CHED PROCTOR INTERVIEW- by Dave Powlison at SAILING WORLD

 

[Ed. Note: Ched has known the Johnstone family for nearly four decades. First meeting was in Pewaukee, WI when Bob & Mary J. and Stu & Drake J. started sailing 470s in 1973 in Chicago, IL. At that time, Ched had just gotten a job working with the famous Finn Olympic Medallist, Peter Barret, at the North Sails loft in Pewaukee. Things were small back then, as the North Sails loft was actually part of the Harken Yacht Equipment building, as well as Harken's boat-building operation. Ched spent a lot of time with Peter and Olaf Harken. And, the Johnstone's spent a lot of time with Ched (and fellow Hingham, MA friend Chuck Millican) tinkering on 470s, learning how to make them go faster at various venues across the Midwest and Northeast, the most popular regions for 470s back in the day. In due course, once Bob and brother Rod J. co-founded J/Boats in 1977 with the J/24, Ched had also moved back to the northeast working for North Sails. In the first year of its existence, Ched was tasked with being the one-design guru for the J/24 class, as well as Vince Brun out West, and later five-time J/24 World Champion Kenny Read. Ched continued to work closely with the Johnstone clan with every new one-design product introduction since, including the J/22, J/70, and J/80- four of the world's largest one-design offshore keelboat classes.]

Herewith, Powlison's interview with our dear friend Ched:

With nearly a half-century of small-boat one-design racing and sailmaking in his wake, Ched Proctor is set in his ways, and his ways are fast.

In 1964, Ched Proctor had a serious case of the slows. He was 14 and competing in Turnabouts in Scituate, Massachusetts, just southeast of Boston. “I remember coming in to the dock and being very frustrated,” he says. There was Bill Mattern, high school teacher, part-time garage sailmaker and unofficial mentor for the junior racing crowd. Proctor asked him what he thought of his sail. Mattern studied it and quickly confirmed the young sailor’s suspicion.

Seventy-five dollars later, with a new sail in hand, Proctor headed for Quincy Bay Race Week. Though he hadn’t been that competitive in his local fleet, he mustered the courage to sign up for the championship division—and won it. With that victory came an epiphany—at least for a 14-year-old—that would determine the trajectory of his life: “I learned then that a sail with the right shape makes the boat go faster.”

Professionally, Proctor would go on to work almost 50 years with North Sails, taking him to lofts in Wisconsin, Australia, Germany and Connecticut. Competitively, he would roll up an unparalleled list of one-design North American and National titles, notching 17 major victories in the Lightning class alone, including that class’s 2018 and 2019 North American Championships. A lot of the one-design sails North Sails sells today were designed by Proctor.


The family sailing unit has always been tight with the Proctor clan, Ched and Judy Proctor and their sons Thomas and Charlie.

Proctor is a waterman who grew up on a bay in Weymouth, just south of Boston. He remembers, around age 5, spending time in an old, derelict rowboat in the backyard. “I pretended to row it using a couple of brooms,” he says. “It got to the point where I wore out the ground under the brooms and wore the bristles right off them. About that same time, my father tried to teach me how to sail and steer a boat upwind. I just couldn’t do it.” There’s a subtle shrug and hint of disappointment in his voice as he tells that story, and then concedes, “It seems that 7 is more the right age to learn that sort of thing.”  Read the rest of the article here at Sailing World:Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Watch & Learn! More Speed Tips & Tuning Webinars!

Moving beyond last week's "Sailors Binge Watching sailing videos", a number of sailmakers have been conducting on-going "Zoom" video webinars or YouTube broadcasts or even Facebook LIVE interactive sessions. 

Below are a select few of North Sails webinars that were related to the J/111 one-design class and also the highly popular J/70 one-design class. Lots of great information to study over Mother's Day weekend!


J/111 Upwind & Downwind Performance Tips
This webinar was chock full of great information sailing the hot J/111 one-design class. The experts included Seadon Wijsen from San Francisco, Jeremy Smart from United Kingdom, Allan Terhune from Annapolis/ Chicago, and Jack Orr from Milford, CT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17qsyQom5j0



J/70 Worlds Webinar- sailing off Marina del Rey, CA 
Alex Curtiss, Allan Terhune and Eric Doyle held a fascinating webinar about sailing off Marina del Rey, the site of the 2021 J/70 World Championship. Many great tips, helpful insights sailing a regatta there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knn3YscY3xw



J/70 Downwind tips and techniques
World Champion Tim Healy, along with last year's World Champion crew Ruairidh Scott from the United Kingdom, and Allan Terhune walk you through a strong webinar discussion on how to "send it" when it's breezy as well as the very tactical transition process of when it's best to go from VMG, to Wing & Wing, to Planing Mode!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGcnwm5X7Hs


J/70 Mainsail trim
Ever wonder why some boats are simply consistently faster upwind that others? It's the mainsail trim, dude! Learn some of those secrets here from Giulio Desiderato from Italy, Zeke Horowitz from Newport and Allan Terhune from Annapolis/ Chicago.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAc07QRTCqo Flip 

J/122 Eclipses U.K. IRC Nationals-

Falmouth Team Takes on Solent Rockstars and Win it all?  Incredibly, that was the case at the 2019 U.K. IRC National Championship when Stuart Sawyer’s J/122 BLACK DOG was crowned the 2019 U.K. IRC National Champions!

The IRC National Championship in Cowes, UK, attracted over 100 boats and twenty-two boats in IRC2, the most competitive  and hottest fleet in the regatta. Stuart Sawyer’s J/122 BLACK DOG scored four bullets in eight races to secure the IRC Performance 40 division win and the Overall IRC title by 15 points. Stuart has been racing with the same team for the better part of nine years, but this was their first time competing in the IRC Nationals. It was an idea that came to him after the Dartmouth Royal Regatta race last year, when Jeremy Smart was onboard calling tactics; “we may have a chance to do well if we keep this up,” Stuart realized.

“It was encouraging racing with Jeremy,” he told us a few days after the IRC Nationals victory. “That planted the seed—maybe this year, we should go a bit further and push ourselves. Jeremy was pleased with how the boat was running, and that was very encouraging. Believing in our boat, and our sails, was all the positivity we needed.”

Stuart was “over the moon” with his crew’s hard work over the course of the weekend, which required every bit of the team’s attention. He grew up racing dinghies with his brother Andrew and windsurfed professionally for many years. In 2007, after a hiatus, he came back to racing sailboats. “I’m a surfer at heart,” says Stuart. “So I like asymmetrical sailing, the A2 is great, you can play all the waves and soak better, it just suits my style of sailing.”

Stuart had a J/97 for three years, and after winning the Nationals, he upgraded to a J/111—where he also won the Vice Admirals Cup and National Championships in his third year. He says the J/122 is a “significantly stiffer boat,” with more displacement, and goes upwind very well. “It doesn’t plane like the J/111, but for a 40-footer it sure can surf and is responsive downwind. The best part about racing J boats is that the layout is mostly the same. The loads are greater as we increased our waterline, but we were able to quickly adapt and connect with the boat as a team.”

Stuart claimed the 2019 title with his long-time team of friends: Mainsail trimmer Garth Weaver, also known as “company secretary” as he handles all the logistics, Roger Ford in the pit, aka the Terrier for pushing everyone to hike harder and never let up; jib trimmer Josh Redgrave, who joined the team when he was 16 years old and now runs the boat; kite trimmer Jonathan ‘JB’ Barnicoat; Tom Redgrave (Josh’s brother), pit #2 for the Nationals and also covered navigation as normal navigator Simon Boote didn’t race; bow was run by Sandy Proctor, who has been sailing with Stuart for 11 years; mast Hans Wehmeyer; and mid-bow/grinder Jack Elsby. Two new crew also joined for the regatta: floater Ruby Dent [daughter of J/111 World Champion Martin Dent]; and tactician and North expert Shane Hughes.

“There is something special about sailing with friends,” says Stuart. “I think that’s why we’ve come so far and done so well over the years. The crew work was spot-on, and we know each other very well. When we get into the moments where we felt slow we are happy to change gears, if we have a bad start or there is an issue we are able to shout ‘reset!’, and everyone knew to work harder to improve boat speed.”

“One of our best moments last weekend was race 2 on the Saturday: we didn’t get off the line well, and we were buried at the start. We were outside the top 15 around the windward mark but we kept working at it, making huge gains on the downwind leg. Shane focused on keeping our air clear and the crew worked the boat really hard to keep fast and deep. We were able to get ourselves ahead of a pack and into a place where our tactician Shane had some freedom to make decisions, and we had a great second beat, a pulled out a 4th in that race. Being able to fight back helped us win overall.”

“It took a lot of time to get the rig right on our 11-year old boat, he adds. We put new rigging on the boat in 2017 when it was refurbished, but we weren’t happy with the set up. Dave Lenz then analyzed some photos and we went about a re-set before Dartmouth last year. I feel our settings now are good and we have found a sweet spot for performance”.

Shane Hughes says it was a pleasure to join this team. “The event went very well for us—better than expected in many ways. We had a lot to figure out, in a very short period. Stuart and the guys were great, very welcoming, and open to taking on a few new ideas and suggestions. The team (other than me) has been together for 9+ years, which makes them quite a cohesive unit. They sail the boat well and know how to get the most out of the boat. So it was easy to step in and add a little extra value to that.”

The effort that the team put in was impressive, Shane continues. “They wanted to get a good result at the event. The whole atmosphere on and off the water helped their performance. I have been lucky enough to sail with some great Cornish sailors in the past, and there is always plenty of banter flying around, which helps create a relaxed and inclusive team culture. There is a good mix of experienced, very keen, and talented younger guys too. It was a fun process and a successful regatta.”

After the regatta, the boat went home to Falmouth, where it will do some local sailing before competing in the Dartmouth Regatta later this summer. No Rolex Fastnet Race for this team! It’s summertime in “the West”, time to relax and chill!   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth  Thanks for this contribution from North Sails U.K.

Eight Bells- Lowell North

 
Lowell North, founder of North Sails, passed away June 2 with his wife Bea by his side in San Diego, CA. He was 89 years old.

Lowell was an early supporter of the J/105 Class in San Diego, CA, owning J/105 #3 that is now called NE*NE and currently resides in San Francisco Bay. Lowell was an active participant in the famous International Masters Regatta, pioneered by his close friend Don Trask in San Francisco Bay, with sailing taking place first in J/24s and later in J/105s.

Born in Springfield, Missouri, North was 14 when his curiosity led to him re-cutting the mainsail of his Star boat. A year later (1945), Malin Burnham, one of San Diego’s hottest sailors, asked the young North to crew for him in the World Championships. They won. “It wasn’t me Malin wanted,” North had said. “It was my mainsail.”

North went on to win four world’s championships as skipper in this elite class. Nearly as impressive, he finished second in the world’s five times. He brought home a gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, prompting Starlights, the Class magazine, to call him “the perfect Star sailor.”

North had won another Olympic medal (bronze) in the Dragon class (1964). He was known for rigs so refined that occasionally something would let go. Shortly before one race, the main halyard parted. North and his crew, Peter Barrett, lowered the mast while on the water, threaded the mains’l into the groove, and raised it in time to make the start.

Obsessed by the shape of speed on the water, North applied his degree in engineering to sail making. He opened his first North Sails loft in San Diego in 1957. From the beginning, his was a scientific approach. He was among the very first sail makers to embrace computer modeling. He hired other champion sailors -- “Tigers,” he called them -- to demonstrate and sell his products. He figured anyone who could make a sailboat go fast could also be a good businessman.

Lowell sold North Sails in 1984 and retired from sailmaking. He continued to sail, racing his boat Sleeper for many years, as well as cruising the Pacific. In 2011, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the US National Sailing Hall of Fame.

J/70 Sail Development- A Perspective

(San Diego, CA)- Recently in San Diego, a group of one-design champions with 11 world titles between them came together for an intensive J/70 sail-testing session. The primary goal was to quantify whether new upwind sail designs would prove faster than the existing J/70 inventory, which has been on the podium at every class world championship so far. Tim Healy, President of North Sails One Design, explains it this way: “We wanted to look at some different concepts and either prove that we’re on the right track or cross some ideas off the list, to further advance the performance of our sails.”

A secondary goal, Tim says, was to better understand the existing designs and how tuning and trim plays into performance. “A sail design can be improved, but unless you understand how to trim and tune it properly, you’re not going to get the benefit. Our current designs are very good, but we also wanted to make sure we’re really getting the most out of the sails.”

With these goals in mind, Tim invited one-design experts from a range of competitive keelboat classes to go sailing and then brainstorm ideas for improvement. Mike Marshall put his own worlds-winning drive to work as the telemetry expert, coach, and debrief leader. “My goal is to not be the most vocal person in the room,” Mike says, “but to be the person who facilitates. Trying to get the best input out of every single person.”

How It Worked
Each morning before leaving the dock, the two J/70s were tuned to the same base numbers, and teams of four were carefully combined to be within ten pounds of each other. Tim Healy and Will Welles steered. The group sailed in both the flat water of South Bay and outside in ocean swells, in breeze that ranged from five to thirteen knots.

On each of the four days Mike ran a series of five-minute telemetry runs, using the proprietary equipment he helped to develop, which has set new standards for sail testing. Running up to twenty-two tests each day built an impressively large data set of accurate VMGs for each boat. Skip Dieball, who trimmed for Tim Healy’s team, had used the telemetry to prepare for his win at the 2015 Etchells Worlds. “It was incredibly valuable in determining the fastest setup and fastest equipment combination.”

Having world champions as rail meat, Tim says, was a lot of fun. “They are so competitive! On every test, everyone was doing everything they could to try to win the test. Then in the end, Mike would tell us who beat who.”

A Potent Mix Of Personalities
After sailing, the two teams got together for a debrief to share thoughts about the results. A discussion with so many champions led to surprising insights each day, Mike explains. “Put nine competitive sailors in a room together, and you come to a lot of really good conclusions. Everyone brings their own experience. Zeke Horowitz brings his Flying Scot and his J/22 experience. Eric Doyle brings his Star experience. Will Welles brings his many years of J/24 sailing and Skip Dieball, his Etchells and many other one-design classes success. Vince Brun has 40 or 50 years in this business, and he’s always got something very valid to say as well as always being an absolute pleasure to have around. Tim Healy brings his encyclopedia of knowledge of all the things that he’s won. It’s highly beneficial to get all the different opinions and thoughts and combine the various viewpoints.” Skip Dieball was also impressed with the debriefs: “World champions everywhere! It was fun to collaborate and discuss what we felt, how we set up the various designs.”

Tim agrees that the wide range of perspectives helped everyone improve. “Eric Doyle, for instance, is a hands-on guy. When it comes to manufacturing, it’s always great to bounce the idea off him: ‘Hey Eric, what do you think?’ Then he says, ‘We already tried that with this class. It didn’t work.’

“Mike is the technical guy,” Tim continues. “And Zeke is more of a seat-of-the-pants guy, so it’s refreshing to hear his point of view. They all shared different experiences with sail development programs, what’s worked and what hasn’t. There were so many different talents at that table that you could always find somebody to say, ‘I can help with that.’”

What They Learned
Sail testing is all about making better sails, and Tim says that, while looking at new shapes and more user-friendly construction techniques, they took the time to drill down to the tiniest of details: the shape of a telltale window, the placement of a tack grommet, how the webbing is attached to the head of the jib. “We could talk all day about batten pocket construction and come up with examples from another class.”

Both Tim and Mike agree that if they had the four days to do over again that they wouldn’t change a thing. Eric Doyle says the telemetry was so helpful that he would never go sail testing without it again, though it falls to Mike to explain why. “We’re constantly trying to improve our sails, but at the end of the day, how do you do that? With telemetry testing, you end up with a solid, concrete answer, an indisputable fact. 85% of the time, those facts are confirmed by what people feel on the boat. When they aren’t, you can look further into why.

“Of course, I have opinions about which sail is better and why,” Mike continues. “But the two-boat testing system keeps it scientific and organized. It really pushed our development path forward, giving us answers as well as new questions to ask.”

Tim agrees that the scientific approach left him confident about their conclusions. “The bottom-line goal is to prove that we’re making a better sail. We had some good concepts that we got more data from. And we now understand the tuning and the trim even better than before.”

A three-time World Champion himself, even Tim was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of expertise they gathered together. “I know these guys. I talk to them every day. But when you stop to think about it, the knowledge base is pretty impressive.”

Welles Crowned J/24 North American Champion

(Valle de Bravo, Mexico)- Who knew that the Mexican-hosted J/24 North American Championship would come down to two “gringos” from “el norte” that are “buenos amigos” from “el estado de Maine”. What? Yes! True story.

Having known each other from way, way “Down East” for well over three decades, it was more than ironic that the two leading protagonists for the 2019 J/24 North American Championship both hailed from the state of Maine, and had sailed against each other in J/24s at various events ranging from Portland to further Downeast in Southwest Harbor off Mount Desert Island! That they found themselves battling “hammer & tong” for the 2019 J/24 N.A. finale was a bit of a “back to the future” experience for both Will Welles on BRUSCHETTA and Tony Parker on BANGOR PACKET. No one was going to “pull the wool over the eyes” of the other boat, they both know each other all too well!

The 2019 J/24 North American Championship was hosted by Club Nautico Valle de Bravo on their gorgeous lake in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.  The twenty-seven boat fleet consisted of USA, French and Mexican teams from across the top fleets in the respective countries.

In the end, it was Welles’ BRUSCHETTA that withstood a hard-charging Parker on his BANGOR PACKET to return the J/24 North American Championship to Newport, RI. Welles, two-time J/24 World Champion and now four-time J/24 North American Champion, came into Friday’s final two races with a slight two-point advantage over Parker. With Mexican boat owner Aroldo de Rienzo aboard, as well as Rich Bowen, John McCabe and PJ Schaffer, BRUSCHETTA took the victory in Race 9, with Parker still hot on their heels in second. The pair dueled in the final contest, with Welles placing ninth and Parker 10th, giving Welles and team the Championship with 24 points to Parker’s 28. In third place overall, and top Mexican finisher, was Kenneth Porter’s “S” with 32 points.

Welles had never sailed in Valle de Bravo before this week, when he also competed in the Mexican National Championship (placing first overall). Although this marked the first time paired with local Valle de Bravo boat owner de Rienzo, the remaining crew are good friends from Newport, RI, who sometimes race together in the famous Newport Fleet 50 Thursday night races (considered the world’s “hottest” fleet since it has at least five J/24 World Champions sailing on some Thursdays!).

Welles summarized the conditions in Valle de Bravo, saying, “It’s funky out there. The puffs don’t move quickly, so you have to get to them. That doesn’t happen in Newport or other places we have sailed.”

As for strategy in the final two races, Welles said, “We focused on getting good starts, so we could go the way we thought we should.  The goal was to just keep Bangor Packet behind us!  Of course, we know them, and Tony is a great friend. Kudos to them for pushing us so hard!”

Rounding out the top five were top Seattle, WA sailor Mark Laura with buddy Mark Thomas onboard, sailing BABA LOUIE to 4th place.  Fifth was another Mexican team, one of the early regatta leaders- Javier Velásquez’s TRINQUETE.  For more J/24 North American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

WINGS Rises to New Heights at J/88 Midwinters

 
Five Bullets Guarantees The Title in St. Pete
(St Petersburg, FL)- Taking on a new sailing challenge is nothing new for Mike Bruno. Through nearly three decades of racing he and his team have raced, and succeeded, in several different boats. So, when the J/88 launched onto the scene, Mike jumped in and the Wings program had a new sailing challenge to conquer.

Fresh of their recent win at J/Fest in St. Petersburg, the North Sails Team wanted to know more about the Wings team and their thoughts on their 3Di sails.

NORTH: Mike, first of congratulations to you and your team on Wings for your continued success in the J/88. Can you share with us a little bit about your sailing background and how long have you been sailing in the J/88 class?

BRUNO: Thanks! We are having fun with Wings and continue to learn more and more about sailing the J/88 fast. Insofar as how we got this far, I started out as casual cruising sailor and began racing about 25 years ago. I would say that in the past 15 years or so we have gotten fairly serious about racing and being competitive. We had a Jonmeri 40 named Karjala that I raced for many years, then a series of “Wings”.

First was a J/124 I raced for two years. It was a nice boat, but we found it to have a tough rating to sail to, so we traded it for a J/122.

The J/122 really was a great step and I successfully campaigned that boat, with a few partners, for eight years as a one-design. The J/122 program brought us some great results, including winning the North American title twice and a Rolex award at a New York YC regatta. That brought us to the current Wings, the J/88, which I bought the 3 years ago. We have really enjoyed this program and had great wins including the inaugural J/88 North Americans as well as a big J/88 class win at Key West Race Week.


NORTH: The pictures from the J/Fest Regatta in St. Petersburg made it appear that you had good breeze for the event. Did the conditions match up with the pictures throughout the championship?

BRUNO: St. Petersburg Yacht Club runs excellent events and Tampa Bay can be a bit “challenging”, so you really never know what you will get on any given day, especially in the winter. That said, the sailing conditions at the J/Fest were certainly fair. Across the entire event, I’d say the breeze ranged from 8-20 knots. I think the cooler conditions (locals may call it “unseasonable”) played a role in how much pressure we had throughout the weekend. Also, Tampa Bay is quite shallow so there was a reasonable amount of sea state but the very steady breeze overall and significant shifts kept every team on their toes and working hard looking for opportunities to be gained via tactics and gear changing.

NORTH: Can you tell us a little bit about your team, who does what, and how long have you all been together?

BRUNO: The team is really made up of a large group of great friends and awesome sailors and, like many others, we find we are rotating in and jumbling pieces for any particular event to make sure we, not only do well, but have fun.

For J/Fest Midwinters I helmed and had Chris Morgan, a local Floridian, trim main and work with me on our overall speed. Stu Johnstone was our tactician and he really had a great feel for the bay the entire weekend. Tim Randall ran the pit for us while Mike Booker did all the headsail trimming and Stephen Yip ran the bow.

NORTH: Looking back through the weekend what were the keys to your success at the Midwinters?

BRUNO: It’s a great question, as it forces me to look back and try to pinpoint a few things I think we did really well.

1. The biggest thing was we were just able to sail a bit higher and faster than the fleet much of the time. A lot goes into that for sure. The team really worked hard on proper rig tune and working the sails and trim constantly to maximize the boats potential but our new sails were probably the most significant difference in our ability to make that happen. 

2. Our crew work was excellent! As a skipper knowing that your team can execute any maneuver at a seconds notice and pull it off without a hitch is a huge confidence builder for the entire boat. It seems that at almost every mark rounding we seemed to gain 1-3 boat lengths.

3. I mentioned earlier that Stu Johnstone called tactics for the weekend; he was really on tactically this regatta, just incredible! Stu didn’t miss anything, which also gave us terrific confidence. We did make a few mistakes in the event, including being over early at the start in two races. In the last race, we were over (again) and we re-started, probably, 300 yards behind fleet. But, Stu got us back in the game, and we kept using our boat speed and crew work to do all we could to gain distance. Remarkably, we still nearly won the race- just a 1/4 boat length off! I guess maybe the new saying is “When you have a great team and fast sails it’s never over until it’s over!”

NORTH: What are your 2019 sailing plans for the J/88?

BRUNO: Wings has a very full 2019 sailing calendar. We have already done the Egmont Key Race and St. Pete J/Fest. Up next in February is the St Pete NOODs, and then we head up to Charleston Race Week in April. From there the team will go back north for the American Yacht Club Spring and Fall Series, Cedar Point One Design Regatta, Block Island Race Week, possibly the New York Yacht Club 175th Regatta, as well as J/Fest in Newport, with a focus on the J/88 North Americans in mid-October at Larchmont YC.

NORTH: Thanks Mike and congratulations, again. Sounds like you have a full schedule set with an awesome team. Good luck the rest of the year, have fun and sail fast!

NEW J/121 Offshore Speed Guide!

North Sails experts Kimo Worthington and Chuck Allen answer questions in this speed guide for the J/121 offshore class.

Who sails a J/121?
There are several distinct types of people who sail a J/121, and most are experienced sailors. Some race the boat one design, some race shorthanded or fully crewed offshore, and some head south and cruise the Caribbean. Many are individualists who have been changing keels and adding sails. In the 2018 Newport Bermuda Race, four J/121s raced in three different configurations. The point is, the J/121 is a versatile boat that’s ready to sail offshore, and the sailors who buy one all seem to agree that they’d rather do something other than race windward-leeward course configurations.

What’s the ideal J/121 crew size?
That’s a trick question for this boat. The most crew you’ll ever need is five or six, total, for an event like Block Island Race Week. But, the boat was designed for sailing doublehanded. It sails well without water ballast, but it really shines when you fill the windward tank with 850 pounds of water; that’s like having four or five extra people on the rail. Testing in a strong breeze, we have found the performance is spectacular with a reefed main and inner jib.

If you wish to learn more about sailing this high-performance offshore shorthanded speedster, be sure to read the rest of the 10+ page guide. It discusses sail combinations and cross-over charts, Rig tuning, Sail handling, and Boat handling.   Read it all here on the North Sails J/121 website. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Seabags Women's Sailing Team- interview of Mike Ingham

(Portland, ME)- The SEABAGS WOMEN’S SAILING TEAM continued to have fun racing their J/24 during the 2018 sailing season.  Their all-women crew had more than a dozen women crew cross the decks over the course of the season.  Their skipper, Erica Beck Spencer, is also the team leader, keeps the women organized, and often leads them on training weekends to keep their skills sharp. She also works closely with World-class coaches, such as Mike Ingham from the North Sails One-Design Team.

Here is Erica’s recent interview with Mike at a recent regatta:

“I love dock talks at regattas. I sit in the front row, my trusty notebook open, scratching down everything I can (because that is how I remember things best), and am never short on questions to ask the pros.  I’m a regatta nerd. Everything I learn at each dock talk and more goes in that notebook and on more than one occasion someone has approached me to say,  “I want your notebook!”

So, we’re changing the title of this blog to The Dock Talk and the Sea Bags Women’s Sailing Team hopes to share with you lessons from dock talks, insights we glean from the experts, or learnings from our own experience at regattas.

While dock talks offer a wealth of information to any sailor, they do pose a challenge for even the most seasoned. The answers to questions presented at dock talks are usually just sound bites—a short answer given to maintain the attention of the audience. Responses are not usually detailed enough to change someone’s strategy or sailing practice. To that end, I am thrilled to share something new we’re going to try. Mike Ingham, US Sailing Coach of the year in 2017 and 2018 J24 North American Champion has agreed to do a question-and-answer column with us.  We plan to feature Mike regularly, so we hope you’ll check back often. For today, let’s kick off our first Q&A.

Erica: The pros all seem to be able to point higher than me and most of my fellow J24 Corinthians. I've been told it is all about flow over the keel and you can't start pointing higher until you have enough flow. I know a zillion factors affect this pointing ability, but let's talk about the big ones. And for simplification let's say that the breeze is about 8-11 knots (everyone's on the rail but we’re not overpowered.)

Mike: Let’s focus on pointing higher than VMG (Velocity Made Good: practically put VMG= optimum height/ speed angle for making progress upwind) for tactical reasons.  The range between VMG and pointing artificially high is maybe 4 degrees.  Higher than that and the speed drops off way too drastically.  So hopefully that frames the discussion.

Erica:  OK great, so how do you go about pointing high?

Mike: First off, don’t overdo it or it will backfire.  Ease into pointing by gaining speed first.  If someone is right below you (like at a start), you still can’t stick it high too quickly because until flow gets going on your foils (keel and rudder) you will just slide sideways and although your bow will be pointing high, you will go really slow and slide sideways –the worst of both!  I see many people try to point by trimming in their jib hard and although tempting, over-trimming the jib is not the way to point. When pointing considerably higher, especially in lighter winds, the pressure on jib will decrease (think the extreme of luffing) and the jib may get tighter in the leach and we may actually need to ease it.  If trying to point higher by heading up, and your jib leech telltale stalls, you need to ease.

Erica: Sounds slow. I can picture my team getting frustrated with me…

Mike: You mostly get point by simply heading up a little and paying attention to the leech of the main –you get height from over-trimming the main and thus hooking leech. I look at the top leech tale and see what % it is flowing.  If in VMG mode, I might have it stalling 50% of the time.  Then in point mode I would trim it in so it is now stalling 70-80% of the time. Over trimming the main will give you more hook.  If it comes easy with main trim, then great!  But if the hook is hard to come by, ease backstay and possibly vang. Each will straighten the mast and that makes the leech tighter.  Easing cunningham, and outhaul also add some return (hook) and thus leech tension.

Erica: What percentage of your time are you looking at the leech of the main versus the luff of the genoa?

Mike: Even though main trim is super important, I spend most of my time looking at those jib tales and just glance up and read the % stall on the main.  The important tale is the one on the biggest/ most hooked part of the roach. -if you have more than one, it’s the one that stalls first. That leech tale will alternate between flowing and stalling over a few seconds. For example, it may flow for a second, then stall for 2 seconds and translates to around 60-70% stall. I will be watching the jib tales for maybe 15 seconds then I will glance up for those 3 seconds to understand my main trim then go back to looking at the jib tales for 15 seconds and so on. In addition to that, I adjust the main trim whenever there is wind change. For example, if my target is 70% stall, and last I checked I was spot on, but then I get a lull, I will ease main and then look up and fine tune to get it back to 70%.  To circle back and relate this to pointing high, I will do this regardless of pointing, VMG, or footing, but the target stall time is what changes.

Erica:  We talked steering angle, jib, and main trim, what about the other controls?

Mike: Less important for sure, but worth a discussion:

• Traveler: Pull the traveler up so the boom is just above centerline.
• Heel: Over-flatten the boat.  You need the blades more vertical than usual to get the most lift off your blades.  It’s just a few degrees more than normal.  If you are sailing a round bottom dinghy and sailing with just 2 degrees of heel, then sail absolutely flat A keelboat you might be sailing with 6 degrees, notch that down to 4 degrees.
• More on heel: Flattening the boat also has the added bonus of getting your sail area a bit to windward to help if the reason you are pointing is to get away from the boat to leeward
• Controls: I don’t change a lot of the controls.  If I think I will be in point mode for a while, I might fluff up the jib halyard a little and ease the ham.

Erica: Did you just say “fluff up the jib halyard and ease the ham?” Making sure I’m paying attention?

Mike:  Ha, yeah “fluff up” is not a technical term, it means ease the halyard.  Easing the main cunningham “ham” loosens the luff and easing the jib halyard loosens the jib luff.

Erica:  All that discussion was for “ideal” 10kt conditions.  How does all that change when we are overpowered?

Mike: Once overpowered, it’s more about sailing really flat and pinching.  When overpowered the main is already eased so the top tale is always flowing.  You will still need to trim in your main when pointing, but instead of trimming to the main leech tale, you trim to keep the boat at the correct heel.   I rarely look up, instead I focus on the heel, puffs, lulls and waves.

In all conditions, you need a human speedo.  Even if you have some instruments, you still need someone on board to gauge your height/speed ratio.  They should know if you are too high and losing too much speed to make it worth it.  There is such a fine line and for sure you do have to feel it, but your human speedo will give you a visual comparing other boats to give you a sanity check.

Erica: Sometimes I feel I can point for a while but then the wheels fall off.  What’s going on?

Mike: I find pointing a little high (1-4 deg) is ok, but pointing really high (5+deg) is unsustainable. If I really need height for some tactical reason, I look at pointing high as cyclical.   In all conditions, I will overtrim and pinch until I feel the boat start to slow then put the bow down and get speed again and so on.  It’s walking a knife’s edge and if you get it wrong by staying high too long it is a disaster!

Erica: In all conditions? Even at the start where every second counts?

Mike: Well, in short, yes, especially in a situation like the start.  But don’t confuse weather conditions with a segment of the race.  When I say “all conditions” I mean all wind conditions. There is always a VMG heading for all wind conditions and I can really get some extra height relative to that but if I go really high I can only hold it for so long before I start to slow.  Racing with waves is a different story, so I guess I did not really mean “all conditions”.

Erica: So, tell me more about height in waves.

Mike: Getting height in waves is super tricky. If you go high at the wrong time, a wave will kill all your speed.  I focus much of my attention at the upcoming waves, but I find it super helpful to have a teammate call flat spots so I know when I can point.  I often can see waves just fine and can deal with them, what I can’t see is a nice flat spot, so I often prefer my teammate calling flat spots and really bad waves, but not all the little waves.

Erica: This is brilliant Mike, thank you so much. I know I learned a lot and hope others will too.  I learn best when I have easy slogans to remind myself of key points. Some of my Mike Ingham takeaways are:

• To point gain speed first
• Point off the leech of the main
• A flat boat moves sails to windward
• Call flat spots

Follow the SEABAGS Women’s Sailing Team on Facebook here Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70 WORLDS debrief from NORTH SAILS

(Newport, RI)- The J/70 WORLDS debrief from NORTH SAILS offers many lessons learned from what may have been the toughest regatta ever sailed by most teams.

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 SAILS asked some of the sailors in the event to share both their impressions and lessons from the J/70 Worlds.

STAMPEDE- Max Skelley- 2nd overall

NORTH: 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.

STAMPEDE- Eric Doyle- 2nd place

NORTH: 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 worlds 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.

NORTH: How important was it to make sure your tuning was spot on and was there ever a time where 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 3 BALL JT- 3rd place Allan Terhune

NORTH: 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- Zeke Horowitz

NORTH: 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?

ZEKE: 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.

NORTH: 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 NEW ENGLAND ROPES- Tim Healy

NORTH: What did you learn about North’s standard J/70 designs this week that J/70 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 dependent 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. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

NYYC One-Design Regatta Preview

(Newport, RI)- Thirty-five J/70s will be plying the waters of Narragansett Bay this coming weekend in the annual New York YC One-Design Regatta.  The fleet is comprised of numerous one-design class National, North American, and World Champions, most of whom are sailing the regatta as part of their training programs leading up to the J/70 World Championship, hosted by Eastern YC in Marblehead, MA later in September 2018.

The headline crews include such class leaders as Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT from Excelsior, MN; Jack Franco’s 3 BALL JT from Lakewood, TX; Glenn Darden’s HOSS from Fort Worth, TX; Martie Kullman’s HYDRA from St Petersburg, FL; Jenn & Ray Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY from Annapolis, MD; Jim Cunningham’s LIFTED from San Francisco, CA; Peter Cunningham’s POWERPLAY from Cayman Islands; John Brim’s RIMETTE from Fishers Island, NY; Pam Rose’s ROSEBUD from Chicago, IL; Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE from Fort Worth, TX; John & Molly Baxter’s TEAM VINEYARD VINES from Riverside, CT; and Tim Healy’s famous USA 2 HELLEY HANSEN.

There is a strong presence of Japanese teams, as they are conducting their three-regatta “Japanese National Championship” in order to qualify one of their teams for the J/70 Worlds in September.  For those in the TP52, Farr 40 and M32 world, you will recognize some of the leading crews.  Makoto Uematsu’s ESMERALDA from Tokyo hardly needs any introduction, he helped create the TP52 class with the support of Newport’s own Ken Read at North Sails.  In addition, there is the famous “SLED” team, composed of a number of boats- Hideyuki Miyagawa’s IT’S SLED from Hyogo; Takashi Okura’s SLED from Alpine, NJ; and Eichiro Hamazaki’s THE SLED from Kanagawa.  In addition, there is Yasutaka Funazawa’s NATSUKO from Tottori.  That should be an interesting competition to watch!  For more New York YC One-Design Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Speed Guide for J/70 Sailors

(Newport, RI)- Speed guide for the J/70s- Want to get involved in one of the largest and most competitive one design classes in the world?

Check out North Sails’ J/70 Speed Guide. For any J/70, it is a guide where your questions about defining speed, tuning your rig, sail trim, flying the kite, and putting together the best crew, are answered.  This is the basis that top sailors like Brian Keane, Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT, and others use to create their own “speed grid” of “sailing by the numbers”.
https://northsails.com/sailing/en/resources/j70-speed-guide Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Meet Vestas 11th Hour Racing- Charlie Enright

(Newport, RI)- Team VESTAS includes as its leader a J/24 World Champion Charlie Enright. Furthermore, he is joined by friend Mark Towill, both avid sailors and racers since they were little kids growing up on Narragansett Bay, sailing out of the Bristol YC on Sunfishes, J/24s, J/35s, J/105s and even the new J/121 recently.

Young guns Charlie Enright and Mark Towill are back in the Volvo Ocean Race, and they've teamed up with Danish wind energy company Vestas and marine conservation program 11th Hour Racing hoping to make a lasting impact on and off the water in 2017-18.

American duo Enright and Towill return to lead the blue boat, and want to make an impact on and off the water. Enright and Towill got their first taste of Volvo Ocean Race action in the 2014-15 edition as with Team Alvimedica, and in doing so realized a long-awaited dream to test their mettles offshore in the ultimate round-the-world race.

Two In-Port Race wins and victory in the final ocean leg from Lorient to Gothenburg left the talented Americans wanting more, and now they're back with a star-studded crew, an even bigger hunger for success and an important message about the health of our oceans to promote.

The team's partnership with 11th Hour Racing will see them engage with communities around the world to increase understanding of marine environments and how best to respect them.

Joining Towill and Enright in the team's high command is Simon 'SiFi' Fisher, who helped orchestrate Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's win in 2014-15 from the navigation station, and returns for a fourth consecutive Volvo Ocean Race.

Around them are some of the most talented ocean racers on the planet. The likes of Damian Foxall, Tony Mutter, SCA's Stacey Jackson and Phil Harmer, all with Volvo Ocean Race victories on their CVs, will guarantee Vestas 11th Hour Racing are top contenders. Indeed, Harmer is hunting a hat-trick of consecutive wins after lifting the trophy with Groupama and Abu Dhabi in 2011-12 and 2014-15, respectively.

Nick Dana (Newport, RI) returns for a second race as a full crew member, then there are the team's under-30 crew members, bursting with enthusiasm and talent. Brit Hannah Diamond and Denmark's Jena Mai Hansen join the team from Olympic dinghy racing backgrounds, Diamond from the Nacra 17 multihull and Jensen from winning bronze in the 49er FX at Rio 2016. Young Aussie Tom Johnson joins the crew after racing with Vestas in the 2014-15 edition, then with Oracle Team USA for the most recent America's Cup.

Vestas 11th Hour Racing finished fifth in Leg Zero, the four-stage qualifying series before, then headed straight for Lisbon where they've been working hard to get up to speed, two-boat testing alongside team AkzoNobel as the countdown to the start of the Volvo Ocean Race continues.

Follow these guys as the go around the world on the Volvo Ocean Race website (great tracker, too!).

The Future of Offshore Distance Racing

Presented by North Sails’ Ken Read and J/Boats’ Jeff Johnstone
(Annapolis, MD)- Mark your calendars now!  More importantly, sign-up now!!  On Thursday, April 13th, North Point Yacht Sales, North Sails & J/Boats present an evening presentation and discussion by two of the sport's most influential voices on the growing trend towards adventure and destination sailing.

Experience the Maxi 100 footer COMANCHE on its record breaking Trans-Atlantic run and a recap of Vendee Globe IMOCA 60 flying foilers excitement via video and Ken’s first-hand experience sailing such insane offshore speed machines.

Ken and Jeff J. will discuss the growing trends in adventure racing, what effect it is having on sailing, and how the industry is responding.  From J/Boats’ perspective, Jeff will describe the evolution of such innovative offshore designs like the new J/121 and how it fits into recent offshore trends.

Where? The event will be at the Annapolis Maritime Museum, 732 2nd St, Annapolis, MD 21403.

The schedule for the evening will be:

• Meet & Greet with Cocktail Hour- 6 to 7pm (cash bar, free munchies)
• Presentation by Ken and Jeff with open Q&A- 7 to 9pm

Ticket Price Includes 1 Free Drink.  Space is limited. Advance ticket purchase is recommended!  Advance tickets are $10, but at the door $15!  NOTE- Junior (17 and under) sailors admitted FREE!  BUY your tickets here.   For more North Sails information and J/Boats information.  Presentation courtesy of North Point Yacht Sales. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Lowell North Celebrating 60 Years of Sailmaking!

(San Diego, CA)-  Lowell has sailed a variety of boats over time, but he notably was one of the first adopters of sailing asymmetric boats.  Lowell was the proud owner of one of the first boats off the J/105 production line in 1991- J/105 #3! 

Here is an overview of his story, courtesy of NORTH SAILS.

“If I started a sailmaking company, would you buy a sail from me?”

That’s what Lowell North asked his friend John Shoemaker, one afternoon in 1957, while seated at the bar of San Diego Yacht Club. John replied, “Yes, I would,” which surprised Lowell. Sure, they were friends, but neither man could predict that Lowell’s new company would eventually grow into the largest sailmaking business in the world. Or that along the way, Lowell would become a world champion sailor and two-time Olympic medalist.

During a recent interview at his house in Point Loma, Lowell told us John’s answer “gave me the encouragement to start North Sails.” He admitted that before starting the company, he hadn’t built many sails. He said it took him years to figure out how to make a fast shape, but Lowell quickly became known for his unique approach in an industry where he had little experience. And 60 years later, a scientific approach to material and product testing, as well as analytics-based sail design and performance development, continues to be the backbone of North Sails.

“The realization that I didn’t know anything about sail shape was really a big help,” Lowell explained. “I was then able to test a great variety of shapes, some of which tested faster. This objectivity helped us to make a lot of progress in sail shape.”

After that drink with John Shoemaker, Lowell dove in. It all started in a rented 20 x 80 foot space at the B Street Pier in downtown San Diego. He quit his job as an aerospace engineer at Narmco, and went to work on the floor building Snipe and Star sails. The early days were shaped by a tight group building a modest business. Lowell’s first wife Kay did the bookkeeping. Their first hire was a seamstress, Daisy. Next was Paul Merrill, who had worked for Herb Sinnhoffer sailmakers; he bridged the delicate gap between employee and teacher. Other early staff included friends like Earl Elms and Tom Nute, and later Pete Bennett from Murphy and Nye in Chicago.

“Pete brought a lot of really good production techniques with him, and established ways of cutting and sewing sails more accurately and efficiently,” Lowell said. “We started making Snipe sails, which was the first class we were really successful in. Meanwhile, Paul’s plan was to retire a few years from then and sail around the world.”

“Did he do it?” we asked.

“I haven’t seen Paul Merrill in years. I suspect he did.”

Around 1962, Lowell and production manager John Rumsey began empirically testing sailcloth stretch and fatigue. They read the numbers and confirmed the market standard was far too low. They could do better.

“The sails on the market weren’t good enough. I started re-cutting my Star sails from the prominent West Coast sailmaker at the time [Kenny Watts].”

“We began testing cloth samples by attaching them to the antenna of my car. We called it flutter testing, it seemed to match the real life degradation of the material and gave us a pretty good inkling of how the sail cloth would degrade in actual use. We later simulated the car antenna flutter testing by building an in-house machine which spun the attached samples on a rotating wheel or arm.”

This was the beginning of a long history in material development. The “30/30 benchmark” became known among cloth specialists: 30 minutes at 30 miles per hour. Looking past woven polyester, Lowell and textile converter Noah Lamport created the first laminated sailcloth, used on the 12 Meter Enterprise in 1977. In 1980, launching NorLamTM (a polyester/Mylar laminated sailcloth) complemented the company’s introduction of radial panel sail layouts.

Lowell’s legacy continued with patented three-dimensional membranes (1992), followed by the first warp-oriented polyester sailcloth, North Sails Radian™ (2008). North Sails 3Di composite membranes went to market in 2011, and they are continually improved by materials research out of the Minden loft. The capacity of North Sails 3Di technology continues to expand as designers and product engineers learn to adapt the product to new sailing markets. Ask North Sails designers today, and they’ll tell you it’s all about the strength and shape of the membrane – which goes right back to the same qualities Lowell was testing for.

On the water, Lowell is known as one of those guys who just “got it.” Renowned for his results in the Star Class, he medaled in 12 World Championships over 25 years and won gold at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. He also won a bronze medal in the Dragon at the 1964 Tokyo Games. It was during this time that North Sails was first getting off the ground, and Lowell met many people who would become key players in its expansion.

“Peter [Barrett] and I met in Japan at the 1964 Olympics. I think Eckart Wagner was there too. Charlie Rogers and Dick Deaver crewed for me in Japan. They were all instrumental in the early success of North Sails.”

Peter Barrett founded the second North Sails loft (Seal Beach, CA) before moving home to Pewaukee, WI to start North Sails Midwest, the first loft outside California. Eckart Wagner broke ground in Germany in 1966, followed by Andre Nellis with North Sails Belgium. Later, North Sails Italia came online with the arrival of Robin Morgan.

“At some point I went to a school for executives. They taught me if you put together a group of men that were fairly hungry for something, and you worked to provide them with what they wanted, they would help create a successful organization. The term Tiger seem to fit the personality of our loft managers at the time; they were hungry.”

At this point in the interview, Lowell’s wife Bea chimed in. “We were in Portofino, in a little medieval castle in the old port, to accept a “Life of Sailing” award for Lowell. The Italian TV guy asked me, “Do you know who you’re with? Do you really know who you’re with?” and I said, “Well, who am I with?” He said, “The man that revolutionized the world of sailing.”

Lowell replied, “I think I brought together a great group of guys whose ideas and thoughts made for a very innovative company, and a profitable organization.”

For 27 years, Lowell led North Sails to new heights by being a true pioneer. He crafted ways to test the strength of raw materials, introduced computer-driven cloth-cutting machines, and performed the first computerized structural analysis of upwind sails. Along the way, he built a trusted team from the ground up and found personal success with the products he offered. By devising his own approach, he established a new industry standard and left his company with an ideology that still survives today.

As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of North Sails, Lowell reflected on how the sport has changed by weighing in on a much-debated topic between traditional and modern sailors.

“Sailing has changed very little, in that wind and water are the same. Racing and winning still rely more on the skill of the skipper then on the equipment. 60 years from now? Not much difference: bigger, faster and more aerodynamic boats, bigger sails and probably more foils.”  In other words, the driver and the crew still matter 100% of the time!

We asked, “What makes a master sailmaker?” and “What is the greatest strength of North Sails?”

Lowell had the same answer to both questions: “The ability to build fast sails.”

We asked his favorite place to sail and he replied truthfully, “In the ocean, off Point Loma in San Diego.”

“The worst place?” we asked.  “I stay away from places like that.” Add to Flipboard Magazine.

What are the ingredients for one-design class success?

(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)-  Terry McLaughlin shares commentary on why the J/105 has been fun to sail for him, his family and friends.  Terry has earned his place at the pinnacle of Canadian sailing: Olympic medalist, Pan American Medalist, World Champion, Canada’s Cup winner, America’s Cup skipper, and so on. When Terry goes racing today, you’ll find him in the J/105 class. Why? Read on:

J/105: This North American Championship had one of the highest attendances in many years. What keeps a 25-year-old boat like the J/105 relevant in 2016?

TM: I often comment that the J/105 is a great and comfortable boat to sail. Unlike a lot of boats, I find it very nice to race on whether you are at the back of the boat, in the middle or up front. I like the fact that you can go down below and comfortably sit or lie down when waiting for races to start. It is not a modern foiling multihull, but speeds between boats are similar and that provides close racing.

J/105: The breeze was on for all seven races. In those circumstances, what is the most important factor during the start? Upwind? Downwind?

TM: In the NAs this year, we had good breeze and big waves on the first day and then quite strong, gusty winds with less waves on the weekend. On Friday, there was little wind, and we didn’t quite complete the one race that was started. In the breeze and current, having a good idea of exactly where the starting line is was key. It was important to have a bowman who was good at getting transits on land and being able to use those transits in the large fleet. We also put a lot of emphasis on getting good pings with our Velocitek ProStart. This always gave us a good idea of how far back from the line we were. Upwind in the breeze, it was important to have the headstay as straight as possible, and when necessary move the jibs leads back enough so that we didn’t lose the mainsail. Downwind in the puffy conditions, it was important to move the crew weight fore and aft depending on whether the puff was on or not, and always have someone with a hand on the vang, especially coming out of a gybe. As we learned in race six, it is also important not to allow both spinnaker sheets to wrap themselves around the same winch in a heavy air gybe!!

J/105: You also won the North Americans in Toronto two years ago, which was more of a light air regatta. What are the ideal conditions for a J/105?

TM: The J/105 is more of a challenge in the light air, as it is somewhat of an underpowered boat. The first thing we did when we bought Mandate is to switch over from wheel to tiller steering. I think there is much more feel in the light air with a tiller. When the breeze is on, the boats come alive. The good thing is that, as the fleet proved in Larchmont, most crews can handle the boat in 20-30 knots of wind.

J/105: Many Classes seem to struggle with attracting youth and women sailors. What can the J/105 Class do to better appeal to those demographics?

TM: We might not be the best example of a coed crew. Perhaps it is the name of our boat that keeps us usually as a male crew. There are quite a few women in the fleet in Toronto, including two woman skippers. The Class crew weight limit promotes lighter crew members on boats when the crew includes some big guys. Lighter can often mean female or youth, both of which are good for the Class. In Toronto, it is the most competitive one-design fleet, so that does attract younger sailors.

J/105: Do you prefer to have a throw-out race when a certain amount of races has been completed? Why or why not?

TM: It is my belief that in a lengthy series like the NA’s where 11 races were scheduled, having a throw-out after six or seven races have been completed makes sense. It is one thing to reward consistency, but having your regatta score ruined by one breakdown, OCS or just an off race can leave a bad taste in one’s mouth.

J/105: The J/105 Class has detailed Rules limiting sail tag purchases and professional sailors. Did that play a role in why you got involved with the Class? Do these Rules sustain the Class or are they restricting it?

TM: I think the sail restriction and Category 1 rules are good for the Class. They both assist in controlling the cost of campaigning a J/105. I am not sure that my boat partner Rod Wilmer and I would have bought into the Class if we thought it was going to be any sort of an arms race to be competitive!  We Canadians have to make every dollar work without losing our shirts, you know?  If Stu J just bought more Dubarry boots for his lovely wife Julia, we could afford more sails (or beer)!”

J/105 North Americans Tuning Debrief

(Larchmont, NY)- The two leading J/105’s in the 2016 J/105 North American Championship- MANDATE & GOOD TRADE- did a “debrief” with North Sails Regatta Services leader- Chuck Allen.   Terry McLaughlin (Mandate) and Bruce Stone (Good Trade) share their insights on teamwork, boat set-up, and a few must do's to implement during an event.  Read more about it here.

Sailing J/88s Faster- North Sails' Vince Brun

(San Diego, CA)- Vince Brun- North Sails Offshore One-Design Leader- provided some hints on sailing the J/88 (and similar boats) better.

Brun enjoyed a weeks racing with Kevin Marks and his team on VELOCITY for the J/88 North Americans. The event was hosted by the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY from September 24th to October 2nd.

Below you can read Vince's tips on boat set-up and pre-race routines. These suggestions were put together from his observations taken during the course of the regatta and are applicable across a wide-range of keelboats- large and small!

Boat Preparation
Bottom- Needless to say the bottom of the boat being clean and properly maintained is a key part of any fast boat or program. Going fast starts there and I can assure you that not one boat ever won a big event with a poorly maintained bottom. Don’t matter how well the crew perform, the rig is set, the sails trimmed, or the helmsman skills, a clean and smooth bottom, will have a huge impact on the overall boat performance. For this reason, I always make sure that my boat bottom is as good as I can possibly get it, this will give me confidence which helps me focus exclusively on the mast and sail setup.

Sails, Rig Setup, and Performance
Rig Setup- I found that the current North Sails J/88 tuning guide was extremely accurate on the gauge numbers.

Light Medium versus Heavy Jib- At the regatta Velocity performed better with the Light/Medium jib up to 18 knots TWS, and this was made clear when we had the heavy jib in winds between 14 to 18 knots. The J/88 likes to be slightly overpowered and the small jib didn’t help in that range. This was noticed not only in the lack of acceleration after a wave, but also in the poor pointing ability. I would tend to use the Light Medium, even if the breeze is hitting 19 knots in the puffs, when the wind drops, the J-88 gets underpowered quickly when using the heavier jib.

Backstay- The backstay is a key control on the J/88 in all conditions, not only helping with the flattening of the mainsail but also critical on controlling the forestay tension, and therefore forestay sag. Find a good way to calibrate your “fast settings” with good backstay marks, so that they can be duplicated again, and again.

Inhaulers and Jib Lead Position- For anyone trimming the jib, the inhauler and jib lead position are key controls in achieving a well-set jib. If these controls are set in the wrong position, the trimmer won’t be able to have the jib properly trimmed. During a race you don't normally have the luxury to stay on the leeward side to get the sail set up just right, so having these settings established well before the race is extremely important.

In my opinion, the key to success on any boat, is the confidence to be able to repeat “fast settings” that were learned in previous races or training and only work on fine-tune changes from there. These numbers should be constantly added into your boat's tuning matrix, so that these adjustments can be made automatically, which will help free everyone’s minds to better focus on what is happening on the race course and strategy.

Running rigging with proper length and good marks- As emphasized above, I’m a firm believer that good marks on the control lines, are a tremendous help to crews allowing them to perform their tasks faster and with more precision.

Example: If the spinnaker halyard is marked when the sail is fully up, the mast person will know precisely when that job is done and be able to move to his next task quicker, and without hesitation.

Mainsheet- I would suggest having the mainsheet fine tune separated from the mainsheet gross, to avoid the lines tangling at the leeward rounding or during pre-start maneuvers.

Spinnaker sheet turning block position- It might be a good idea to have the turning block for the spinnaker sheet moved forward, so that the spinnaker and jib sheets don’t cross. This allows the spinnaker sheet to stay ahead of the jib winch and in line with the spinnaker top deck winch.

Folding Propeller- As we learned on the first race on Sunday, it’s extremely important to have the propeller properly closed before the start to avoid the extra drag. The boat should be traveling at full speed before turning the engine off and putting it in reverse, this will ensure that the prop is properly set.

Pre Race Routine/ Pre race position
I have seen many different approaches to this, but ultimately everyone has the same items crossed, before the start. Below is my pre-race routine that I try to execute before every race day. It’s very simple:

1. Get to the starting area and start sailing on starboard (hopefully against another boat) for a good period of time to record the wind oscillation range, and have the lifts and headers numbers well defined.

2. During this time, I also fine-tune my controls so that I’m comfortable with the boat speed (this being the reason for another boat being around). If there are speed issues, I make changes and continue testing.

3. After this is done, I hoist the spinnaker to make sure all the lines are led correctly and practice a few jibes to get the crew polished and ready for the day.

4. At the starting area, I normally check in and inspect the starting line, by going head to wind near the committee boat.  I am also checking the wind direction and comparing it with the line setup.

5. Now with all the data needed, the crew can discuss and prepare the starting and first leg strategy.

Starting around other boats
Obviously it’s hard to predict what others will do when approaching the starting line with a minute (or less) to the start. Possibly more important than how close you are to the line, is what “upwind lane” you will have 30 to 60 seconds after the start. A boat close to leeward with their bow slightly forward, will be a serious issue immediately after the gun. There are a couple of ways to escape this situation but the key is to identify the problem earlier rather than later, particularly when there are boats closer to windward.

If someone is close to leeward with a minute or more to go, you have two possible options:

1. Two tacks – which involve doing two quick tacks and opening the gap to the leeward boat and closing on the windward boat. This normally requires a nice gap to windward and great crew work to make this maneuver possible. This technique will require a well-trained crew that understands the boat and can execute the tacks with relatively minimum loss of speed.

2. The other more common option is to "push" the leeward boat by bearing off and taking their stern, establishing a hook to leeward. In most cases this attempt will force the leeward boat to do the same, but if they are late responding, which is not uncommon, you will be in a controlling position since you will have more speed and be able to hook. If you are unable to execute the hook, because the leeward boat has mimicked your move, you will be forced to go with plan A and do a double tack to protect your hole and future lane.

Again, identifying the situation early will give you more options to avoid a bad starting position.

Vince sent his thanks to Kevin and his team for making him welcome aboard Velocity and for an enjoyable weeks racing.  For more tips from Vince Brun’s North Sails One-Design performance programs.