08.08.2007
http://www.northsails.com/australia/AboutUs.htm http://www.northsails.com/australia/AboutUs.htm
WELCOME - North e-News brings you news about sailing events and North Sails products.
50 Years of FAST – Celebrating North Sails 50th Anniversary
It is a busy time again for North Sails, as the summer sailing season approaches and Whitsunday regattas start on Friday.
This year also marks the 50th Anniversary for North Sails, with Lowell North founding the company in 1957 out of a small loft in downtown San Diego.
The floor space was 15ft by 40 – the size of a living room. 'It was a little dusty and dirty but just big enough to build a Star boat mainsail', commented Lowell North.
Today, North Sails is the worlds premier sailmaker with over 60 lofts and service centres in 24 countries. North Sails’ achievements are based on an unwavering commitment to technical leadership and unmatched customer service, and our success is demonstrated in at all levels of the sport. Our success in the America’s Cup arena, as outlined in one of the following articles, is testament to that.
32nd America’s Cup
In one of the most memorable Cup Match finals for some time, it was a win-win situation for North Sails, as both Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand were exclusively equipped with North Sails 3DL technology upwind, and Gradient V-series downwind. In fact 11 out of 12 Cup teams were powered exclusively by North Sails, and these teams carried out a staggering 23,000 hours of sail testing over the cup cycle.
So as everyone asks 'What’s next' and 'How does all this sail testing and development impact on the next set of sails I might buy', as a sail designer for the BMW Oracle team, North Sails Steve Calder had the following comments:
'Historically, North Sails has always conducted a debrief after the America’s Cup. There’s a lot of knowledge to be mined after each Cup, not only about fast sail shapes and rig setups but about how to put high-end sails together and keep them together. Every America’s Cup pushes the stakes higher, and sail designers and sailmakers continue to push the technology forward.
After Valencia, much of the knowledge gained will filter down into sails for mainstream classes and boats. Then before we know it we’ll roll into the next Cup cycle, and a new round of sail development will again start raising the bar.'
By Julian Plante
Contact us
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