NORTH SAILS BLOG

Spindrift 2 finished a Jules Verne record attempt at 15:01 UTC on Friday January 8th, claiming the second fastest circumnavigation on record. They sailed over 29,000 miles in 47 days 10 hours 59 minutes and 02 seconds, clocking an average speed of 25.35 knots. Among the 13 crew onboard is Jacques Guichard, who has sailed with the team since 2012 aboard the Maxi as well as the MOD70, D35 and GC32. Jacques is a North Sails project manager based at the loft in Vannes, FRA, a well known loft among French offshore sailors. Managing the sail program for Spindrift 2 is a unique project with many demands and specifications, which depend largely on the next world record the team sets out to break. For their attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy, Jacques opted for North Sails 3Di ENDURANCE for its unmatched qualities of performance and durability. “ I know every square inch of the sails!” he said, acknowledging the design vision and workmanship that went into them and confirming the crew did not experience a single issue throughout their lap of the globe. We caught up with Jacques to hear more about his Jules Verne experience, and we were not disappointed! Read on to learn of his experiences sailing the 131’ machine that is Spindrift 2. NS: Around the world in 47 days is no time at all. Did the experience fly by? What are the parts you will remember most? JG: Yes, before this one I had never spent more than 12 days at sea, back in 2004 on a 60′ ORMA trimaran. In fact time really flies by with everything you have to do: helming, trimming, the maneuvers, plus the daily maintenance and cleaning of the boat. Only the days when we were slower (On Spindrift 2 you feel stuck when boatspeed is below 25 knots….) felt a bit longer. The best memories are definitely the first few days at full pelt downwind (3 days to Cape Verde), Cape Horn in perfect conditions and 500 nm ahead of the record, and obviously helming sessions at 40 kts! NS: There were days we heard from the boats about severely rough weather. At one point both IDEC and Spindrift 2 decided to stay North of a storm because the risk was too great. Can you tell us what was going through your head at this time? JG: This boat is designed to sail fast in big breeze and heavy seas and we trust it 100%, however at some point you need to slow down. Fast but not furious as Loïck Peyron said before us… NS: A true test of a good sailor is to know when to push and when to throttle back. In your experience, what is the best way to understand the limits of your equipment and your crew? JG: On multihulls and especially the big ones, anticipation is key. Everything is so loaded that you can make mistakes and break things very quickly. So when you plan to furl your headsails or take a reef everything needs to be prepared well in advance. If you are late you can severely damage the sails or lose control of the boat, and then it becomes dangerous. Sails are damaged during maneuvers if you do not pay enough attention, so you must remain in control all the time. Remember we almost have 30+ knts AWS all the time… NS: Lets talk about the sails, you were instrumental in their creation and oversaw every detail before, during and after the record attempt. Will you describe this process and tell us the sails’ performance underway? JG: I know every square inch of the sails! Spindrift 2 has been a really special project. The worlds largest trimaran – with my brother at the helm! – I worked 200% to make sure everything was perfect. So I have been a real pain onboard but in the end I am super happy since we did not have a single issue… except a broken zipper on a bag! To be a good sailmaker you need to go sailing because no computer can simulate the exact sea state, the sudden squalls, the way sails are moved around on the boat (where they suffer most!); nothing can beat a round-the-world trip for that! As a project manager at North Sails, I provide technical and design input before the sails are built, then I follow the manufacturing process very closely and finally I go sailing and fine-tune the sails with our customers. So it’s really an A to Z job and this is why I like it so much. NS: Were there any fun or humorous moments among the crew that you can share with us? Excerpts of “living” onboard the Maxi? JG: Sure! Christmas on board was fun , we had our own Santa Claus who brought presents for everyone… We also ended the trip with new nicknames as detailed by Dona. Finally for one hour a Northern Gannet has tried to land on our mainsail’s square top but he just could not because of the boatspeed, and kept sliding back… that was fun to watch but it almost broke our masthead unit! NS: Completing a circumnavigation is a major milestone. What did it mean for you and will you do it again? JG: For me the milestone of this trip was definitely Cape Horn. This is a special place and the world’s greatest offshore sailors have been there so I was very happy to see it after 30 days and a few hours (a new world record). However, we missed the Jules Verne Trophy by 45 hours, so this is unfinished business for all of us. We will get back and this means I will be on stand-by again in 10 months time (laughs). Based in the south of Brittany, the racing stable Spindrift racing was founded by Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard in 2011. Spindrift racing runs six boats for four complementary projects: a trimaran MOD70 (Spindrift), a Decision 35 catamaran (Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing), two trimarans Diam 24, a GC32 foiling catamaran and the 40 metre maxi-trimaran (Spindrift 2). You can follow their ventures at Spindrift Racing. READ MORE

After leading the ‘big five’ out of Sydney Harbor (Robert Oatley’s Wild Oats XI, Andrew Bell’s Perpetual Loyal, Sid Fischer’s Ragamuffin 100, and George David’s Rambler 88), super maxi Comanche incurred sudden damage to their starboard rudder on Saturday night. From near retirement that first night to a repair and re-entry, further maintaining their lead to the final hours, the team exceeded all expectations in reaching the dock in Hobart with line honors. “We had to get rid of the daggerboard, which was attached by a number of lines, dragging under the boat and damaging the bottom of the hull with every wave. When we cut it free we saved the hull, but the board flew back and took out the rudder and simultaneously wrecked the steering system inside the boat. The tiller arm got broken off,” recounted Ken Read, North Sails President and skipper of yacht Comanche. “When we finally inspected the rudder, we saw that it was facing backward. That’s when we said “well, we are done.” We took the sails down and started drifting back toward Sydney.” “That’s when I saw the tools come out.” He continued, explaining that is a sign the crew has a solution. Upon their victorious arrival at Constitution Dock, the boat’s steering system was holding on by three stainless threads. While at sea, the after-guard unanimously decided it was safe to push on. “We are here to sail the Sydney-Hobart Race first and to be successful second,” Read explained, later stating “…We came here to finish, one way or another we’re going to finish this damn race!” With that, the crew proceeded to sail the boat back into first place and onto the finish. Americas Cup skipper Jimmy Spithill gave all credit to the resourceful team onboard, “Full credit to Casey* and the boys for getting it fixed, because we were on our way back to Sydney! That’s what this race is about, I’d be surprised if any of the boats got through unscathed. Again, good on the crew for getting us through it.” Comanche claimed line honors with a race time of 2 days 8hrs 58min 30 sec, with George David’s Rambler 88 trailing close behind until the wind utterly died just a few miles from shore. Rambler 88 recently finished in third place and VO70 Maserati in fourth. Comanche, Rambler 88, and Maserati all raced with complete North Sails inventories. Other North-powered boats duked it out for top finishes, including Rupert Henry’s Chinese Whisper and Matthew Allen’s Ichi Ban, who finished within ten seconds of each other to claim IRC DIV 0. French boat Teasing Machine currently leads IRC3 with 11 miles to go! Track the fleet live at: http://bit.ly/1JdKytM *Casey Smith is boat captain of Comanche and led the charge on repairing the steering system while at sea. READ MORE

One of the many early retirements of the 2015 Rolex Sydney-Hobart was race favorite Wild Oats XI, who was vying for her ninth consecutive line honors win. With 31 retirements so far, this year’s installment of the prestigious annual regatta is regarded as the toughest since 2004 when 50% of the fleet was forced to retire. At the front of the 100 boat fleet, the Wild Oats XI crew was among the first to hit a predicted southerly squall and thus one of the first to retire, after ripping the mainsail while attempting to put a reef in. In our first contact with Wild Oats XI upon return to Sydney Harbour, Alby Pratt, crew member and sales manager at North Sails Australia, reported: “When the front hit last night we were well prepared. Unfortunately in the process of reefing the mainsail we made some errors which caused us to break a couple of battens, damaging the mainsail beyond what was repairable onboard.” WOXI Skipper Mark Richards later confirmed that their 12-month-old 3Di mainsail tore while reefing amidst the storm. He recalled the luff “down-line” broke or came undone when the front came through at 40 + knots. While attempting to reef, the sail flogged to death because the crew couldn’t get it down. His quote: “That mainsail is unbelievably strong. The only reason it broke was when a batten finally broke and tore through the material. It seemed like it flogged in 40 knots for a half hour and I can’t believe it lasted as long as it did. Certainly not the mainsail’s fault.” The crew plans to have the sail repaired at the North Sails loft in Sydney, Australia and begin preparations for some sailing in late January. All communication indicates they will be back again next year as strong as ever. A statement on behalf of the WOXI team sent hearty congratulations to the crew on super maxi Comanche, their race rival, for pressing on to achieve line honors. As for all of us at North Sails, our bets are on a 2016 rematch next December, we only need to get Comanche back down under! READ MORE

An IRC Overall Victory was within reach for the Rolex Sydney-Hobart contender Teasing Machine, until the wind completely died off the coast of Tasmania. Nevertheless, they went on to finish at the top of their class in IRC Div 3 and fulfill a lifelong dream for owner/driver Eric de Turckheim. “When you’re sailing you cannot be disappointed. A race is a race, we arrived in a very good time and had a great race overall. Very varied conditions, we had a tough time at the beginning, but we know how to deal with that,” said Turckeim in an interview after reaching Constitution Dock. “I would certainly consider coming back again. Dreams are dreams, doing the race one time is good, but we have to come back!” For the Teasing Machine crew, the Hobart success comes off the back of a star-studded year. The team sailed fantastically to win IRC 1 at AAM Cowes Week and IRC Overall in the RORC Channel Race. The French team also placed 3rd at the Rolex Fastnet Race in IRC 1. Launched last year, Teasing Machine sails with a complete North Sails inventory including 3Di upwind sails and nylon spinnakers. The boat is a 43’ Nivelt design, built by French boatyard Archambault and thus called an A13 (Archambault 13m). Here’s to another year of great sailing in 2016, beginning with their next conquest: the Caribbean 600. We look forward to seeing more of this team! *Image credit © Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo READ MORE

A storied annual regatta held on iconic Table Bay, Cape Town Race Week wrapped up on 16th December seeing North-powered teams at the front of IRC and Club Racing fleets. The event draws back to the first Rothmans Week held in 1974, when it was a week long regatta capped off with a two day long distance race. Now 40 years later, the passion for a premier event remains. The Royal Cape Yacht Club has found a solid partner in Maserati, a team that aims to grow the event, under a new guise, to once again become the prominent regatta it was. One of five regional IRC events held between late September and late February, Cape Town Race Week is host to a quality local IRC fleet and two divisions sailing under the RCYC Club handicap system. Johannesburg’s Mike Hayton claimed the big win under IRC, for the Overall IRC title, with his Corby 49 Nitro. Among the Nitro crew was North Sails’ David Rae, one of many North Sails team members on the water that weekend. Racing kick-started on Friday with an evening race held just off of the V&A Waterfront, in a dying westerly wind which slowed leaders until the wind filled from the northwest, ensuring a complete race before competitors retired at dusk. Saturday greeted Race Officer Rob Willcox with a glassy sea, steering his choice of course off the Sea Point for a triangular sprint race. Soon the wind started to swing rapidly toward the prevailing southeasterly, making the afternoon race interesting to say the least! A longer coastal race was set with a changeable windward leg, directly into the switching southerly. The course sent competitors around the breaking Barker Rock off Clifton, and doubled back to the start off Rocklands near Sea Point. The faster boats raced two laps. Before their midway point the gusts were pumping down the mountainside with winds varying as high as 20 kts and as low as five knots within minutes. Sunday marked the Medium Distance Race, a 26 mile course leading the fleet down to a mark off Koeberg, about 12 miles to the north of Cape Town, and back. The fourth and final race day was a public holiday and racing resumed with some excellent sailing held off the Granger Bay/Green Point coastline. Here the southwesterly funnels down Signal and Lions Head peaks, creating more wind than anywhere else in the area. The fleet raced up and down close to the shore to use the port lifts right alongside the Kelp beds. Clients of North Sails dominated IRC 1, IRC 2 and RCYC Div 1 podiums, while RCYC Div 2 saw North-powered boats claim 2nd and 3rd place. Mike Hayton of Johannesburg claimed the big win under IRC, for the Overall IRC title, with his Corby 49 Nitro. Hayton brought outstanding feedback on their new code sail which was designed for a wider range, “The new North Sails furling Code 0-5 is a real weapon and we had a moment when we set it on the Medium Distance Race on the final reach into the finish in 25-28 knots at 115 TWA – We were absolutely flying at 18-20 knots, an awesome sail!” Vulcan was a strong challenger and used her new 3DL 860 main and J1 light – medium to great effect. Arguably the most competitive downwind boat, she has certainly lifted her upwind speed dramatically since fitting these two sails. IRC Class 2 podium finisher JJ Provoyeur sailed his Mumm 36 BallyHoo Too using a new aramid main and found a few new gears. The team lifted their performance enough to claim victory from J133 Jacana. RCYC Div 1 top boats featured new North Sails as well. Aboard Yolo was a short luffed, roachy J1 medium-heavy which proved their “go to” sail. While the South African Navy entry Amusha Moya, in 2nd place, extended their inventory by adding a new S2, J1 and Code Zero. In 3rd place, Luke Scotts used his new S2 a huge amount for a boost in light to medium air, which North Sails built in the week prior to the regatta. “North Sails puts a massive effort into the competitors who race these events and the rewards are there to see,” said Rick Nankin, manager of North Sails Cape Town. “With big participation from North staff, spread across a number of successful yachts, we open opportunities to help owners get the right sails on board and sail faster with improved results. We greatly enjoy working with this small but keen and passionate fleet of Cape Town sailors.” North Sails Cape Town is located at 44 Auckland Street Paarden Eiland, for information on North Sails products and service in the Cape Town area, please contact Rick Nankin: rick.nankin@northsails.com | +27 (0)828309892 All images credit Trevor Wilkins Photography READ MORE

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

Recounting the year in sailing, clients of North Sails claimed 13 podium places in the 2015 collection of Transatlantic Races. Once again bringing North to the forefront, offshore teams displayed ultimate success with 3Di sails on a range of different platforms, winning 12 out of 15 total classes. After entering the racing sail market in 2010, North’s 3Di product is now optimized for coastal and offshore cruising. Between the classic Newport – Lizard course, the Transat Jacques Vabre, RORC Transatlantic Race and most recently the Transat St. Barth, North-powered boats claimed podium places at every finish. Coupled with the successful circumnavigation of six Volvo Ocean Race teams, and the crushing pace of current Jules Verne contenders IDEC Sport and Spindrift Racing, these following results are a testament to the unmatched performance and durability of North Sails 3Di. TRANSATLANTIC RACE 2015 (NEWPORT TO LIZARD) IRC Overall 1 – Lucky 2 – Outsider IRC 1 Racing 1 – Rambler 88 2 – Comanche IRC 2 Racing 1 – Lucky 2 – Outsider “The 3Di sails have really been a game changer on the catamaran…they have transformed the performance of our boat. We’ve also witnessed a big step forward under durability, and decided to convert to 3Di screechers as well.” – Lloyd Thornburg, owner/driver of Phaedo3 IRC 3 Racer/Cruiser 1 – Snow Lion 2 – Maximizer 3 – Prospector IRC Class 4 – Racer/Cruiser 2 – Dorade Class 40 1 – Stella Nova – (North Sails mainsail) Open 1 – Paradox 2 – Phaedo 3 Monohull First to Finish: Comanche Multihull First to Finish: Phaedo3 TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE (LE HAVRE TO ITAJAI) Ultime 1 – Macif 2 – Sodebo Ultim’ IMOCA 1 – PRB 2 – Banque Populaire VIII 3 – Quequiner – Leucémie Espoir (except mainsail) Multi50 2 – Ciela Village Class40 1 – Le Conservateur “I am at the nav table on Sodebo and as I looked up out of my window at my mainsail I was thinking: this is the most beautiful mainsail I have ever had.” – Thomas Coville, co-skipper of Sodebo Ultim’ RORC TRANSATLANTIC RACE (LANZAROTE TO GRENADA) IRC Overall 1 – Nomad IV MOCRA Multihull 1 – Phaedo 3 2 – Concise 10 3 – Zed 6 Class40 1 – Tales II 2 – Silvie Belle 2 First to Finish Monohull: Nomad IV First to Finish Multihull: Phaedo 3 TRANSAT ST BARTH – PORT LA FORÊT IMOCA only 1 – Edmond de Rothschild READ MORE

Ft. Lauderdale delivered big breeze and waves for the 11 teams competing at the Melges 32 US Nationals. Jason Carroll’s team on Argo hoisted North Sails 3Di RAW upwind sails and finished in the top three of every race for a convincing overall win. We caught up with Argo tactician, Cam Appleton, about their secret to sailing reliably well and learned it ultimately came down to preparation, teamwork, and sticking to the basics. Sailors experienced a range of conditions at the Worlds this year, starting with a light 7-9 knt SSE on the first day. Over the three opening races, crews tried to predict the shifts as rain clouds parted. Working farther into the regatta, they sailed into typical Ft. Lauderdale conditions. Saturday and Sunday were dominated by big breeze and equal swells – A mild 14 kt NE built to a high point of 25 knots on Saturday, and maintained at 18-23 knots Sunday with 6-8 foot seas. Argo used their 3Di RAW sails throughout the event, prepping each day for the new conditions. Questions regarding the North Sails Melges 32 sail inventory can be forwarded to the class leaders below. For Argo’s sails specifically: cameron.appleton@northsails.com. “We try to approach each regatta with the same mindset: to do the basics better than everyone else. When the conditions get harder, the basics become more important. That was the case at this year’s Nationals,” said Cam, who holds a 3-0 US Nationals record on Team Argo. Start Each Day with 5 focus points… Or four if that’s all you need. On race days these will form your game plan and gentle reminders, and can vary depending on the race venue, the conditions, and who you have onboard. We enter the day with a strategy that plays to our strengths, yet protects our weaknesses until we have the time to work on them. These were our points going into the final day of Nationals: – On the rig we were looking for a more locked-in zone between bow up & bow down, without excessive heel changes. Gently add a little more jack and go headstay +2 over the North tuning guide. – After we get setup let’s make sure to do some TOD/Acceleration drills. Get a feel for the boat and how much leeway, how quickly the waves will stop us. – Timing/rate of turn will change for jibes today. Make sure to recalibrate when we are warming up. – Very likely asymmetric wave state on the runs. Get a feel for which is the weight back jibe and which is the hiking/more weight forward jibe. – We’ve said it many times in the past – dominate the boat. Own it! Don’t let it push you around. Encourage your crew…. everyone onboard is responsible for the boat’s performance. The Melges 32 integrates professional and amateur crew members so everyone is an important part of your success. As sailors we all have an understanding of what goes on and what needs to happen to sail the boat around the race course. As a tactician, being placed in the middle of the crew (on the rail) is key to facilitating communication. There are areas of the race course where different crew members shine and my communication is less instructional. Instead, I communicate a goal and hand over control to the front of the boat. For example, one of our more experienced amateurs is the lead guy for maneuvers. He is responsible for getting his team sorted ahead of time. I find this really helps the communication and directs attention to important factors like where the boat needs to be positioned or speed targets/goals. Trusting and relying on the crew to take care of maneuvers makes the transitions much more streamlined. Stick to the Basics… Know your mantra and stick to it. Every top coach will drill these tried and true points into you. Most important: HAVE FUN SAILING TOGETHER, regardless of the outcome, because you enjoy each others company. Make that work for the team and you. – No letters in your score (OCS, DSQ, DNF…) – Focus on a good start. Be top 1/3 at mark one and pass ONE boat! – Fight for every place, in every race. Winning a series can very well come down to turning a 12th into a 10th. – Back yourselves and your decisions: that does not mean you just go on flyers every leg. At times your gut will tell you it’s time to be conservative or it’s a good time for leverage. Think clearly and don’t worry about anyone second guessing where you go on the race course. – Capitalize on others boats’ mistakes to make passes. – Stay pro-active with your crew weight and gear changing. Finally, keep in mind the average winning score is normally 4th, so you don’t have pull a rabbit out of your hat or anything. Finish somewhere in the top 1/3 of the fleet each time and you’ll be in arm’s reach of the win! READ MORE

TWO AFLOAT The journey to Fatu Hiva “Anyone who has been fully immersed in something difficult and consequential understands the mental shift and clarity such experiences can bring.” Imagine a room in your home tilted to one side and rocking back and forth with the floor leaning at roughly the same angle as the hand on a clock between 1 and 2. Now imagine the room is also randomly being lifted up about five feet and dropped back down with a bone jarring thud. The room is heated to 87 degrees with nearly 100% humidity. Imagine the room is 30’ long by 12’ wide (with narrower ends) and has a bed, stove, and toilet. The room holds everything you own including your clothes, a few months worth of food, a 50-gallon tank of water, and a 60-gallon tank of diesel. Now imagine spending a week living in that constantly moving room with your spouse, taking turns sleeping every three hours, spending your awake time sitting on the roof in the tropical sun occasionally getting doused by waves of sea-water, all while trying to find a tiny island in the middle of a big ocean. If you can imagine this then you have some idea what our last week was like, by far the most challenging passage we’ve faced yet. During the 400-mile open ocean voyage we battled an endless series of violent squalls and shifting winds. It felt like the heavens were determined to beat us back, or at least make us earn any progress forward. Life boiled down to one simple fact- we would safely make it to our destination. Or not. Falling overboard in conditions like that is the ultimate nightmare. One slip and we would find ourselves floating alone in the ocean, hundreds of miles from land, while we watch the boat sail away. To minimize this risk we wear body harnesses and attach webbing tethers to connect us to the boat like dogs leashed to a pole. Moving around on the tilting heaving wet deck involves regularly attaching and detaching the tethers to various connection points and safety ropes. As the days pass the fatigue deepens. Running and navigating the boat, especially in such dynamic weather, can be difficult enough when we’re well rested. When we’re this tired it becomes an exercise in focus and in automatically executing tasks we’ve practiced many times in preparation for conditions like these. We learn to trust our training and experience while constantly learning from, and adapting to, the changing conditions. It was a difficult week but it was one of the best weeks of our lives! Anyone who has been fully immersed in something difficult and consequential understands the mental shift and clarity such experiences can bring. It is something that cannot be explained. Such experiences have a way of stripping away the mental clutter and pretentiousness of daily life, revealing what we’re like at our core. And that’s the scary part- finding out what we’re truly like compared to how we imagine ourselves to be. But if you’ve experienced this than you know what a gift that can be. It’s life unfiltered, wild, and raw. Despite the discomforts of the passage we had everything we needed- shelter, food, water, and each other. Naoma is our home, she kept us safe, and we love her for that. Eventually we arrived at Fatu Hiva, a small, remote, painfully beautiful island at the southern end of the Marquesas island chain in the South Pacific. We’re now safely resting at anchor while the tropical sun dries our decks after yet another short intense rainfall, a common occurrence in these latitudes. The rain is welcome. It washes away the salt left behind from the passage and leaves Naoma shiny and clean as though nothing had happened. Our sails are neatly flaked and furled, white triangles ready to take us wherever we dare to explore, including the uncharted oceans within ourselves. READ MORE

North Sails service and canvas teams join sales team at 317 Chester Avenue in Eastport, Maryland. North Sails is pleased to announce that their service and canvas departments on the Chesapeake Bay have relocated from Stevensville, MD to the same Eastport compound as the sales office at 317 Chester Avenue. The newly remodeled sail and canvas lofts encompass two full stories and are equipped to handle sail repairs for boats of all sizes. “Having everything here in one place makes for a more capable organization, and means that we can serve our clients more efficiently,” said Jonathan Bartlett Service Manager Jeff Todd and his team of experienced sailmakers pride themselves with quality workmanship that is completed in a timely and efficient manner. “Now is the ideal time to bring your sails in for year-end inspection so our team can identify areas of wear and tear before they become a bigger issue,” said Todd, who has been a sailmaker for more than three decades and is also a well-respected Chesapeake Bay area sailor. “A simple sail check can help protect your sail investment and help you get the most out of your on-the-water experience,” Todd said. The Chesapeake service department is open Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm or by appointment. North Sails Canvas, managed by Rob Pennington, occupies the first floor of the building. With room to lay out products ranging in size from small one design covers to full winter covers for cruising boats, they are in an ideal spot to meet customer needs. “We are really happy to be back in Annapolis for the convenience of our customers and better proximity to yacht clubs and marinas,” Pennington said. “This relocation is a win-win for everyone.” Jonathan Bartlett, Sales Manager for the Annapolis office is very eager for the group to get settled in. “Having everything here in one place makes for a more capable organization, and means that we can serve our clients more efficiently,” Bartlett said. “We have worked closely with our service and canvas team for many years. Having them in the building next door makes the customer experience seamless, which is very important to us,” Bartlett said. For additional information on North Sails’ Annapolis loft location, please contact Jonathan Bartlett at: jonathan.bartlett@northsails.com or call 410.269.5662. READ MORE

As North Sails prepares to open a new one-of-a-kind manufacturing loft in Gosport, UK, we go behind the scenes with the people who make the best sails in the world. This week North Sails will officially open their new UK sail loft based in the maritime south coast hub of Gosport. The loft will incorporate many global departments under one roof: North Sails 3Di and Superyacht finishing, One Design sail production and Certified Service. It is the first loft of it’s kind to specialize in superyacht sails and boasts the largest raised finishing floor in the world at 1,950 square meters. Once again pushing the boundaries of sail technology, innovation, and manufacturing, this will be the North Sails flagship facility in Europe. Here’s what some of our team members have to say: Rich Bell, Sail Design and Production Coordinator at North Sails Gosport I have been with North now for coming on 19 years in various roles. I started I the loft floor thinking it would be a short term job to learn a little about my hobby of sailing, and soon enough I found a career in sailmaking! I describe my job as being the link between our sail designers and our team on the One Design loft floor. Working within the design group, my background in production helps me think of all the details our sailmakers will need to keep our operations running efficiently. While I love to sail I’ve never been a top sailor, just a competent club sailor. Through North Sails I have hugely improved my own sailing and had the chance to work with many Olympic medalists and World champions, and hopefully I have contributed something to their campaigns through my work. A typical day usually starts by catching up on operations in Sri Lanka and answering any questions they have. Noting the time difference, I like to sort any issues for them first so they don’t have to wait a day. The rest of the day fills quickly with tasks such as writing work tickets or resizing sail designs for class rules. Often I will take time with OD sailors & coaches to understand their needs, and then work with the team on the floor (pictured) to develop a new finishing idea. Our new facility is already showing benefits simply by having all of our departments in one space. We are able to share ideas easily and understand how our teams work. Just listening to the daily conversations of the superyacht sail designers can be an education in the level of expertise North has in different areas of the sailing world. Adrienne Fekets, Pre-Fabrication at North Sails Gosport I have been working with North Sails since 2005. I love everything that is related to sailing and sailmaking. Although sailmaking can be a physical job I relish the challenge. Over the years I have been involved in all areas of sailmaking, from cutting and sticking panels, joining, second laying and finishing. Today I work in pre-fabrication at the new loft, where I prepare and assemble parts, fittings and accessories to design specification. I am responsible for the details. Organizing and executing the information we have, our team provides all necessary components for the sails on the floor and those coming up. Investment in the loft and the development of our processes has a positive effect on our total staff from top to bottom. Our new space encourages quality and attention to detail which are paramount at North Sails. Clym Arnold, paneled sail plotter at North Sails Gosport I first started at North Sails about 10 years ago. Between now and then I worked as a sail cloth production planner and purchaser at an external company, and was happy to bring that experience back. I really enjoy the atmosphere here, they’re a good bunch to be with and I’m proud of our end product, especially the superyacht sails. It’s nice to be a small part of something so inspiring. My process is very methodical. I fire up the laser plotter and then go through daily checks. If there is a new sail to start I load up the CMD file onto the plotter, set the designated cloth and start cutting the sail panels. Some cloth cuts easier and quicker than others but usually I can clear the table as the plotter is cutting (pictured). As the panels come free I sort them into relevant sections to make the next job in the production line easier. My set up in the new building provides necessary space to sort materials immediately, where as before this would be done as a separate step entirely and take up a lot of time. The only real set back is the hike over to the next production location. I’ve suggested we all need Segways but I don’t think the budget will stretch to that! Ever thought of joining the North Team? North Sail is hiring sailmakers for our One Design and Yacht Sails teams at the new loft in Gosport, Hampshire, UK. All the details here: http://goo.gl/0Q3ZFI READ MORE

Tony Mack of J-111 McFly credits North Sails ‘total customer support’ in over 20 years of sailing success Tony Mack and crew on North Sails-powered J-111 McFly are looking back on an impressive 2015 season; winning their class in the BVI Spring Regatta, the Vice Admirals Cup, the J-111 Class at Cowes Week and the J-111 UK National Championship. Tony is a valued North Sails client of over 20 years, well known by the staff at North Sails in the UK who have supported his endeavours in the IMX-38, Swan 45, Beneteau 47.7, and most recently the J-111. North Sails’s Jeremy Smart called tactics on McFly for the 2015 Season, having supplied a new suit of sails for the boat last year. The new inventory included the latest North Sails 3Di™ 870 RAW for the mainsail and J-1, and 3Di 780 Standard for the J-2 and heavy weather jib. “McFly was one of the first boats in the class to adopt 3Di RAW. Overall the crew was really happy with the feel and adjustability of the sails, though equally important to Tony is the service and support from our staff over the years.” While Jeremy is working with McFly on the J-111, other members of the North Sails team have been equally involved in previous seasons, including – sales manager Bob Lankester, Neil Mackley, and long-time North Sails designer, Dave Lenz. Tony Mack credits quality customer service as the reason he returns to North Sails as the sailmaker of choice, “I have dealt with North Sails for over 20 years and feel they lead the way in sail design and development. However, the service has never stopped with just the sails. They employ loads of REALLY good sailors who are available to help their clients in choice, trim and boat handling. They have assisted with coaching owners and crews who would like to win more races, as well as cruising sailors who would like to improve their sail trim and get to their destination a little sooner. It is a classic example of total customer support – long may it continue.” For more information on North Sails J-111 products please contact Jeremy Smart (jeremy.smart@northsails.com) or visit csd.northsails.com. READ MORE

Congratulations to Rod Jabin and team Ramrod for winning the 2015 Farr 30 Worlds in Seattle, Washington. Racing with a brand-new set of North sails, Jabin attributed much of his success to his new sail inventory and a core group of sailors, including tactician Chris Larson and mainsail trimmer Darren Jones, who have sailed with Jabin for many years. “Our boat preparation, new sails, and teamwork gave us the edge for sure,” Jabin said. Congratulations to 2nd place Seabiscuit, 3rd place Through, and 4th place Patricia* who also sailed with North Sails inventories. Jabin, who bought his Farr 30 in 2013, last raced in a World Championship the same year in Newport, RI, where Ramrod finished third overall. “We’ve been working hard for the last two years checking off the boxes to make sure the boat is in the best shape it can be.” said Jabin, owner of Bert Jabin Yacht Yard in Annapolis, MD. “We paid special attention to planning out the right sail buttons to have the ideal sail inventory going into the World’s. The entire crew was fantastic but Darren and Chris are the ultimate crew members who consistently got us off the line and always made the boat go fast,” Jabin said. Team Ramrod trained for the World’s in August at Chester Race Week in Nova Scotia, where there is a strong Farr 30 fleet. “We wanted to look at our new sails – 3DL™ mainsail, 3Di™ RAW jibs, and two new spinnakers – at Chester Race Week to see how they felt and performed. They were so good, one of the other Farr 30 owners ordered one of the same 3Di RAW jibs before the regatta was over! It didn’t take long for Darren to tune the rig and mainsail to his liking using North Sails’ Farr 30 CSD Tuning Guide. Immediately we knew the sail designs were fast, which gave us a lot of confidence heading to Seattle,” Jabin continued. “I couldn’t have been happier with the entire sail inventory we received from North Sails.” “North Sails’ Farr 30 Class Sail Development (CSD) sails once again proved their strength with customers using both the 3Di and 3DL product lines with a lot of success,” said North Sails representative Chris Larson. “Rod is great to sail with. He never leaves a stone unturned when preparing for events, which makes it a pleasure to be part of the Ramrod program. I look forward to sailing with this team again to defend our title,” Larson concluded. It’s too soon to say what will be on the schedule for team Ramrod next year. During the winter months, Jabin will give the boat a rest and will take good care of his new sail inventory. “We always take our sails off the boat during the winter and factory fold the kites. We lay out our upwind sails and give them a fresh water rinse to get rid of any salt water,” Jabin continued. “After they’re fully dry, we roll them and put them back in their sail bags and store them in a climate-controlled space to keep them dry. This routine has always proved to keep sails long-lasting. When we get them out in the spring, they’re ready to go and look great,” Jabin concluded. North Sails congratulates all our customers who raced at the Farr 30 Worlds. For more information on Farr 30 CSD sails, visit the North Sails website. READ MORE

It’s the North Sails way to let our products prove themselves on the racecourse, and the new Farr 40 3Di® RAW sails have powered John Demourkas and his Groovederci crew to the 2015 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship title. Demourkas bested a competitive fleet to pull off what he considered an unexpected win. “We did surprise ourselves,” said Demourkas. “We put all our effort into winning and the team’s never-give-up mentality made first place at the World’s possible. It’s now a few days post-event, and this is all still sinking in. An unexpected victory is that much sweeter.” Demourkas and his team worked with North Sails as one of the testing programs for the 3Di RAW development through the 2015 season. “The decision to introduce 3Di RAW sails into the Farr 40 class came after we were disappointed by our sail inventory performance during the 2014 Farr 40 season,” explained Paul Westlake, Global Head of Sales. “Developing RAW was a risk as our design and engineering teams were developing something completely new rather than tweaking the benchmark 3DL® product,” Westlake continued. “It a classic case of taking a high risk for a high reward. Groovederci’s win is an example of North research and innovation at its best.” Sail development and design was led by Burns Fallow, Giovanni Cassinari, and Per Andersson. North Sails Farr 40 Class experts Chris Larson, Marchino Capintani, Grant Spanhake and Dave Scott worked directly with Groovederci and Enfant Terrible as the on-the-water trial horses. The tireless dedication to providing on and off the water feedback to the design team and support for all North Sails customers proved to be one of the edges, once the competition heated up. “I strongly believe in the North Sails technology. We knew working with the North team on the evolution of 3Di RAW would result in a superior product,” explained Demourkas. “We went through three mainsails before arriving at the latest generation that helped us win the World’s. Our final set of sails North delivered before the event were on spec and impressive. The sail shapes are flatter giving us power with the least amount of drag, and the removal of the 3Di outer skins saved significant weight,” Demourkas continued. “We spent the final days leading up to the World’s working with Per Andersson on little tweaks to fine-tune our performance. North Sails has supported the Groovederci program for the past 15 years, and I am proud to be a part and support their development of 3Di RAW.” “The mainsail development for Grooverderci started in January during the North Sails Pro Summit in Minden, Nevada. Four of the crew attended the summit and met with Burns Fallow and his design team. After listening to the crew’s request it was clear that there had been a big change in the way sails were trimmed since the 2014 season, a similar trend recently seen in the TP52 class. The first 3Di RAW Farr 40 test mainsails had luff curve alterations. Feedback from the team was incorporated into the second set of sails and from there it was minor tweaks to final inventory that went onto win the Worlds.” “The mainsail we developed is on the flatter side and really seemed to hit its stride over eleven knots,” said Fallow. “Other features on the main were a shift in both the vertical and horizontal distribution of curvature.” “Our job is not done, it’s just begun” added Westlake. “Three days after the final World Championships we are well into debriefing the flying shapes and performance ranges of each sail to set a baseline for the 2016 inventory. The performance advantages of 3Di RAW structure, coupled with the successful flying shape and tuning matrix evolution from this seasons Farr 40 circuit and Worlds success provides the base required to finalize flying shapes in time for the 2016 Worlds in Sydney Australia.” Sydney is a unique venue where playing the waves has a significant impact on race strategy. The weight savings and stability of RAW in waves will prove successful in helping teams power through the local conditions. North Sails Farr 40 inventory tweaks will be released next week in time for teams to optimize their 2015/2016 sail button allocation. Contact North Sails Farr 40 class leaders Chris Larson and Richie Allanson for more information on Farr 40 sails. Class Leader Contacts: Chris Larson chris.larson@northsails.com +1 443 994 4000 Richie Allanson richie.allanson@northsails.com +61 2 9998 8500 READ MORE

Hot Cookie Wins Class One of the 2015 IRC Double Handed National Championship 37 boats took part in the IRC Double Handed National Championship for 2015. The event was held in the Solent on the south coast of the UK and organised by the Royal Southampton YC and the Royal Ocean Racing Club. It is the second time this championship has been run and the racing was held for three IRC classes. Light winds on the Saturday meant the passage race could not take place but two races were completed when the wind filled in during the late afternoon. In IRC One the Sunfast 3600 Hot Cookie won both races taking the win in this class. The boat was raced by Neil Martin and Phil Barnes who have been racing together for about ten years. After trying a few different types of boats for two handed events over the years they moved to the Sunfast 3600, which is well set up for two handed sailing. Hot Cookie is powered by an inventory of North Sails optimised for two handed racing. READ MORE

A solo sailor at heart, Dave Rearick had a lifelong dream of sailing around the world. After years of racing both internationally and on his home waters of Lake Michigan, Rearick crossed paths with Jeff Urbina and Gaye Hill. Together, the trio envisioned an around-the-world expedition with an environmental focus. Through the creation of Bodacious Dream, Rearick would sail single-handedly around the world and bring the experience full-circle to followers via the campaign’s website and social media accounts. “One our biggest goals for Bodacious Dream Expeditions was to give people an opportunity to learn about the ocean, and foster awareness that it needs our help” said Rearick. A Kiwi 40FC (Class 40) designed by Bruce Farr and built in Wellington, NZ, the Bodacious Dream was ready for racing in early 2012, outfit with a fresh inventory of North sails. First up on the training schedule was the 2012 Atlantic Cup, an offshore race committed to being the most environmentally friendly in the United States. Rearick was introduced to Richard “Bicky” Bicknell, of North Sails in Auckland, New Zealand. After weighing many options, it was decided that Bodacious Dream would be among the first of its kind to sail with North Sails 3Di. “North Sails delivered a beautiful 3Di 760 main and solent jib for us, designed with the keen eye of Auckland-based sail designer Magnus Doole,” said Rearick, who hoisted the new sails for the Atlantic Cup start in Charleston, SC that May. With a 3rd place finish in Leg 1, Rearick and double-handed partner, Matt Scharl, went on to win the 2nd leg from New York City to Newport, RI and, after racing the inshore portion with a six man crew (including North Sails’ Jay Hansen), claimed 2nd overall. Bodacious Dream was off to a great start. “In the following year, we competed in the Quebec to St. Malo race, the Normandy Channel Race and the Class 40 Worlds in France,” said Rearick, who sailed solo back to Rhode Island after the worlds. Racing again with Matt Scharl, Bodacious Dream won the 2013 Atlantic Cup and before he knew it, Rearick was gearing up for his October 2nd departure in the Global Oceans Race to sail singlehandedly around the world. “Most sailors underestimate the amount of preparation it takes to complete a circumnavigation,” said Rearick. “The entire boat is constantly maintained. Before long legs, we always had the sails looked over by the local service crew. The Durst brothers at North Sails in South Carolina took good care of us during our Atlantic Cups, and before the first leg to Bermuda, Eric Wakefield and his team at North Sails in Rhode Island did another check-over and installed a top reef in the mainsail. I cannot say enough about their reliable and friendly support.” “The Bodacious Dream was about becoming more aware of our presence on earth, and I feel that was a success. By spending time on the ocean, we build a philosophy of awareness.” In a perfect world, Bodacious Dream would have sail a lap around the planet alongside other single and double-handed sailors from around the world. Rearick made the tough decision to set off alone after news broke that the start of the Global Oceans Race 2013 would be postponed to the following year, “Dreams never come true the way you plan them. You have to take what you can get and make the most of it” said Rearick. Bodacious Dream set off from Jamestown, RI that October and made it to Bermuda without a hitch. She soon set sail for Cape Town – first heading south through calm vistas and light storms to the bulge of Brazil, then east to arrive in Africa on December 2, 2013. From Cape Town, Rearick took on the Southern Ocean en route to Wellington, NZ. Upon arrival, Bodacious Dream had sailed just over 30,000 nautical miles – all with the same main and jib that Rearick hoisted for the 2012 Atlantic Cup. North’s Bicknell met Rearick in Wellington for a sail check. “Bicky was pleased with how the sail shape was holding up, and after some quick maintenance at the loft in Wellington, I was headed for the Galapagos.” Bodacious Dream was one of the first Class 40s to adopt 3Di, which at the time was fairly new to offshore sailing. Designer Magnus Doole tailored an inventory of versatile sails capable of accepting the wide range of wind speeds and sailing angles typically found in offshore sailing. “The main and jib on Bodacious Dream are some of the earlier 3Di offshore sails that we’ve made. Doug Slocum and I made adjustments to our standard 3Di layouts to bring them more in line with what we saw in the VOR70 class. Our goal was to reduce the overall weight without compromising their durability and shape holding capacity. After checking in with the boat in Wellington, we were happy to find evidence of longevity in both material and shape,” said Doole, who specializes in designing offshore sails for Class 40s, TP52s, the Volvo Ocean Race, and various maxi yachts. As of today, the North Sails 3Di 760 main and jib on Bodacious Dream have sailed just under 43,000 nautical miles. Rearick will continue to take good care of them, “I’ll say again that maintenance is critical. As a whole, the North Sails sail care network has done a great job and I had no major setbacks during the trip. The sails are still in great shape, and I would not recommend anything other than 3Di for offshore sailing or long term cruising” said Rearick. Rearick and Bodacious Dream were welcomed home by friends and family in Rhode Island on June 12, 2014, having completed a lap around the world in eight and a half months (including downtime). “The unexpected parts were the most memorable,” said Rearick, recalling a moment aboard after a thunderstorm in the southern ocean. “There was one night on the passage from Cape Town to Wellington; the clouds cleared after the storm and everything was pitch black. All around me there were masses of bioluminescence in the water. What appeared to be these immersed glowing orbs were lighting up the waves around the boat. It was magical not knowing what they were, feeling like I was afloat in a star-lit space for a mile.” “The Bodacious Dream was about becoming more aware of our presence on earth, and I feel that was a success. By spending time on the ocean, we build a philosophy of awareness. Paying attention to our environment is a critical part of life on earth, and it starts with awareness.” READ MORE

If you surrender to adventure there are no failures along the way, just unexpected steps in a journey that is only revealed as the story unfolds. We sailed away from the Tuamotus this morning with weather looking favorable for a passage to Tahiti but here we are bashing across the sea, close-hauled, our sails deeply reefed and trimmed flat, as we cruise through a series of tropical squalls. We can still make Tahiti on this tack but the constant heel and violent pounding convinces us to bear away towards Moorea instead. We will not reach our intended destination but I think life is good when the big decision is between sailing to Tahiti or Moorea. We approach Moorea with no information beyond what we see on the charts and some vague tips from a friend. But we’ve learned adventure rewards those who trust fate, a fact confirmed by the breaching Humpback whales that greet us while we sail through the reef pass into a deep blue bay surrounded by towering green mountains. We set the anchor in a protected corner amongst a small flotilla of other cruisers. We know many of the boats and crews from other places. Familiar faces bringing back memories of adventures on remote islands hundreds of miles away, an aquatic tribe migrating across the Pacific. My adrenaline starts pumping when I see a few people blazing across the lagoon at unbelievable speeds, occasionally flying through the air, twisting and turning in a dance of pure freedom and fun, propelled by giant kites. I grab my gear and head out to join them. The lagoon is plenty large enough for me and the four or five other people kiteboarding. Despite being the only stranger I am welcomed into the rotation with broad smiles and waves. We spend the afternoon happily reaching back and forth across the clear warm emerald green and blue water between the barrier reef and a sandy beach. Occasionally I see a blacktip reef shark or huge stingray scurry away as I glide over them. “It is difficult to describe the sense of freedom that kiteboarding offers. Sailboats and kites allow us to do things and go places we can otherwise only dream about. FSHD has left me too weak to lift up my arms but with a kite I can literally fly.” It’s late in the day and the wind is starting to die. We all land our kites and gather on the beach to connect, share stories, and laugh in a mix of English, French, Tahitian, and improvised sign language- fellow members of the aquatic tribe! One of the locals, a stocky, perpetually happy man named Torea, discovers we are anchored near his home and immediately invites us to BBQ on the adjacent beach. We gratefully accept and head back to the boat to prepare. Soon we see Torea paddling over in his outrigger canoe. We launch our dinghy and row over to meet him. Torea prepares a wood fire in a large iron pot and begins roasting breadfruit, a local staple that tastes kind of like potatoes. Nicole adds skewers of vegetables, fish, and tropical fruit. Torea uses a machete to deftly whack the tops off a few coconuts and hands them to us to drink. We use leaves as plates, our fingers as forks, and we relish the happy contentment that comes with sharing space, time, and good clean wild food with friends. My toes feel good pressed into the warm sand as I look out over local children laughing and playing in the water. I take a long drink of coconut water, munch on breadfruit, and watch Naoma bob gently in the anchorage. It is getting late so Torea loads up our dinghy with bananas, coconuts, lemons, and breadfruit from his backyard as we say goodbye and start rowing back to our boat. On the way back we visit some friends on another sailboat. They show us pictures from earlier in the day when they swam in the anchorage with a family of friendly Humpback whales. The pictures inspire us and we fall asleep dreaming of the underwater adventures that await us tomorrow. Adventures that will include some incredibly close encounters with animals more intelligent and powerful than we ever imagined. But that’s another story…. READ MORE

Kwok defends Hamilton Island Race Week title with new TP52 build, Beau Geste As many unwind after another spectacular Hamilton Island Race Week, race crews are already gearing up for their next quest. The regatta announced four winners after the the highly competitive event wrapped last Saturday. Karl Kwok’s new IRC optimized TP52 Beau Geste won IRC A with six points to spare, ahead of Matt Allen’s TP52 Ichi Ban and Geoff Boettcher’s TP52 Secret Men’s Business. The new build was a sight to see for onlookers at Hamilton Island, and her performance did not disappoint. “Winning Hamilton Island is special; I think this is the toughest event with the greatest range of conditions. The best boats in Australia come to it; there are no pushovers here. To win this you have to be a well rounded team with a well rounded boat,” said Gavin Brady, sailing master on Beau Geste. For the Beau Geste crew, starting Day 1 at Hamilton Island with ‘all systems go’ was a feat in itself. Having launched the boat July 1st, they sailed two test days in Auckland with 25 knot conditions before packing the program up for AUS. Luckily, good work was done ahead of time, leaving very little to adjust once the boat was sailing. From a sails perspective, North Sails designer Magnus Doole worked in tandem with Steve Wilson at Southern Spars to create a cohesive engine above the deck. “Beau Geste is exceptional because the project started with an established design from Botin Partners coupled with a custom structure from Pure Design, allowing us to optimize the set up for IRC from the beginning. The rig is taller than a standard TP52 and the boom is lower. With a high potential for sail area and a deeper fin, the result is a nice increase in righting moment,” said Doole, who has designed sails for the team since 2011. Doole has spent four years developing the IRC TP52 sail inventory; most of this work was put into the sails on Jim Swartz’s Vesper from 2011-2015. “A lot of the lessons we learned with Vesper were transitioned straight to Beau Geste,” said Doole. “We put a lot into optimizing the mainsail for a wide range, and searching for sweet spots around the rule. Its all about finding the best balance between rating and boat speed.” Now one-for-one on regatta wins, the Beau Geste crew look forward to the IRC Championship in New Zealand. “The crew have given positive feedback on the 3Di sails, their first set of North Sails 3Di RAW. We are thrilled the boat sailed well at it’s first event and will be following closely as they take on the next challenge,” Doole concluded. READ MORE

It was a fantastic year for North Sails-powered teams in the 48th edition of the Transpacific Yacht Race, a 2,225-mile biennial race from Los Angeles, CA to Honolulu, HI. Winning 8 of 11 classes – including Division 1 winner Wild Oats XI, who beat the 2nd place boat on both elapsed and corrected time; overall winner James McDowell and crew on his Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion; and first-to-finish honors earned by Harry Zanville and his crew aboard his Santa Cruz 37, Celerity – North Sails-powered teams dominated the leaderboard and took some pretty enviable trophies home at the conclusion of the race. Historically, the Transpac has had predominantly downwind and/or reaching conditions but this year served up more upwind racing due to a wet southerly breeze. Starters in the first fleet, on Monday, July 13, saw windy, more traditional conditions but by the third start five days later on Saturday, July 18, an adjacent tropical storm drove the fleet north to find more wind. “Early in the race tropical depressions ruled the routing!” said Zack Maxam of North Sails in Costa Mesa, CA who sailed onboard the TP52 BOLT owned by Craig Reynolds, and winner of Division 2. “Some teams dove south aggressively and early, only to get skunked as the tropical storm fizzled. The next move was to bite the bullet and blast north to gather the more traditional gains above the resident high pressure system,” Maxam continued. “Now I’m no weather expert, but I know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and crossing well above and below rhumbline better be worth it…maybe it wasn’t, but it was worth a shot!” Winning Division 3 and taking home the King Kalakaua Trophy for the third time was the Grand Illusion team. Awarded to the boat with the bestoverall corrected time, Grand Illusion raced with three new sails: a 3DL mainsail, 3DL medium #1 and a North asymmetric spinnaker complementing the rest of her North Sails inventory. Sailmaker Bill Herrschaft has worked closely with the Grand Illusion team for many years. “James McDowell and his team know the Transpac course maybe better than anyone and did a bang-up job winning Division 3 and the overall trophy once again,” Herrschaft said. “Congrats also to navigator Patrick O’Brien who won the Chuck Ullman trophy for providing guidance to the overall winning team.” North-powered teams benefitted from internal collaboration between sales, sail care and design teams based throughout North America. And while customized speedsters typically seem to take center stage and attract the lion’s share of attention these days, classically- styled Marjorie, a 59′ gem designed by Stephens Waring and built by Brooklin Boat Yard in 2007, won Class 8, following in the wake of another classic, Dorade. “Marjorie is a beautiful yacht and I really enjoy working with owner Gardner Baldwin and his crew starting with the build of the boat in Maine in 2007 to now winning her class in the Transpac,” said longtime North Sails representative and president of North Sails Graphics John Gladstone. “This year, we worked with Greg Stewart at Nelson-Marek Designs and our own sail designer Mark Taylor to be sure the sail sizes fit the split rig ketch perfectly and optimized her performance rating as we did with the 2013 Transpac overall winner (and longtime North Sails customer) Dorade. We built a new mizzen spinnaker (very cool by the way!) which ended up being Marjorie’s money sail for this year’s race,” Gladstone continued. “We all know that the bigger/faster boats usually get the most attention but the North Sails team works hard for – and we are very proud of – all our customers, regardless of boat size or type.” “Racing onboard BOLT was a blast with the father and son team of Craig and Carson Reynolds and our rock star amateur navigator Chris Lewis, who helped get us to Hawaii in 8.5 days and win our class,” Maxam said. “We were the oldest of the three TP52s but we were equipped with a new set of North Sails including a spectacular A2.5 spinnaker designed by Chris Williams. We turned in a great performance and finished 3rd overall but, most importantly, we finished with very happy owners, which makes it all worthwhile,” Maxam continued. “I wouldn’t have had the confidence or knowledge onboard without the help and advice from several North Sails team members including fellow salesmen and Transpac veterans Eric Doyle, Bill Herrschaft, Kevin Miller, Jon Gardner and Patrick Murray, who all gave me advice they thought I could use during the race. I am also thankful to sail designers Chris Williams and Rich Bowen who answered dozens of my questions about sail selection charts and spinnaker options,” Maxam said. “But most importantly, our local sail care team absolutely dominated the pre-race preparation with Dolph Gabeler adding spinnaker stop tabs and safety orange at any hour of the day. Dolph reminded me many times that we succeed as a team by sticking to our strengths and executing our maneuvers and guess what? We didn’t have a single sail issue!” Congratulations to all North Sails customers for another awesome showing on the 2015 Transpac leaderboard. Full results, photos and more can be found online at: http://transpacyc.com/ READ MORE

North Sails announced today that Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup World Series sailor and former North Sails sailmaker, Dave Swete has returned to North Sails as a sales representative in the UK. Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Swete has been an onboard trimmer for two Volvo Ocean Race teams, most recently Team Alvimedica in the 2014-15 race. He has raced in almost every major offshore race during his professional sailing career and won the World Match Racing Tour in 2009 with Adam Minoprio. “We are thrilled Dave has chosen to return to North Sails after an 8-year professional sailing hiatus that offered him many impressive experiences and victories,” said Bob Lankester, sales manager for North Sails in Europe. “He has competed in the Volvo Ocean Race twice, two America’s Cup World Series events, the World Match Racing Tour, and is a regular in the Mini Maxi 72 fleet, to name a few of his many accomplishments. He is keen to bring his experience and skills back to the North family and we are happy to have him return to our team here in the UK,” Lankester continued. Dave, commonly known as ‘Sweety’, “particularly enjoys passing his knowledge onto clients and ensuring they are having fun and getting the most out of their North sails,” Lankester concluded. “Having sailed every leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015 and being in charge of onboard sail repairs, I was truly impressed with how little work was needed on the sails during the race,” Swete said. “This included a North 3Di mainsail that held its shape remarkably with over 40,000 miles sailed, leaving me to believe we could do another lap of the planet with the same sail! This really opened my eyes to how special a company North Sails is, from sail design to innovative products, to the finishing touches and support network. It it an absolute honor to be re-joining such an awesome company.” “Dave Swete is a very versatile sailor and sailmaker,” said Charlie Enright, skipper of Team Alvimedica and North Sails representative. “He is competitive and committed to excellence which makes him a great fit with the North Sails team. Because he is experienced in sail care after working at North Sails in New Zealand, he understands the bridge between sail construction and sail performance which is a very unique skill set.” READ MORE

The Bermuda One-Two Yacht Race is a historic two-leg biennial race departing from Newport, Rhode Island to St George’s, Bermuda and back to Newport. Founded in 1977, this two-part race features single-handed racing to Bermuda and double-handed back to Rhode Island. The boat’s lengths have varied from 21-foot Mini Transat to 41 feet and the race emphasis is on safety, good seamanship and ongoing communication, according to Bermuda One-Two history. Developed for single-handed sailors looking to further their experience, as well as seek adventure with the help and camaraderie from the other single-handed sailors, this race gives skippers and crew the chance to earn awards for sportsmanship, seamanship, conquest of on-the-water adversity and sheer guts. Single-handed sailor and winner of Class 3 in this year’s event was Brian Flynn. Flynn, who races with a complete North Sails inventory, won the single-handed leg and placed second on the double-handed trip back. He completed this race on his Islander 36, Island Girl, and has completed the 2011, 2013, and 2015 races. Brian had a few minutes to catch up with us after his impressive performance. INTERVIEW Q) Congrats on winning your class in the Bermuda 1-2 (the single-handed leg) and finishing second in the double-handed leg. Can you tell us a little about how/when you started sailing and what has kept you interested in the sport of sailing? Do you enjoy single-handed sailing? A) I started sailing catamarans off the beach when I moved to Virginia Beach in 1982. I was hooked the first day. To move a boat without an engine fascinated me. To figure out how to make a boat go faster than the next person appealed to my engineering background and competitive nature. Plus it is just plain fun. I moved slowly up the ranks to bigger and better boats and by the early 90s, I was spending all of my vacation ocean racing. I even became a part-time coach at the Naval Academy. Many people that I have met along the way have become lifelong friends but despite different backgrounds, we all had sailing in common. No one cares about your background or what you do for a living, they share a passion with you and like what you bring to the boat, both in skill and personality. I’ve held every position on a boat during crewed ocean races. Solo sailing involves you in every aspect of the boat from cooking and cleaning to sail trim and navigation. It is an opportunity to prove all of your skills. Solo sailing is about seamanship. Boat preparation, weather forecasting, routing and sleep management are all equally important. Doing well in a race is very rewarding as is shows that you understand the task at hand and that all of the hard work over the years paid off. Q) Tell us a bit about your boat, the Islander 36. When did you buy it and how often do you race it? “The camaraderie between the sailors is why people do this race. When in Bermuda, there are no crews, there are just other competitors. It is like joining a fraternity.” A) The boat is an Alan Gurney design from the early 1970s and built through 1986. Around 700 were built. They were originally designed as west coast racing boats to the IOR class rule. I bought Island Girl (Islander 36 hull number 645 built in 1983) in 1992. I lived aboard and married my wife Lisa on the foredeck in 1995. From May 1996 through June 1997 we cruised her to Canada and the Bahamas homeschooling our daughter Billie throughout third grade. Island Girl sat idle for a number of years while we raised our daughters Billie and Casey and pursued career goals. I became interested in the Bermuda One-Two in 2009 and started upgrading Island Girl to race her competitively. Q) Have you done the Bermuda One-Two before? Will you do it again? Any advice for people interested in doing the race? A) I participated in the Bermuda One-Two in 2011, 2013 and 2015. In 2011 the race was about proving that I could sail to Bermuda solo, little else. I was in the back of the pack. In 2013 there were significant storms during the solo leg and I had equipment failures. I was happy to finish as only 16 boats made it to Bermuda after many turned back and one sank. I felt I had unfinished business to take care of in 2015. That’s why I teamed with Jonathan Bartlett and the North Sails team to upgrade my sail inventory. I was not planning on racing in 2017 but my nemesis Ray on Aggressive bet one drink in Bermuda. Now I have to do it again, damn you Ray! The camaraderie between the sailors is why people do this race. When in Bermuda, there are no crews, there are just other competitors. It is like joining a fraternity. Everyone knows what you have been through when it comes to years of preparation for the boat and yourself, and treats you like family. My best observation is that solo sailing is a test of seamanship. You have to be prepared for anything. When the going gets tough is when all the preparation pays off. Q) Do you have any mentors or people you admire in the sailing world (specifically in the single-handed arena)? A) I have been racing in Annapolis since the late 1980’s. I have met many impressive people who have shared their knowledge with me. I have always been like a sponge, absorbing as much as I can. I’ve raced on Maxis, 12 meters, and special built ocean racers. I may have learned the most during frostbite racing from November to March in Annapolis. Small crews bunched together in the cockpit discussing every scenario, every tactic, every sail trim. The races are short and intense with constant feedback between everyone onboard. After 20 years with the same group, you can’t help but learn. Q) Tell us a little bit about your sails. When did you first start using North Sails and do you think they help the boat’s performance? Would you recommend North to other sailors? A) All of the race boats that I have crewed on throughout the years have had exclusive North Sails inventories so I am very experienced with your product. Ive known Jonathan since I first moved to Annapolis and he has helped me get rides on competitive boats. When I analyzed my boats past performances, boat speed was the issue. Jonathan outfitted Island Girl with a fully battened NorDac Main and NorDac Radian cut 135% furling genoa. Island Girl is equipped with a Selden bowsprit and I use a North Sails asymmetric spinnaker with a sock. The spinnaker really gets the boat moving. I have the spinnaker system rigged so that I can drop the sail from inside the foredeck hatch a significant safety issue when shorthanded sailing. The new sails had the boat moving at target speeds in both light and heavy conditions. I had no issues despite seeing over 30 knots sustained for significant periods of time on four occasions. I was able to furl the genoa to around 40% many times while driving the boat. This is significant because it kept me off the foredeck and prevented me from having to change to a storm jib. Other boats had sails tear, problems reefing, and even maintaining control of the boat in heavy conditions. Boats split their sails on the way to Bermuda and one lost their rig on the return trip. I would definitely recommend North Sails. After 1,500 hard ocean miles (including delivery) the sails still look brand new and have lost zero performance.. Q) What else do you have planned for this season? Will we see the Island Girl doing more solo races this year? A) I purchased a NorDac Radian cut 155% genoa for racing on the Chesapeake Bay (lighter winds, one crew). My wife Lisa and I plan on doing some double handed point-to-point races on the Chesapeake this Fall. Since the Bermuda One-Two takes almost a month to complete, from the arrival in Newport June 1 for safety inspection to the awards June 27, I have to go back to work so there wont be time to do any other solo races. The boat is still in Rhode Island, though, and we are going to try to sneak in a quick trip to Nantucket prior to returning to Annapolis sometime in August. The North Sails team congratulates Brian on his success in the this years Bermuda One-Two and wishes him much luck in 2017. FULL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND ON THE BERMUDA ONE-TWO RACE WEBSITE READ MORE

North Sails-Powered Teams Win 420 Class Worlds in Japan Congratulations to Daichi Takayama and his crew, Syota Nakano for winning the 420 Class World Championship in Castle Bay Karatsu, Japan. The duo, racing with a complete North Sails 420 inventory, sailed very well in a highly competitive regatta with 168 boats from 22 countries. “Congratulations to Daichi and Syota for a great win in their home waters,” said Kei Takakuwa, Sales Manager for North Sails One Design in Japan. “We are very proud of their accomplishment and look forward to following them on their journey to the 2016 Olympic Games,” Takakuwa said. North Sails-powered boats also finished 3rd (Calum Gregor/Hugo Christensson / Hong Kong), 4th (Vasillios Gourgiotis/Epameinodas Orestis / Greece) and 5th (Hiroaki Kato/Takuma Yoshinaga / Japan) in the open class. North Sails would also like to congratulate the top eight female teams, all powered by North Sails*, for taking top honors in their 60-boat division. Marta Garrido and Maria Jesus Davila from Spain took the gold medal without having to sail the last race. “The level of competition among the women’s class is incredible and we are very proud that teams using North Sails finished in the top eight places,” continued Takakuwa. “These sailors are incredible athletes and I am sure we will see many of them at the Olympic Games next summer,” he said. Congratulations to the following North Sails-powered teams in the ladies division: 1. Marta Garrido/María Jesus Dávila (ESP)* 2. Charlotte Yven/Marine Riou (FRA) 3. Misaki Tanaka/Sena Takano (JPN) 4. Nia Jerwood/Lisa Smith (AUS) 5. Sarah Norbury/Mari Davies (GBR) 6. Marina Lefort/Lara Granier (FRA) 7. Mano Udagawa/Yuri Saito (JPN) 8. Theres Dahnke/Birte Winkel (GER)* *-Majority North Sails inventory The North Japan designed International 420 sails are available worldwide through the North loft network. More information and photos visit the 420 Class Worlds Website Photos: Jun Hirai READ MORE

Chris Walter from North Sails Vancouver logs his road trip to provide sail care for the Van Isle 360 international yacht race. This year marked the 10th Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race, comprised of nine distance legs running counter-clockwise around Vancouver Island. Known for its mild climate, mother nature delivered a whirlwind of uncharacteristically stormy weather for the sailors, who raced a combined 534.2nm between the start in Nanaimo and the finish in BC’s capital city, Victoria. Forecasts reported a maximum wind speed of 35 knots, a true test of strength for all 73 boats in the race and the wit of their crew. North Sails is proud to have supported the race’s 10th edition through the overnight sail care program run by the Vancouver team and led by Chris Walter. Chris spent 20 days on the road, following the fleet up the inner coast of Vancouver Island and around the outside, taking in repairs each day and fixing them in time for the boats to reach starting line the next morning. With help from trusted accomplices and the occasional break to sail, Chris took a few minutes each day to record his journey for us. 37.4 NATUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 17-23 KNOTS LEG 1- NANAIMO TO COMOX: ON THE ROAD 1030: I watch as the fleet pushes off the docks of Nanaimo, “The Harbour City” as it’s known, to begin their circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. It was a downwind start out of the bay and into the Strait of Georgia where they were greeted by a strong northwest wind. 1100: I hop in the van and begin the drive to Comox. I took the Old Island Highway for a more scenic route, stopping along the way at parks and trying to catch a glimpse of the boats. Eventually the wind started to die and I left the fleet behind to join the rest of the road crews at the park in Comox. 2000: It was late in the evening before the first boats started to arrive at the docks . When Zulu (a custom Jesperson 42 that I sail on quite a bit) arrived to the dock with our crew of Findlay Gibbons, Trevor Gibbons, Peter Gibbons, Krizia Marban, Reigh North, Rick Wunderlich, Andrew Costa, and Drew Mitchell, I caught their lines and spent some time on the boat before we all went to bed. I was excited to race on Zulu the next day in the inshore Straight Marine Race. WIND SPEED 9 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 15 KNOTS JUNE 7 – STRAIGHT MARINE RUM RACE: ZULU 0715: I am woken up by Drew bringing a genoa from Family Affair, a Beneteau 45, to the van to repair a tear along the top of the spreader patch. Once I found the right supplies, I got the sail patched up just in time to head out for the race start. 1100ish: The Straight Marine Rum Race race was held on Comox Harbour and consisted of a windward leeward course with the finish just off of Goose Spit. It was a fun race where every boat was awarded a bottle of rum at the beer garden later in the afternoon. Today was extremely hot with a period of very light wind, even the water was quite warm but everyone went swimming anyway. After racing, I got to work replacing all the battens in Northern Light’s jib (they had all flown out of the sail during a tack), and then replaced a broken mainsail slide for Rogues Roost. With all the work done it was time to join the guys on Zulu for some dinner. 26.7 NAUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 11-20 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 24 KNOTS LEG 2, COMOX TO CAMPBELL RIVER ON THE ROAD- 0800: Watched the fleet start into a strong NW wind, then continued driving up island. I passed by the Comox Canadian Forces Base where the search and rescue teams are based and continued north for most of the day arriving at the Campbell River Waterfront only an hour ahead of the leading boat, a Formula 40 catamaran named Dragonfly. 2000: The finish line was just off the pier where I watched as the fleet flew across the line in what must have been 4-5 knots of current. There were only a few minor repairs today and Drew gave me a hand to get everything done quickly. Everyone was in bed early because the boats would be leaving the dock at first light to make it through Seymour Narrows at slack water, before the current really got moving. Seymour Narrows has some of the strongest currents in the world. 34.2 NAUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 10-16 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 21 KNOTS LEG 3, CAMPBELL RIVER TO HAWICK ISLAND (AKA “FISH FARM”) ON THE ROAD- Lay day for me. Went hiking with my dad up to Elk Falls. Elk Falls is a 27 metre waterfall on the Campbell River, below the John Hart Dam and above the generating station. Fish habitats have been built up and down either side of the river below the Falls for salmon to spawn in. Tomorrow I will head to the airport to pick up a new set of sails for Julien Sellgren on Kiva. 41 NAUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 17 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 25 KNOTS LEG 4, HARWICH ISLAND TO TELEGRAPH COVE ON THE ROAD- I drove the 212km up to Telegraph Cove from Campbell River. The road leaves the coast and heads inland through the mountains. 1300: I arrived in Telegraph Cove which I learned is an old whaling village tucked into a tiny cove. The road crew from Dominatrix had rented a house on the hill where we could watch the boats finish. Neptune’s Car was the first to arrive and we saw they were motoring, so they must have had a breakdown, followed by the other Santa Cruz 70 Westerly, the Formula 40 Dragonfly, and another catamaran named Bad Kitty. By this time, there was already work to do as Neptune’s Car had torn the leech in their mainsail and lost some battens. I assessed the damage, took the sail with me, and the other jobs started flooding in. …We took in four mainsails and many jibs with damage all down the leech from the strong wind the fleet had been sailing into for the past few days. I was up until 11pm fixing sails before a heavy fog rolled in and stopped us from working for the night. We couldn’t get them all done but we had been sure to finish the mainsails first so that every boat could sail the next day. The next morning I headed down to check out the fleet all crammed into the tiny cove. It was quite impressive to see them all fit, I had my doubts the day before! LEG 5, TELEGRAPH COVER TO PORT HARDY ON THE ROAD- 1330: Arrived in Port Hardy just as the first rain started to fall. After re-provisioning the van, I am waiting for a sail and more supplies to be sent up from Vancouver. It started to rain hard, off and on all day, as the fleet slowly trickled into to the bay across the finish line. With many sails to repair we were lucky when the local Harbour Master gave us a room in their building to work. Protected from the rain, we set up our mobile loft and Drew, my dad, and I got to work fixing sails. I worked until 2am, when every job was finished. I wanted to get everything done so I could go out on the boat the next day. 69.1 NAUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 8-21 KNOTS WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 KNOTS LEG 6, PORT HARDY TO WINTER HARBOUR Onboard ZULU – This leg was around 70 nautical miles and took us around the top of Vancouver Island. With the start line at the bottom of the bay the fleet didn’t have much room to play with and we didn’t get the best start. We headed out of the bay on a close hauled course, tacking up the inside and then crossing the Nahwiti Sandbar which was quite interesting with so many breaking waves. Once through the bar, we were able to start cracking off and picked up speed as we headed to Cape Scott at the tip of Vancouver Island. After a nice run down the outside, we turned the corner into Winter Harbour just before sunset. JUNE 13 WINTER HARBOUR LAY DAY Winter Harbour is a tiny community on the west coast of Vancouver Island. There is an old boardwalk that runs along the waterline between the homes and the ocean, and one storefront that opens only when they feel like it. I spent most of the day repairing the last of the sails from the upwind legs and finished in time to miss the barbecue. Lucky for me, they fired it up again so I could get some dinner! After that Drew and I and a few others walked down to the beach and around the corner from town. We had a fire and enjoyed how peaceful it was to be out in the middle of nowhere. As it started to get dark, we headed back to the party where the guys from the Formula 40 Dragonfly put on a fireworks show for everyone. 138.1 NAUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 20 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 30 KNOTS LEG 7, WINTER HARBOUR TO UCLUELET ON THE ROAD – 0740: I jumped back in the van just as the fleet left the dock. The drive started with two hours down a narrow logging road that, in some places, you couldn’t pass a car if you met one. Lucky for me, it was Sunday because you can’t drive on these roads during the week days until evening due to active logging. Back on the highway, I still had a long way to go – all the way down to Parksville, then take a right to pass through Cathedral Grove. The grove is one of the only old growth forests in BC you can drive through. The trees are huge. The road took me up over the hill to Port Alberni where I stopped for gas and food before continuing down the narrow winding road out to Ucluelet and Tofino. I barely had time for dinner before rushing down to Amphirite Lighthouse to watch the boats finish Leg 8. Out on the horizon I could see Dragonfly finishing just as the sun was setting. JUNE 15-16 LAY DAYS Headed up to Tofino and went surfing for a day at Cox Beach. It was nice to relax. The next day, a bunch of local school kids came down to check out the boats and ask lots of questions. They even got to help out with tasks on some of the boats. On Zulu we gave the kids some North Sails sunnies and they were all very excited. Later we walked down to the awards dinner, then back to the boat for the start of the next leg in the morning. 98.2 NAUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 9-18 KNOWS WITH GUSTS TO 35 KNOTS LEG 8, UCLUELET TO VICTORIA Onboard ZULU – We headed out of the harbour to the start line and were greeted by a very light Northwest Breeze. The wind picked up just as we were about to start and before I knew it we were off with the big boats leaving most of our competitors behind. We had steady breeze all day and the sun was out. We made a few gybes and took a nice header that had us flying down into the Strait of Juan de Fuca alongside Strait Marine, a Farr 40, and Jam a J/160. After going as far to the American side as we wanted, we gybed back to the Canadian side of the strait. As we expected, the wind began to pick up closer to Race Rocks on the Canadian side, so we gybed again and doused the big kite. We hoisted the heavy air spinnaker and blasted back across the passage with a top speed of 16.7 knots – not far off Zulu’s all-time speed record. Soon we had to gybe again and in the heavy breeze we tore the kite through the turn, so we took it down quickly to avoid further damage. As we headed into Race Passage (between Race Rocks and Vancouver Island) the wind really picked up to at least 30 knots gusting to 38, with the tide running against us at 4.5 knots. The sea state was a mess and we were surfing down waves at over 15 knots boatspeed with the bowsprit buried in the back of the next wave. The boats behind us rounded up under main and jib and one was still coming down under spinnaker. I noticed they made the wise choice to get rid of it before they approached Race Rocks. We took it easy as we knew we were probably far enough ahead and the wind was still quite strong. Closer to the finish at Clover Point we hoisted the big kite and passed a boat in the 1st Division before finishing. We were greeted by Krizia at Royal Victoria Yacht Club with three pizzas and beer. DAY 12 VICTORIA LAY DAY Spent the day cleaning up the boat and stripping everything that we didn’t need for the last leg. We even took the cooking spices off the boat. We had to beat two boats ahead of us (Kiva and Different Drummer) that were tied for first on the leaderboard in our division. Drew and I and some of the crew showed a friend from Nova Scotia around Victoria as it is a very cool place that has a very British feel to the downtown part. In the evening there was a bbq and prizes in the rain. 59.9 NAUTICAL MILES, WIND SPEED 6-12 KNOTS LEG 9, VICTORIA TO NANAIMO ZULU – 1200 start today: The final leg was very challenging as there are so many different route options to take between the islands. We were prepared and planned our route in advance using the forecast as a guide. It was a downwind start in 20-25 knots and we sailed our planned route through Enterprise Channel between Vancouver Island and Trial Island which is only about 600 feet wide at its narrowest part. We were one of the first boats through with a good chunk of the fleet cramming in behind us. They didn’t look like they were having fun! As we headed out into Haro Strait the wind started to calm down and temperatures rose. We noticed that a number of bigger boats were well inside kelp reefs when, all of a sudden, Neptune’s Car stopped dead in the water. By the time they were off the reef and back into deep water we had almost caught up to them. As we gybed close to Sidney Island and the kite filled I noticed a three foot long tear coming out of the clew patch and up into the middle. We rushed to rig up the smaller heavy air kite and drop the big white one down before it tore any more. After a quick repair on deck we had the white kite back up again. Later on as we approached Saltspring Island and sailed into Captains Passage we watched a number of other boats head north toward Active Pass. We had already chosen our route and stuck with it. We were now in Trincomali Channel and had a big transition zone to get through. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side and a few other boats snuck past. Once through the zone we got the code zero out and had a nice reach down to Porlier Pass. With the tide still flooding, both Zulu and our competitors were spat out into the Strait of Georgia. On Zulu we were spun right around by a whirlpool as another boat was pushed to close the shore and ran aground. No wind in the strait. We all let the current push us up the side of Valdes Island toward the finish. Out farther in the strait you could see Darkstar just barely make out ahead of the rest of the boats who had followed them. We were waiting for the wind to fill so I went up the mast to have a look and see if any wind was coming. The crews on the other boats were watching me and when I got to the top of the mast I said “nope, we are screwed” quite loudly and everyone around us had a good laugh. By this time the sun was going down and there was still no wind. Yet somehow the sneaky little J/80 SW2 had managed to sail past us and they just kept going. A round of coffee and hot chocolate and the wind started to finally fill in. We didn’t have far to go now, Just around Gabriola Island and into Nanaimo Harbour, trading tacks with other boats in the dark. We went between Entrance Island and Gabriola Island on our last tack, heading right for the south end of Protection Island on a close reach. Then we rounded up to close hauled and crossed the finish line. Congratulations to all Van Isle 360 sailors and the organizer and supporters of this event. It was well-run and it seemed everyone had fun and enjoyed the beautiful Vancouver weather and scenery. We hope to see you all again next year! READ MORE

North Sails Kicks Off the Week With Star Studded “History in the Making” Panel Gusts up to 30 knots kept sailors ashore on the first day of the Bicentenary Int’l Regatta, but sailors’ patience was rewarded tonight with a fun & interactive panel discussion featuring Americas Cup skippers Jimmy Spithill and Sir Ben Ainslie, and skipper of the all-female Volvo Ocean Race Team SCA, Sam Davies. As temperatures cooled, Cowes Yacht Haven quickly filled to the brim with sailors eager to hear from the best in the sport. North Sails President Ken Read led the group in a discussion of sailing today including themes of technology and innovation, teamwork, and fostering enthusiasm in young sailors. “I’m very proud and humbled to be here with three of the most valuable people in our sport. Tonight is an example of how approachable sailing is. It’s truly a remarkable sport.” – Ken Read, President of North Sails Group & Skipper of Comanche “On Saturday we sailed out of the harbor into a sea of spectator boats and a shore full of fans. We were amazed. It was just a fantastic day. We are excited for the future of the Americas Cup.” – Sir Ben Ainslie, Team Principle & Skipper, Land Rover BAR “I’ve never left for a race unprepared. That gives me the confidence to push the boat hard.” – Sam Davies, Skipper, Team SCA in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 “We want to build a great and sustainable event, that provides opportunity for youth to raise up the ranks. Young sailors must be athletes who look ahead and anticipate the next step”- Jimmy Spithill, Skipper Oracle Team USA READ MORE

“Like everyone who chases the horizon, we are sailing into the unknown. That’s what adventure is and we’ve learned that if you embrace that fact, if you surrender to it, your life will change.” From San Diego we voyaged down the desolate wild barren Pacific coast of Baja Mexico. We rounded the cape and bashed our way up into the striking anchorages and brisk winds of the southern Sea of Cortez. From there we reached downwind to the tropical jungles and authentic culture of mainland Mexico before eventually staging in Bandaras Bay, with many other cruisers making final preparations for the nearly three thousand nautical mile open ocean passage to the Marquesas Islands. It took us just over three weeks to complete the crossing to the Marquesas. It was every bit the life changing adventure we imagined it would be. Once we arrived in the steep green mountains and deep valleys of the Marquesas, we rested and explored before setting sail for the Tuamotu Islands, a remote chain of atolls with a well deserved reputation for extremes – ship crushing reefs and postcard perfect anchorages, including the one where our hook is currently set. From here we plan to set course for the Society Islands and beyond. A genetic disease called FSH Muscular Dystrophy is weakening muscles throughout my body but it never weakened my dreams of crossing oceans or my resolve to chase those dreams. I am smiling now as I write this from a remote anchorage deep in the South Pacific Ocean having put almost ten thousand open ocean miles under our keel. “Ultimately all you need is a solid boat, good sails, and the courage to discover what happens when you sail into the unknown.” North sails drive our boat, the key to experiencing the blazing sunshine, energized salt water, brisk winds, and open-ocean adventures that only a sailor can understand. Ultimately all you need is a solid boat, good sails, and the courage to discover what happens when you sail into the unknown. It’s good to have you aboard! READ MORE

Phaedo reaches the Lizard in record time to complete the transatlantic race 2015. As originally reported by the Transatlantic Race 2015: While Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark’s 100′ maxi Comanche set a new monohull 24-hour record when she covered 618.01 miles over Friday-Saturday (subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council), Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD70 trimaran Phaedo also put in a resounding performance. Towards the end of the race Phaedo, at one point, recorded a peak speed of 41.2 knots when navigator Miles Seddon was driving. As Thornburg recounted: “The sea opened up before him. It was the biggest wave you have ever seen and we were pointing down it!” But it was the consistently big daily runs that were most impressive – four days at 610 miles/day and this was despite a generally short wavelength that required them to stack everything hard aft and have appendages and rig raked back to the maximum setting. While Thornburg competed in the Transatlantic Race 2011 on board his Gunboat 66 catamaran, his crossing this time in the MOD70 was an entirely different experience. “It was intense, like a time warp – it felt like four weeks at sea on any other boat all compressed into seven days. It is incredible; the boat is pure Formula 1,” he enthused of his team’s first race across the Atlantic with their latest yacht. “One of the hardest things was trying to live on board, which is a challenge psychologically and physically, day after day of slamming into waves, and with all the acceleration and the deceleration.” As testament to what a phenomenal boat the MOD70 trimaran is, according to skipper Brian Thompson, they broke nothing on the crossing despite the furious pace. Including a day and a half being becalmed, Phaedo’s crossing time of 7 days 2 hours and 4 minutes is not exceptional, but nonetheless establishes a new multihull race record, substantially faster than the previous Phaedo’s time of 12 days 15 hours 42 minutes and 58 seconds set in 2011. READ MORE

Hailing from San Diego, CA, Ryan and Nicole Levinson tossed their lines last December in pursuit of adventure, and have since chased over 10,000 nautical miles of horizon. We were lucky to meet Ryan Levinson through our local San Diego North Sails rep, Patrick Murray, who spoke of Ryan and his wife Nicole’s contagious energy and stubborn determination to achieve their life-long dream of traveling the world by sail. From San Diego, the pair made their way down the coast of Mexico before reaching the Marquesas Islands by way of a 3,000nm ocean crossing, and are currently anchored in the Tuamotus Islands. “A sailboat needs wind like dreams need courage and when you have enough of both the adventures are endless.” Resilience and a thirst for adventure are central to Ryan and Nicole’s incredible story, which draws back to a life-changing day in 1996 when Ryan’s doctor diagnosed him with FSH Muscular Distrophy. He met that challenge face-to-face, and has been relentless in his pursuit of experience ever since. Numerous athletic accomplishments have pushed him into the limelight, emerging as a local inspiration in Southern California and the world. The series Two Afloat will take you aboard SV Naoma to experience the journey with Ryan and Nicole, through their first hand accounts of plotting a course across oceans, to peaceful exotic respites, and the sheer thrill of being at sea. READ MORE

North Sails is pleased to announce that world champion sailor and CEO of Melges Europe, Federico Michetti, has joined North Sails as a performance advisor. Michetti will play a key role within North’s Class Sail Development (CSD) team and will be a leader and class expert for the Melges 20, 24 and 32 classes. Based in Milan, Italy, Federico has spent his entire life sailing and has won five Melges 24 World Championships; two Melges 32 World Championships; and two ILC World Championships. He is also a two-time winner of the Farr 40 European Championship and three-time winner of the Melges 24 European Championship just to name a few of his sailing accomplishments. “I have spent my whole life racing with North sails and my mentors and best friends all work with North so it is a natural choice for me to now join the North Sails team. I look forward to bringing my sailing knowledge and experience to the table to help improve sail designs and tuning guides for the Melges 20, 24 and 32 classes to start with,” said Michetti. “I am also excited to work closely with North customers to be sure they understand the superior technology that goes into every North sail built.” “Federico is a well-known sailor among the Melges and one design circuits and has a proven track record, winning multiple world and European championships which makes him a great asset to the North Sails team and to our customers,” said Paul Westlake, head of Global Sales for North Sails. “In addition to working for Melges Europe, Federico has been team manager for many high profile programs and is currently the project manager and trimmer onboard the Maxi 72 Robertissima III. We are thrilled that Fede has decided to join the North team,” concluded Westlake. READ MORE