NORTH SAILS BLOG

NORTH SAILS SEMPRE IN PRIMA LINEA NELL’ AMERICA’S CUP Tre team su quattro annunciano la partnership con la veleria numero uno al mondo 📸 Luna Rossa Challenge North Sails è ancora una volta in prima linea nell’ America’s Cup, come conferma l’annuncio da parte del Defender Emirates Team New Zealand e dei Challenger Luna Rossa e INEOS TEAM UK di avere scelto la veleria numero uno al mondo come fornitore ufficiale per la prossima edizione dell’evento. Forte di oltre 35 anni di esperienza ed innovazione nella storica competizione, North Sails è orgogliosa di portare avanti questa tradizione e quindi di progettare, realizzare e consegnare prodotti "top" sul mercato, affinché la maggioranza dei team disponga della miglior attrezzatura possibile per gareggiare ai massimi livelli in questo sport. North Sails è nella condizione – unica – di poter fornire l’ "Engine above Deck" ideale per i nuovi monoscafi con foil , gli America’s Cup 75. Esperti della North Sails sono coinvolti nel nuovo ciclo dell’evento sin dall’inizio, e Burns Fallow e Michael Richelsen hanno contribuito a sviluppare la nuova e rivoluzionaria “soft wing” prendendo parte alla compilazione delle Regole di Classe. Persone chiave della North Sails sono state "arruolate" da tre team di America’s Cup (su quattro presenti) e saranno quindi in prima linea per risolvere tutte le complesse problematiche legate all "Everest della vela". D’altronde l’esperienza e la conoscenza che portano in dote è impareggiabile, dato che utilizzano software e tecniche di design di proprietà esclusiva di North Sails per affrontare qualsiasi sfida e consentire, a queste imbarcazioni mai viste prima, di stabilire nuovi standard in termini di velocità e prestazioni. Ken Read, Presidente North Sails, ha commentato: "Siamo orgogliosi e onorati che ancora una volta i nostri uomini e i nostri prodotti siano considerati il meglio del meglio. Il nostro è un Gruppo di enorme talento con persone in gamba e leader mondiali nel loro settore. L’America’s Cup è un evento che da secoli mette alla prova le menti più brillanti e che ci sprona a guardare le cose da prospettive diverse; la prossima edizione non sarà diversa e siamo entusiasti all’idea che North Sails sarà ancora una volta all’avanguardia come lo è stata nello sviluppo dei prodotti 3Di negli ultimi dieci anni, di cui poi ha beneficiato l’intera filiera velica, dalle imbarcazioni offshore a quelle da crociera." "Siamo entusiasti e non vediamo l’ora di navigare e di sviluppare il nuovo AC75 e l’aero package che la Classe userà per volare sull’acqua. L’aero package unisce molti elementi che facevano parte dell’ala rigida del passato ad altri legati alla nuova tecnologia "soft wing". Avendo a disposizione uno strumento come il software MembraneTM e la possibilità di lavorare a stretto contatto con velai esperti e professionisti del “rig”, otterremo molte informazioni e impareremo una gran quantità di cose ancora prima di testare queste barche direttamente in mare il prossimo anno. Ci aspetta un periodo molto eccitante!" "Il concetto della nuova randa "soft wing" utilizzato nella 36a America’s Cup è un incredibile passo avanti dal punto di vista tecnologico per tutta l’industria velica; era quindi fondamentale fare squadra con una veleria in grado di dare forma a un prodotto così rivoluzionario e non potevamo che scegliere North Sails come partner. Adesso non vediamo l’ora di spingere insieme a loro i nostri limiti mentre la nostra sfida va avanti verso Auckland 2021." "L’America’s Cup è da sempre la regata velica più all’avanguardia del mondo dal punto di vista tecnologico; per mettere in piedi una sfida vincente è quindi fondamentale lavorare con le aziende più innovative e futuristiche del settore. North Sails è in cima alla nostra lista dei preferiti sin dall’inizio della campagna e siamo felici di averla a bordo nella sfida britannica." "North Sails è semplicemente la migliore azienda con cui lavorare per portare avanti il nostro progetto in America’s Cup. Il livello di preparazione e di esperienza degli uomini North Sails è impareggiabile e la qualità dei loro software e dei loro strumenti non ha rivali. Inoltre, la tecnologia che ha sviluppato per la produzione delle vele è unica al mondo." "I mezzi e gli strumenti di cui si serve North Sails sono fondamentali per aiutarci a sviluppare il miglior aero package possibile per l’AC75 e per permetterci di giudicare e scegliere le diverse opzioni da accoppiare alle membrane per supportare i carichi degli AC75 quando questi navigheranno a oltre 40 nodi." READ MORE

NORTH SAILS PLUS PRÉSENT QUE JAMAIS SUR L’AMERICA’S CUP Trois des quatre équipes s’engagent à travailler avec la voilerie leader mondial 📸 Luna Rossa Challenge North Sails se distingue une fois encore par sa présence dans l’America’s Cup. Le Defender Emirates Team New Zealand et les Challengers Luna Rossa et INEOS TEAM UK ont confirmé avoir choisi le premier fabricant mondial de voiles comme fournisseur pour l’épreuve à venir. Avec plus de 35 ans d’expérience et d’innovation dans cette compétition historique, North Sails est fier de continuer à concevoir et à fournir les meilleurs produits du marché pour équiper la grande majorité des teams et les voir réussir au sommet de ce sport. Les voiles North Sails sont particulièrement bien placées pour offrir ce qu’il y a de mieux aux nouveaux monocoques à foils de l’America’s Cup. Plusieurs spécialistes de North Sails sont impliqués dans l’événement depuis que la Coupe a pris le tournant des foils, notamment Burns Fallow et Michael Richelsen qui ont aidé à développer la nouvelle aile souple révolutionnaire et ont participé à la rédaction des règles de classe. Des membres clés de North Sails font désormais partie de trois des quatre équipes de l’America’s Cup et participeront à la résolution des problématiques complexes posées par l’épreuve reine. L’expérience et les informations qu’ils apportent sont sans égal notamment grâce aux logiciels et processus de conception North exclusifs leur permettant une fois encore de relever de nouveaux défis et faire en sorte que ces bateaux uniques au monde franchissent un cap en termes de performances. Ken Read, Président de North Sails: “Nous sommes fiers de voir que nos produits et nos membres ont à nouveau été choisis parmi les meilleurs. Nous avons au sein de notre entreprise des talents exceptionnels qui sont au sommet de leur art. L’America’s Cup est une épreuve qui continue de challenger les plus grands esprits et nous obligent à regarder les choses sous un angle nouveau. La prochaine édition ne dérogera pas à la règle et nous sommes très heureux de savoir que North Sails sera à la pointe. Et comme l’a prouvé le développement des produits 3Di ces dix dernières années, c’est tout le milieu de la voile, de la course à la croisière, qui en récoltera les fruits.” “Nous sommes très heureux et impatients de développer le nouvel AC 75 et le pack aéro que la classe utilisera pour propulser les bateaux au-dessus de l’eau. Ce pack aéro réunira plusieurs caractéristiques des anciennes ailes rigides, mais avec la nouvelle technologie des ailes souples. Avoir à notre disposition un outil comme Membrain© et pouvoir travailler avec des designers spécialisés dans les voiles et le gréement nous donne un large panel de connaissances bien avant de naviguer et de régler les voiles pour la première fois l’année prochaine. Cela s’annonce passionnant!” “Le nouveau concept de grand-voile aile-souple qui sera utilisé pour la 36e America’s Cup est une avancée technologique très intéressante pour l’industrie nautique. Nous associer avec un fabriquant de voiles capable de suivre ces avancées révolutionnaires était essentiel, et pour nous il n’y avait que North Sails. Nous avons hâte de repousser les limites avec eux quand notre défi ira à Auckland en 2021” “L’America’s Cup est l’épreuve de voile la plus avancée au monde techniquement. Pour monter un défi qui a des chances de gagner, nous devons travailler avec les entreprises les plus innovantes. Depuis le début de notre campagne, nous pensions à North Sails pour les voiles et nous sommes très heureux de les embarquer dans ce défi britannique.” “North Sails est la meilleure entreprise avec laquelle nous puissions travailler pour ce nouveau projet d’America’s Cup. Ils emploient des salariés qualifiés et très expérimentés et ils ont des logiciels et des outils inégalables. La technologie qu’ils ont développée pour la production des voiles est exceptionnelle.” “Les outils North Sails sont indispensables pour concevoir le meilleur pack aéro possible pour l’AC75. Ils nous aideront à évaluer et à classer les différentes options pour ensuite choisir les meilleures membranes capables de supporter les charges auxquelles seront soumis les AC75 lorsqu’ils seront lancés à plus de 40 nœuds.” READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: DOUG FOLSETTER Get To Know Your Local Sales Expert How long have you been sailing and what classes do you compete in? I currently own and race a Viper 830 - a 27’ sportboat. I started sailing at the age of 6 when my father, who had no sailing experience whatsoever, purchased a brand new, bright orange (!) Contessa 26. So, 44 years and counting. What boats/classes do you sail? I grew up racing dinghy classes such as Laser, International 14 and Snipe and progressed to one-design keelboats such as the Melges 24 and Star. Over the years I’ve raced a variety of one-design, IOR, MORC, IRC and PHRF boats of all sizes and types. What got you into the marine industry? I was exposed to business by my father who dabbled in the marine business as a foul weather gear distributor and later as a yacht broker. I enjoy representing a product that provides joy and happiness! What’s your favourite thing about sailing? It’s such a varied sport that cam be enjoyed for a lifetime on so many different levels. From high performance sport boats, to long distance racing on larger boats to peaceful evening sails with the family… There is really something for everyone. READ MORE

North Sails Sieg am Vierwaldstätter See Cup 2018 !! Die esse850 'Steel Two' von Philipp Weber gewinnt mit seiner Crew um Oliver Ryhner und Heinz Theiler den VC-CUP 2018 mit 18 Punkten Vorsprung vor dem Team Black Nessi und 79 Punkten Vorsprung vor der Longtze von Thomas Hasler. Bei 5 Langstrecken Regatten mit immer sehr fairen Wetterbedingungen konnten 2018 tolle Regatten gesegelt werden. Neu war die „Windweek Challenge“, welche mit Start in Brunnen als Nachtregatta ausgetragen wurde. Der Eigner Philipp Weber sendet einen grossen Dank an alle, welche das Team als Sponsoren unterstützen und an das VC-Cup-Team für die professionelle Organisation. North Sails Schweiz gratuliert herzlich zu diesem super Resultat und freut sich, auch in Zukunft für das Team da zu sein. Rangliste READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: MIRO BALCAR Get To Know Your Local Sales Expert How long have you been sailing and what classes are you involved in? I have been sailing on Champlain lake and doing offshore passages for 30 years. Currently, I am racing and cruising my X-yacht 46. I enjoy spending time with customers on the water and overnight racing. What got you into the marine industry? I got to marine industry from being a life long customer of North Sails with this year marking my 12th year being in the industry and with the company! What’s your favourite thing about sailing? My favourite part about sailing is that sailing as a lifestyle allows me to be around people with similar passion. It also keeps me on a never ending learning curve and of young spirit. READ MORE

3Di RAW - SEBESSÉG KOMPROMISSZUM NÉLKÜL Nyers Teljesítmény, Legnagyobb Sebesség 3Di RAW a legkönnyebb, leggyorsabb verzió a 3D formázott kompozit termékeink közül. RAW a versenyvitorlák evolúciójának legfejlettebb változata, magába foglalva az összes paramétert a legmagasabb teljesítményhez. Páratlan formastabilitásának köszönhetően a 3Di RAW dominálja a Grand Prix versenyeket világszerte és már a versenyzés minden szintjén találkozhatunk vele hajómérettől függetlenül. Bármely más vitorlához viszonyítva, a RAW vitorláknál a legmagasabb teherviselő szál/súly arány és a legkisebb súly. 3Di RAW ideális választás: • legfejlettebb vitorlákat szeretné • nyertes teljesítményt vár vitorláitól • osztályban vagy előnyszámításos rendszerben versenyez VÁLTOZATOK + AJÁNLOTT FELHASZNÁLÁS RAW 360 : Polyester / Aramid RAW 760 : Ultra PE / Aramid RAW 780 : Ultra PE / Carbon / Aramid RAW 870 : Carbon / Ultra PE / Aramid one design / tavi versenyzés / Grand Prix versenyzés / nagyteljesítményű többtestű ELÉRHETŐ VITORLATÍPUSOK standard nagyvitorla / átmenőlatnis nagyvitorla / betekerős és nem betekerős orrvitorlák / CODE vitorlák 3Di RAW ELŐNYEI • 3D formázott kompozit struktúra • legkönnyebb 3Di verzió • legnagyobb teljesítményű vitorlák READ MORE

NORTH SAILS & EVERGREEN The Story of Don Green and Lowell North in The 1978 Canada's Cup Photo courtesy of Sharon Green from Evergreen Around the Great Lakes, Evergreen is a well-known name that reflects an exciting time in Canadian sailing history. Skippered by Don Green from Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, Evergreen went from being the underdogs in the 1978 Canada’s Cup to winners on September 25th, 1978. North Sails involvement with Evergreen and the Canada’s Cup begun at the beginning of the campaign. Green recalls how Lowell was actively involved, always around during training sessions and out on the water looking at the sails. Lowell North was always fascinated with the shape of sails and technology used to gain the best design and shape. One could say the ‘Science of Sails’ really began with the Evergreen project. Green points out, “Lowell was always taking pictures, looking at the shape and seeing how things could be modified.” This method of photographing sails followed by analysis, carried over deep in North Sails following the 1987 Canada’s Cup and is still used today in the company. In addition to Lowell’s photographing of sails, our history with the Evergreen projects always includes the infamous “green garbage bag” sail. This famous “green garbage bag”, as Green recalls, “was just massive and was heavy when wet”. For North Sails, this was a significant moment as it was a mylar laminate sail – the first to be flown at the time. Our sail material technology and design process has developed from this, leading to our 3Di Technology, and Lowell's desire to combine the scientific method with photographs. Green comments how "Lowell was always analyzing the photo's he'd taken and comparing them with science". For Don and the Evergreen crew, their contributed to Canadian sailing through both the 1978 Canada’s Cup and 1979 Admiral’s Cup is immense and should not be overlooked. At the time, the mayor of Toronto came out to celebrate the crew in the motorcade parade in the city – something that would not be seen in today’s post-race festivities. This past August, Don Green was inducted, by Steve Killing, into the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame. A well-deserved moment for Don and all that he has done for the Canadian sailing community. Don is still an active sailor today when he has the time. He frequently sails with life-long friend and Executive Director of the True North syndicate in the 1980’s, John Bobyk, at Mimico Cruising Club. Don Green and John Bobyk , 2017 Don Green and John Bobyk , July 2018 READ MORE

From Dinghy Sailing to Sailmaking From Junior Sailing Onwards, For Kyann The World is Her Oyster If you’d asked me in university what I wanted to do when I grow up, I would have probably told you I either wanted to go sailing, or be a sail maker. Fast forward a few years, I’ve raced on three continents, clocked over 4,000nm since graduating, and I’m now working at North Sails as an apprentice sailmaker. While that may sound like a dream come true, it wasn’t always. I had my first sailing experience when I was 12 years old when my mom and aunt signed me up for my whitesail one, non-negotiable. The program took two precious weeks of my summer vacation, and I dragged my feet getting ready that first day. Shoved into an Opti that I was already too big for, I awkwardly sailed around the harbour trying not to crash into the big boats docked in the area. As the weeks progressed I not only began to understand the opti, but saw the older camp kids sailing 420s and lasers, and my interest peaked. By the end of the program, I had finished not only my whitesail I and II, but signed up for another two weeks at the end of the summer. Fast forward a couple years, and I was introduced to keelboat racing by my aunt. Sailing on a C&C 27 in a level fleet against 5 or 6 other boats twice a week, I loved learning the boat and trying to coax that tiny bit of extra speed out of it. Over the next six years I learned every position on the boat, eventually falling in love with the foredeck and never really making my way back aft of the mast. I was having a blast until my final years of university hit, and I took a two season hiatus from sailing. After a while, I’d forgotten how much I loved the sport and being on the water. That all changed last summer when I got back on the water. Graced with 15-extra feet of boat, I learned a new foredeck and was itching to keep sailing after the season was over. Now that I was back out there, I couldn’t stop at just a few months. I was introduced to a team sailing down to Antigua from Toronto, and with them I had my first overnight, navigation and ocean experiences. I signed up for two long distance races, but unfortunately it wouldn't work out this time for the Rolex Middle Sea Race in Malta and the Caribbean 600 out of Antigua, due to rigging failures. Thankfully, I finished my off-season with a go at Antigua Sailing Week. Although none of my events turned out as I’d hoped, I’d never experienced anything like these regattas in my life, and came home determined to jump right back into sailing here up North. Shortly after arriving back in Toronto, I landed a summer internship at North Sails. Every day I was immersed in a world of sails. Repairs, design, and sailing techniques were talked about all day at the office, and I was racing 3-4 nights a week. As the summer came to a close, one thing became clear - this wasn’t just a summer internship, it was just the beginning. READ MORE

2018 ROUTE DU RHUM Fast Sailing, Foils and High Expectations Across The Fleet 📸Alexis Courcoux / 2018 Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a prestigious offshore event and an example of single-handled ocean racing at its best. First sailed in 1978, the Route du Rhum was a transatlantic race introduced to overthrow conventional wisdom; monohulls sailing alongside multihulls, pro sailors racing against amateurs. The first edition of the race featured 38 entries and the winner finished in 23 days. In 2014, Loïck Peyron set a new course record of 7 days, 15 hours, 8 minutes and 32 seconds. Four year later, 123 sailors and thousands of North Sails across six classes will hit the start line in St Malo, France, and set off 3,542 miles for Guadeloupe. The 2018 Route du Rhum represents 130 new sails and some 6,000 hours of work for North Sails, and specifically, the Vannes-based loft. “The diversity of projects in this race is something which is important for us,” commented Greg Evard, country manager for North Sails in France. “Responsiveness is essential; listening, understanding and acting in the shortest possible time when necessary, with the goal to ensure that those who trust us do not lose any time sailing.” The key to success lies in the integrated teamwork between design, production and service. Greg’s team efforts on the ground combined with the global design and product expertise has paid off; evidenced by growing market share for North Sails across the Route du Rhum fleet. Gautier Sergent, the Head of North Sails R&D, based in France added. “The advent of foiling has forced us to redesign our sails for the IMOCA and Ultim classes, because with the foils, everything changes: speed, apparent wind angle, torque, geometry, deck plans…” With 3Di™, North Sails has a technology that perfectly matches the new challenges imposed by these out of the ordinary machines but still allows every level of sailor in this race to have the best possible suite of sails. It is going to be an exciting race and as is ever the case, when a fleet of boats leaves the dock, anything can happen. READ MORE

MELGES 20 WORLDS: SPEED READING Two-time World Champion Drew Freides Shares His Views on Winning Speed The waves were bumpy and the wind was hard to read at the 2018 Melges 20 Worlds in Cagliari, Italy. That put a premium on speed at all times for the crew of Pacific Yankee, which earned its second championship title in a row. Racing in a tough 38-boat fleet, Drew Freides, Morgan Reeser, and Charlie Smythe won the last two races to earn the title by a point. What made the difference? Skipper Drew Freides credits his teammates, coaching, planning, and preparation, and says one key, after winning the 2017 Worlds, was adopting the attitude, “We’ve got to improve because everyone else is going to improve.” “One thing I’m good at is that I’m scared of failure.” Drew says, “so I’m never content. I always feel like someone’s going to pass me and be better.” Build a Speed Matrix “Over the year, we focused on a matrix for boat setup,” Drew says. “Vince Brun, our coach, was maniacal about it. When we’re racing we don’t want to think about boat setup—we want to focus on sailing well and sailing smart. The matrix is marked as number of turns on and off the uppers and the diamonds and is easily repeatable. We developed ours by starting with the North Sails Tuning Guide, and it evolved from there based on our work with sail designs and our observations.” “We always put the rig back to base setting at the end of the day,” he adds. “Sometimes we check measurements with calipers and once in a while with a tension gauge.” Think “Dead Stick” and “Unload the Boat” Drew says to go fast the boat can’t be loaded. It should have more of an “easy” feel. “On our boat,” he says, “Morgan is focused on tactics, and Charlie on speed, but Morgan is holding the mainsheet. When we wanted speed, Charlie would say to him ‘free it up,’ meaning to unload the boat. We’d go for a flatter mode for the sails, put the bow down, and get it ripping. When we wanted height, I’d ask for more load on the helm, which meant more leech tension, rounder sails.” “The boats are tippy, and heel is your enemy. You’d be surprised how much the boats heel. You really want the tiller to feel like a “dead stick”…the less feel we had, the faster we went. It takes time getting used to it.” “The upper shrouds on a Melges 20 are on cars,” says Drew. “Charlie spent a ton of time adjusting uppers, forward and back. We would set ourselves up going off the starting line with the car forward. We’d go a tenth or two slow, climb and build our hole, then once we were in clear air, we would move the cars back and put the bow down. Once you get the boat going fast, it points high on its own.” Upwind in Lumpy Conditions At Cagliari, Drew says, “it got very lumpy, which put a premium on accelerating and rebuilding speed quickly. We needed a good balance of sail depth for power, but not so much that we couldn’t put the bow down and go. “On the second to last day, port tack was brutal. We had a great setup and could put the bow down and rip up to 5.9 knots. When you hit waves, it was important we were already going fast and not trying to climb. If Charlie said, ‘Bad set coming,’ Morgan would ease the main and I’d bear off. If Charlie said, ‘Flat spot,’ Morgan would sheet in and we’d start climbing. The biggest gains to be made were in terms of height, but that’s only because we were already going fast.” Same Speed and Lower, Downwind “The goal downwind was to sail the same speed but lower,” says Drew. “ When it got lighter, it was an uncomfortable low mode. With spinnaker sheet in his hand, Charlie coached me how low we could go. We were constantly looking to soak and never have the boat loaded. We never had enough wind at the Worlds to sail higher and get beyond lazy planing.” “Some thought we had special sails, but for the record, we used North’s R-2 and V4-2R, off the shelf. We used the V4 more than you would think, down the wind ranges, because it let us heat it up and get onto some of the waves. The R-2 is not as comfortable reaching so we sometimes used the planing chute even though we were trying to soak low.” Read more about Pacific Yankee’s victory at the 2018 Worlds “In the 8- to 12-knot range when not overpowered, use rounder sails and hike really hard. We were sometimes too quick to depower.” READ MORE

PUFF RESPONSE UPWIND By Bill Gladstone Proper response to a puff is critical to optimum performance. The best response is a change in trim to match the changing apparent wind angle. Here’s why: Apparent Wind We’ll start with our wind triangle before the puff hits. Figure 1 shows how apparent wind is the vector sum of Boat Wind and True Wind. Fig. 1: Apparent Wind is the sum of True Wind and Boat Wind. The Puff Hits When the True Wind increases (“Puff!”), it creates a stronger Apparent Wind and a wider Apparent Wind Angle. Trimming sails to match this change usually means lowering the traveler, which is the fastest way to maintain a balanced helm and consistent angle of heel. Fig. 2: A puff results in stronger Apparent Wind and a wider Apparent Wind Angle. Drop the traveler to match the new wind angle. Acceleration Once the boat’s helm is balanced again, the boat then accelerates to match the new wind speed. That moves the apparent wind forward, so then we need to re-trim the sails again. Fig. 3: As the boat accelerates with the new wind, the apparent wind moves forward and we need to trim in again. Wasted energy If we don’t change sail trim in response to the puff, its energy is wasted in heeling force and weather helm rather than being turned into acceleration. The boat may eventually accelerate – after making leeway – but by then all of the more responsive crews will have jumped ahead. Why change trim? Why not just feather the helm? Trim Response lets you accelerate more quickly. Feathering (heading up, to reduce heel angle) will give you a brief bit of height, but that is usually offset by more leeway. Changing sail trim gives you speed, and speed then gives you height. Why use the Traveler? Lowering the traveler reduces angle of attack, which is the preferred trim response on a moderate displacement keelboat. On higher performance boats or multihulls, especially those with square top mains and high aspect keels, it is more effective to ease the mainsheet to adjust twist. On some boats – for example, an Etchells – a big pull on the backstay is very effective. Some boats use “Vang Sheeting” (where the mainsheet controls angle of attack) and respond to puffs by playing the main. Which is Best? Snappy Answer: Whichever is fastest. Longer Answer: You’ll have to test to see what works best on your boat. As a general rule, Trim Response is preferred to just feathering/ steering through the puff. This article is from the North U Boat Speed Seminar curriculum. To find a North U Seminar near you visit https://northu.com/types/seminars/ READ MORE

TRANSATLANTIC ADVENTURE: CAPE VERDE TO THE CARIBBEAN Vincent Moeyersoms Adventures Onboard French-built Exploration Yacht Built in 2009, the 53’ Alioth has a specific purpose: ocean adventuring. Alioth left the volcanic archipelagos of Cape Verde off the west coast of Africa, 2,100 nm East of the Caribbean, and twelve days later arrived at Carriacou Island. During their Atlantic crossing, the four crew took turns on three hour watches. Each morning they had a daily meeting to check in with each other and send an email to their family, which was written by Vincent’s niece Celine. Off-watch the crew fished, maintained the boat, watched movies, read books, and prepped meals. Vincent also taught his niece and nephew about sailing, navigation, and the stars. Vincent’s brother Olivier and godson, Nicolas (at the bow) They made landfall in Carriacou, a tiny island just north of Grenada, and tucked into Tyrell Bay for a celebration, before starting their exploration of the Grenadines. At Tobago Cays they swam around one of the most pristine coral reef in the Caribbean, and on New Year’s Eve, enjoyed the colorful local fresh lobster bake. Locals cooked up fresh seafood for guests for New Years Eve celebrations “The Grenadines were my most favorite part of the whole trip,” Vincent says. “Like in the BVIs, being able to sail to different islands and see different places each day makes it real fun. Every day brings a discoveries.” They stopped at Grenada, Union, Tobago Cays, Mustique, Bequia, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia on their way to Martinique. Vincent, Nicolas, Olivier, and Vincent’ niece, CelineAlioth’s aluminum hull is ideal for remote ocean sailing. “She can fit six comfortably onboard for ocean crossings,” says Vincent. “In the tropics, it’s nice because everyone can be outside most of the time.” She’s easy sailed by a couple of people, so there is plenty of relaxation time for the rest of the crew. “Sharing these experiences with friends and family, and being able to sail to parts of the world where chartering is not available, is why we purchased this boat.” Olivier looks back just after departing Cape Verde Equipped with a 2016 North Sails NPL Sport inventory, Vincent says the sails are still going strong even after 20,000 miles. The process of getting new sails was very easy despite the logistics involved according to Vincent. “We had North Sails in France come out and measure the boat, the sails were built in the United States, and then delivered to Norway. We had just a couple of days to make sure they were right. We opened the bags, hoisted them, and it all worked. North Sails has the experience globally to deliver to different parts of the world and see the project through to completion, and they were perfect.” While in the Caribbean, Vincent and his crew enjoyed the highlights of a living aboard, including fishing and grilling off the back of the boat. “We don’t have a freezer onboard, so, on ocean crossings, eventually you start running out of fresh produce. We consider certain types of food a real treat,” he said. “When we can catch fish and pair it with fruits, vegetables, and freshly baked bread, it’s a meal we all really enjoy.” Why did he choose Alioth? “We didn’t want a boat that was too big, because of cost and logistics. This boat was maintained well before we bought it, and it was built for our type of program, so the purchase decision was easy.” Vincent also says the boat is fun to sail. “Alioth is quite light for its size, which makes it responsive in most conditions.” he says. With a lift-keel, she’s able to anchor in shallow water. Having a deck saloon was a requirement and means the crew can see the ocean at all times. Alioth is very safe, and a step-up stern makes it easy to get onboard the boat. She has twin rudders, crash bulkheads bow and stern, and ample cabin space in between. Her water ballast tanks were recently converted to carry fuel, extending her range up to 3000 miles under motor power. Although the boat is equipped with a watermaker and heater, Vincent says the crew often chooses swimming instead of rinsing off in freshwater. “We will often jump in, just for the pure pleasure of it.” In 2019, Alioth’s crew plans to attempt to sail the Northwest Passage, via Greenland and around to the North of Canada, then to Alaska. Stay tuned as Alioth’s adventures continue. The cruising lifestyle offers some of the most epic sunsets Approaching St. Lucia with the Pitons in the background READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: GEORGE JACKSON Get To Know Your Local Sales Expert What is your sailing background? My first recollection of being on a sailboat when I was about 4 years old. My dad and a friend had a 24’ yawl. I was terrified of it tipping, and on one occasion I set off the fire extinguisher down below. I don’t have any more memories of that boat. I started to race in earnest in 1978 on a wooden 5.5 metre out of Port Dover, ON. I’m currently in a partnership owning an Olson 30. I also share a Hobie 17 and a classic DN iceboat. What boats/classes do you sail? Over the years I don’t think there’s ever been a sailboat I didn’t like. I’ve been blessed to have sailed and raced on all kinds of boats from lasers to lightnings to maxis to Open 60s to eight metres to viper 640s. Most recently, I’ve been crewing a Viper 640, a classic 8m and C&C 115. What got you into the marine industry? I’m returning to my career roots. When I graduated from Queen’s, I went to work at Rideau Marina in Kingston. At the time they were dealers for C&C Yachts. In the role of broker, I sold sails including North Sails. What goes around, comes around. What’s your favourite thing about sailing? That’s a tough question. I’ve had the opportunity to sail with some great sailors on great boats in some fantastic locations, so there’s a lot to like about sailing. But the favourite thing I like about sailing, and racing, in particular, is the teamwork that is needed to sail successfully. It’s indeed a team sport -- so the camaraderie, competition and challenge to perform well in a wide variety of conditions. READ MORE

Customer Spotlight: Endeavour It's More Than Just Sails Bill Bevan from Mimico Cruising Club, co-owner of J/105 Endeavour, shares with us the thinking behind switching to North Sails and why. Plus where he hopes to see the local J/105 fleet in a few years. What factors contributed to your decision to upgrade to North Sails? We had a previous sailmaker, the last two boats that I've had, the CC34 and then the J/105 since 2006, because I had a relationship with the individuals there. I was still learning the 105 so the sails were the least of my worries. That said, I got to the point where we got a lot of things under control so it was time to focus and remove some of the variables to find out what was really going on. North really supports the fleet well, so that was one of the factors also, the support that you guys have given the J/105 fleet for years. I think the other side of it was who's looking after us, we should look after them. That doesn't mean you're gonna go out and buy some kind of crappy technology just because they've been good to you. It's great technology, so then I go to the sails themselves. I looked at what I had versus what others had and without buying one I kinda went, "You know what, this is sail shape." That sail looked a lot flatter, a lot thinner since the mold, it's shaped differently. So quite honestly, I went on Bjug's boat that had one and said, "I wanna go, I just wanna see what it looks like" - and it was just like night and day. I'm no expert but I kind of looked and said, "Okay, I like that a lot better." I can see why some of these guys had better sail shape. Seeing others use them, actually trying that sail, whether it was that demo sail or going out with somebody else, I think that's an important factor, actually trying the sail. Any other aspects that lead to your decision? The other important factor was the whole service side of it; repair, delivery and the organization. First of all, I just had a greater confidence that North Sails Toronto was a business I wanted to be tied to for the long term. I like the knowledgeable people, the connection the organization had to their global organization and the strength of that, versus say some other smaller lofts. The experiences I had heard from others from a service standpoint, not experiencing them myself, were positive. Bottom line though, for me personally, name and the confidence to move from another vendor was really around delivery of new sales. All our sails, 3Di Raw Medium AP Jib, 3DL Light Jib, MI-4 Jib and CM-1 Mainsail were delivered on time! Have you always done One Design or is it more in recent years that you've done it with your co-owner Paul? I've sailed One Design my whole life practically. I had a C&C34 for many years, prior to that I raced One Design in the Kirby 25 fleet. I don't know if I could sail anything other than One Design. There's kind of a nice comfort to it in terms of it's almost a level playing field with everyone. It ends up being me, Paul, and the rest of the people that are on the boat. That's one of the reason too why you look at who's supporting the fleet and what are the preferred sails in a fleet, you have to get rid of that variable. Did you grow up sailing or did you get into it later? My parents sailed and raced, I can pretty well remember when I was very young my parents bought my brother and I a boat at the cottage and said, "Okay, go play." We would take off and just be on the water on two boats all summer. What would you say is your hope for the J/105 class locally to develop? I think the 105 class is probably the strongest One Design fleet on Lake Ontario. We've got, what? 18 or 20 boats registered in fleet four, so that's a very, very strong fleet. Our goal as a fleet is obvious: we've gotta continue to either A, grow or at B, at least not let it decline. I think what has to happen is, it has to stay affordable, we have to bring in youth, we have to bring in more women into the fleet and continue to have a good schedule. I think it was pretty exciting that there was, of the 18 boats that were at the recent Canadians, we had something like 10 women on board in various crew positions across the fleet. I think the other thing North has done is they've taken a pretty active role in teaching the fleet how to make what they sell and how to make what they sell on the J105 work and work effectively. Geoff can relate and say, "On a J105 you should do this and this particularly because it'll do this and this to that sail in this condition." We've had a couple people from North talk at our spring lectures, so again, it's that real connection to the fleet. You guys can relate to it to a J105, not just it's a 3Di sail and it should do this. Rather, it's a 3Di sail on a J105 and this is what it does. You guys have got it, not only for us in the 105, but other people at Mimico who deal with you guys, they get it. They understand the area, so that's pretty important from a technical standpoint. It's not good if the only guy that can do it is in San Francisco because a, you never see him or her and b, he or she doesn't know our conditions really. READ MORE

NORTH SAILS FRANCE PARÉ POUR LE RHUM La voilerie vannetaise, filiale du numéro 1 mondial, sera solidement représentée sur la ligne de départ de la mythique transat en solitaire. 📸 MACIF / Vincent Curutchet À Vannes, sur le plancher de North Sails France, l’ambiance fébrile de préparation des grandes épreuves a fait place au calme habituel des veilles de course. À quelques jours du départ de la Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, la voilerie dirigée par Greg Evrard souffle un peu. "Même si notre activité est diversifiée, les années de Route du Rhum sont toujours particulières pour nous", explique le Directeur de North Sails France. Avant de dévoiler quelques chiffres évocateurs : "le Rhum représente, pour la seule année 2018, 130 voiles et quelque 6 000 heures de travail. Soit environ 2,75 millions d’euros de chiffre d’affaires". Avec 123 marins au départ de la légendaire transatlantique qui fête ses 40 ans cette année, c’est près d’un millier de voiles que l’on peut compter sur les bateaux des six catégories présentes à Saint-Malo. Et ils sont nombreux à avoir choisi North Sails. "Pour faire simple, notre part de marché croît avec la taille des bateaux," résume Greg Evrard qui précise : "nous fournissons 15 % des voiles équipant les voiliers de la classe Rhum mono et multi, 35% pour les Class40, 40 % en Multi50, 60 % en Imoca et 85 % en Ultime". Chez ces derniers, cinq des six bateaux sont entièrement équipés de voiles issues du plancher de North Sails France. En Imoca, c’est quasiment la moitié de la flotte qui possède une garde-robe 100 % North Sails – dont Charal, dernier-né, – et sur les deux tiers des bateaux, au moins une voile North Sails sera embarquée à bord. On note aussi l’arrivée de nouveaux clients. "Par exemple, Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline-Artipôle) revient travailler avec nous et c’est une vraie récompense" explique Greg Evrard. La diversité des projets est un élément important pour nous, et nous souhaitons pouvoir nous adapter à tous les profils. En Class40, la voilerie gagne des parts de marché ; chez les Multi50, la reconnaissance est réelle mais le renouvellement des voiles est plus progressif. Pour parvenir à ces résultats, North Sails France s’appuie sur une organisation fiable et efficace, orientée vers le client pour gérer toutes les demandes. "Certains projets sont hyper structurés, exigeants et s’inscrivent dans la durée alors que d’autres sont plus dans le court terme avec des budgets restreints et passent parfois commande à peine un mois avant le départ", raconte Greg Evrard. Notre équipe expérimentée dispose de ressources et compétences nécessaires pour répondre à cette diversité de problématiques. La clé réside dans le travail en équipe entre design, technico-commercial, production et service". La réactivité est essentielle, écouter, comprendre et agir dans un délai le plus réduit possible lorsque c’est nécessaire, l’objectif étant de mener à bien et sereinement chaque projet pour ceux qui nous font confiance. Chez North Sails France, il n’y a pas de stars : de Yann REGNIAU à Quentin PONROY en passant par Gautier SERGENT, Yann ANDRILLON, Hugues DESTREMAU, Alan PENNANEAC’H, Julien PILATE, et d’autres, le cumul d’expériences nautiques, de palmarès, d’accompagnement de projets et d’expertises techniques est unique. C’est un panel sans équivalent permettant une réponse adaptée et de qualité à une grande diversité de demandes et une réelle créativité. "Le genre de savoir-faire qui fait la différence, car cette 11e édition du Rhum s’annonce définitivement comme celle de l’ère des foils." C’est la première course où le doute est levé : les foilers vont plus vite, tranche Gautier Sergent, le responsable R & D de North Sails France. La nécessité d’une refonte de nos voiles en Imoca et en Ultime s’est imposée, car avec les foils, tout change : la vitesse, l’angle de vent apparent, le couple de rappel, la géométrie, les plans de pont… En Ultime, les charges mises en jeu lorsque le bateau est lancé sont conséquentes et rendent le réglage des voiles difficiles. Les skippers sont obligés d'anticiper et d’effectuer des réglages tolérants. Depuis que le réglage du rake est autorisé en Imoca, on voit apparaître de foils de grande envergure et très porteurs, ce qui change les modes de navigation où l’on privilégie la vitesse au cap. "Avec le 3Di™, North Sails dispose d’une technologie qui correspond parfaitement aux nouvelles contraintes imposées par ces machines hors-normes." En termes de ratio poids/stabilité de forme, c’est ce qui se fait de mieux, assure Gautier Sergent – et le poids comme la stabilité sont des paramètres critiques dans le décollage des foilers. "Pour ces nouveaux bateaux, le 3Di™ marie les avantages : Il est solide, ce qui est primordial pour des marins en solitaire dans les manœuvres ; il ne se déforme pas sous charge, ce qui permet à la voile de convertir la puissance en vitesse en s’appuyant sur les foils. C’est un composite, donc il se prête bien aux modifications et se révèle un atout important en phase de développement", énumère Gautier Sergent, qui a déjà la tête à la saison prochaine et aux nouveaux développements à mener après la Route du Rhum… A propos du 3Di™ Les voiles 3Di™ sont composées de bandes filamentaires unidirectionnelles ultra-fines, pré-imprégnées d’un adhésif thermodurcissant. Elles sont disposées de manière multidirectionnelle et moulées en trois dimensions pour constituer une membrane composite flexible. Cette technologie brevetée permet de fabriquer des voiles avec uniquement des fibres et des adhésifs, sans film en Mylar. Le système de pose de bandes automatique exclusif de North Sails permet de contrôler avec précision le placement et l’orientation du matériau. Cette construction monobloc donne naissance à une aile portante qui résiste de façon homogène à la déformation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bmbYgGePnU READ MORE

SAIL WASHING 101 Everything You Need to Know About Sail Washing by Our Team of Certified Service Professionals We often get the question: ‘how do I clean my sails’ and ‘how do I make my sails look like new again’. Our answer, without fail, is to have your sails washed. The benefits to sail washing are exponential and bring new life into your sails after years on the water. The three main benefits to sail washing are: Brightness Cleaner Sail Life Extension Sails always come out of sail washing brighter, looking like a new sail due to the solution used. The sail itself is cleaner as the dirt is removed during the soaking process. As a result, the life of your sail is extended because you're getting rid of any mold or mildew therefore it does not rot the sail. The process itself is pretty simple and takes about a week to complete from start to finish. When sails come in we soak them in a highly concentrated formula overnight and then spray them down to remove any final bits of dirt. Once this is complete we hang the sails to dry for 2-3 days before completing our 10 point inspection. In addition to sails, we also have the ability to wash canvas! Anything from dodgers to biminis to wheel covers - we do it all. Pricing is based on the square footage of your sail, which we measure the luff and foot to calculate. Included with every sail washing is FREE winter storage in our climate controlled facility. Let's Recap! What does it remove? Bugs Dirt Salt Everything except oil stains Mold & mildew Can you wash 3Di? Yes. Like anything that is in contact with salt water, 3Di sails can be rinsed with fresh water and dried before storing. What material can be washed? Dacron Canvas How does pricing work? Square footage of the sail Luff x foot Explore more services offered by your local Certified Service team! READ MORE

WHO WE ARE: ROSS BAILEY Get To Know Your Local Sales Expert How long have you been sailing and what boats do you race now? I sail a Lightning, and I’m pretty sure Thunder Bay has the best dinghy one design racing in Canada. I’ve sailed since I was a kid but really started crewing when I was 13. When my Dad sold his boat, part of the deal was I would crew for the new owner. After several years crewing, I built a Lightning, raced it, and have since bought many more Lightnings and other dinghies, including Lasers and Laser 2’s. I would sail whatever was competitive within driving distance, or beyond. Although I’ve sailed a fair number of keelboats, I’m pretty much a dinghy sailor, and have sailed in Lightnings, Albacores, Lasers, Laser 2’s, 505’s. Whatever fleet was strong in the area. And of course DN’s in the winter. What got you into the marine industry? Sailing is a pretty neat sport, although sometimes it strikes me a person needs a certain bent to enjoy it. It is fun to spread the word and foster this all encompassing lifestyle. How long have you been working in the industry? I actually owned a sailing store for 11 years starting in 1981. We sold everything from split rings to C&C yachts as well as repairing scratches on up to Awlgripping large yachts. As big box store hours became necessary, we took an opportunity to sell the business. Since then sailing has been just for fun, and still is. What’s your favourite thing about sailing? Letting the boat sail to its potential while correctly anticipating what the wind will do next is hard to beat. If you can do this a little better than the guy beside you, that’s nice too. READ MORE

45,000 MILES OF EXTREME TESTING The North Sails Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 Debrief 📸DongFeng Race Team / Volvo Ocean Race The Volvo Ocean Race has long been considered a proving ground for the best offshore sailors in the world. And for the industry-leading marine companies who supply the equipment on the VO65 race boats, this race is where they get pushed the hardest to find solutions for the extreme conditions crews encounter. Such is the case for North Sails, which designed, built, and maintained the one design sail inventory for the 2017-18 fleet. “This is the toughest race in the world, where fully professional crews push the boats, the rigs, the sails and themselves beyond what was considered to be the limit,” says North Sails President Ken Read, a skipper in two previous editions of the race. “And it’s not just for a day or two or a few hundred miles, it’s all the way around the world, over eight months of racing.” “For us here at North Sails, there really isn’t a better way to test ourselves. This pushes all of us to stay at the top of our game.” The intensity of the racing, especially in a one design class like the VO65, makes an event like the Volvo Ocean Race a perfect feedback loop on sail design, engineering, and manufacturing process for North Sails. This edition of the race allowed more feedback than ever before, partly because of the increased use of drone video, which was sent directly off the boats by independent On Board Reporters, who weren’t being censored by the teams. “From all the footage, we learned early in this race just how hard these guys and girls are trying to destroy our sails,” Read said, only half-jokingly. “It turned out to be really valuable to see how they sail the boat in real-life racing conditions, compared to what we hear during debriefs during the stopovers. Getting a better understanding of the real use allows us to think about where we can make improvements that will have a positive impact.” Gautier Sergent was the head of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 project for North Sails. He managed the design and build process, in order to supply the fleet with identical suits of sails, and then oversaw the event-supplied maintenance provider, The BoatYard, at each stopover. “We try to prepare the sails so they will stand up to everything they will encounter, but I’ll admit, that despite this being my fifth Volvo Ocean Race, I was a little surprised when I saw some of the footage,” he said. “There were a few moments when you say, ‘Oh God… This is what they’re really doing out there.’ I think of it as the expected, unexpected moments.” Use and abuse of the sails comes with the territory when professionals are gybing along an ice exclusion zone in the Southern Ocean, but this race also saw the crews use the sail inventory in unexpected ways. One technique the teams discovered between the design of the sail plan and the first legs of the race was to sail ‘triple-headed’, sailing slightly tighter angles downwind and flying the Code 0, J2 and J3, instead of a newly designed A3. “The intention,” Sergent said, “based on what we heard from the sailors after the last race, was to increase the range of the new A3, which would allow them to sail slightly higher and to carry it in stronger winds. The complaint in the last race was that it was too much of a strictly downwind, VMG sail. So we wanted to make something more versatile.” But in training, some of the teams discovered the more efficient triple-headed configuration, which offered a similar sail area with a much lower center of effort. The technique spread like wildfire through the fleet. “We spent a lot of time testing before the race started with team AkzoNobel,” said Charlie Enright, the skipper of Vestas 11th Hour Racing and a North Sails expert. “The results were fairly conclusive. You saw the two of us sailing like that out of the start in Alicante and we were one-two in that leg pretty quickly. And that was it for the A3… maybe we should have kept our powder dry a little bit longer!” 📸Desafio / Volvo Ocean Race Charles Caudrelier, the skipper of the winning Dongfeng Race Team, confirmed there was a lot of watching the opposition and learning from the others in the fleet. “After the first leg, everybody realized that Vestas 11th Hour Racing and AkzoNobel were much faster using the Masthead 0 and by Leg 2, everybody started to sail like this and we never tried the A3 again!” For Read, the saga of the discarded A3 was further confirmation of what he’s long known – good sailors still figure out how to trump computer modeling predictions. “We designed that sail based on the feedback from the previous race and everybody tested it and they loved it,” Read said. “Everyone went into the race thinking the A3 would be a huge part of the sail inventory. Then, as it turned out, they never used it!” “What happened is, the sailors figured out a way to sail the boat completely differently from the way anyone imagined. That’s where creative sailors always win. And even though it was an option they all wanted, they essentially made a new sail obsolete just by figuring out a better way to race the boat faster with the rest of the sails. And that technique and thinking is going to trickle down through other fleets too.” That wasn’t the only learning in the 2017-2018 race. The new J0 was designed to limit the number of sail changes needed upwind and to enhance fast reaching, where it outperformed expectations. Yet it was not the pick in the quiver for pure upwind VMG sailing. Perhaps the biggest success was just how structurally reliable the sail wardrobe was across the fleet. With seven boats racing 45,000 nautical miles around the world, there were no failures that could be attributed to the supplied inventory. 📸 Vestas 11th Hour Racing / Volvo Ocean Race “I think it can be easy to overlook what happened here,” Enright said. “When you don’t hear about something, in this case, it’s a measure of success. There’s a lot of assumed resilience at this stage, which is a bit of tribute really. “Most of the sails were carried much further up-range from what they were structurally intended to be and as the race wore on, it became obvious that if you wanted to rise to the top, you really had to push the gear and the sails were no different. And yet, across the fleet, there were no problems. You just never had to worry about it.” It’s even more impressive considering that the most recent inventory was built with 3Di RAW, not the 3Di Endurance product that was used for the 2014-15 race. By discarding the outer polyester film on both sides of the sail, there was a considerable weight saving; mainsails were a full 8 kilograms lighter. The sailors appreciated both the weight saving and the durability; they could focus on pushing hard, rather than protecting their limited sail allocation. “With the 3Di RAW sails, we thought they would stand up to whatever we would see,” Caudrelier noted. “We didn’t worry about breaking the sails, but when we started the race we wanted to preserve the shape. The potential for damage is usually highest when we peel to make a sail change. The original idea was always to bear away and take care for every peel. But the race was so close that we almost never did this and I’m sure some of the other teams did it even less than we did. Even so, we knew we could trust the sails.” “For our part we were confident that the 3Di RAW sails would survive for the race,” Sergent said. “We had used them in IMOCA before, and even though those boats aren’t pushed as hard as the Volvo Ocean Race boats, we felt the sails would hold up fine.” The IMOCA reference is timely, as the next round-the-world crewed race will feature two classes: the high-performance, dynamic, foiling IMOCA 60s as well as the one-design VO65s that have provided such close racing over the past two editions. The move to IMOCA means the sailmaking design space is open once again. For Sergent, it’s a welcome challenge. “As a company, North Sails is all about innovation and development and we think we do a better job when we can really show the potential of our expertise, our knowledge, and our tools.” “We’re already starting to work on a bit of a starter package for our designers and customers,” Sergent continued.”We’ve brought together our in-house experts in the IMOCA and Volvo Ocean Race and we’ve hired Rob Greenhalgh (MAPFRE watch captain) and Charlie Enright to bring some recent, relevant sailing experience to our team. “We’ve won every edition of the Volvo Ocean Race (since 2001-02) and been the one design sailmaker for the last two editions of the race, and in IMOCA, boats with our sails have won the last two Vendée Globe races so we think we’re in a unique position.” 📸Volvo Ocean Race “It’s exciting and it’s going to be a big challenge,” agreed Read. “We’ve been working with IMOCA 60s for a long time and we’ve had amazing success. We feel like with our people we have the design and engineering expertise, the software and the hardware to produce a winning package for a foiling 60-footer.” “At the same time, I feel like this is going to be one of those campaigns where you start the race saying, ‘this is my plan’ and you finish the race using the equipment completely differently to what was anticipated. So we have to stay agile. “Don’t underestimate it. This is a big jump. These are speeds that no one has imagined before for an offshore monohull. There will probably be sail geometries that nobody has considered before this.” “It’s a brave new world and it’s not going to be easy. But because of our experience in the last couple America’s Cup campaigns putting sails on those foiling catamarans and now working with three of the four Cup teams this time around, I think we have the right people and that our software has evolved and adapted well to meet the challenge.” If the past is anything to go by, that’s a safe bet. 📸 Volvo Ocean Race 📸Turn The Tide On Plastic / Volvo Ocean Race   READ MORE

Keith "KC" Church Joins North Sails Chicago Strengthening the Midwest with Experience and Enthusiasm (Chicago, IL) October 23rd, 2018. North Sails is pleased to announce that Keith "KC" Church has joined the Chicago team and will work alongside Perry Lewis and Allan Terhune. KC has over 40 years of industry, and on-the-water experience to bring to his new role; most recently, he established the Quantum Sails Chicago loft. "Having sold against KC for the last several years," said Perry Lewis, North Sails Chicago Loft Manager, "I am obviously pleased to have him 'on our side.' He is universally well-liked, and it is a real treat to have new enthusiasm in our office. I am confident North Sails customers will benefit from Keith's expertise." Commenting on his new role, KC said, "What excites me the most about working with Perry Lewis and the incomparable North Sails team in Chicago is seeing customers enjoy greater success with their boats every day. Whether they're preparing for a life-changing experience offshore, or moving up in position within their racing fleet, I'm looking forward to being able to offer my customers more opportunity and help them enjoy their time on the water." KC has been an avid sailor since childhood and is a veteran of the Chicago-Mackinac Race on a variety of boats, ranging in size from a J/29 to GL70. He still cruises and races on the East Coast and Great Lakes. KC can be contacted at Keith.Church@northsails.com or by contacting North Sails Chicago. READ MORE

IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT RACING Classic Yacht Flying Fish fits out with North Sails to compliment their refit Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of supplying some new sails to Flying Fish in West Cork, Ireland. Flying Fish has undergone a major refit in the very capable hands of Rui Ferreira at West Cork Boat. The boat owner was keen to retain the Classic look in his sails, as well as having a boat that sails fast.That was why he chose North Sails from our Classic division. Short video from the Flying Fish sail trials Classic yachts are a window to the past. Classic yacht sails add to the traditional look and beauty of a bygone era, which appeals to any sailor. Classic yacht owners and crew are caretakers of each yacht’s unique history, and coupled with their respect for tradition is a competitive spirit that is seen in classic yacht racing around the world. Discerning owners vie for honors in both performance and elegance. North Sails celebrates these classic yachts with a dedicated range of products and a team of experts. Our Classic experts combine elegance and innovation with their modern approach to traditional sails.Because Classic sails are limited by their use of materials, improvement comes through better sail shape and construction. Intricate rigs and rigging make Classic sails more complex to build. In order to better understand how a sail will fit the rig geometry, our specialized Classic sail designers use the North Design Suite to create 3D models of an entire yacht, producing improved performance, while respecting the Classic aesthetic. Each Classic yacht has its own story. By combining modern design innovation with historical research, we are able to reproduce the unique look of each yacht. READ MORE

NEW TEAM MEMBERS North Sails are pleased to welcome Stephen 'Rowdy' McCullum and One-Design specialist Jeremy O'Connell. North Sails welcomes Jeremy O’Connell to our team, as a member of the Melbourne Loft’s Sales and Service Team working with Aaron Cole and Ian Johnson. Jeremy comes from a background in One-Design sailing, having spent the last 6 years as a member of the Australian Sailing Squad competing in the Laser. During this time he has worked with some of the world’s best laser sailors and coaches including Tom Burton and Michael Blackburn. Jeremy has competed in 5 Laser World Championships, and many other Sailing World Cup events around the world. Aside from Laser sailing, Jeremy has experience in Etchells, Farr 40’s, Melges 32, Sydney 38, and J111 classes. Jeremy says: “I’m excited and honoured to be working with the best sail making company in the world”. He will be at the Etchell Worlds in October, and following that will be racing at Sandringham, Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, and Royal Victoria Yacht Club over the Summer. You can reach Jeremy at the loft in Melbourne or by email: jeremy.oconnell@northsails.com Saturday, 25 August 2018, was a significant day for prominent Hobart yachtsmen Stephen 'Rowdy' McCullum and Stewart Gray, and for worldwide sail makers, North Sails. McCullum has joined Gray as principals of 42ºSouth Marine which operates the Hobart loft of North Sales at Cambridge, (above Lewis Marine), combining their vast yachting, sail-making and business experience. In fact, when it comes to counting up sailing experience and expertise in the marine industry, in particular sail-making, it's hard to go past 'Rowdy' and Stewart. It's a combination that seems certain to benefit Tasmanian sailing, bringing the latest technology in making sails for types of boats, off-the-beach dinghies, one-design keelboats, ocean racers and cruising yachts. North Sails continue to be heavily involved in the America's Cup, the Volvo Race and international one-design yacht racing and are noted for ground-breaking design and sail construction technology, including the creation of 3Di™ moulded sails, claimed to be the world's fastest and most durable sails, for racing and cruising. Both 'Rowdy' and Stewart began their working lives as sail-making apprentices in Hobart and soon became involved in International racing campaigns that took them overseas for further design and sail-making projects, as well as expanding their sailing careers, mostly in maxis and America's Cup contenders. "As a sailmaker I later worked with Grant Simmer on America's Cup campaigns and with the late Graeme 'Frizzle' Freeman sailing on Windward Passage II," 'Rowdy' said on the eve of their commercial partnership coming into force yesterday, "The Windward Passage campaign took 'Frizzle' and myself to Europe and the USA to work with the Italian America's Cup challenge before returning to Tasmania to join Bob Clifford with the maxi ketch Tasmania which took line honours in the 50th Sydney Hobart," Rowdy added. McCullum, who is vice commodore of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, has competed as a key crew member including watch captain and sailing master, in 22 Sydney Hobarts Stewart Gray returned to Hobart six years ago after being involved as a professional yachtsman and sailmaker in two America's Cup campaigns and three Volvo Ocean Races. He also won two World Championships in Maxis and TP52's. "And like Rowdy, I did my apprenticeship as a sailmaker, but with Ian Ross at Hood Sails in Sandy Bay," he said. Back in Tasmania, I've owned my own business, 42ºSouth Marine, for the past six years, setting up the loft as a North Sails agency where we supply racing or cruising sails for anything from Optimists to maxi yachts. However, a big part of our business is making sail covers, canvas's and powerboat clears," Gray added. "By joining forces and combining our sailing and sail-making expertise, we plan to develop the business in line with the expansion of the sport of yachting, both in cruising and racing keelboats and in dinghy classes in Tasmania," McCullum said. "We will be in a greater position to not only supply a quality product, but to give an even greater level of advice and customer services to all areas of the marine industry," said Gray, expressing great confidence in the new partnership. North Sails, through its Worldwide resources and expertise can provide yacht owners with everything from cross cut dacron sails built from our in-house milled dacrons, through to 3Di™ sails. "3Di™ is the only sail like it on the market, it is stronger, lighter and more resistant to environmental factors than laminate string sails and we couldn't be more excited to bring it to the local market", emphasised Gray and McCullum. Written by Peter Campbell READ MORE

J/109 North Americans Interview Growth Spurt Wins the Corinthian Title and Second Overall Larchmont Yacht Club hosted the 2018 J/109 North Americans, with twenty teams in attendance. We caught up with John Greifzu, owner-driver of Growth Spurt, who won the Corinthian title and finished second overall. John, congratulations on a great event! A pretty windy regatta. Any lessons in trim or technique from what you were accustomed to doing upwind? Downwind? No kidding. With the big breeze, we kept our starts simple and talked a lot about our maneuvers to minimize potential surprises. Upwind, once we were able to achieve the right amount of twist in the sails, we found the speed we needed. Downwind, it was about sailing low and staying in control. Crew weight placement became even more important. What kind of rig tensions were you setting up for the breeze on Friday? Friday was our best day. The North tuning guide was a great start for rig tension. But when we tried going upwind, we realized the rig needed to be tighter. We put additional turns on the cap shrouds and D1s until the helm was balanced. The first upwind leg for each of Friday’s three races was really the key to making gains on the day. We were going fast-forward while other boats were going sideways, as they were overpowered and not flat. The first top mark looked like a traffic jam most races. How did you manage to escape? We approached the windward mark with a plan, and picked our spots to be aggressive. After giving away a podium spot at the American YC Fall Regatta with one bad decision at a windward mark, we were determined not to do that again. We saw some boats using Tackline Drops, others preferring Jibe Drops and Weather Drops, and a couple using Strings. What was your preferred spinnaker drop? Any lessons to share from that? We did not favor any certain spinnaker drop technique. We practiced them all going into the regatta, so our tactical options were always open. To be honest, with that many good boats on the course, we didn’t know what kind of takedown would be needed until we were close to the leeward gate. Which sails did you use? How were you feeling with the new HAi-7 jib from North? Our main was a North 3Di RAW from 2017. Going into the regatta it had 26 race days on it, and was still fast. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we used the new HAi-7 jib. It worked well in as little as 9-knots TWS and up through the range of gusts we saw on Friday. On Sunday, we used a 3DL AP jib from 2017 and that powered us in the lighter stuff. We also used the new A2-3 spinnaker for most races. “Growth Spurt in about 20 knots of wind with the top of the main inverted, the bottom of the main working, and an appropriate angle of heel. An example of fast trim in heavy air ”, said North U expert Bill Gladstone. Who sailed with you? How did the team prepare for the NAs? We had an amazing group of Corinthian sailors who have put in a lot of time on the boat. Our official tune up was the American YC Fall Series, but I have logged a lot of miles with this team. Two of the guys, Richard Born and Joe Quick, I have been sailing with since our days at Tulane in the early 2000s. Rich trimmed jib and Joe handled pit on Thursday. The other crew members joined our program at various times since I bought the boat for the 2016 season. Michelle Miltenberger was amazing on mast and bow assist, and Chris Mangieri, who I met on another J/109, was all over the boat helping with jib and spinnaker trim. Malcolm Kriegel, a recent Tulane alum from New York, has been sailing with us for three years and he trimmed spinnaker. I met our bowman, John Hughes, when he was assigned to my boat for the Storm Trysail Foundation Intercollegiate Regatta a couple years ago. Ellen Quinn started racing with us last year and even moved work flights around to make it in time to run pit Friday through Sunday. Jon Singsen started sailing with us this year. He trimmed main and called great tactics. Congratulations Team Growth Spurt What’s next for Growth Spurt? This NA’s was our last event for the season, but we’re already talking about 2019! The initial schedule will have Block Island Race Week, the J/109 North Americans in New Bedford, and other one design events in Newport and Long Island Sound. Placing second and winning the Corinthian North American Championship was great, but we’re looking forward to mixing it up again with our friends on Loki (three-time North American champion). © Howie McMichael READ MORE

Development of 3Di began ten years ago and has continued at a rapid and accelerating pace ever since. 3Di is the sum of multiple technologies exclusive to North Sails, making it the ideal platform for creating new types of sails for a wide range of boats—from small boats to superyachts—around the world. For 2019, the unprecedented performance and longevity advantages of 3Di are available to everyone: family cruisers to circumnavigators, and club racers to pro sailors. The Pure Performance, Boatspeed Benchmark 3Di RAW is the highest performance, lightest weight race sail on the market, setting a new benchmark for speed and shapeholding. Boats with 3Di RAW sails absolutely command podiums worldwide in the most competitive events and classes. For 2019, North has applied this advanced technology to a new product tier combining 3Di’s signature shape holding with an easy to read, easy to trim, and notably long-life racing sail that is perfect for Club Race sailors with smaller boats. Around the World or Around the Race Course The most rugged 3Di sail available, 3Di Endurance is engineered for extreme durability and shape holding whether racing or offshore cruising. François Gabart’s 3Di Endurance mainsail already had 45,000 miles on it BEFORE he set off on his successful Around The World Solo Record. This range of 3Di products feature highly protective outer filament tapes, creating a tough structure while retaining the exclusive shape stability of 3Di. A New Class Of Superyacht Cruising Sails New for 2019, Ocean provides high strength, reduced weight, and supreme reliability for cruising superyachts. Everything North Sails has learned as the preeminent builder of superyacht sails for more than three decades has been combined with current state of the art 3Di technology. Serious cruising yachts over 60 feet can now benefit from the proprietary blend of materials and exclusive engineering of 3Di Ocean. These sails are lighter, tougher and and easier to handle than any string sail counterpart. The Dacron Cruising Sail Reinvented Throughout 2018, 3Di NORDAC – a 100% polyester 3Di sail – has created a cruising revolution. 3Di NORDAC was named a Pittman Innovation Award winner by SAIL Magazine, and over 2500 3Di NORDAC sails have been delivered to glowing reviews from our customers. For 2019 our 3Di production capacity has been increased to meet demand for this innovative and exceptional product ideally suited to small to mid size cruising boats. All sailors want faster sails that last longer. 3Di NORDAC delivers. 3Di Composite Sailmaking for Fast Code Sails The myriad benefits of 3Di now extend beyond upwind inventories and are available to sailors looking for state of the art asymmetric sails. 3Di Downwind proved its value during the recent Volvo Ocean Race where all sails, upwind and down, were 3Di (no more need to carry sewing machines onboard!). Cable Free Furling is now possible with our unique Helix Luff, where directly integrated 3Di structure eliminates the need for a separate, inefficient, cable. READ MORE

COASTAL CLASSIC RACE - NORTH SAILS BRIEFING Top Tips from the North Sails Team for this Years Coastal Classic Race When it comes to the Coastal Classic, New Zealand’s most iconic race, the North Sails team have done it - and won it. With more than 100 Coastal Races between them, we asked the sales and loft team for their top tips on how to make the most out of the dash up the coast, no matter which division you’re in. Andrew Wills, Sales and Marketing Manager Keep up the communication in the build-up to the race. We talk on the phone among the key crew the week before the start, looking at how the weather’s shaping up and what our strategy might be, what course would be best and what sails we think we might use. On the day of the race, share your thoughts with the whole crew, so everyone knows the plan. Concentrate on getting the best possible start, it’s a 120 mile race, but the start is critical. Get out there early and get your transits sorted, then do a few runs through the line to work out where you want to start. This is especially critical for a downwind start because you need to work out which sail you are going to be able to carry and where that line is going to take you into that first gybe by North Head. If you’re in a smaller boat, position yourself to windward of the bigger boats around you so you don’t immediately get rolled. As you head up the coast, keep eyes out of the boat. Conditions are always changing and you need to know what’s going on around you. There’s nothing worse than sailing yourself into a hole. The crew on the rail can make a big contribution, keeping an eye out for wind and sea conditions and watching what other boats are up to. Matt Kelway, Sales Break the race into four parts and think about the expected weather, tides and sail changes and approach into the next segment for each. It’s a very dynamic coastline, so you need to be thinking ahead. Think about: Exiting Auckland - start line to Kawau Island Kawau Island to Sail Rock/Hen and Chickens. Make a decision early about going inside or outside the Hen and Chickens. Setting up your approach to Cape Brett. Do you want to come in close or from out wide? Cape Brett to the finish. Quite often there’s totally different breeze inside the Bay to what you had up the coast. Make sure you are pushing the boat 100 per cent of the time. This race is an awkward length - not a day race for most crews, but not long enough to go into a full watch system. Your speed team, the trimmers and drivers need to be on their A game the whole time. Be prepared for the evening. Before it gets dark, check your halyards and sheets are all clear, get any sails you might need ready, and have torches and headlamps handy. Ben Costello, Service Manager Have your positions on the boat clearly sorted before the start. For manoeuvres, have everyone in a set position so it’s clear who’s doing what. No one can drive or trim the whole way, so make sure you rotate your helm and trimmers at least every couple of hours. It’s too easy to steer for too long, so make sure you change before you lose concentration. Don’t swap everyone at once, let the new helmsperson get settled before changing the trimmers. Matt Steven, Sales Decide before the start on a default strategy based on weather and tides, like heading offshore, hedging the west or protecting a side of the course. If you need to make a decision while racing and you are unsure what to do, or if the team is divided, default to the strategy. Before changing drivers, have the new helm sit with the person who is steering for a while, talking through what’s been happening and what angles and speeds they have been sailing, so there is a smooth transition. Richard Bicknell, General Manager Make a plan before you get to Bream Bay and the Hen and Chickens, so you don’t end up in no man’s land, too high or too low. Think about wind speed and angles and decide whether to take the longer route outside - which might be faster, depending on conditions - or sail less distance inside. If you need a rest, take short breaks rather than long ones and keep your head in the race. Stay hydrated and remember to eat, it’s more than a sprint, so you don’t want to fade away. Guy Hewson, Production Manager Always be aware of what the next sail change might be. Have your sails stacked accordingly and have sheets ready to go. Make sure all your sails are in good condition and have been serviced before the race, so you have all your options ready to go if you need them. To everyone racing, good luck! READ MORE

DREW DOES IT AGAIN Pacific Yankee Team Wins Second Consecutive Worlds 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League Drew Freides, Morgan Reeser, and Charlie Smythe have added themselves to the #NSVictoryList once again by winning the 2018 Melges 20 World Championship in Cagliari, Italy. A bullet in the final race moved them ahead of Brontolo Racing, securing the regatta win for these defending champions. We caught up with Drew after he returned from Cagliari and he had a lot to say about how he got to where he is now. “I’d be missing something if I didn’t thank North Sails because Tim Healy, Per Andersson, Vince Brun, and the One Design team have just been great. We would never have done what we did without their help along the way.” : Morgan Reeser, Drew Freides, and Charlie Smythe with Coach Ed Adams. 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League“We owe a lot of our success to our coaches, too. Vince Brun was all about boat setup, Ed Adams was our weather and current guide, and having them both was really helpful. Ed also helped us with strategy and how that relates to how we sail, making him a great benefactor to our team.” According to Drew, it all came down to the last jibe on the final downwind leg. “We were in second and we needed to put one point between us and Russian Bogartys. Meanwhile the Italians on Brontolo Racing were coming in strong so we had to keep passing boats. We jibed on the Russians coming into the finish line to move from second to first, a call made by our tactician Morgan Reeser. It was a last minute call, and Charlie wasn’t 100% ready but pulled it off; unfortunately it all happened so fast, Morgan got caught behind Charlie’s elbow. So in the end, the only thing we lost was Morgan’s nose.” Blood and sweat paid off in the end. “In this fleet,” Drew continued, “you have to have the ability to dig back. It’s one thing to win a world championship, but it’s much harder to defend it because you’re in the spotlight and everybody is looking at everything you do and trying to match it.” 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League Asked what he likes about the Melges 20, Drew commented, “There is just no boat out there like the Melges 20. It sails like a skiff-dinghy. It takes about 12 knots to get on a full plane and just rip! Also they have really complicated rigs and there’s a lot of nuance to the rig setup. Thanks to Vince and everybody, we really had our settings down.” Drew also likes the need for constant improvement. “The competition keeps you on your toes. We’ve been doing everything we can, trying to develop the 3Di Sails with our North Sails experts, and it worked well. Our competition is close behind though, so we still have to keep pushing. Personally, I never feel like I am good enough.” 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League With sail purchases limited by year and activity level, sail selection is very important. “You want to have the best options. You start the season out with three sails, then after you’ve competed in four events, you get one additional button. Then you are permitted only two more for the Worlds.” Drew wanted to keep his options open, so he waited to pull the trigger on getting his sails measured in until he was 100% sure. 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League Brontolo Racing started the season with using the new Mi-2 3Di mainsail, so Drew matched them. He felt going into the worlds 100% matched to his prime competition would make it a fair match. Regardless of the match, he is pleased with 3Di and how it adds to the program. “We can honestly say we love 3Di. You can definitely see they last much longer, and that shape will hold and never fail. It never distorts, it looks perfect, and sets up like a wing. It’s phenomenal.” “No matter what, we can hang with the front of the pack upwind. As soon as we round the top mark we rely on our speed, which is unbelievably fast. Downwind we use the standard Melges 20 models: the R2 Runner and V4-2R Reacher. Some of our competitors think we use something special, but it’s just the standard inventory available to everyone.” 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League Drew has been sailing with the same team for a couple of seasons now and is proud of his program. “My motto has always been if you surround yourself with the best people, it gets a lot easier. We have the best team. We’ve got a good dynamic in the boat. We understand where the rig should be in any given wind conditions. From there, we go sailing and focus on sailing, not on anything else.” 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League “North Sails is good at making sails. They want to create the best products for everyone. I love the company and I believe the sail technology far exceeds the rest, by far. With all the support we’ve received, it’s made a huge difference and has made this massive commitment a lot of fun.” 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League 📸 Mauro Melandri / Zerogradinord / Melges 20 World League Full results READ MORE

Udviklingen af 3Di begyndte for ti år siden og er fortsat i et hurtigt og accelererende tempo siden da. 3Di er summen af flere af North Sails egne teknologier, hvilket gør det til den ideelle platform for at skabe nye typer sejl til en bred vifte af sejlere rundt om i verden. Fordelene ved 3Di med hidtil usete præstationer og lang levetid er nu i 2019 til rådighed for såvel mindre både til superyachter, tursejlere til jordomsejlere og de lokale kapsejlere til de professionelle. Rendyrket performance, når bådfarten tæller 3Di RAW er det kapsejladssejl på markedet med højeste ydeevne og letteste vægt, der sætter nye standarder for fart og formstabilitet. Både med 3Di RAW dominerer podierne over hele verden i de mest konkurrenceprægede sejladser og klasser. Til sæson 2019 har North Sails anvendt denne avancerede teknologi til en ny produktgruppe, målrettet de mindre både, der sejler kapsejlads på klubniveau. Produktgruppen kombinerer 3Di’ signifikante formstabilitet med det, at sejlet er nemt og trimme, og den lange levetid. Rundt om jorden eller kapsejlads på fjorden Den mest robuste 3Di sejl til rådighed, 3Di Endurance er konstrueret med ekstrem holdbarhed og formstabilitet for øje, der holder uanset om det er kapsejlads eller offshore sejlads. François Gabarts 3Di Endurance storsejl havde allerede sejlet 45.000 sømil, før han startede med det på sin succesrige Around The World Solo Record. Denne gruppe 3Di-produkter har et ydre med meget beskyttende filamenttape, der skaber en hård struktur, samtidig med at 3Di sejlet beholder sin enestående formstabilitet. En ny gruppe af tursejl til superyachts Ny produktgruppe i 2019 er Ocean. Tursejl, der giver høj styrke, reduceret vægt og højeste pålidelighed til superyachts. Alt det North Sails har lært i mere end tre årtier som den førende producent af superyacht-sejl er blevet kombineret med den nuværende topmoderne 3Di-teknologi. Turbåde over 60 fod kan nu drage fordel af North Sails unikke blanding af materialer og eksklusiv teknik i 3Di Ocean. Disse sejl er uden sidestykke, lettere, mere holdbare og og nemmere at håndtere end nogen laminatsejl. Dacron tursejlet - genopfundet via 3Di-teknologien I løbet af 2018 har 3Di NORDAC - et 100% polyester 3Di sejl - skabt en tursejler revolution. 3Di Nordac blev hædret med Pittman Innovation Award af SAIL Magazine, og over 2.500 3Di NORDAC sejl er blevet leveret til fremragende anmeldelser fra vores kunder. I 2019 er vores 3Di produktionskapacitet blevet øget for at imødekomme efterspørgslen efter dette innovative og ekstraordinære produkt, der er ideelt til mindre og mellemstore turbåde. Alle sejlere ønsker hurtigere sejl, der holder længere. 3Di NORDAC leverer. 3Di komposit-teknologi til hurtige codesejl De mange fordele ved 3Di strækker sig nu ud over krydssejl, og er nu tilgængelige for sejlere, der kigger efter det ypperste asymmetriske sejl. 3Di Downwind viste sin værdi under det seneste Volvo Ocean Race, hvor alle sejl til både kryds og læns, var 3Di (ikke mere brug for at have symaskiner om bord!). Kabelfri furling-sejl er nu muligt med vores unikke Helix Luff, hvor den direkte integrerede 3Di-struktur eliminerer behovet for et separat ineffektivt kabel. READ MORE

J/24 NATIONALS: MANAGING STRONG CURRENTS & LIGHT AIR Class Veteran Robby Brown Shares His Top Secrets © Chris Howell The 2018 J/24 US Nationals were hosted by the Portland Yacht Club in Casco Bay. We caught up with Robby Brown, skipper of the winning team Angel of Harlem for some insights: You have been sailing J/24s for years on and off, can you tell us a little about yourself, how you got into the class and what keeps you coming back? I have been in the J/24 class since the Mid 80’s. I began sailing J/24s regularly around 1995. While I sail in multiple classes, I love the competitive nature of the J/24 class and its relative affordability of keeping a World Class boat going. Over the years, the class has always offered top level competition, that’s the biggest reason that keeps me coming back. Combined with the great atmosphere of the competitors and the class, I have always enjoyed my time spent campaigning the J/24. Who crewed for you at the Nationals and how long have you all been racing together? We have been working hard to put together a World Class team in advance of the Worlds in Miami. We are sailing together more regularly with team consistency than we have ever been able to manage in the past. Our team consists of a group of sailors whose lives have been connected for many, many years as sailors that enjoy sailing together. The biggest factor gluing the team together at this point is my partner Mark Liebel. Mark and I are full partners in our pursuit of a top finish at the 2019 Worlds. We began sailing together nearly 15 years ago when I first moved to the Tampa Bay area. Over the years, we have developed a great friendship and ability to work together based on trust and truly enjoying working together in pursuit of team goals. Ron Hyatt has been my most steady contributor with his rock solid bow work. He and I have been regularly sailing together for 15 years as well. Ron is a huge contributor in every aspect of campaigning the boat. He will help with deliveries and is always working hard on the dock to insure that we are prepared for a championship outcome. Arthur Blodgett has developed into a huge asset in the trimming position and has been able to find the time to join us on a fairly regular basis ever since he graduated from college sailing as an award winning sailor. He was my best sailor when I was the collegiate coach at Eckerd College. We have been working together for almost 10 years. Brian Simpkins was our fifth for the Nationals. He was new to the team but nevertheless a key to team success. Brian and Mark have been sailing together for many years, and I can’t say enough good things about the job he did stepping right in and making a huge contribution to our team success. We are definitely hoping he will join us some more in the future as a regular part of the team. There is a fair amount of current where the Nationals were sailed this year, how did you figure it out so quickly? Mark and I have sailed at the venue in the past and Arthur is from the area. We knew enough to have great respect for the need to figure out the current. We are all experienced at figuring out new venues. I am a high school sailing coach who regularly faces new venues with my teams. Mark is active in many classes and is diligent in his contributions to insure we have a good plan for the venue we are sailing in. In the end, I feel we did more homework on a daily basis than the competition, being able to process this information to insure success. Here’s what we did: We were determined to be the first boat off the dock, sailing the course area and examining trends and identifying course-specific opportunities to make gains. We were checking current all of the way to the course area first thing in the morning. All of the lobster traps were great current tell tails. We sailed both sides of the first beat in the morning to find the strong current. We examine where the water was rougher as an indicator of strong current. We played the ever changing current more than wind shifts. We made start strategies to get to the good current first and it paid. What was your starting game plan against 50 other boats? Hope and pray! This was true to some degree. On the first two races we got caught up in crowds and were flushed at the start. Lesson learned, for the rest of the regatta we started toward the end that we liked, with a priority of staying away from the crowded areas. We would start just to one side or the other of the crowded area and still be as close as possible to where we wanted to be. With some good fortune, we had some great luck with starts in the last three races and were able to dig ourselves out and salvage the best possible finishes. Being able to escape the pack, and get out to the lead, we converted our good starts to 2-1-2 finishes, closing our gap to snag the victory. We are constantly applying great focus to insuring we get good starts. The dynamics seem to be ever changing from event to event as far as getting off the line well. We feel that starts are the biggest benefactor of our ability to sail well at the Midwinters, North Americans, and finally the Nationals. Our big fleet start experience is definitely paying off. You seem to have a pretty good light air gear, how did you set up your boat? We definitely thought about this a great deal. We have been honing our speed for years and feel we have a particularly good gear in the light air. While we enjoy good boat speed in all conditions, the things we feel we do better than most in light air are a result of years of tuning, working with our North Team representatives, and living in an area where we get a lot of practice in light air. I noticed we did a couple of things differently than the most: Primarily, we keep our mast butt well aft in the light air conditions. This gives us the forestay sag that we utilize to really keep the boat powered up in light air. We never go below 20/15 on the rig. Rather, we push the mast butt back to get a really full genoa shape. This requires lots of scallops in the luff, as well as putting on backstay a little at times to pull some of the sag if the breeze gets bigger puffs or just picks up a little. We feel we are better pulling a little backstay on than we are if the rig was softer than 20/15. We felt like the puffs were a little too much for our tune. This has proven very successful for us Secondly, we are weight farther forward and down in the boat more than anyone else. Going downwind our spinnaker trimmer is one or two steps up on the cabin house, our tactician is standing on the cabin sole all the way forward in the hatch. Additionally our bow person and mast person go below and the mast person shifts from port to starboard side to balance the boat right up against the bulkhead and the bow person is in front of the bulkhead. I truly feel this was our secret to really superior downwind speed. We also had our fifth below upwind when it was very light. If he’s not hiking on deck, he is below against the bulkhead, What sail designs do you use and why? All of the North products are superior. Our choice for more years than I can count are Newport Upwind (Fat Head Mainsail, DX-7TT Genoa) and San Diego downwind (FR-2 Spinnaker). Rather than switching around between designs, we feel we have been able to get tremendous performance from these sails by sticking with the designs and honing our tuning of these sails over these many years. Others have had great success with the many good product offerings available from North. We have been tempted to try something different a few times over the years, but we are always rewarded by our “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality. This has allowed us to develop our tuning model to a better than most performance through consistency. What’s next on your sailing schedule? We have a couple of great regattas on our schedule to close out the year here in Florida. We are preparing for the Southeast Regionals and Districts which will surely bring the best competition to the starting line. From there, we are working toward our best performance at Midwinters at our home Yacht Club, Davis Island. We are planning to sail the St Pete NOODs as a tune up for the Midwinters and are hoping to coordinate tuning opportunities in addition to sailing as many of the major championships next year as possible. We hope to find good regattas in addition to the Nationals in Rochester, maybe some more NOOD regattas or the Newport Regatta. Please reach out to us if you would like to tune at these events. We are always welcoming tuning partners and opportunities. © Chris Howell READ MORE

LOOK INSIDE A LOFT: DETROIT Service Manager Bill Lesnek At Home In A New Location North Sails Detroit’s service manager Bill Lesnek has been building and repairing sails (and kites) in the Detroit metro area since 1980. Recently we caught up with Bill to learn why he’s excited about the new loft, the magic of customer loyalty, and why a small loft is best when it has background support from North Sails. First though, he took us back to 1985, when he met Lowell North while helping the company founder recut a jib for the Mackinac Race. “Lowell had a number three that needed more material in the luff,” Bill explains. “We were doing a new sail, so we cut three feet off that jib and added it to the jib Lowell had—a pretty huge recut. He asked me if I sailed and I said well no, I spent most of my youth playing baseball and football.” At Kenwood Cup in Hawaii the next year, Bill ran into Lowell again. “He says, ‘Oh yeah you're Bill from Detroit, the baseball player.’ He remembered! He is quite a character and real fun to work with.” Bill has worked for other sailmakers since the 1980s, but he always came back to North Sails. “It's the best product on the market for new sails,” he says. “And the service work, it's just a higher level of standards compared to everybody else, you know? North people care a little more, and put a little more heart and soul into what they do.” That’s helped by coordination and communication between different North lofts to help solve problems and deal with backlog. When needed, Bill and his team have gone to other lofts to help out, and they know they can count on having that help when they need it in Detroit. Working collaboratively means sharing best practices, which raises everyone’s skill level. Over the years, Bill has developed a very loyal customer base. “I was born and raised to be honest and truthful with people. A lot of people remember me too, because I've been working on their sails forever. And they know I'm consistent in what I do.” Specialized Loft Space Bill is excited about starting fresh in a new loft space, which he and his team have purpose-built for sailmaking. “We get to do it our way, and we've got this organized really well. It's convenient for us; we're not wandering all over the place. It will make us more productive in the long run.” For sail dropoff and pickup, they built racks right by the door. “You won't have to search all over the building for them,” he says. On the loft floor, they set up a raised table big enough for three sewing machines. “And we have a lower floor where we can spread out sails for 70 footers; we've already got a couple of inventories dropped off already. It's all at machine height, which makes the sewing a lot smoother and nicer.” It also makes for better ergonomics, because workers can perform their jobs without getting beat up. After almost four decades on the floor, Bill says, “Your knees get a little tender. ” For what he calls the “really huge sails,” there’s a section of floor that can be removed. Each sewing machine has its own specialty. “We have a three step machine which is strictly for nylon work. That's a long arm machine, so we can do big sails. We also have two everyday machines for luff tapes and edges and patches, one in the canvas room and one on the main floor. And we have a heavy duty Adler that sews through all the thick layers and webbing.” Keeping those machines running in top notch condition is a high priority, which is why they have a designated maintenance person. “We dealt with over 2000 sails last year, and a busted machine would’ve been a nightmare.” Kite Cult Bill works on smaller items as well. “We have a separate room just for canvas work. Boom covers or genoa socks, we could build that. I also have a cult following of kiteboarders here in the southeast area. Anytime a kite rips, they search me down and get it fixed.” According to Bill, working in a small loft as part of the worldwide North Sails company is the perfect combination. In addition to the Blue Book, which sets standards for manufacturing, there are a lot of avenues to learn from other lofts about best repair practices. “I've been doing it the same way for so long that it's just a reflex,” Bill says, “It's good to learn new procedures and different avenues.” That’s especially important as sail manufacturing evolves, because it makes it easier to keep up with technological improvements. “3Di are beautiful sails and they're durable,” he points out. “We haven't run into too many repair situations with those yet. But I know in the future it'll be nice to say, ‘We have state of the art equipment and we'll repair it to the standards of the company.’ My customers trust what I do, so they'll feel confident getting the service done.” Short Season Detroit’s sailing season is compressed into four months, with July’s two races to Mackinac (Chicago and Port Huron) the summer highlight. Now that boats have started to come out of the water for the winter, the loft’s focus has turned to storage and repairs. “As long as they pay their invoice within the first month, they can have free sail storage for the winter. Customers don’t have to keep them in their basements and by spring time, they're ready to go.” Thanks to the new location, Bill’s team will also be able to wash sails in-house. “We have a section in the back of the building which will be perfect, a nice addition to our business.” After almost four decades, the loft’s seasonality is predictable for Bill. “You get the proactive groups that'll see you in October, and the spring rush guys who are knocking at the door in April. We pretty much know what to expect.” As service manager, he is grateful to have a really strong team in Mike Stark and Karl Kuspa. “Mike and I work really well together. He's got a lot of experience, and we're on the same page. We all get along like a little family over here. Which is the way it should be, you know?” READ MORE

The 2018 Les Voiles de St. Tropez provided participants from with a beautiful week of racing to cap off another successful summer season in the Med. North Sails clients had an excellent showing, placing on the podium across 14 divisions, ranging from modern to classic racing yachts. Les Trophées were awarded to clients and their teams who out-performed within their division. 2018 Les Trophées : Trophée BMW : Wally 77 Lyra – Terry Hui Trophée Edmond de Rothschild (IRC C): Gladiator – Tony Langley Trophée de la Ville de Saint-Tropez : Cannonball – Dario Ferrarri Concours de boules : Lady Jo: Pierre Roinson Trophée Loro Piana : Topaz – Peter Holmberg Trophée Kappa : Flo D’ Orient – Bernard Coquelet Trophée Marines de Cogolin : Alice – Simon Henning Trophée Le Byblos : Kelpie – Olive Pelham Trophée SNSM : Rowdy – Timothy Goodboy Trophée Air France : Elena of London – Steven Mc Laren Trophée Suzuki : Creme Anglaise – John Rainger Congratulations to all of our clients for their excellent performance throughout the week. 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi 📸 Carlo Borlenghi READ MORE

Since 1994, the Wally Class has grown into one of the most elegant and aesthetically pleasing yacht racing fleets. The Wally Class Trophy, equally elegant and donated by North Sails, is awarded to the boat with the most points after four events: Palma Vela, Rolex Giraglia, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup & Maxi Worlds, and Les Voiles de St. Tropez. READ MORE

TWIST EXPLAINED By Bill Gladstone In Upwind Sail Power, we defined the three sources of sail power: Angle of Attack, Depth, and Twist. Now we’ll focus on twist and how it impacts power and performance. Twist Twist describes the relative trim of the sail from high to low. A sail has lots of twist when the upper part of the leech is open, while a closed leech has little twist. Increasing twist reduces power because it opens the upper part of the sail. More Twist = Less Power. As with increasing angle of attack and depth, reducing twist adds power up to the point where the sail stalls and power drops. More on Twist Twist is necessary because due to less surface friction, the wind is stronger aloft than at the surface; this phenomenon is called wind gradient. True wind and boat speed combine to create apparent wind. The stronger true wind up high creates both a stronger apparent wind and a wider apparent wind angle aloft. The upper part of the sail must be twisted out relative to the lower part of the sail to match the more open apparent wind angle. The sailmaker designs twist into the sail to match the average wind gradient and then we trim to fine-tune it, in order to match wind and sea conditions as well as our performance goals. Fine tuning twist is one the most powerful trim adjustments we can make. The right twist for… Light Air Wind gradient is most pronounced in light air, so extra twist is needed. In addition, sails are prone to stalling in light air, and twist helps prevent that by easing flow. Likewise, a deep sail shape – used for extra power in light air – is prone to stalling, so trimming with plenty of twist is appropriate in light air. So, though it may be counter-intuitive – since adding twist reduces power – we trim with quite a bit of twist in light air to prevent stalling. Moderate Air In moderate winds, we can trim harder without stalling flow. This harder trim with less twist adds power and improves pointing. Heavy Air As the boat gets overpowered, we flatten sails and add twist to spill power. Thus, we sail with more twist in light air and heavy air and the least twist in moderate air. Twist and Performance Generally, less twist will help pointing while more twist is faster, with a wider steering groove. For example, coming out of a tack sails are initially trimmed with extra twist (to prevent stalling when slow), with final trim coming only as the boat accelerates to full speed. Likewise, in wavy conditions we trim for extra twist, to a more forgiving steering groove as the boat gyrates in waves. Reducing twist, on the other hand, maintains full power at a high pointing angle when sailing in smooth water. Depowering your sail plan Power can be reduced either by increasing twist or flattening the sail (or both). Which is best? In wavy conditions, it’s better to depower by adding twist, while in smooth water conditions flattening the sail is recommended. Often some combination of twist and flattening is best. One of the challenges of trimming is achieving the correct total power, and the correct mix of power by adjusting depth and twist to match the conditions. Boom vang and cunningham can help to achieve the balance. © Copyright Bill Gladstone READ MORE

De ontwikkeling van 3Di begon 10 jaar geleden en is sindsdien in een versneld tempo voortgezet. 3Di is de optelsom van meerdere exclusieve North Sails technologieën, waardoor dit het ideale platform is om nieuwe zeiltypes te creëren voor een brede doelgroep zeilers over de gehele wereld. Voor 2019 zijn de ongekende prestatie- en duurzaamheidsvoordelen van 3Di beschikbaar voor kleine boten tot superjachten, weekend cruisers tot wereldomzeilers, clubracers tot professionele zeilers, en alles wat hier tussen zit. Het Dacron Toerzeil Is Opnieuw Uitgevonden In 2018 heeft 3Di NORDAC – een 100% Polyester 3Di zeil – een revolutie veroorzaakt in toerzeilen. 3Di NORDAC heeft de Pittman Innovation Award, uitgereikt door Sail Magazine, gewonnen en tot op heden zijn meer dan 2.500 3Di NORDAC zeilen geleverd aan onze zeer tevreden klanten. Voor 2019 is onze productiecapaciteit uitgebreid om aan de vraag voor dit innovatieve en exceptionele product voor kleine en middelgrote toerschepen te voldoen. Alle zeilers willen snellere zeilen die langer mee gaan. 3Di NORDAC levert precies dat. . Snelheid Zonder Compromis 3Di RAW is het lichtste en best presterende wedstrijdzeil dat verkrijgbaar is en een absolute benchmark voor snelheid en vormbehoud. Boten met 3Di RAW zeilen domineren wereldwijd podia in de meest competitieve evenementen en klasses. Voor 2019 heeft North Sails deze geavanceerde technologie toegepast in een nieuwe productgroep, waarin het excellente vormbehoud gecombineerd wordt met een makkelijk te trimmen, duurzaam wedstrijdzeil dat perfect is voor Club Race zeilers met kleinere tot middelgrote schepen. . Rond de Wereld of Rond de Boeien Het meest duurzame 3Di zeil. 3Di Endurance is ontwikkeld voor extreme duurzaamheid en vormvastheid voor wedstrijd zeilen of offshore cruisen. François Gabart’s 3Di Endurance grootzeil had reeds 45.000 mijl gevaren VOORDAT hij begon aan zijn succesvolle Around The World Solo Record. Deze productgroep 3Di zeilen bevatten een buiten laag van beschermende filament tapes, waarmee een robuuste structuur gecreëerd wordt zonder dat de exclusieve vormstabiliteit van 3Di aangetast wordt. Een Nieuwe Dimensie voor Superjacht Cruise Zeilen Ocean is een nieuwe productgroep voor 2019 en levert een zeer sterk, licht en extreem betrouwbaar zeil voor cruise superjachten. Alles wat North Sails geleerd heeft als producent van superjachtzeilen bij uitstek in de afgelopen drie decennia is gecombineerd met de meest recente 3Di technologie. Grote cruise jachten langer dan 60 voet kunnen nu gebruik maken van de gepatenteerde exclusieve technologie en mix van materialen van 3Di Ocean. Deze zeilen zijn lichter, sterker en makkelijker te hanteren dan alle vergelijkbare laminaat zeilen. 3Di Composiet Zeilen, Nu Ook Downwind De ongekende voordelen van 3Di gaan nu verder dan aan de windse zeilen en zijn nu ook beschikbaar voor zeilers die state of the art asymmetrische zeilen zoeken. 3Di Downwind heeft zichzelf bewezen tijdens de meest recente Volvo Ocean Race, waar alle zeilen, zowel aan de wind als voor de wind, gemaakt waren in een versie van 3Di(en dus geen naaimachines meer aan boord hoefden meegesleept te worden!). Kabel loos rollen is nu mogelijk met onze unieke Helix Luff, waar direct geïntegreerde 3Di structuur de noodzaak voor een externe, inefficiënte kabel wegneemt. . READ MORE

CONSEJO NORTH SAILS Ante la perspectiva de una larga temporada sin navegar, debemos dedicar una especial atención a cómo almacenaremos nuestras velas para optimizar su vida útil y asegurarnos de que se encuentran en perfecto estado cuando volvamos a necesitarlas. Os proponemos unos útiles consejos básicos: Lo primero que debemos hacer es someterlas a una generosa sesión de agua dulce para retirar todo resto de salitre tanto del tejido como de herrajes y cabullería. Tan importante como endulzarlas es que sequen completamente antes de guardarlas, ya que la humedad es foco del temido hongo que puede amenazar su integridad. El mejor recipiente para almacenar la vela es su bolsa North Sails específica, y el mejor lugar para guardarla será aquel de baja humedad y que no esté expuesto a la luz directa del sol. Si no puedes o no tienes tiempo, llámanos y lo haremos por ti. En North Sails contamos con servicio de montaje, desmontaje, transporte y almacenaje. Y recuerda: el parón invernal es el mejor momento para someter las velas a un chequeo completo con el Servicio Certificado North Sails, ¡la mejor garantía para que estén en estado de revista la próxima vez que las necesites! READ MORE

VISÍTANOS EN EL SALÓN NÁUTICO DE BARCELONA Un año más, North Sails España participa en el Salón Náutico Internacional de Barcelona (10 a 14 de octubre), una de las citas imprescindibles del sector en España. Pásate por nuestro stand (C330, en el Moll de La Fusta) y descubre toda nuestra gama North Sails 3Di, incluyendo la revolucionaria 3Di NORDAC y nuestro último producto para regata, la 3Di RAW 360. ¡Nuestros expertos estarán encantados de recibirte! READ MORE

NORTH SAILS 3Di RAW: LA VELA DE CARRERAS Dentro de la gama North Sails 3Di, la versión RAW distingue a aquellas velas diseñadas bajo la premisa de obtener las máximas prestaciones, sin concesiones. Son el arma utilizada para cazar récords, ganar títulos y competir al máximo nivel, pero también forman parte del dosier de productos North Sails que podemos incorporar a nuestro barco. El equivalente a equipar nuestro coche con neumáticos de circuito. RAW es un término inglés que posee acepciones como “crudo”, “puro” o “sin tratar”. Eso nos da una pista sobre la naturaleza de la 3Di RAW, una de las cinco versiones en las que se divide la familia de velas moldeadas composite North Sails 3Di (junto a las 3Di ENDURANCE, 3Di OCEAN, 3Di NORDAC y 3Di Downwind). La 3Di RAW es la versión más ligera y rápida de toda gama. Para lograrlo reduce sus componentes a aquellos imprescindibles para conseguir las máximas prestaciones, eliminando capas exteriores de Dyneema que se utilizan como refuerzo en otras velas 3Di frente a los roces. El resultado es un tejido entre un 10 y un 15% más ligero y con una capacidad inigualable de conservación de la forma y estabilidad, lo que la ha convertido en vela de elección para los barcos que dominan la competición en todo el mundo. Comparada con cualquier otra vela, la 3Di RAW posee una combinación imbatible entre ligereza y ratio de fibra estructural respecto a su peso total. Una fórmula ganadora que se aplica en escenarios tan exigentes como la Volvo Ocean Race, las TP52 Super Series, la Vendée Globe o la America’s Cup, pero que también forma parte del catálogo comercial de velas North Sails, y como tal está disponible para optimizar las prestaciones de nuestro barco en regata. Una 3Di RAW para cada necesidad Actualmente, la gama 3Di RAW está disponible en seis versiones: 3Di RAW 330 (realizada 100% en poliéster), 3Di RAW 360 (poliéster y aramida), 3Di RAW 760 (Ultra PE y aramida), 3Di RAW 780, 3Di RAW 870 y 3Di RAW 880 (las tres en carbono, Ultra PE y aramida). Luís Martínez Doreste, director comercial de North Sails España, nos explica las particularidades de cada una de ellas. “La 3Di RAW es nuestra vela de máximo rendimiento para competición. Su gama comienza por la 330, una vela 100% poliéster pensada para monotipos de vela ligera. Además de ofrecer un rendimiento excepcional, supone un incremento en durabilidad, tanto de vida útil como de conservación de la forma”. La 3Di RAW 330 está disponible para clases como Moth y están en desarrollo para otros one design. “Es un producto nuevo en el que tenemos puestas muchas esperanzas”. El siguiente escalón es la 3Di RAW 360, específica para barcos de mediana eslora y la última en incorporarse al catálogo North Sails. “Es perfecta para barcos de regata club hasta 35-40 pies. Además de mejorar el rendimiento, entre sus peculiaridades destaca que es más estable y ligera, y posee un mayor mantenimiento de forma que otras velas equivalentes”. Para barcos de mayor eslora que los 40 pies, North Sails propone la 3Di RAW 760. Se trata de un giro de tuerca más respecto a la 360, lo que se consigue “eliminando poliéster, por lo que cuenta con más porcentaje de Dyneema, lo que optimiza sus prestaciones”. Por último, las velas más avanzadas del catálogo 3Di RAW son la 780, la 870 y la 880, las armas a las que recurren barcos de regata de alto nivel y circuitos de Grand Prix cuando se busca máxima prestaciones con mínimo peso. “La 3Di RAW 780 tiene más Dyneema que carbono y tanto la 870 como la 880 tienen más carbono que Dyneema”, explica Martínez Doreste. En la práctica, la mayor proporción de carbono supone mayor ligereza, una característica muy valorada por equipos de alta competición. “Es por ello que la 870 es muy utilizada por muchos mini maxi y maxi, pero también por otras clases como los Swan 45 o los ClubSwan 50, mientras la 3Di RAW 880 está reservada para las clases TP52 y RC44”. READ MORE

J/70 WORLDS: WINNING THE CORINTHIAN FLEET Great Team, Fast Sails: The Formula for Team Marnatura Team Marnatura, 2018 J/70 Corinthian World Champion. © Photoboat We are very proud to share that all top five Corinthian teams at the 2018 West Marine J/70 World Championship were powered by North Sails. We had a chance to catch up with Luiz Bugallo from Spain, skipper of Marnatura who finished 6th place overall and won the World title for the Corinthian division. Luis, congratulations on your excellent regatta at the J/70 Worlds, finishing 6th place overall and winning the Corinthian Division. What was the key to keep consistent finishes? Thank you very much. The event was very challenging and fun for us. That said, for us the reason for our success lies entirely with our team. Each of us knows what to do in the boat in different situations so our teamwork and trust in each other builds our confidence. We all believe that an important factor is to keep the entire team motivated and to stay positive. Additionally, our game plan is very focused on distributing responsibilities on the boat so we are working at all times as a team., focusing on our jobs. Tell us about your team. We are lucky to have such a great group to sail with and I was fortunate to be able to be the helm with such a talented team. From bow to stern: Jorge Lorenzo (23, Spain) was our bowman. He sailed Optimists and had good results in the 420 class. He is studying to be a Naval Engineer. Gerardo Prego (24, Spain) trimmed our spinnaker. Gerardo sails Snipes at a high level in the European Snipe Class. He is a very good bowman and is in high demand on larger keelboats as he pursues his degree in Business Administration. Alberto Basadre (23, Spain) was our jib trimmer. A bit ironic since he sails mostly Lasers! He is continuing his studies in Mechanical Engineering. Enrique Freire (46, Spain) was our most “experienced” teammate and took on the difficult role as our tactician. Enrique is the owner and CEO of Marnatura and the keystone of our success. Luis Bugallo (23, Spain), skipper. I started sailing Optimist when I was 7 years old. I have sailed Optimist, 420, Platu 25 and the 49er. I am studying Engineering. Choosing which sails to use is an important ingredient to a successful program. What were the main reasons Team Marnatura chose North Sails to power your Corinthian program? Deciding on what sails to use is not something we take lightly. We work hard to improve every aspect of our racing so we were not in a position to consider just anything. We are only willing to use what will give us the best chance to perform. We have always believed that the North Sails technology is above all others as far as sail manufacturing. We felt that the XCS-1 main, J-2 jib and AP-1 spinnaker best fit our team and they are designs we had confidence in training. Knowing that, in addition to our focus on shapes and design, the materials North Sails uses are the best materials on the market. Lastly, the North J/70 team has a deep pool of talent and they willingly sharing information with us to help us get better and faster. Your Corinthian team not only dominated the Corinthian fleet but also your 6th place overall finish bested some of the most talented sailors in the class. What tips would you give to other Corinthian teams? We believe that success on the race course involves a formula that includes commitment, focused goals, and fun. That said I think our tips would be: First and foremost, sail with friends and try to build and generate good relationships. Sailing and racing with people you enjoy and have fun with makes the successes much sweeter and the disappointments less bitter. In general, focus on a target and a goal and center your resources on it. Being target focused is important but can easily distract you from the “big picture”. In the J/70, downwind, it’s key to choose the correct mode: VMG, WING-WING, or “on the step”. The distances gained or lost can be amazing by picking the right (or wrong) downwind mode so make it a goal to learn which is best in each condition and work as a team to be able to quickly transition into each of the modes. Try to use the sails you will use for regattas when you train. This will give you more knowledge about your trim settings and boat tuning/setup. 2018 J/70 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Corinthian Division – Powered by North Sails 1 Marnatura / Luis Bugallo 2 Lifted / Jim Cunningham * 3 Pura Joda / Aldo Centanaro 4 Juicy / Francisco Van Avermaete 5 Joint Custody / Jenn & Ray Wulff © Mauro Melandri | Zerogradinord READ MORE

2018 CLUB SWAN 50 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Mathilde Collects Podium Finish With Help From Ireland Experts © Carlo Borlenghi North Sails in Ireland want to congratulate Team Mathilde on their podium finish at the inaugural Club Swan 50 World Championship in Porto Cervo. The Swiss flagged yacht owned and helmed by Morten H. Kielland is now in her second year of campaigning on the super competitive Club Swan 50 circuit. Leading up to the Worlds, the team had already secured podium finishes in the other class regattas competed in 2018. A second place finish at the first event of the year in Monaco last April followed by another second place at the Palma Vela regatta in May and then a third place finish at the Rolex Giraglia regatta in June. This delivered the team to the final class event of the year in confident mood and ready to take on the extremely talented International fleet. The Championship, contested by 12 talent laden teams was held as part of the Swan Worlds in Porto Cervo. Mathilde added a new J1 / Light jib and A2 (running Asymmetric) for the event. Both sails performed superbly in the predominantly light conditions alongside the rest of Mathilde’s full North Sails inventory. The extra speed the new J1 gave us, was a game changer and gave a small edge over some of our competitors in the light conditions. The J1 (3Di Raw 870) is very reactive to small adjustments in trim and allowed us to get every ounce of speed out of the boat. Add that to solid boat handling and some great tactical calls by Leigh McMillan and it produced a third place podium finish for the team. © Carlo Borlenghi Mathilde actually went into the final race tied on points with Cuordileone and eventual winner One Group, with all three boats vying for the championship win. Unfortunately Mathilde finished on the wrong side of that result, but overall the team was delighted with the progress throughout the year and to be able to fight for the championship right up to the last leg of the regatta. The finish replicated the competitive nature of the event. Seven different race winners in 10 races and the whole fleet finishing within one minute, 45 seconds in all of those races. The One Design element and tight controls are producing very even performance in the fleet and like any great One Design class, the results are coming down to who makes the least mistakes and who can find the small gains out on the track. © Carlo Borlenghi A contributory factor for Mathilde is the support of North Sails in Ireland and in particular Shane Hughes who is sail co-ordinator and trimmer onboard. The team also had a larger Irish contingent onboard in 2018 with Howth sailor Sam O’Byrne and Schull duo Jay Stacey and Oisin O’Driscoll onboard for some of the events. The Mathilde CS 50 program represents a great opportunity for young sailors like Sam, Oisin and Jay to experience high level international keelboat sailing and the guys performed very well and will hopefully be back for more in 2019. More generally the input from North Sails into the Club Swan 50 class has helped push our own standards higher. North Sails dominated the results with the podium teams all exclusively powered by North Sails and using our standard CS 50 designs. The continuous development led by Arnd Howar and lead designer Juan Meseguer is relentless. With so many North Sails representatives sailing in the fleet and feeding into the product review and refinement process, the sails simply get better and faster and keep our customers at the front of the fleet. Looking forward, the review and refinement process will continue at pace and we look forward to supporting team Mathilde into the 2019 season and beyond. READ MORE

J/70 WORLDS: NORTH SAILS DEBRIEF Considered One of the Toughest Regattas, Many Lessons Learned © Chris Howell The 2018 West Marine J/70 World Championship may have been one of the most competitive and best attended one design events yet. Eastern Yacht Club welcomed 91 teams from 18 different countries, and sailors had an exciting variety of conditions for the eleven races in four days. The allure of such an event was too much to pass up, and more than a dozen North Sails experts were on the starting line. Whether crewing for clients and friends or organizing their own team, the depth and expertise of our J/70 experts was on full display with many on the podium and even more in the top 10. North results: Corinthian Division: 1,2,3,4,5 – Congratulations Luis Bugallo and team Marnatura Open Division: 2,3,5,6,8,9,10 – Seven out of the top 10 powered by North (See team/sail chart) We asked our sailors to share both their impressions and lessons from the J/70 Worlds. Max Skelley, Stampede – 2nd Place Managing that many boats and keeping top finishes throughout the event is an impressive feat. What were the key things that you attribute the consistency Stampede was able to deliver? MAX – We knew going into the event that we had really good upwind speed. Having Tim Healy as our tuning partner throughout the summer was a big help with narrowing down rig tune/sail trim settings. Being able to use our speed to dig our way out of tough spots began to dictate our tactics . We always tried to start in low density areas somewhere near the middle of the favored half of the line, not being so leveraged to one side that we couldn’t dig our way out if the shift didn’t go our way. On race five we were persuaded to start at the windward end because the two previous races, hard right was really paying. We were able to win the start at the windward end and were first boat to tack to port which was the race winning move in the two previous races. Unfortunately, the left came in hard on the first beat and we rounded in the 50’s. We were able to fight back to the low thirties but the race still ended up being our drop race. We learned a lesson about risk / reward and stayed away from the ends for the remaining of the event using patience and speed to consistently get to the front of the fleet. Team Stampede, 2nd place at the 2018 J/70 World Championship. © Photoboat Eric Doyle, Stampede – 2nd Place You are a boat speed guy. What were the keys to helping keep the boat going fast? ERIC – We had worked hard all summer on our rig settings, we had confidence of when to change the rig tension for the wind strength. I was trimming the jib and one interesting trim technique that we started during the world’s was that we rarely moved the jib lead. It lived in the #6 hole 95% of the time and we just used the halyard to adjust and jib sheet tension to fine tune the jib. In the heavy air races, when a lot more halyard was required, we had to ease the sheet about an inch and use the appropriate amount of in-hauler, less in the big puffs and more in the flatter, lighter spots. When it was lighter and we eased the halyard to make the jib fuller overall, it lowered the clew, effectively moving the lead aft, so we trimmed about an inch harder on the sheet and used more in-hauler. It seemed to work better as it is impossible to change the lead without tacking, but the halyard and sheet are readily accessible at all times. How important was it to make sure your tuning was spot on and was there ever a time where the the conditions didn’t match your setup and, if so, what effect did that have? ERIC – We always looked to set the boat up to be fast for the first half of the first beat so that we could hold a lane and get to the first weather mark in good shape. Most of the time it worked out but on the 4th day with all the rain squalls coming through and huge changes in velocity, after the first race we just went with a slightly tighter rig from base, +4 and +3, and used the backstay, traveler and boom vang much more aggressively. When the boat felt bad for Bruno, we made sure to remind him that we were out of tune and that he just had to deal with it! In the big fleet with lots of chop in general it was better to get caught a little on the loose side than too tight. Team 3Ball JT, 3rd Place at the J/70 Worlds using the North J-6 Jib. © Chris Howell Allan Terhune, 3 Ball JT – 3rd Place After four days of racing and 11 races the top three teams all had over 100 points and were within three points of each other. Your team had some big scores early in the event. What turned the week around for your team to get back to the top of the leaderboard? ALLAN – For sure the regatta didn’t start as we hoped. The big thing for us was not to panic and to take a look at everything to see where we could improve. We talked to our training partners and other folks and realized we had to be more drastic in our rig adjustments for the waves and wind. It was a hard event. It was not easy to get finishes in the 20’s. The regatta was a good lesson in the fighting until the end and that the event is never over, till it’s over. If you would have told me that we would start with 18,22,25 and go into the last day three points out of the lead, I would have said you are nuts. It proved that World Championships are marathons and you have to keep pushing. Our team did that well. We always kept adapting and trying new things. We were one of the few teams to use the North J-6 jib, and I think it was the right choice for us for sure. We found it gave us more range for the conditions there. It was a sail we were very comfortable with and we were glad we chose in the end. Team Any Colour featuring the new North J-2 High Clew jib. © Chris Howell Zeke Horowitz, Any Colour Crewing for your friends, the Furnary Brothers, what setup did you find worked best to help them get in the groove to be consistently fast? We used the XCS-2 Mainsail and we busted out a J-2 High Clew for the first time at this regatta. We were extremely happy to find the transition to the J-2 High Clew to be quite easy. It’s a beautiful, forgiving sail with all the modes you need. We stuck pretty close to the North Tuning Guide and found the setup to have the power we needed to fight through the big waves and chop while being easy enough to de-power and keep the groove nice and wide for Scott on the helm. In the higher winds, we made sure to fine-tune our lowers so that there was no mast sag at the spreaders and if anything, a hint of poke to weather. This helped us achieve maximum head stay tension even when the main sheet had to be eased. Keeping the boat flat (both upwind and downwind) was HUGE. The J/70 Worlds was a challenging regatta. What did your team do so well to get a top 10 finish and what needs work for next time so you don’t “leave any points on the water”? ZEKE – For sure this has to be the most challenging regatta I’ve ever competed in. The depth of talent was insane and the sheer number of boats made it all the more difficult. Not to mention some pretty wild conditions! I think every single team felt that they left a myriad of points on the table – I know we did. One thing we talked about as team before the regatta is that we wanted to play every decision in the race as if we were trying to just be top 20. We knew that if we averaged somewhere in the top 20, we’d be very happy with the result. So all our big picture game plans, tactical decisions, and boat handling maneuvers were made with conservative strategies, (except for the time we crashed into Tim Healy at the weather mark-Sorry, Boss). Scott and Evan Aras (main trimmer) did a fantastic job with starting and we knew that if we could be punched off the line, that would most likely get rid of about 50 boats that had bad starts. From there it was really just about lane management and looking for opportunities to put the boat in places where we could make gains. One thing that would really help us next time is continuing to improve on downwind modes. There are so many different modes to consider off the breeze and it’s amazing how much can be gained and lost by doing it correctly. Team Enfant Terrible and the perfect shape of the new North J-2 High Clew jib. © Zerogradinord Tim Healy, New England Ropes What did you learn about North’s standard J70 designs this week that J70 sailors should know when thinking about investing in new sails? TIM – We used the XCS-2 mainsail, J-2 High Clew jib and the AP-1 spinnaker. I chose them because I believe they are the fastest and most user friendly sails available. They allow for the power and speed to acceleration of the line in choppy conditions and to power up quickly out of tacks. The J-2 High Clew is slightly fuller than the J-6 and is less weather sheet dependant which, I feel, makes getting “top speed” trim correct more quickly and easily. It was used on many of the top ten boats. The J-6 is also an excellent sail finishing 1 point out of 1st in second and 3 points out of first in 3rd! The J-6 can create the same power as the J-2 High Clew with slightly more weather sheet. My recommendation to someone ready for a new set is to go with the J-2 High Clew for a more user friendly sail and the J-6 if you like to be more active with weather sheeting. G-Spottino powered by North’s AP-1 Spinnaker. © Zerogradinord 2018 WEST MARINE J/70 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Sails used by the top teams powered by North: 2 Stampede – Bruno Pasquinelli / XCS-1 Mainsail, J-6 Jib, AP-1 Spinnaker 3 3 Ball JT – Jack Franco / XCS-2 Mainsail, J-6 Jib, AP-1 Spinnaker 5 Savasana – Brian Keane / XCS-1 Mainsail, J-2 High Clew Jib, AP-1 Spinnaker 6 Marnatura – Luis Bugallo / XCS-1 Mainsail, J-2 Jib, AP-1 Spinnaker 8 Enfant Terrible – Alberto Rossi / XCS-1 Mainsail, J-2 High Clew Jib, AP-1 Spinnaker 9 New England Ropes – Tim Healy / XCS-2 Mainsail, J-2 High Clew Jib, AP-1 Spinnaker 10 Any Colour – Scott & Alex Furnary/ XCS-2 Mainsail, J-2 High Clew Jib, AP-1 Spinnaker READ MORE

SIX DECADES OF STAR WORLD CHAMPIONS Success In The Class Began With Founder Lowell North North Sails was started by a five-time Star World champion, and the event continues to be an important part of our history. Our founder Lowell North’s very first gold star was awarded in 1945, when he crewed for Malin Burnham. “It wasn’t me Malin wanted,” Lowell explained, years later. “It was my mainsail.” Lowell started the company in 1957 , the same year he won his first Star World Championship as skipper in Havana, Cuba, sailing with James Hill. “I learned to win in the Star by taking a sail apart and putting it back together until it was a little faster,” Lowell claims. “Sails then were so poorly designed that practically anything you did made them better. As we won more races, I convinced myself I knew what a fast sail should look like.” The Star Class regatta report from Havana says that “North and Hill had their boat moving very fast. Often they found themselves in the wrong place, back in the ruck, whereupon they worked out of it by sailing faster and with better headwork than their competitors.” Regatta reports from Lowell’s subsequent Worlds wins (1959, 1960, 1973), as well as the gold and bronze Olympic medals he won in 1964 and 1968, reveal similar themes: he was fast enough to get out of trouble, smart enough to stay in front once he got there, and respected by his competitors for fixing anything that broke. Off Newport Beach in 1959, second place finisher Gary Comer reported, “Three-quarters of the way down , Lowell came by so fast I didn’t even bother to luff him.” In 1960, Lowell won again after “rearranging his rigging” by replacing his broken headstay with a backstay. “Lowell North continued to demonstrate his supremacy over the Class,” announced the regatta report afterward. Lowell was also respected as a good sport, admitting to his mistakes. In 1967, finishing second by three points to Paul Elvstrøm for the second year in a row, a reporter asked what happened. According to the Star Logs report, “Lowell refrained from kicking him off the end of the pier and only answered quietly, “We got a bad start and sailed a bad race.” READ MORE

NORTH SAILS DESIGNS PREVAIL New Designs Excel at the OK Dinghy European Championship Heavy winds started the week off, as the Mistral blew through Bandol, leaving a mixed sea state, creating very physical sailing conditions for the OK dinghy fleet. As the week went on the conditions eased off, testing the sailors each day to eventually separate the leader from the fleet. North Sails One Design expert Charlie Cumbley fought hard until the very end. Leading the fleet coming into the final day, points were extremely tight between the top three players on the field. Charlie scored a 2-15 on the final day, putting him in second place behind Fredrik Loof. In third place, trailing by just one point, was Swedish sailor, Thomas Hanson-Mile. Between Thomas and Charlie, they won six out of the eight races sailed. Finishing thirteenth overall and becoming the new Junior European Champion was Will Heritage. All three of the sailors mentioned above were using the new development sail in the North Sails inventory. This model is a flatter version of the KAP-1, its performance has proved to be fast and versatile so far and will compliment the KAP-1 as part of the North Sails inventory. “Based on the world winning KAP-1 it was designed specifically for sailors 90 kg and under. Providing plenty of power, but making it more forgiving in the stronger breeze. In Bandol we had a variety of conditions, it was still powerful in the lighter conditions but was much easier to de-power on the windy first day.” –Charlie Cumbley, One Design Sales expert Full results READ MORE

CREW OF KIWIS WIN IRC/ORC WORLDS Read More For Beau Geste's New Crew Initiation Ritual... © Maria Muiña Even having to eat a ‘hundred-year egg’ didn’t dim the excitement of winning his first world championship for North Sails sales expert Matt Kelway. Eating these traditional ‘delicacies’ is a tradition aboard Hong Kong businessman and yachtsman Karl Kwok’s boats, and when his Botin 52 Beau Geste won the offshore sailing world championships at The Hague in July, there was no getting out of it. ‘They are a fermented duck egg, and if you are new to the boat, you have to eat one at the end of the regatta,’ Kelway says. ‘I have sailed on the boat before, but when I let it slip that it was the first time I had won a world championship, I had to eat one. It was disgusting, but it was worth it.’ Beau Geste won the combined IRC/ORC world title with a crew of mostly Kiwi sailors, regulars on Kwok’s fleet of boats. The boat sailed in a mixed division of boats of different types and sizes, including TP52 Outsider (formerly Platoon) and Ker 46s Van Uden and Lady Mariposa, with results calculated on a combination of IRC and ORC handicap times in each race. Kelway and the North Sails New Zealand team worked closely with Kwok and the boat’s management team to build a completely new inventory to challenge for the world title. ‘After last year’s Pac 52 regatta in San Francisco, the owner decided he wanted to compete in a world championship and win it, so we sat down and started planning what we would need,’ Kelway says. ‘We spent a lot of time not only training on the water but also running certificates for the sails to maximise their ratings, and working out how to mode the boat for different conditions.’ The hard work paid off. Beau Geste finished with a string of firsts and seconds, not having to sail the last race because the regatta was already in the bag. ‘The racing was really close, though — Outsider was our closest competitor, and we were always finding ourselves in a match race with them,’ Kelway says. The boat’s new Helix Luff furling masthead code zero got plenty of use in the first offshore race, with a genoa staysail set inside it. The crew were also pleased with the performance of the new high-carbon 3Di RAW 870 and 880 jibs, all designed and built by the North Sails New Zealand team. After the win in Holland, the boat and crew then travelled to the Copa del Rey regatta in Palma de Mallorca, where they comfortably won the IRC 1 division. ‘There were eight 52s there, including Super Series boats like The Phoenix and Paprec, so it was great to finish ahead of them,’ Kelway says. Next on the Team Beau Geste agenda is a change of boats, to sailing Kwok’s MOD70 trimaran of the same name in the China Coast regatta and Hong Kong to Hainan race. ‘My role is as a link between the boat and the loft, making sure everything the boat wants is done correctly and on time, working with the sailing team and the designer and the production team,’ Kelway says. ‘It’s a great programme to be involved with.’ READ MORE

HAMILTON ISLAND RACE WEEK 2018 Hamilton Island Race Week has a reputation for champagne sailing, and this year’s regatta was no exception for the Team Hollywood crew, including North Sails New Zealand sales and marketing manager Andrew Wills. © Salty Dingo The team aboard the Botin Fast 40, launched in February this year, won every race on IRC to take out their division — while making the most of the entertainment and onshore activities on offer at the well-known regatta. Team Hollywood was competing in the IRC 2 division against a mixed fleet of boats including another Fast 40, the Carkeek design Victoire (formerly Girls on Film), Lyons 60 Triton and Cookson 50 About Time. ‘We had some really good racing with Victoire,’ Wills says. ‘Unfortunately for them, they were often leading for the first three-quarters of the race, and then we would come through at the end. It was great because we were always pushing each other, and that improved our corrected times.’ The regatta format was different this year, with no windward-leeward racing, just island courses. ‘It was really enjoyable sailing around all the islands,’ Wills says. ‘The area around Hamilton Island has such shifty geography and it’s so tidal, so there were lots of decisions to be made about which way to go around the different islands. Plus there is always lots to see — turtles and whales.’ Conditions for the regatta started out windy, then moderated as the week progressed. ‘There were some pretty big waves, and we certainly got wet on that first day,’ Wills says. ‘The Botin is an inshore-focused boat, but it still went really well in those conditions.’ Wills says a big factor in the boat’s success was its suite of sails from the North loft in Auckland, including 3Di RAW jibs designed by Mickey Ickert, which it was launched with earlier this year. ‘They’ve used them in a few regattas and the owner couldn’t be happier with them,’ Wills says. ‘We also tried some cool new things, too — the boat has a jib stick which connects to the mast and is used to pole out the clew, and you sheet off that. It gave another option on top of inboard and outboard sheeting, and it definitely gave us a couple of knots of extra speed at times. ‘The whole mast and boat package worked together really well. Our involvement right from the boat’s design, including the mast design, and of course the sail package, really paid off. The owner has also put together an excellent sailing team, and there was a great atmosphere on board.’ Team Hollywood not only won its own division but also the IRC boat of the week prize, for top IRC scoring boat. And as well as success on the water, the onshore activities lived up to Hamilton Island’s reputation, too. ‘The Oatleys really put on some awesome entertainment — they flew in some great bands and of course it was great to be a Kiwi there when the All Blacks won their two games,’ Wills says. © Kurt Arrigo Photography READ MORE

J/80 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP Interview with Chip Johns Team Cavitics – Chip Johns, Zander Gryska, Bill Marvel and Cam Tougas. Photo Anne Converse We caught up with Chip Johns, winner of the 2018 J/80 North American Championship sailed in Marion, MA. Team Cavitica won the event with only 11-points in the 4-race series. Congrats on your win! What was the key to Team Cavitica’s success? Thanks. Doing well in this event was THE racing goal for me and our team for this year. Unfortunately, we had a setback in the pre-season when I dislocated my shoulder. This injury kept me out of the J80 until July and we did not have any August racing planned, so our time in the boat before the event was a bit limited. I think that our many years of experience in the boat allowed us to adjust as the event went on and get faster and better each day. We were fortunate to come out of the blocks on the 1st day with 2 wins in the first two races. We did not think we were fast on the 1st day, but we did feel that we were able to pick the shifts better than others. Given our speed deficit, we made sure we started safely and had the ability to tack when we wanted to. This allowed us to land at the top mark in the top few almost every race. We made some tuning adjustments in Day 2 and found our upwind speed. This allowed us to be a bit more aggressive in starting and since we were still picking the shifts well, we were always in the top few boats at the top mark. Day 3 brought on more breeze and we had a comfortable lead. So we started very conservatively, but were still able to sail through the fleet and finish in the top few boats in each race. I think our key to this event was the ability to pick the shifts on the upwind legs and over the course of the event get faster and faster through better tuning. Tell us about your team? Have you sailed together for a long time? Our team has been sailing the J80 for 10 years. Three of us own the boat together – me, Bill Marvel, and Zander Gryska and we really enjoy sailing together. We have also sailed other boats and done a few Bermuda races together, so we know each other pretty well. Billy is a great trimmer (and helm) and we are in constant communication about pointing, speed, waves, and puffs all the way around the course. Zander is the best fwd guy out there. He is athletic, has a great sense on the water, and has a 7’ reach so spin hoists and jibes are always great. He also takes care of problems when they happen because his sense of what might happen on the boat is so great. We always are searching for the right fourth person. Cam Tougas grew up in Marion doing a lot of sailing and was a great tactician to have aboard. Cam and Zander did a great job calling puffs and waves which for this event was critical. Buzzards Bay is known for good wind, what were the conditions like throughout the regatta? Well, as they say, “it never blows like that here” and this event was no different. Buzzards Bay is known for a thermal driven southwest breeze with big, steep waves. We had a shifty northeast breeze blowing about 13 to 20 knots during the entire event. While we didn’t get to showcase our “typical” breeze, we had great wind and the shifty conditions allowed for boats to come back if they had a rough start. I have sailed and raced out of Marion for over 50 years. It is great to be able to host an event like this and have different wind that “normal” so there is less local advantage. Did you do anything special on rig tune, mast butt position or did you use the numbers straight from our tuning guide? We would start off with what the tuning sheet defined and then make small adjustments after setting up on the course before every race. We have never moved our mast butt in 10 years, but can understand how it might be important. I mentioned that we were a bit off the pace on day one. This was due to our lowers being too loose. Once we got these snugged up a bit, we had our speed. READ MORE

UNITED STATES SAILBOAT SHOW 2018 Visit North Sails At Dock F1 The United States Sailboat Show is taking place in Annapolis, MD on October 4-8. Experts from the North Sails loft in Annapolis will be at the show to meet with customers and provide guidance on navigating the right sail choice. The local team led by Jonathan Bartlett will be showcasing North's full range of products and services, including the award-winning 3Di NORDAC. Visit us at our Dock F1 location for more information on what we have planned during the show. The Dacron Cruising Sail Reinvented North Sails launched a cruising revolution in June 2017 with the introduction of 3Di NORDAC. Promising to deliver a better cruising experience, 3Di NORDAC combines our unique composite molded sail technology with reliable polyester that cruising sailors have trusted for decades. The result is an innovative cruising sail with smoother and more permanent aerodynamic shape. Talk to our experts about this sail at the United States Sailboat Show and find out why now is the best time to buy. Joining Forces With Beneteau In September 2018, North Sails officially launched a partnership with Beneteau America. In an exclusive showcase event, Beneteau demonstrated their partnership with North Sails inventory and experts onboard all five of their new boats. The new First 18 and First 24 come standard with North one design sails, and the new Figaro Beneteau 3 performance racing boat sports 3Di RAW. The Oceanis 46.1 comes standard with North Sails and the Oceanis 51.1 offers North Sails as an upgrade option. Make sure you visit both the North Sails and Beneteau booths at the United States Sailboat Show to find out why North sails products are the best choice for performance and cruising boats. Ask The Multihull Experts Join local North Sails expert Will Keyworth, Cruising World Magazine, and keynote speakers Behan and Jamie Gifford at the United States Sailboat Show on October 5th, to learn what it takes to sail away in a modern multihull. Hear it first hand from the panelists as they cover a broad range of multihull sailing topics which include buying the right boat, sail inventory, insurance options, logistics, and find out how and where you can brush up on your sailing and navigation skills. Sign up for this informative day, including breakfast and lunch, goody bags and door prizes. READ MORE

FAMILY FUN WITH 3Di RAW Francois Drouin & His Family Sailed to Toronto with Their New 3Di Sails to Compete in the Lake Ontario 300 A family adventure to sail 300NM around Lake Ontario was the goal for Francois Drouin and his family, who originally hail from Quebec but traveled to Toronto to participate in the Lake Ontario 300. With his new 3Di RAW Square Top Mainsail and 3Di RAW furling Jib, the family was ready to race on their Beneteau First 30. He shares with us his experience with the new boat and the new sails. What prompted you to do the Lake Ontario 300? When I first bought the boat, I understood that it was more for long distances rather than short distances. In our region, we don't have many long distance regattas or races. Since I'm racing with my family and they're my crew, they needed to be able to do these kind of races. For me, I've been doing offshore race since the 1980s, but for my children it was their first time, so we went into the regatta with the thought process that it was the next step in the progression of our crew and our boat. One thing that is also important when it came to competing in the 300 was having a co-ed crew. It's a sport for both men and women, not just for guys. From our point of view, this race was new and interesting; providing an experience for everyone onboard. It looked like you guys were having a fun time out on the race course! We were but it was also interesting as well. It's was a challenge for me because I'm from another generation, sailing with people who are younger so we have to adjust a bit. For me, it was very important to have this kind of transmission though, because sailing was a passion for me since I was young and now as an adult being able to sail with my sons is great fun. For them, the fun was to be part of the decision in the way they would run the boat; they gained confidence in what they were doing. What was your motivation behind upgrading your sail inventory? In the beginning when my family was still learning, having brand new sails wasn't necessary. Now that they've learned more and become more comfortable, it then made more sense to upgrade our inventory to the best product where we could our new knowledge and sailing together to race the boat to its potential. If you look at the beginning, using the spinnaker was too complicated, we only used the asymmetrical. Now I think it's the time that we are ready. This is the first thing. The other thing is that when I've been looking around for these new sails, I was not sure how easy it would be for the crew to have them. When I looked for the performance going up though, I decided it was the time to change. I expected what made a big difference for us was mainly how the sails can have their design, the shape, a lot more than what I have seen. Formerly, I used to have the little 36.7 with my brother and we had used the 3DL sails on that boat too but I think the 3Di sails are a lot better because the 3DL were a bit more complicated to adjust. Another thing that was useful for me was, the information from the Volvo Ocean Races; even with a lot of miles going on, they will be still in quite very good shape. What were your first impressions? Did they play out to how you were expecting them to perform or above expectations? They performed above expectations because they don't weigh much. The main thing though is the way they, even if it's light air, mid air or more heavier air, keep their shape all the time. So, you don't have that much adjustment to do with it; it's a lot easier. It's also a lot easier for the main sail trimmer to do its job right now with these sails than it was formerly. What's next on your adventure list for the family? Here in Quebec City, we have club races and regional races but we pretty much do all the races in the area. Sometimes, we have very good results and sometimes, we have fair results. The purpose for us is not always winning but rather to get better each time. What is good is that this investment in new sails is that we have a lot better results now! Francois & his family placed second in Main Duck Course - PHRF - Full Sails - Fully Crewed - 3! READ MORE

UNCLE FLUFFY’S SECRETS TO WIN THE J/22 WORLDS Interview Reveals Details on Boat Settings, Tactics and Crew Work Congratulations Zeke, Emmy, JoAnn and Jackson on your, hard fought, victory at the 2018 J/22 Worlds in Annapolis. Can you tell us a bit about the team and how it all came together and worked so well? Zeke – Our team first sailed together at the 2016 J/22 Worlds in Kingston which was our first event as a team and my first time ever skippering a J/22. I had sailed a lot with each other person on the boat separately but never together. It was clear from day one of that regatta that we had something special. With the Worlds coming to my home waters here in Annapolis, it was obvious who I wanted to have on board with me. Jackson has made a name for himself across our sport as a Real-Deal-Tactician-and-Trimmer and I feel lucky to have such a good friend be so talented and willing to sail with me! Jo Ann already had a World Championship under her belt and she brings all of the technical perfection to her bow work as well as tuning (she tunes the rig!). She’s a spark of positivity and fun and I can’t imagine having anyone else on the bow. Emmy Stuart is an All American Crew from the College of Charleston who has really come into her own on the keel boat scene. Her knowledge of wind shifts and current really gave us an edge in the tricky conditions we had. On top of that, she kept us all organized with the off the water logistics that took a ton of pressure off of the rest of us. The only thing more special than winning a world championship is doing it with friends you love! Jackson – My role on the boat was to handle the jib trim, spinnaker trim, and tactics pre-start, upwind, and if we were going to have a straight set at the windward mark or look for an opportunity to gybe quickly. I would try to discuss my thought process as best as I could so that everyone was on the same page. Emmy would take over the tactics downwind as I was trimming the kite, and she also did a great job painting the picture of what was going on behind us on the downwind legs, which would keep me keyed into the race for when we turned back upwind. Sometimes I would take a quick snapshot of what was happening behind me while trimming the kite (maybe once or twice a leg if the opportunity presented itself, although I’m sure Zeke isn’t thrilled to hear that!). Due to Emmy’s tactics downwind, I don’t think we ever had a negative delta on any downwind leg the entire regatta. In fact, I’m pretty sure we actually passed boats about 75% of the time on the downwind legs. Jo Ann – I had 2 main roles on the boat: 1. Tuning the rig. Zeke, Jackson, and Emmy gave me full control over setting up the rig which freaked me out. I would ask for their opinion on it and they would always respond “just do what you think is right!” 2. The bow. Just making sure all sets and douses were flawless as well as ensuring weight placement was correct. Then assisting Emmy with an information regarding boats, speed, wind etc that Zeke and Jackson needed. Emmy – My role on the boat was pit. I was responsible for time on the line, trimming jib during pre-start, calling pressure, waves, current, lanes, keeping eyes on the marks, prepping kite for set/dousing the kite, cleaning up lines as needed, and moving my weight around quite a bit. With four people on the boat, I was sharing quite a few jobs with Jo Ann which forced me to constantly think about what I could be doing to add value in the moment. The week started off with an announcement that they were shortening the event by a day due to the possible effects from Hurricane Florence. How did that affect your strategy for the week knowing that the first few days they would be looking to get as many races “front loaded” as possible? Zeke –When we heard they were going to front-load as much racing as they could, it didn’t really alter our approach all that much. We just knew the first couple days might be long so we brought some extra rations so we could stay healthy out there. But our hard focus for the first couple of says was still the same – DON’T LOSE THE REGATTA. You can’t win the regatta in the first day or two, but you can certainly lose it. We just tried to avoid big mistakes and give ourselves a shot at the end of the regatta. Jackson – I personally didn’t look into that too much. We knew we had to have good races from the very beginning, but that’s always the case if you’re looking to win an event. I suppose the only thing that the schedule change affected was that we knew we had to prepare for slightly longer days. I think it was fairly close to dusk as we hit the dock after the first day of racing. Jo Ann – I think everyone on the boat is super focused and the longer days didn’t phase anyone. We made sure we all ate and drank after every race. Emmy – I was initially bummed to hear that Friday was cancelled. However, it was really positive being with a team that was excited to get in as many quality races as we could while we had good weather. From my perspective, we were all psyched to be racing this event together that it was more so mentally preparing for some of the challenges ahead (sailing in some of the tricky shifty conditions, lighter conditions and even the fog) and staying positive. In looking at the results the fleet was packed with talent with many past World and NA champions. Obviously teamwork was critical but you had to be confident in your boat speed in a large fleet like that. What were the keys to being “World Champion Fast”, what were the condition for the week and how did you “change gears” as the conditions changed? Zeke – As always, speed is king. Jackson and I worked hard to get the mast tuned as straight as possible before the regatta and from there I knew Jo Ann could take care of all the tuning. As the helmsman, it was my responsibility to keep us moving fast. I focused a lot on the balance of the helm and tried really hard to keep the keel engaged – I think that is the real trick in the J/22. It was mostly light air, so Jackson and I worked hard on keeping the boat fast but erroring on slightly eased/open sails and when I felt we had an opportunity to “squish” the boat flat with the sails trimmed a bit harder, I could really feel the keel engage and the boat would just take off. The North M7 main has been an amazing sail for us with that design having won 4 of the past 5 World Championships. We have worked a lot on development on new molds and designs over the years and, at this point, we just keep coming back to the fact that the M7 is the best all around shape. When the breeze came up a bit, my focus was on finding the perfect amount of backstay so that we could pull the head stay a bit straighter and open up the main leech to help keep the boat flat while still at max power. There was a lot of communication throughout the entire regatta about crew placement, sail trim, and mode so we could be sure we were on the same page shooting for the same goal. Major KUDOS to Emmy and Jo Ann who had to tough it out down below in a number of the light air races. Having weight low and decreased windage is key for light air speed upwind. But we wouldn’t have been able to be fast if we weren’t in the best breeze! Jackson, Emmy, and Jo Ann did a phenomenal job with boat placement so we always had a chance to rely on our speed! Jackson – Oh man, this is a good question. Our boat preparation started months and months before the Worlds even started. Zeke did an amazing job making sure we had the bottom of the boat well taken care of, and then we made it as perfect as possible throughout those months leading up to the Worlds, always thinking about how we might enhance even the smallest things. Starting to prepare the hull, rigging, and rig tune well before the event allows you to go into the first day of racing completely focused on the task at hand (sailing well in the conditions of the day), which is a major advantage. It takes a really long time and a lot of effort to get the boat in tip-top shape. We went over every little piece on the boat with a fine-tooth comb to make sure everything was working just the way we wanted it to, and it wasn’t going to break on us. Setting the base rig tune on Uncle Fluffy is a little strange. We found that for some reason the mast was very hard to set straight, and keep straight, through the settings. I really focused on that for a few days during the Annapolis NOOD back in May, then recorded caliper measurements at the turnbuckles to easily replicate those base settings. Once I dialed the rig into the best base setting I could, we pretty much turned the rig tune on the water over to JoAnn. She has an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience in that department and I think the team actually trusted her more than she trusted herself! But we knew we were in the best hands possible with Jo handling the changes on the water. She has a keen eye for mast bend and a lot of our speed came from her expertise! Our normal game plan for rig tune was to set it for the given wind and wave conditions before each race, but then we’d revisit it right before the warning signal and make sure that it was tweaked just ever so slightly towards how we thought the conditions might change for the start and the first leg of the race. Zeke mentioned the M7 main and knowing that we had proven winning sail designs that are also very easy to use in all conditions allowed us to keep our thoughts towards actually racing the boat and cracking the code of the current and wind each day. My focus on trimming was on the jib and spinnaker and, like the M7, having the BigFoot AP jib and FR-1 spinnaker in our quiver was a real confidence boost since we knew that, using that combination, guaranteed us World Championship speed. When the dust settled the top 4 teams as well as 5 of the top 6 used the same sail combination that we did so we certainly had to stay on top of all facets of our game since we weren’t the only team that figured that puzzle out! I think the overall results speak clearly for themselves as to which sails are used by the fastest boats. Jo Ann – On the lighter days Emmy and I spent a lot of time in the dog house! It was difficult to exactly tell what was going on, but we were constantly moving positions down below to keep weight in the correct place. Downwind, I think it was important to stay in the breeze and know where the next shift was coming from and where the leeward marks are located. As soon as we set, we’d immediately look for the leeward marks. Emmy – I’ve been lucky enough to learn so much from this team over the past couple of years. Jo Ann and I would talk through relatives compared to the boats around us, especially as the boys were talking about changing gears. We were constantly talking about wind on the course and counting down the immediate pressure. Weight balance feels pretty natural but we would talk through making minor adjustments like shifting weight in, or Jackson coming off the rail, to a change as drastic as me (and Jo Ann) hopping down below/up on deck. Consistency won the day at this event and, while you did win one race, more importantly you counted all single digit finishes in your scorecard. What was the focus of your game plan going into the event and how did you alter it as the week progressed? Zeke – I’ve done a fair amount of sailing (and talking about sailing) with Jackson and I know he is all about those top 5 finishes. He rarely makes a super risky call to try to win a race, but rather he sets the boat up to be in the top 10% at the first mark and then he snipes off packs or boats for the rest of the race. He’s always trying to avoid big mistakes. We would try to start conservatively near the favored end and then play the fleet up our side of the course. We paid very close attention to the breeze and course angles in the pre-start (3-5 wind checks before each race) so we could set up to be on the favored end of the line. We never really altered our approach until the very last race of the regatta. Jackson – A main contributing factor from our consistency came from Zeke’s excellent starting abilities. I’d develop the game plan, and then the area of the line that I wanted to start, and then he’d execute perfectly from there. Starting in low density areas of the starting line is a low-risk/ high-reward game plan, so we’d generally start near where we thought was the favored end of the line, but safely away from the pack. If for some reason the extreme end of the line was not crowded, then we’d jump at the opportunity. Making sure to pay attention to the location of the pack from about 2:30 before the start really helps to make sure you don’t mistakenly get caught up in it. With the highly variable and unpredictable wind that we had at this regatta, it was pretty stressful at times trying to keep track of all the top boats in each race. Playing the odds in relation to where the largest number of boats in the top group were heading generally provides for a solid score line. However it doesn’t necessarily keep the second pack that escapes to a corner behind you every time. Making sure to keep your cool in that kind of situation was hard, but imperative. Things were constantly and sometimes invisibly changing on the racecourse, so I tried my best to play the cards we had at each point in time and that seemed to work out pretty well. Emmy – Jackson had an innate view of the course, current, line and fleet and was very audible about the game plan for each race from the get-go, thus putting us in all the right spots. He was mostly conservative, which helped us manage the fleet, and was positive and patient when a shift didn’t go our way. Zeke always had the boat hooked up and going so fast (it also helps that he is incredible at starting) And on the course Jackson and Zeke were almost constantly talking through changing gears and minor adjustments to really put the boat through the water. Jo Ann and Emmy ran the front end of the boat all week. Sailing with 4 how did you divide up responsibilities and how did having the extra person help? Jo Ann – I’ve only sailed the J/22 with 4 (or 5 in the Womens’ Rolex days). The extra set of hands and eyes is key. One of us could be looking for upwind boats, logs (so much debris in the water), leeward marks etc. while the other one looked from breeze. Also weight placement downwind with four people really helps to balance the boat as we can fine tune the weight placement. Emmy and I work great together and would report different info such as puffs, relatives, compass headings etc. The whole team worked well together and really respected one another which made it easy to sail well. Emmy – With 4 people on the boat, Jo and I would share some responsibilities – we would both talk about pressure on the course, count down immediate puffs/waves/chop and help to be “opposite” eyes for Jackson and Zeke. Downwind we would talk about big picture pressure on the course, lanes, immediate pressure, relatives for the boats around us, finding the marks and helping determine game plan for the next beat. (Jo Ann is a boss on the bow.) The final day seemed to be quite a test for the team to stay focused on the task at hand. What would you consider your “mental tool” when you are under pressure going into the final race at a major event where you know you can win it or lose it all? Zeke – For me, it’s faith in my teammates. When things weren’t going well and I would get frustrated, (….after an initial outburst….) I would say to myself, “What’s your job?” I had complete faith that everyone else on the team was focused on their job and I knew that if I did mine well we would come out of tight spots. Jackson – It’s incredibly important to stay calm, cool, and collected in that kind of situation, not only before the race but throughout as well. Making sure you eat something and continue to hydrate properly can be easy to forget, and I find staying on top of that helps to keep my brain firing on all cylinders and settles my nerves a little bit. I really tried to focus on the process and stick with the normal pre-race routine that I would go through before every race. It was also helpful to try and predict what the game plan would be for our closest competitor so that we could minimize surprises, and then develop a fluid plan for how we might deal in certain situations. Knowing the point spread and where we had to finish to win the event also plays a big part in developing the game plan. Jo Ann – I was so impressed with how calm (and quiet) Zeke and Jackson remained when we were in constant battle during four general recalls. Emmy – Honestly, with this team I have the utmost confidence in everyone’s skills and ability to execute their jobs at a high level. My “mental tool” when I was under pressure was checking myself, going through the laundry list of jobs and making sure that I was providing the team with the information or action they needed. OK, tell us about current. Rumor has it if you didn’t know about current when you got to Annapolis you sure knew about it by the time you left. How did the current affect the fleet, positioning and did you guys have an advantage having sailed for years in Charleston current? Zeke – I think we absolutely had an advantage having all done a lot of sailing in Charleston. The current was certainly stronger than normal here on the Chesapeake Bay and it was a major factor in the regatta. In general I’d say the trick was always trying to be positioned up current of our nearest competitors when we could. But it really affected mark rounding and there was a lot to be gained from managing the current around the corners. We would not have won the Worlds if we didn’t nail the current at the first weather mark of the last race. We must have passed 15 boats by getting up current of the pack stacked up on the starboard lay line. It was an amazing call by my team! Jackson – It was certainly “currenting” quite a bit! With all of the rain in Annapolis and further north up the Chesapeake before the regatta, the bay was pretty high. I believe that a few dams opened up above Annapolis as well which provided a ton of ebb tide. Some days the flood tide never actually even happened, it would just slow the ebb down a little bit. Staying out of the adverse current was certainly on the top of our priority list and having raced in the currents of Charleston provided us with the knowledge and experience for how to deal with the strong currents. Especially during the starts and mark roundings. Jo Ann – Thanks goodness Jackson and Zeke have spent so much time sailing in current! Zeke was amazing at mark rounds despite the ripping current. We were able to get inside everyone at the leeward marks and sail around boats at the top marks. Jackson was also incredible at strategically placing us in the right position at the top mark to gain as much as possible from the current. Emmy – I never thought that the current in Annapolis would be as bad as it is in Charleston but this week proved me wrong. We were talking a lot about where we could get current relief in shallower water and would talk about relatives to other boats when we crossed current lines. I think with all of the current, especially on the last day, our experiences of sailing in Charleston shined (especially Jackson’s hard left, port layline call in the first beat of the last race that helped us cross the fleet sitting on the starboard layline “treadmill”). What were your rig settings. Did you stay on the looser side so you could power thru the lulls? Or were you in the same settings most of the regatta? Zeke – We checked and adjusted the rig tension a lot. Jo Ann always nails the rig to perfection but for sure we encouraged her to keep us set up for the lulls. We felt we could get away with being slightly too loose if the breeze came up by pulling the back stay on and hiking hard, but it was imperative to be set to get through the lulls. Jo Ann – We always tried to have the rig tune set up “perfectly” (That’s what I would tell Greg in the olden days….”The rig is perfect!” ) before the start. I would want to keep looking at the rig every 2 minutes or anytime the wind velocity changed to make sure it was still perfect. I tried to always look at it in the lulls so it would be set up for the lulls. I guess you could say we might have always been on the looser side. Going into the last race we were anticipating the wind dying so we set up a little on the loose side, as it turned out the breeze picked up which was not ideal. Emmy – Jo Ann is the rig master and really had us hooked up all week. With the breeze on the lighter end, we would bet on it dying out more than building so we mostly would keep it on the looser side. World Champions know stuff the rest of us don’t so, at the risk of giving a way all of your secrets, can each of you tell us 2 things that you felt were the key to your win and one “tip” or “secret” that every J/22 sailor should know to help them move up in the fleet? Zeke – There is nothing like the magic of a good team. Pick the people who you LOVE to sail with and who you have fun with regardless of the result. Then focus on your communication and be honest with one another about what you like and don’t like. Take the time to build confidence in your boat speed and then let good conservative starts and top notch speed do the work for you. In terms of trimming, be willing to make changes and always set up for speed before height. The J/22 will not go upwind until the flow attaches to the keel, so don’t even think about pointing until the boat is moving. Once it’s moving, focus on getting the boat DEAD FLAT with 0 helm. Now the keel is doing the work for you! You’ll learn to feel the boat starting to lose flow before it happens at which time you need to go back into speed mode. It’s all about changing gears and sailing as flat as you can! Jib trim is imperative. Make sure your jib trimmer is always ready to ease or trim to keep the tell tales straight back. The helmsman can’t appropriately correct for shifts or puffs if the jib isn’t reacting first. Jackson – Making sure you’re having fun always seems to make the boat go faster. Our teamwork was a major part of our success. I can’t think of any other sailors I would have rather been on the boat with for this championship. We all have a ton of respect for each other and we’re great friends. I think that’s really important and it makes for excellent chemistry on the water. There are definitely times when we disagree with each other, but it’s quickly and easily forgotten due to the nature of our relationships. Playing the jib sheet constantly helps the boat go fast and stay fast, even as much as 2-6 inches at times. If we sailed into a header, I’d trim the jib in to help bring the bow down as Zeke brought the boat down to the proper course, then ease it into acceleration mode before trimming back into the “5th gear” setting. If we sailed into a lift, I’d ease it out to the proper trim according to the telltales in the middle of the luff, which would allow the bow to ride up back to the proper course, then trim back in to the “5th gear” setting. Also keeping the jib sheet moving through the pressure changes proved to be very fast as well. My eyes were on the leech telltale of the jib (through the main window) fairly constantly when the boat was going straight and not encountering any pressure or angle changes. I’d look to have it flying 100% of the time, while also making sure I had it trimmed in as tight as it would allow. When the leech telltale starts to raise up 15 or so degrees from flying straight back (but still flying and not stalling), I’d know that it was at maximum trim. Eating the most delicious wraps I’ve ever had in my life (thanks to Emmy!) also didn’t hurt! Jo Ann – For me this team had fun, we were always hanging out together and enjoyed each other. We all drink the same cocktail (Ed: The cocktail of choice for Team Uncle Fluffy is “The Fisher”, which is vodka, water, splash of grapefruit! Is this the next big thing?) and I READ MORE

2018 SOLO CLASS UPDATE Another Fantastic Year for North Sails in the Solo class © Errol Edwards 2018 has been a fantastic year for sailors using North Sails in the Solo class, with an almost unprecedented number of victories racked up so far this season. The current race range of P-2, P-2C and F-2 mainsails has provided sailors of all shapes and sizes the ability to go and win races at international, national and local levels of competition. To date this season some of the major victories have been: Solo Class 2018 Winter Champs 1 Charlie Cumbley Spring Champs 1 Ian Walters Spring Cup Medemblik 1 Lawrence Creaser Northern Area Champs 1 Ewan Birkin Walls Southern Area Champs 1 Lawrence Creaser Midland Area Champs 1 Chris Brown Nations Cup 1 Charlie Cumbley Eastern Area Champs 1 Ewan Birkin-Walls UK Nationals 1 Charlie Cumbley 2 Pete Mitchell 3 Tim Law * Denotes Partial North Sails Inventory On top of these majors events, there have been numerous regional and open victories, so many congratulations to all those who have added to the victory list. Our North Sails team, which includes Charlie Cumbley, Lawrence Creaser, Tom Lonsdale, Nick Bonner and Pete Mitchell have been sailing throughout the season and have been out amongst the action, challenging the Solo class sailors for titles. Charlie, UK One Design Sales Manager commented, “Thanks to our team being on the water we have managed to ensure that we give our customers the best possible sales service. By being on the race course amongst our clients, we have created a fantastic bond which enables us to stay on top of all class and sail developments, which in turn help us to make the best possible product on the market.” © Errol Edwards For all those who have competed in the North Sails Super Series there is still the chance to win a North sail at the ‘End of Season’ champs in October, so make sure you are there as you have to be in it to win it! © Errol Edwards READ MORE

CHAMPION SAILOR ROBERT GREENHALGH JOINS NORTH SAILS Volvo Ocean Race Winner and International Sailing Champion Joins World’s Leading Sailmaker 📸Volvo Ocean Race North Sails are pleased to announce that Robert Greenhalgh has joined the team. A key hire focused on sales and customer support, Greenhalgh’s notable achievements on the water over the last 15 years mark him out as one of the leading experts in the industry to advise North Sails clients around the world on how they can improve their sailing experience. Robert has competed in five Volvo Ocean Races, winning the prestigious event with ABN AMRO ONE in 2006 and finishing second on two occasions with PUMA & Mapfre. He has seen extensive success in different size boats, having previously been a World Champion in both the 18ft Skiff & International 14 Classes, and he has also won National and European titles in the International Moth Class. Offshore, Robert was part of the transatlantic record-breaking team onboard Comanche and has a number of other records to his name including Fastnet records, both monohull and multihull, and the Caribbean 600. Rob also has extensive multihull experience, winning the Extreme Sailing Series in 2007, finishing second in 2008, and more recently sailing onboard both MOD70 & D35’s. Speaking about Greenhalgh joining North Sails, company President Ken Read commented; “I picked Rob to be on my team with PUMA in the Volvo Ocean Race in 2008-09 and onboard Comanche as I know he is one of the top guys in our sport. His experience across both offshore and inshore racing puts him in a unique position to be able to advise a huge number of our clients as they seek to get more out of their sails and boat performance. Having sailed with, and against Rob for over ten years, I am excited to see the value he will bring to our customers around the world as he continues racing from Moths to Maxis.” Robert commented; “Having spent so much of my career using North Sails I am delighted to be joining such a world class organization. There is no doubt that to be a winner, every part of your setup needs to be the best that it can be so joining North Sails was a very natural move for me – I want to provide the best products on the market to as many people as possible to help them achieve their aims.” Following the conclusion of the recent Volvo Ocean Race, Robert has chosen Sydney as his home base where he will be joining the North Sails team in Australia. He will be providing customer service and consultancy relevant to his wealth of experience from Moths, One Design keel boats, IRC rated boats, Maxis, up through yachts built for offshore racing. 📸Ugo Fonolla/Volvo Ocean Race READ MORE

MELGES 20 EUROPEAN FINALE Brontolo Racing Wins 2018 World League with 3Di 📸 Zerogradinord Brontolo Racing finished second in the final act of the Melges 20 World League European Division to secure the overall 2018 series title. With a new suit of 3Di sails, they brought their A-game to the final event, says North Sails expert Giulio Desiderato. “As always, there was heavy competition within the Melges 20 European class events,” Giulio added. “Starting off the regatta with double bullets, and then staying ahead of Nika was what they had to do—and they did just that.” “My main focus before each event is to make sure we have the right inventory and that everything with our boat is 100%,” said North Sails Federico Michetti, team manager and trimmer for Brontolo. “I pay very close attention to details, everything from accommodations, to eating the best food, and making sure we have time after racing to unwind together as a team.” 📸 Zerogradinord Asked about the pressures of racing, Federico responded that “We try not to think about it, but to each do the best job we can. Our skipper Filippio Pacinotti provides us with the best equipment in order to be competitive, while working hard to make his own personal improvements too. Manu Weiller our tactician has serious talent and makes our life easier, keeping us out of trouble, which is super important.” “Our team is working hard to improve by learning from our mistakes,” Federico concluded. “We’ve learned a lot from each other, always working hard to grow as a team. We have all really enjoyed our journey together.” 📸 Zerogradinord North Sails 3Di is the new inventory option for the Melges 20 class as of this year. We asked Federico his thoughts on how 3Di has enhanced his sailing experience within the class. “We love our sails. The designs have come a long way over the past few years. North has lead the way with 3Di for the Melges 20. We follow our tuning guide, we have the best products, and we are built for speed. We have better techniques and a longer lasting inventory, which has proven to be unmatched.” Federico says the hardest part about racing in this fleet is staying consistent. The talent amongst each team is so steep that each leg must be better and faster than the one before. “With the growth of the class over the last few years, many of us are sailing at the same speed, so making mistakes is not an option.” 📸 Zerogradinord The sailors within the class are some of the best sailors in the world. It is never easy racing against some of these teams. Federico comments; “Racing against previous world champions like Drew Freides and his team Pacific Yankee is tough. They are consistent and have impressive speed, and they never give up. It is a huge honor to race against PY and we learn more and more each time we get the opportunity.” There was a ton of excitement as Brontolo Racing returned back to the dock. Skipper Filippio Pacinotti commented; “I dedicate this victory to my excellent crew, and to my family that have always endured and encouraged my enormous passion for this sport. Thanks to all the friends who over the years has raced onboard Brontolo – this is their victory too!” Full Series Results 📸 Zerogradinord READ MORE

SAILS, SUPPORT AND THE 52 SUPER SERIES An Interview with Morgan Trubovich, Sail Coordinator on Phoenix 📸52 Super Series / Studio Martinez Morgan Trubovich is upwind trimmer and sail coordinator for Phoenix, a TP52 sailing in the 2018 52 Super Series. The 52 Super Series is known as one of the most competitive racing circuits in sailing, and the 2018 season has upped the ante with many America’s Cup teams using the series as a training platform. The TP52 boats fall into a box rule, which features a deep slender keel and powerful sail area. “TP52s racing in the Super Series are all very even as different boat designs and equipment selected have gotten closer together,” explains Morgan. “Sail performance is critical, and it may be the difference that sets you apart from the fleet at a critical moment in the race.” “The sails are the engines of the boat,” says Morgan. “If your sails aren’t good, your speed isn’t good. If your speed isn’t good, your day won’t be good!” As sail coordinator, Morgan is responsible for ensuring Phoenix’s days are good. His job begins pre season with articulating the team’s requirements to the North Sails designers, which then rolls into managing the boat’s inventory throughout the Series. The class has a limit of 18 new sails each season and during the season Morgan is focused on tracking sail performance and durability. 📸52 Super Series / Studio Martinez Phoenix uses 3Di RAW 880, the most carbon-dense sails offered within the 3Di family, and more carbon than any sail on the water. RAW 880 was developed specifically for the TP52 class and its availability is limited to Grand Prix inshore racing where extreme construction is necessary to meet the low stretch, lightweight demands of intense racing. Phoenix was launched for the 2018 season and, so far, Morgan likes what he sees in the North Sails product. “I have been very impressed by the 3Di RAW 880 product. The sails built using this blend of materials seem to be lasting longer in terms of shape retention than what I have previously used. They also appear to have more dynamic shape shifting when we make adjustments to our controls.” It’s commonly said that races are won before a boat leaves the shed, and sails are the end products of many behind the scenes hours. “The support system and the collective knowledge with North Sails set Phoenix up for a great season,” Morgan explains. I was able to meet our sail designer Burns Fallow at the loft in New Zealand, as well as the team on the floor finishing our sails. During the Series events we have North designer Shane Elliott onboard as our navigator and Mark Sadler assists me onshore with managing the sail inventory. We also have access to Paul Westlake who provides valuable insight and guidance on our sails from the coach boat.” Phoenix and other nine boats are at their final 52 Super Series of the 2018 season. The fleet is currently sailing in Valencia through September 22. Follow along with the action on on the 52 Super Series website. And a special good luck to Morgan and the Phoenix team. 📸52 Super Series / Studio Martinez 📸52 Super Series / Studio Martinez READ MORE