North Sails- Too many winners to list!

by Zoe Hawkins on 2 Dec 2010
North Sails power has delivered sweeping success at regattas around the globe over recent months with top of the fleet domination in Finns, Etchells, Melges 24, RC44s, Around Noumea, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and more...

Groupama Race: North Sails New Zealand sales consultants Jim Maloney and Josh Tucker were part of the New Zealand team on board Young 11 Ramada Plaza to place fourth in the New Caledonia Groupama Race sailing more than 600NM around the picturesque island. North Sails Auckland loft has been busy kitting a variety of boats including four Y11’s, a R31, a Ross 10.66, an Elliott 10.5, and a Dufour 44 with sails for this race. Team La Reunion Pacifque Lagon Voyages won the race overall in ORC with a new set of upwind sails from North Sails.

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: While on the other side of the globe with North Sails Auckland Sales Manager, Richard Bicknell on board, Ranger took out the Supermaxi/J Boats Division in style at the 2010 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup sailed in September in Sardinia, with four wins and one second place. Other recent North Sails New Zealand customers competing included Velsheda and Lupa of London.

RC44 Worlds: North Sails customers – Cereef, Artemis, and Katusha are among the favourites at the up-coming RC44 Worlds on early in October in Lanzarote, Canary Islands.

Finn Gold Cup: North Sails dominated at the 2010 Finn Gold Cup hosted by the St Francis Yacht Club and staged off San Francisco early in September with a clean sweep of the top ten placed boats.

Following a great week's racing, in winds ranging from 10-25 knots, it was Ed Wright from Great Britain who came out the comfortable winner after taking first place in the final medal race. Second overall was Rafael Trujillo from Spain and Britain's Giles Scott took the final place on the podium.



Etchell Worlds: Over 130 sailors participated in the recent Etchell World Championship hosted by Howth Yacht Club near Dublin in Ireland. North Sails powered entries claimed all three podium places, and a total of seven places among the top ten.

Former America's Cup winner John Bertrand with his crew Tom Slingsby and Andrew Palfrey won the 2010 title with five firsts in the eight races they sailed, clinching the series and the title without needing to compete in the final race.

A clearly happy John commented after the regatta on the key strengths that helped create the dominant performance, 'A dream team in Andrew Palfrey and Tom Slingsby. I love sailing with these guys. Internationally they're at the top of their game and results show. The smoothness of decision making on the boat reflected this both in gear changing and fleet tactics.'

'We used the North PCF, LM2 and LM2H jibs. Also a Full Radial and VMG. This inventory gave us the flexibility in sail shapes to take us through the entire range encountered of 5-35 knots.'

Melges 24 Worlds: At the 2010 Marinepool Melges 24 World Championship in Tallin, Estonia in mid August North Sails made 17 boats in the top 20 in the overall division, including the entire top nine.

Italy's Lorenzo Bressani on the helm of Uka Uka Racing was crowned champion, and Norway's Kristian Nergaard on Baghdad took second place overall, ahead of Italy's Alberto Bolzan on Hurricane Murphy & Nye in third.

Beau Geste Success: Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste took line honours in both the Bayview to Chicago, and the Chicago to Makinac races.