszármazottjai az America’s Cup és a Volvo Ocean Race vitorláknak. Fejlesztésüket az aucklandi egyetem szélcsatornájában, és a NORTH SAILS Virtual Wind Tunnel bőszeles áramlást szimuláló softwarrel végezték. Az eredmény stabil szimmetrikus spinnaker, ami nagyobb teljesítmény mellett, kisebb légellenállással és szélesebb szélspektrumban használható, ami kiemelten fontos a modern, könnyebb, jobban gyorsuló hajók számára. NORTH V széria hatféle szél tartományra optimalizált típusa, és a legnagyobb teljesítményű bőszeles anyagok közül választhatunk. ELÉRHETŐ VÁLTOZATOK S1 Light-Air Reacher S1.5 Light-Air Runner S2 Medium-Air Runner S3 Medium-Air Reacher S4 Heavy-Air Runner S5 Fractional Reacher JELLEMZŐK • szabadalmaztatott számítógépes tervezés • TrueRadial szerkezet, minden illesztésnél formázott • széles színválaszték • rozsdamentes sarokveretek, hevederes erősítéssel • állítható Dyneema élkötelek • vitorlaszám, országjelzés • hitelesített felmérés • spinnaker zsák OPCIONÁLIS • egyedi grafika • SailKote Plus bevonat • lehúzószemek READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: KARL KUSPA Get to know your local sales expert What do you sail? I grew up sailing Flying Scot's but currently am sailing keelboats, specifically Beneteau 36.7s, J35, J120 and Great Lake 70's. What got you into the marine industry? What’s your favourite aspect of working in the industry? I started working with International 50's in college, which jump started my sailing career. From there, I began running racing programs with onboard coaching, which I have done for the last 30 years. My favourite aspect of working in the industry has to be the onboard coaching aspect with teams. The instant gratification of seeing the team improve and their skills develop is very rewarding. As well, the mechanics of the boat itself with the team and coordinate the team to work together with the boat is highly satisfying. What is your earliest sailing memory? I've been sailing my whole life, I started sailing at a month old with my family. From there, I began racing Fling Scot's at age six with my Father. How long have you been working in the industry? What keeps you coming back for more? For the past 30 years I have been working in the industry and the idea of something new happening everyday is what keeps me coming back for more. If you could have any boat in the world, what would it be? One Design keelboat for sure. READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: SKIP DIEBALL Get to know your local sales expert What do you sail? How long have you been sailing? I have been sailing for almost 40 years now; I've been sailing since I was a kid. Right now, I primarily sail One Design, such as Etchells, Lightning, J70, Melges 24 and Big Keelboats. What got you into the marine industry? What’s your favourite aspect of working in the industry? I worked for an IT firm right out of college and then had an epiphany that sitting in a cubical wasn't for me. I had sailed all my life so the transition into sailing/the marine industry made sense. It's not so much what rather than who that got me started in the marine industry; I started working in the industry through Larry MacDonald. What is your earliest sailing memory? My earliest sailing memory would be sailing with my family as a young one. I started by standing on a milk crate skippering the family boat because I couldn’t see over the top of the wheel. What keeps you coming back for more? The competition. Whether it's with customers or for himself, the race course competition is my favourite and keeps me coming back for more. If you could have any boat in the world, what would it be? It definitely would be a One Design boat. Any boat that is fun to sail & can sail with my kids, such as a J70 or Lightning, would be my preference. READ MORE

TEST DRIVING THE IC37 BY MELGES Ken Read’s First Impressions on the New Melges IC37 Class Last week us “industry pros” got to test-drive the IC37 by Melges, and the boat blew us away. Hats off to Lynn Bowser and the Westerly Marine builders, and designer Mark Mills. My first impression is the entire project team has gone beyond expectations and delivered a boat of which the New York Yacht Club is going to be exceptionally proud. Speaking on behalf of our entire company, North Sails is honored to have been selected by the NYYC as a partner in this project, along with our sister company Southern Spars. We took the assignment very seriously and knew that we had to deliver a perfect product. I am proud to say our company has met the challenge and then some. Talk is cheap, but creating a one design concept with perfectly matched products isn’t easy. The final product arrived, and we were able to go sailing without any surprises. I’m incredibly impressed with the talent of Mike Marshall and Dale Morris, the two young designers from North Sails and Southern Spars assigned to this project. These are milestone moments for a company when the new generation of designers and engineers are jumping out of the nest fast and taking on new projects. Mike and Dale have spent six months matching a sail plan to a rig tune to make one mainsail, one jib, and one asymmetric work for the IC37. And they nailed it. For a sailmaker, there are no other words to describe a perfect fit on the first try. On day two boat designer Mark Mills joined us for a full day of sailing in Newport. Mark gets it; the balance of the boat and weight placement is exactly as described seven or eight months ago. Both North Sails and Mills are using super advanced tools to aid their design vision. This is scientific sailmaking at its best. The beauty of designing modern race boats, when done correctly and with the right amount of time given, the guesswork is removed. Gone are the days of the dreaded, “Oh my god, I hope this fits,” or “I hope this works.” We’re not designing on a napkin anymore. You can say it till you’re blue in the face…we have the tools to create perfection, but you’ve got to bring that to life with smart people. And we did, as a company. And I’m very, very proud of the result. Huge hats off to the planning committee for allowing the industry team to have the first sail and put the IC37 through its paces. The committee gave us the chance to get it right, and I think it’s going to pay dividends once all the club members get on the boat. So what’s next? Turn this boat over to the NYYC and its members for this boat’s intended use, a fun, one design platform for Corinthian sailors, and for Melges Performance Sailboats to grow this class beyond the club and create a Corinthian class with global reach. Learn more about the IC37 products from North Sails. READ MORE

NORTH BOATS DOMINATE ANNAPOLIS ONE-DESIGN SEASON OPENER Fast Sails, Happy Clients On Sunday April 29th, Annapolis Yacht Club held their Annual Spring One Design Regatta at the mouth of the Severn River. Always a popular event, this year’s edition brought about 50 boats out of the wood work to shake off the winter cob webs. Though it still felt like winter out there as competitors were greeted with brisk temperatures in the high 40’s accompanied by a North West wind that approached 20 knots at times. Racing was challenging as the RC did a masterful job combining five different starts onto one course. The fleets included J/22s, J/70s, J/30s, J/105s and Etchells. On top of a very shifty and puffy breeze, competitors also had to navigate a very strong current that was moving right to left across the race course for the 3 race series. The keys to success were staying up current on the starting line, keeping the boat in the pressure, and avoiding the heavy traffic whenever possible. North Sails clients dominated the event and they look forward to keeping the momentum rolling into the Annapolis NOOD. Comments from Etchells Champ, Jeff Borland: Race one started a bit tough, got fouled, then hit the mark right after the gun went off. Did our turn, the had to duck three or four J/105s who had just come through the gate. We gathered our wits, and got the boat moving and headed out right as the rest of the fleet went left. Our boat speed was super, and a bit of luck with a slight right shift at the top of the beat, and we rounded in second. A little difficulty getting the kite up with a new bow person, and Jose Fuentes snuck by us into second. Turned into a horse race from there, and we couldn’t get by Jose to get the 2nd back. Race 2 saw a better start, and we went back to the right again as the fleet went left. The right paid again at the top, and with our great speed, we rounded in first, and never looked back. Race 3 saw just two of us on the start line, two boats missed the short AP that the RC put in so that we wouldn’t end up starting with the J/105s coming through the gate – good call by the RC! It was a match race around the course between ourselves and Caramba!, but Jose just never gave us a break to get by him. However, the second was enough to tie us up with Ca$$h Money, and since we both had equal finishes of 1, 2, and 3 – we won the tie break by beating them in the last race. Learn more about our Etchells designs. Comments by the J/70 Champs, Ray and Jenn Wullf: Sunday offered a great tune-up for our J/70 team in preparation for the Annapolis NOOD & 2018 training for the Worlds. While it was far from the Sunny, 80+ degree temps of Saturday, the breezy, shifty conditions & chop gave our team an excellent opportunity to practice our set up, communications & knock off some rust after some months off the water. “Thank you to Zeke Horowitz for braving the less-than-ideal conditions to sail with us. We really appreciated his expert advice & help in optimizing our North set up. His insights were valuable in improving our upwind & downwind sailing as we start our 2018 season.” Learn more about our J/70 designs. Annapolis Annual Spring One Design Regatta Etchells 1,2,3,4 / Jeff Borland J/22 1,3,4,5 / Peter McChesney J/30 1,2,3,4,5,6 / Jeff & Amy Stryker J/70 1,2,3,4,5 / Ray & Jenn Wulff J/105 2,3,4,5 * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory READ MORE

2018 SOLO SPRING CUP Lawrence Creaser Shares Some Tips on Making the Solo Go Faster When not working on the production floor in Gosport, or selling sails to customers, Lawrence Creaser enjoys sailing a number of One Design boats including the Solo Class. Thirty-eight boats from a variety of nations ventured to Medemblik for the weekends racing. Although the rain didn’t hold off, the wind showed up with light to medium conditions across the weekend. The race committee managed to fit in seven races allowing one discard on the scoreboard. Lawrence completed the regatta with 5-2-1-1-(9)-2-6 giving him a two point lead ahead of second placed Pete Mitchell. Lawrence uses the North P-2 Solo sail. We spoke to Lawrence about the regatta and his Solo sailing. If you are interested in any North Solo products, get in touch with Lawrence today! READ MORE

NORTH SAILS ANSÆTTER JAN HANSEN FRA QUANTUM SAILS Det er med stor glæde at vi kan annoncere at Jan Hansen pr. 1. maj bliver en del af North Sails salgsteam. ”Vi er glade for, at vi har fået en aftale i hus med Jan, der vil styrke vores position i markedet”, siger Jesper Feldt, leder af North Sails Danmark. North Sails ser nu frem imod at kunne give en endnu bedre service til vores kunder i Danmark. Jan Hansen bringer mere end 30 års erfaring med til salgsteamet og er opsat på at fortsætte med at sælge og servicere nye som gamle kunder. ”Jeg har besluttet at stoppe min franchiseaftale med Quantum Int efter 16 års fint samarbejde. Den nuværende bygning skal rives ned og en flytning af sejlloftet til andre lokaliteter ligger ikke i kortene. Det der imponerer mig ved North Sails er deres store udvalg og brede spændvidde af produkter, samt at de konstant er innovative og investerer i de bedste teknologier. Quantum har nogle gode resultater bag sig men jeg kan se at pilen nu peger i en anden retning. Jeg skiftede fra mit gamle brand Dan Sails i 2001 i en erkendelse af, at jeg ikke længere kunne tilbyde mine kunder det bedste. Tiden er nu kommet til et nyt skifte af samme årsag” siger Jan Hansen. Jan Hansen kan fra i dag træffes hos North Sails Danmark, som ligger i Herlev og har 15 ansatte. Her er samlet verdensklasse maste- og sejldesignere, dygtige sejlmagere til service og reparationer samt kompetente sælgere. Alt det der kræves, for at du kan få de bedste sejl, som passer til dine behov. READ MORE

CONSEJO NORTH SAILS La exposición al sol es uno de los motivos que atentan contra la integridad de nuestras velas. © Michael Egan Los mismos rayos UV que dañan nuestra piel ejercen una acción similar sobre el tejido, las costuras e incluso la cabuyería. Una forma sencilla de reducir esa degradación y por tanto prolongar la vida de nuestras velas es cubrirlas cuando no las utilizamos. Unos tejidos cuentan con mayor resistencia UV que otros. Para dos fibras del mismo tipo, las de menor diámetro se degradarán más rápidamente con el sol. Para conocer el grado de degradación de nuestras velas podemos rascar ligeramente su superficie con un metal sin filo, como una cuchara o la trasera de un cuchillo; si el tejido está en buenas condiciones, la superficie se volverá más brillante y suave; si el daño por UV es severo, la superficie se descamará o incluso rasgará. Será el momento de sustituir la vela. READ MORE

VOR: RUMBO A NEWPORT Terminada la etapa reina por el Océano Sur, que será recordada por la dramática pérdida del tripulante de Sun Hung Kai Scallywag, John Fisher, la flota partió desde Itajaí (Brasil) rumbo a Newport (Estados Unidos) el pasado domingo para disputar la Etapa 8, de 5.700 millas náuticas. © Ugo Fonolla - Volvo Ocean Race Tras la rotura de su vela mayor en la aproximación a Cabo de Hornos, MAPFRE equipa la vela que estrenó en la Etapa 6, entre Hong Kong y Auckland. La Regla Volvo Ocean Race limita el número total de velas que puede adquirir cada equipo a un máximo de dos unidades de cada modelo, incluyendo dos mayores, más seis velas para el período de entrenamiento previo a la competición. El inventario a bordo de cada VO65 está compuesto por ocho velas North Sails 3Di más un tormentín. READ MORE

COMIENZA LA TEMPORADA La temporada de regatas ya está en marcha, y desde North Sails la seguiremos muy de cerca como parte del compromiso con nuestros clientes. © 42N En las próximas semanas, nuestros expertos participarán activamente en la 15ª Sail Racing PalmaVela (Palma, 2 a 6 de mayo) y el 45º Trofeo Conde de Godó (Barcelona, 24 a 27 de mayo). READ MORE

SERVICIO CERTIFICADO NORTH SAILS El calendario de regatas comienza a alcanzar velocidad de crucero, y una buena revisión de las velas de nuestro barco resulta clave para garantizar las mejores prestaciones y evitar disgustos. El Servicio Certificado North Sails garantiza la puesta a punto más exhaustiva realizada por los mejores profesionales. © Ben Zucker Un inventario de velas supone una importante inversión. Los agentes North Sails nos ayudarán a elegir las que mejor se adaptan a las características de nuestro barco y al uso que les vayamos a dar, pero la relación con el cliente no finaliza con su adquisición: North Sails se compromete a ayudarle a maximizar el rendimiento y la vida útil de sus velas. Hay muchos factores que afectan a la integridad de las velas y que conviene vigilar. El uso y la exposición solar provocan una deformación que desplaza su profundidad máxima (camber) hacia popa, por lo que se pierde eficiencia; mástil, jarcia y backstay provocan un deterioro local por el uso (viradas, trasluchadas, flameo); y la unión entre punteras de sables con la vela también puede generar deformaciones locales. En velas portantes, sobre todo códigos cero que descansan largos períodos de invierno enrolladas dentro de su saco, es conveniente un chequeo exhaustivo antes de las regatas para localizar posibles agujeros o cortes, revisión de cinchas en puños y así evitar males mayores. Una inspección anual del inventario ayudará a prolongar la vida útil y el rendimiento óptimo de las velas. Y estas semanas previas al inicio de la temporada suponen el momento idóneo para asegurar que nuestras velas están a punto cuando las necesitemos. En su condición de líder indiscutible en diseño y fabricación de velas, North Sails dispone de la mayor red mundial de velerías, colaboradores y agentes unidos por los mismos parámetros de calidad y servicio. Cualquier vela revisada por nuestros expertos se somete a una minuciosa inspección ideada para anticipar posibles problemas y aportar soluciones. El Servicio Certificado North Sails ofrece diez puntos básicos: Inspección de los accesorios del puño de driza, amura, escota y rizo. Inspección de cinchas y herrajes contra el daño causado por el roce y los rayos UV. Inspección de las puntadas a mano. Inspección de las cintas y accesorios del grátil. Búsqueda de roces en puntos de contacto con crucetas, obenques, candeleros, etc. Inspección de la relinga del grátil y pujamen. Búsqueda de daños causados por rayos UV y comprobación del correcto enrollado (en su caso). Inspección de tope de las fundas de sables, accesorios y ajuste (en su caso). Inspección del cuerpo de la vela para verificar la condición del tejido, las costuras, los números de vela, las bandas de trimado y las ventanas. Reponer o añadir los catavientos. Inspección de accesorios: Cabo y aro del calcetín de spinnaker, sistema externo de plegado de mayor, sables verticales del foque, protección UV, etc. Inspección del correcto cierre del saco de la vela, cremalleras, tirantes y etiquetado. Informe de la vela, 10 puntos de verificación, comentarios. Para más información sobre el Servicio Certificado North Sails, visita www.northsails.com o contacta con nosotros en info@es.northsails.com READ MORE

ONBOARD COMMUNICATION The Chain of Command © Jeff Brown By Reed Baldrige On board communication for racing yachts is a key factor for performance, no matter what type of sailing. However, when the number of crew increases, it becomes more and more important. Offshore one-design boats typically have 6-12 people which requires a lot of communication and coordination. Below are some suggestions to keep your boat moving through the water and around the corners more efficiently and effectively with better communication. Here are the positions onboard following proper chain of command: The Tactician Starting from the top, there is the tactician, or head of the afterguard, is the one who gives the overall plan, talking to the whole crew and communicates directly with the helmsman in close quarter situations, such as the start and mark roundings. Ultimately the tactician is responsible for where the boat sails through the water, and how it sails, telling trimmer what type of mode is best for the boat. © Onne Van der Wal The Trimmers Next, the primary trimmers, who are the voices in control when sailing in a straight line. When sailing upwind, the main trimmer, who is usually the only other crewmember besides the skipper facing towards the middle of boat and sitting next to the helmsman, is constantly talking with helmsman about how the boat feels to each other. When sailing off the breeze it is the spinnaker trimmer who takes over keeping the boat in the grove. © Chris Howell The Boss Now you may be asking yourself, what about the boss? The skipper? This is the most important part. It is crucial that the skipper communicates to his or her trimmers about how the boat feels, how much the tiller or wheel is pulling or pushing. Knowing these characteristics of how the boat feels can help the trimmers do their job more effectively, as they can adjust accordingly to get the boat to feel good and in the groove. Many times it is hard for helmsman to speak up because there is a lot of conversing going on between trimmer, tactician and the bow, while also trying to focus hard on driving straight, knowing that if they were to veer off course a quick course change command is coming from their trimmers. But nevertheless it is crucial to tell your trimmers how the boat feels. Good trimmers should be asking frequently about how it feels to make sure the boat is maintaining a good course through the water. ©Jeremie Lecaudey/Volvo Ocean Race The Middle Moving forward in the boat, is what I like to call the middle. This includes headsail trimmers, grinders when you have them and the pit, which can be multiple people. Communication from this part of the boat is non stop and travels both ways. Communication can be difficult on larger boats and/or in windy conditions. The crewmembers on the bow need to know what the next maneuver is going to be so that they can prepare or get the proper hardware ready. The Bow The bow, typically made up of the crew who operate at or in front of the mast who deals with the hoisting and lowering of all headsails. Communication coming front to back is also crucial, such as an obstruction that is behind the jib or an issue onboard your own boat needing attention before the next maneuver can be executed. Many times, in challenging conditions, hand signals can be used to express the readiness or state of the bow prior to a maneuver. © Carlo Borlenghi Overall, the golden rule is that too much communication is always better than not enough, and yelling or scolding your crew only slows down the process of any maneuver. Most importantly: keep the boat fun, keep the boat fast! READ MORE

MILDEW ON SAILS: WHAT TO DO Our DIY Sail Care information only applies to traditional fabrics and laminates. 3Di is composite technology, not a sail laminate. For info on 3Di sail care, read Sail Maintenance. Here is what you need to know about mildew on traditional fabrics. Sails mildew. There are lots of guesses about why some mildew more than others, but not much in the way of facts. Three things we do know: Mildew is not a structural problem. Mildew is ugly. Sail owners get a little uptight when their sails turn black and splotchy. We can state a few truths about observed patterns regarding sails that have and have not mildewed: Sails in hot humid areas are definite candidates. It appears to help if the boat owner makes an attempt to keep the sail dry. Take a short sail to air out a damp roller furled genoa, especially if you are leaving the boat for an extended period and your last sailing day involved a lot of rain and salt water spray. Salt water residue dries more slowly than fresh water, so salt water dampness is worse than fresh water dampness. Areas with higher levels of air pollution, or pollen, tend to have more mildew issues. Laminated sails are much more susceptible to mildew than woven Dacron sails. Mildew propagates quickly in the adhesive layers of any glued-on parts. Insignia fabric reinforcing and adhesives used to glue together seams are particularly susceptible to mildew growth, because they feature thick layers of glue. Cleaning Mildew Sailcloth manufacturers have developed chemical treatments to retard mildew growth when the fabric is produced. However, there is a delicate balance between killing the fungus and killing the humans. So the problem has not gone away. Surface mildew can be cleaned off the sail with a diluted bleach solution. But once the mildew creeps in between layers of fabric, the sails need to be sent out for industrial cleaning. Wash companies other than sailmakers should be considered suspect. You might get a nice white sail back, but it may also be crumpled up like a bed sheet. For more information, read Should You Wash Your Sails? In our experience, once a sail has had a mildew problem, it will probably always have a mildew problem. A good cleaner can reduce the black spots to dirty white spots, but if the boat stays in the same area where the mildew started, the spots will soon be gray, and then it’s only a matter of time before they are black again. How to avoid mildew Air out your sails regularly, especially after rain. Try to do this on a calm, dry day. Exposure to sunlight is helpful, but too much causes UV Damage. Do not put sails away damp or salty. The salt attracts and retains moisture. Store in a dry location. If your boat is inactive for more than a week or two, take the sail off the rig and store it dry, or arrange for somebody to air it out periodically. Do not install a foam luff on sails prone to mildewing. If mildew occurs Treat mildew at the earliest possible moment. Mildew stains are easier to treat when new, relatively small, and close to the surface. Isolate mildew-infected sails from clean sails. A sure way to spread mildew is to rub an existing growth against a receptive surface. The most popular mildew remover is household chlorine bleach (sodium hypo chlorite) sold in the U.S. in 5.25% solution. Manufacturers recommend diluting it further. Tilex® and other “mildew removers” are sodium hypo chlorite solutions of about 3%. DO NOT use BLEACH on KEVLAR or NYLON, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! We have seen people poke their fingers easily through spinnakers rinsed in chlorine-treated swimming pools. DO NOT EVER MIX BLEACH AND AMMONIA! The mixture forms phosgene gas which killed and disabled thousands in the First World War. For deep set stains, immerse the stain in a fungicide for 12 hours or more. A high concentration is not necessary. No amount of surface scrubbing will do what a good soak can. After using bleach, rinse thoroughly with plenty of fresh water! Bleach residue can cause long-term structural damage. If the mildew stain is not removed by above treatments, give up. Further treatments can cause other damage. Scotchguard® and related water repellents have not proven to kill or prevent mildew. Lysol® household disinfectant is an effective fungicide and inhibitor. Some health and environmental agencies prohibit the use of stronger fungicides. Anything you use to kill or remove mildew will wash or wear away in a relatively short time. North NorLam™ fabrics are treated with the most powerful commercial fungicide allowable. It is 100% effective in laboratory conditions, yet demonstrably less effective in the real world. Lastly, this is what Bill Bergantz, Vice President of North Cloth, has to say about mildew: It is a poorly kept secret that mildew will grow on sails. While we do not completely understand it and don’t have a lot of good answers for prevention and cure, here is what we do know and what you should know in dealing with the problem of mildew. Mildew is a fungus. Like mushrooms (another fungus), it grows best in damp conditions, and probably doesn’t like daylight. It can flourish in climates as diverse as Florida and the midwinter Pacific Northwest. Mildew lives on microscopic organisms that it takes from the air, water, or the surface of the sail. Mildew will form on modern synthetic sailcloth, including adhesives, finishes, films, etc., but does not cause structural damage. Mildew does not affect the performance of sailcloth, so our concern is with the cosmetic disfiguration it can cause. Mildew can grow on anchor rodes and mooring lines , sheets and sail covers, dodgers, cockpit cushions, mattresses, bulkheads, and so forth. Mildew spores are carried in the air, especially in rain water, and are easily transferred by contact. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS TEAM OUT AMONGST THE ACTION The team at North Sails Ireland were out amongst the action last weekend, sailing with customers and making sure they were happy with their new sails The North Sails Ireland team of Nigel Young, Maurice "Prof" O'Connell and Shane Hughes did the treble over the weekend, each of them winning races with clients on the Irish Sea, Howth and Kinsale. Shane Hughes was a part of Frank Whelan's ISORA winning team on Eluethera, taking victory overall and in Division 0. Shane was trialling a new North Sails 3Di Code 2 jib that day and the boat flew upwind. Eluethera with North Sails Ireland's Shane Hughes trimming Nigel Young raced on Mike Evans' half tonner The Big Picture on Saturday. Nigel was trialling a new 3Di mainsail, Code 2 jib and SuperLite Code S1.5 spi and took a 2nd and 3rd in their class. The Big Picture Flying Her New 3Di Sails Prof was on the water in Howth also providing coaching support from the RIB. Prof's HYC coaching movie is below: On Sunday, both Prof and Nigel were racing in Kinsale YC's April Series. In owner Conor Phelan's absence, Prof steered Jump Juice to victory in Race 1 but a headfoil problem dropped the team down the standings in Race 2. Jump Juice steered by Maurice O'Connell in KYC April League Nigel was racing aboard Denis Murphy's Grand Soleil 40 Neulargo and they pounced on the Jump Juice headfoil issue to win race 2, following up on their 2nd in race 1. The picture below shows Neulargo flying her new North Sails 3Di Endurance mainsail and Sk75 S2 kite. Neulargo with North Sails Ireland's Nigel Young aboard All in all, a great weekend for North Sails Ireland and their customers. READ MORE

CHAFE NEVER SLEEPS Our DIY Sail Care information only applies to traditional fabrics and laminates. 3Di is composite technology, not a sail laminate. For info on 3Di sail care, read Sail Maintenance. Here is what you need to know about chafe on traditional fabrics. North Sails CEO Dan Neri shows us how to keep chafe from destroying your sails. Wherever soft, fabric parts of a sail rub against hard metal parts, the sail is going to eventually suffer chafe damage. It is difficult for a sailmaker to identify all potential chafe areas, so you must watch for chafe and add (or replace) chafe protection before a hole appears. Heavy dacron and webbing work best for chafing surfaces around rings. Webbing is easy to fold around corners and is made of thicker fibers, so it will wear better than Dacron. Dacron, on the other hand, is easier to sew due to its lower bulk. We are not particularly fond of leather for chafe protection, even though it looks nice when it is new. Leather stretches when it is wet, so it is more easily ripped than webbing chafe guards. This leather chafe guard is not helping the sail at all. When the leather gets wet, it tends to sluff apart where the reef line rubs against it. Someone has gone to the effort of sewing another layer of leather over the first chafe gear above the reef ring. This new leather will last forever because there is is no way the reefing line will be able to rub there. Anytime you see your sail rubbing on the rig, or see a lazy jack or running stay rubbing on the sail, circle the area of contact with a marking pen. Then, at your first opportunity, cover the area that you have marked with an appropriate material. How to make chafe patches The most common chafe material is “Stickyback.” Due to its lightweight it will conform to the surface of the sail, even if it is applied over areas that include staggered layers of reinforcing, or batten pockets. The surface is slippery, which allows the fabric to slide against other materials without grabbing or heating up from friction. However, because it is thin and made from lightweight fibers, this is really only a temporary solution. Heavier weight chafe patches can be made from woven polyester sailcloth and several strips of seamstick adhesive, or a thin layer of liquid adhesive. Whenever possible, chafe material should be applied with adhesive rather than sewing because it will need to be renewed at some point. Stitching will leave holes in the sail when the old chafe material is removed, and more holes when the replacement material is installed. Multiple layers of lighter weight material installed with adhesives are the best way to go. For multiple layer patches, the large layer should be 20-40% bigger than the small layer to taper the patch. Common chafe areas include: Spreaders Where spreader ends push hard into the surface of a sail, you need a sewed-on dacron patch on each side of the sail. If the sail leech scrapes across the spreader base during tacks, but does not come into contact with the spreader end, use a lighter, completely sacrificial patch. Mainsails on boats with swept back spreaders are prone to punctures from the spreader ends both when sailing downwind and while reefing. As mainsail loads change, the fabric is pressed hard against the spreader end. Eventually, the spreader end chafes a hole in the sail. Because the hole is on the leeward side, you may not see it.This can result in significant damage if not addressed right away. This hole was rubbed into and through the batten pocket from nearly continual rubbing against the boat’s standing rigging. Tips to minimize sail damage when reefing Slightly over trim the sail or keep tension on the boom vang. Monitor the chafe protection layers on the sail. Wrap the spreader end with black tape so the spreader will make a mark on the sail as an early warning sign. Stanchions If the foot of the headsail sometimes catches on a stanchion top, sew a dacron patch on each side of the sail. If the foot of the sail sometimes rubs on the shackle that attaches the upper lifeline to the bow pulpit, add a lighter, completely sacrificial patch. Full-length batten pockets A sacrificial layer of Spectra webbing sewn onto Dacron tape can easily be replaced with another if necessary. Full-length battens rub on standing rigging, running backstays, and lazy jacks. Standing rigging is the biggest concern because it is rigid. The batten is also rigid, so the pocket material is in between the proverbial rock and the hard place. Pockets should be covered with a rugged layer of fabric or webbing, preferably spectra because it does not heat up from friction like polyester. Nylon webbing has good chafe resistance, but it shrinks and will cause the batten pocket to pucker. How to make a batten pocket chafe guard Cut a piece of light sailcloth tape so it is the same length and width as the batten pocket. Stitch spectra webbing along its center. Glue the tape to the pocket with the spectra facing out. Stitch along the edges of the batten pocket, matching the existing machine stitching as much as possible. Excerpted from The Complete Guide to Sail Care and Repair, by Dan Neri READ MORE

WOMEN ON THE WATER Nieulargo is a Family Run Boat, Where the Women Take the Lead Onboard For the past two weekends I (Nigel Young) have been sailing with Denis Murphy and his Family and friends on Nieulargo the Grand Soleil 40 from the Royal Cork Yacht Club. One thing that is very apparent sailing with this team, is the number of women involved in getting the best out of the boat. Molly is helming and doing a great job, she is only 17 years old but has a very seasoned outlook to her sailing and gets great speed out of the boat. Her younger sister Mia is also often found in the cockpit looking after the jib and spinnaker trim. Then there is the Team Boss Annamarie, she quietly goes about her business packing spinnakers and generally looking after the mid section of the boat and keeping the boys in check! More often than not it’s the boys who get all the glory, but on Nieulargo the key jobs are spread between the sexes and it’s been great fun to play a small part in this mixed team. Good luck for the rest of the season from us all at North Sails Ireland. READ MORE

3Di SHINES AT MELGES 20 WORLD LEAGUE New Mi-2 Mainsail Powers Brontolo Racing to win the first event in the 2018 Melges 20 World League Act One of the Melges 20 World League in Forio D’Ischia served as the debut event for the new North Sails Mi-2 3Di RAW mainsail. With 5-11 knots of wind across the weekend, the new mainsail proved fast and powerful in the exact conditions it was designed for and Filippo Pacinotti’s Brontolo Racing, powered by the new Mi-2 mainsail, played the light winds to their advantage, finishing the weekend with an impressive 1-2-(3)-1-1-3, giving them a massive 12 points advantage over the second placed boat. “North Sails has super products in the standard shapes. I’d rather invest in more training days to be sure we are ready speedwise and on top of the fleet using North products.” – Filippo Pacinotti, winner The new Mi-2 3Di RAW Mainsail is an upgrade of the first 3Di mainsail for the Melges 20 class. The design has been refined to be more forgiving in the lighter wind but without compromising its heavy wind performance. Using the North Sails Suite our designers made changes to both the mold shape and the 3Di tape layouts. The Mi-2 better matches the flying shape of the World Championship winning Mi-16 3DL mainsail. “It was a great weekend for North clients! North boats won five out of the six races and Filippo won the event with an incredible series of results. Their worst score was a third place!” said North Sails expert Giulio Desiderato. Click here to find out more about our Melges 20 products and the shop the winning Mi-2 design. Full results READ MORE

ADD NEW COLOR TO YOUR DOWNWIND PERFORMANCE Cool Shades J/70 Spinnaker Special Save Up to $650! For a limited time, North Sails is offering special pricing on colored championship-winning J/70 AP-1 Spinnaker available in the colors listed below. Ask about adding the extremely successful J-6HC Jib and save up to $650. Fill out the form below and one of our J/70 experts will contact you. This promotion is valid in the United States only. Colors and quantities are limited. Ends May 15, 2019. I’m Interested In The Cool Shades J/70 Spinnaker Special I'm Interested In The J/70 Spinnaker Promotion Last Name * First Name * Email * Phone Preferred Method of Contact Email Me Call Me Would you like to add a championship-winning J-6HC Jib at a special pricing? Yes No Submit READ MORE

THE FOUR F’S OF SAIL FATIGUE: FLEX, FIBER COMPRESSION, FLOGGING, AND FLUTTER Our DIY Sail Care information only applies to traditional fabrics and laminates. 3Di is composite technology, not a sail laminate. For info on 3Di sail care, read Sail Maintenance. Here is what you need to know about the Four F’s of Fatigue for traditional fabrics. No matter what it’s made of, sail laminates and traditional fabrics will eventually wear out. Fortunately, proper care and use can drastically increase the longevity of your inventory. North Sails CEO Dan Neri takes us through the various factors that typically lead to structural failures and shows us how to minimize damage. Flex Fatigue Just as UV exposure is an unavoidable bummer if you choose to sail in nice weather, flex fatiguing of your sails is a fact of life if you choose to sail in wind or waves. Any action of the sail membrane that causes it to cycle back and forth will eventually fatigue the materials. On very windy days this includes flogging during hoisting and lowering, rolling furling sails, and flogging while tacking or reefing. The edges of the sails flutter rapidly if leechlines are not tensioned correctly in moderate and strong winds. And in light winds on broad sailing angles, sailboats can roll violently enough to cause the sails to “slat,” which flexes the fabric and shock-loads the attachment hardware. To avoid flex fatigue: Eliminate or reduce flogging. Make sure leech and foot lines are adjusted to eliminate edge flutter. Change course in light-sloppy conditions to reduce slatting. You can save your sail from much of the punishment from reefing by flaking the fabric below the reef and pushing it to the side of the boom opposite the vertical leg of the reefing line. Fiber Compression When sailcloth is bent, one side of the fabric is being stretched and the other side, the inside of the bend, is being compressed. The compressed fibers are the ones damaged. Fiber types that show the most remarkable strength under strain, like Carbon or Kevlar, break down easily when they are compressed. Some fibers crumble and fall apart, turning into powder. Other fibers shatter and displace longitudinally in the same way that a live tree branch fractures when bent in half. Once a fiber shatters, there is more exposed surface area for UV penetration—and the more the fiber is degraded by the sun, the more easily it will crumble the next time it is flexed. Causes The most likely causes of fiber compression fatigue are folding the sail for storage and smashing the mainsail fabric under slab reefing lines. When you fold your sails loosely with the folds parallel to the foot, there is no damage to the sail. So a mainsail that is flaked over a boom in exactly the same way every time is fine, and a racing jib that is flaked into a full-length zipper bag is a happy sail. However, when you fold a sail parallel to the foot and then fold it again along the foot in order to get it into a conventional sail bag, the loose flakes are forced into compact 180 degree folds and the fibers on the inside of those folds will be crushed. Polyester and spectra fibers that are used in cruising sails will stand up to dozens of cycles, shattering just a little each time. When you bag your sails, it is better to fold in a different spot each time (and have hundreds of imperceptibly minor areas of fiber compression) than to fold in the same spot over and over and eventually end up with a hard horizontal line of shattered fibers. To avoid fiber compression problems: Fold sails in loose flakes whenever possible. Avoid creasing a sail in exactly the same place each time it is bagged. When reefing, push sail fabric to the opposite side of the boom from the vertical leg of the clew reef line. Flogging When a sail is allowed to flog, the leech of the sail will sustain more damage than the middle or luff. Think of a lion tamer snapping a big whip. Nothing is happening at the whip handle, but the farther away from the handle, the farther the whip travels and the more violently the whip snaps when it changes direction of travel. Sailmakers taper the transitions from the base layer of the sail into the heavier areas of the leech. The tapered reinforcements help to soften the effects of flogging and to distribute the fiber flex over a greater surface area. You can reduce flex fatigue by paying attention to the length of time the sail is allowed to flog and the force with which it flogs. Mainsails Mainsails are supported on two of three edges, and full-length battens soften the flogging action of the unsupported leech. In breeze under 25 knots, a well engineered cruising mainsail with full-length battens won’t flog at all. Rather, it will wave back and forth while it is being raised and lowered. A mainsail with short battens (usually referred to as “leech battens”) is more adjustable and lighter, but will quickly deteriorate if it is allowed to flog. Headsails Headsails are only supported on one of three edges, so an untended headsail can potentially flog itself apart. Accordingly, the sail handling members of a cruising crew need to be ready execute any maneuvers involving the headsail as efficiently as possible. At a minimum that means always having the headsail sheets flaked and clear before a tack, jibe, or furl. Beyond that basic procedure, it is worthwhile to emulate a racing crew even during casual daysailing to minimize the headsail flogging. (For more info, read Club Racing: How to Improve Your Tacks) Reduce flogging by: Keep sails trimmed whenever possible. Position headsail leads far enough forward to keep pressure on the upper leech. Use an outboard lead for the headsail sheet when reaching. Prepare for tacks before casting off old headsail sheet. Raise the main in the lee of the land on windy days. Run downwind when roller furling on windy days. Select a full batten option when purchasing a new main. Keep at least moderate tension on sheets when the boat must be stalled temporarily. Furling When it is time to roll up the headsail, both sheets need to be ready to run free and the person who will be hauling in the furling line must be in place and braced for the activity. If the furling is done with a winch, some drag should remain on the sheet to reduce the range of travel when the sail flogs. If the furling is done without a winch, the sheets need to be eased more aggressively so the whole operation takes less time. Whenever it is practical, turn the boat downwind before roller furling the sail. The strength of the apparent wind will be reduced by about 1.5 times the boat speed and the headsail can be partially blanketed behind the mainsail. Flutter Leech or foot flutter is flogging’s little sister. When just the edge of a sail flutters, there is significantly less sail area moving, but the number of cycles is significantly greater. Also, because a fluttering leech or foot edge does not shake the boat, it is easier to ignore. But when you ignore it, it doesn’t go away. Rather, the fluttering action steadily breaks down the fibers. Throw a little UV degradation into the mix and eventually the leech or foot tape will rip off the sail. This is what happens after many hours of leech fluttering. The fabric right at the edge of the leech tape has been subjected to thousands of cycles of bending back and forth, compressing the fibers at exactly the same spot each time. Throw a little UV degradation into the mix and the tape will zip right off the sail. Leech flutter is caused by unstable airflow over the trailing edge of the sail. If the air is flowing off the trailing edge fast enough, the force of the airflow will deflect the loose edge. That deflection will cause a vacuum that the fabric will snap back into and then the cycle repeats itself. The fluttering edge makes a noise like a playing card against the spokes of a bicycle. Treat this noise as a signal to get up and tighten the leech line. Racing sailors are taught to ease the leech cord as much as possible to minimize the amount that the leech hooks to windward. The same idea is valid for cruising sailors, but we might as well err on the too-tight side in anything except the lightest wind. Better to have a slight hook in the leech of the sail than a ripped leech. Tips to control leech flutter: Position jib leads or the main traveler car so the sheet angle lines up with the leech. Tension leech lines properly. Excerpted from The Complete Guide to Sail Care and Repair, by Dan Neri READ MORE

FLYING SCOT JIBING: STEP BY STEP How to do a proper jibe in the Flying Scot Whether you are racing a super yacht, a foiling catamaran, or a traditional small keel boat having top notch boat handling skills is one of the most important factors in having a successful performance while racing. Being able to whip off a perfect jibe in every condition will allow you to have confidence to execute your game plan without hesitation which can turn into many boat lengths in gains throughout a run. In this video, Zeke and Jay Horowitz focus on proper jibing technique in the Flying Scot. “Make sure you understand the subtle differences in technique for each condition and always communicate with your team. It is really good to come up with a repeatable dialogue between skipper and crew so that you do everything the same way every time. On our boat, we do a hand off of the sheet and guy at the beginning and the end of the maneuver and we are sure to say “my sheet, my guy” every time so that there is no mistake in the hand off. We also try to focus on doing each step smoothly without rushing. It is more important to keep the spinnaker full, and the boat steady through the maneuver than it is to rush through it all and risk a mistake. As you get better at executing each step, you’ll be able to do them faster but it’s important not to rush”. – Zeke Horowitz, 2018 Flying Scot Midwinter Champion Good luck and have fun! Learn more about North Sails Flying Scot products. READ MORE

KEN READ SPEAKS AT THE CHICAGO YACHT CLUB Join North Sails To Get An Expert Perspective On The Future Of The Sport READ MORE

NIEULARGO SAIL TRIALS IN KINSALE The Grand Soleil 40 trials her new 3Di Endurance inventory A rare break in the winter weather allowed North Sails Ireland's Nigel Young to hoist some new sails with Denis Murphy and his crew in Kinsale. The GS 40 was new to Cork last year and arrived with only cruising sails. Denis, the owner, has added some state of the art 3Di 760 Endurance sails and some V-Series spinnakers. Working with senior sail designer Tim Corben at the North Sails European HQ the sails fitted the boat like a glove. Slightly underpowered with the old cruising configuration, the new sails are several square meters bigger, substantially lighter which has made them more powerful. The new 3Di mainsail is approximately 40% lighter than the existing sail its replacing, combine this with the new shape and low stretch of the 3Di product we are expecting big things from the team in 2018. Read more about North’s 3Di technology here. Nigel had the pleasure of racing with Denis on Sunday in Kinsale, with his Daughter Molly helming the boat took the wins in both IRC and Echo, hopefully, a sign of things to come. Congratulations to Denis, Molly and all the team for a great job in testing conditions. Good luck for 2018, North Sails Ireland will be on hand to support you throughout the season. READ MORE

VELA E VELERIE North Sails Invela Il Farr 400 Freccia Del Chienti Civitanova - Interessante novità per North Sails​ che, nel corso del passato week end, ha svolto i primi test a bordo del nuovissimo Farr 400 Freccia del Chienti, scelto da Piero Paniccia​ per competere in alcune tra i più prestigiosi eventi dell'altura. Ottimizzata per competere sotto l'egida del regolamento ORC da Matteo Polli​ e dal North Sails Specialist Andrea Casale​, Freccia del Chienti sarà sulla linea di partenza di manifestazioni come La Duecento, la 151 Miglia, il Campionato Italiano Assoluito di Altura di Ischia e la Civitanova-Sebenico. Progettato dalla Farr Yacht Design e realizzato dalla Premiere Composite a partire dal 2011, il Farr 400 è una barca capace di spunti prestazionali notevoli anche in virtù della costruzione rigida e leggera, dovuta al massiccio impiego di fibra di carbonio. Ad occuparsi del progetto vele è stato Stefano Schiaffino​ del team North Sails che, su mandato di Paniccia, ha sviluppato un set completo, pensato per coprire qualsiasi regime di vento. La barca è stata così dotata di randa e fiocchi in 3Di Raw full carbon, profili affiancati da windseeker, code zero e gennaker frazionato. "Dopo i successi iridati ottenuti nel corso delle passata stagione dallo Swan 42 Be Wild (Gruppo B) e dal Melges 32 Airis (Gruppo C), one design che abbiamo contribuito a rendere vincenti anche nel mondo dell'altura, per il 2018 abbiamo accettato con determinazione la proposta giunta da Piero Paniccia di seguire la transizione di questa bellissima barca - spiega Andrea Casale - Il progetto è iniziato con buon anticipo rispetto agli impegni agonistici e questo ci darà modo di lavorare sulla messa a punto e, di conseguenza, sui numeri, al fine di presentarci al via degli eventi più importanti al massimo delle potenzialità. Va da sé che su barche così performanti l'impiego del 3Di Raw, in virtù delle sue doti di longevità e affidabilità, appare ormai come una scelta pressoché scontata". READ MORE

North Sails Helsinki on kesäaikaan auksi maanantaisin 9-16.30, keskiviikkoisin 9-16.30 ja perjantaisin 9-15.30. Tiistait ja torstait varattu ensisijaisesti rantapäiviksi. 24.4.-4.5.2018 North Sails Helsinki on suljettu Ari Huuselan Imoca 60 veneen siirron vuoksi. Turo on takaisin kuivalla maalla viimeistään 4.5. Tuulten ollessa myötäisiä jo aiemmin. Tänä aikana tarvitessasi apua tavoitat meidät numerosta 02 247 100. READ MORE

HOW TO RIG THE MELGES E SCOW SPINNAKER How to Run the E Scow Douser System Properly The Melges E Scow’s asymmetrical douser system makes it easy to launch and retrieve your spinnaker at the high speeds and crowded race tracks that you see in the E Scow class. Making sure that your system is run properly will help you nail every rounding and lead to better results. Contact Eddie Cox for additional information. READ MORE

2018 Camellia Cup Great success for Team Fusion and North Santana 20 designs North Sails Santana 20 customer Mark Erdrich and team Fusion won the 52nd Annual Camellia Cup Regatta sailed in the beautiful Folsom Lake. They also won the overall Keelboat Perpetual Trophy to sweep the major awards for the event. Mark Werder and team finished 3rd overall also powered by North Santana 20 designs. Learn more about North Sails Santana 20 sails. For more information or to order your new Santana 20 sails contact our Santana 20 experts. Team Fusion, 2018 Camellia Cup champions Mark Werder and team – 3rd place READ MORE

THE NORTH SAILS GUIDE TO NAVIGATING NEWPORT The Volvo Ocean Race Stopover In The Heart Of American Sailing The Volvo fleet is racing to Newport, Rhode Island, for the finish of leg 8 from Itajai, Brazil. Here's what you need to know so you can catch the fleet here in town and be a part of the 2017-18 edition. View Full Event Schedule | Purchase Ocean Race Club Tickets | Where To Watch- Fun Facts On the Water Spectator Boats Hop on the Ava Pearl or Millenium for an up-close experience. View the schedule and buy your tickets. Buy now- Spaces are limited! Our Favorite Dining in Newport Your local North Sails team recommends the following restaurants and bars while you are visiting Newport for the Volvo Ocean Race: Breakfast / Brunch: Belle's Cafe @Newport Shipyard | Franklin Spa | Corner Cafe | Cru Cafe Lunch / Dinner: Clarke Cooke House | Midtown Oyster Bar | The Wharf Pub | The Black Pearl | Pasta Beach | Perro Salado | Salvation Cafe Watering Holes / Nightlife IYAC | Zelda's | Midtown Oyster Bar | Clarke Cooke House | Fastnet Pub READ MORE

NEW SALES EXPERT IN SYDNEY North Sails would like to welcome Andrew "Halfie" Parkes. A sailmaker by trade, Halfie started his apprenticeship with Elvstrom Sails in 1980 and still considers meeting the great Paul Elvstrom as a major highlight. When Mike Fletcher went onto full time coaching, he sold his one design and dinghy designs to Bob Fraser and Halfie finished his apprenticeship at Fraser Sails. He worked there for almost 17 years as a sailmaker, production manager and salesman. He left sailmaking and started selling yachts in 2000. Over the years Halfie has sailed and raced on all types of boats, from club racing on Sydney Harbour to America's Cup campaigns. Representing Australia, Japan, Germany and China at many events like Admirals Cup, Kenwood Cup, Sardinia Cup, Southern Cross Cup, Kings Cup and 9 Hobart races, he's sailed in most places around the world. Winning numerous Australian and state championships over the years, he brings a wealth of experience to share with new and existing clients. "I'm excited to join North Sails and be part of a world-renowned company. Having seen so much evolution in sails, materials and technology over the years, I can appreciate how much better the current products are. I've been approached by other lofts to join them, but none felt like the right fit for me. No matter what type of sailing you're doing, North Sails have a product to suit your requirements. We speak to our clients, ask them what they want to achieve and then recommend the right sail. Combined with our sales and support staff, we also offer the best possible after sales support. I look forward to sailing with North Sails clients on Sydney Harbour and my old clients from the past. " READ MORE

HELLY HANSEN NOOD REGATTA ANNAPOLIS, MAY 4-6 Schedule Of Regatta Services To Kick Off Summer Sailing READ MORE