World renowned sail designer Andrew Lechte joins Doyle Sails

by Bliss Neagle 11 Apr 2019 22:42 PDT 12 April 2019

Andrew Lechte (left) with Doyle Sails Managing Director David Duff at the Doyle Sails NZ loft © Doyle Sails

World Renowned Sail Designer Andrew Lechte Joins Doyle Sails

Doyle Sails is proud to announce another impressive name from global sailing has joined their team. Effective immediately Andrew Lechte has joined the Doyle Sails Design Department working alongside Richard Bouzaid, Director of Design, and the rest of the company's expert designers based at the Doyle Sails Headquarters in New Zealand.

Friday 12th April 2019

L to R: Andrew Lechte shakes hands with Doyle Sails Managing Director David Duff at the Doyle Sails New Zealand loft

Sail design and software development around new and existing sailing technologies has always been at the core of the Doyle Sails operation. Now, the company’s central design team has been furthered strengthened with the appointment of Andrew Lechte and his invaluable experience.

Over his long career, working as a sail designer for North ?Sails on some of their highest profile projects, Lechte's name will be deservedly familiar to many in the sailing industry. Coupled with his work as a sail designer, Lechte has led the logistics on several Olympic, Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup campaigns. Currently, Lechte is the Technical Advisor for Australia Sailing, collecting performance data on Olympic class yachts and advising on technical projects.

Andrew comments,
“I have been involved in some amazing and exciting sail design projects over the years and have been watching the Doyle Sails business grow in profile and technical excellence. One of my core skills is rig and sail modelling and with my previous work, the software simply could not model some critical features of both modern and traditional rigs. I was hugely impressed with Doyle’s sail design software and tools. It’s a lot more sophisticated and dynamic than any other program I’ve worked with before. Some of the new product developments and new projects Doyle is involved with have drawn me into joining this ambitious brand and I am looking forward to being part of the winning Doyle Sails team.”

Richard Bouzaid, Doyle Sails Design Director, adds his thoughts to today's announcement:
“Andrew’s experience in sports premier events such as, Americas Cup, Volvo, Olympic classes and Grand Prix sailing at the elite levels will play a key role in what we can offer to customers and the ongoing innovation and development of our team. Having spent just a few days with Andrew at our Auckland loft, I can already see what a great addition he will be."

Mike Sanderson, Doyle Sails CEO, welcomes Andrew to the team,
“We are delighted to welcome Andrew onboard as part of the expansion of our Global Design Team. I’ve known Andrew for many years – since working together back in the 80’s! Andrew brings an immense amount of knowledge and incredible technical skills which he will be able to advance to the next level with our Doyle Sails design and engineering software.”

Lechte’s appointment will further cement Doyle Sails reputation for market leading sail design and the company’s commitment to ensuring that their clients continually benefit from the knowledge of the best in the industry.