Like watching a big front build
by John Curnow, Sail-World.com AUS Editor 15 Dec 01:00 PST
Three slabs makes it a real blow - Michael Bell's Jones 42, Minnie, traverses Storm Bay © Kurt Arrigo
When you able to deploy the total might of the North Technology Group, it is not simply rags, strings, and sticks that are the outcome. Equally, it is not merely the sum of the parts. It is more. Way more... Yes. It is most certainly the best of the best. Yet it also not just some vague reference to a synergistic effect. It probably is the nautical equivalent of the 11 secret herbs and spices.
There's a reason the front of the fleet sport the blue and white rondel of North Sails, and if you will, there's a certain poetry in motion that accompanies them. Boom. Boom. Basil Brush. So, at this time of year, and in these here parts, you do get the sense you're watching a massive front on the march.
Is it dark and foreboding? Does it have waterspouts? Is it ultra-cold, and packing a punch from Mother Nature's turbo that makes it a wall of air compressed to 2.0 Bar? Fantastic when going into a combustion chamber. A bit less flash when it is smacking you in the face at 0300hrs, for they always get you in the dark, don't they?
Actually, it is the frenzy of activity all occurring to a certain date and time. 1300hrs AEDT 26 December, 2025. Yep. The 80th Hobart. There has been lots of racing going on, utterly manic activity by countless Shipwrights, and full boost on display by the North Sails team at Mona Vale, and elsewhere around the country.
Now the latter is important for many a reason, not the least of which is that in the last 20 years, arguably no other area of yachting has altered so much as the sails themselves. Just look at the explosion of names for them, and the quantity flying ahead of the stick at the same time. I mean a BRO used to be just a friend of a Kiwi, and if you had the storm jib aloft, you certainly weren't saying 'Giddy Up!' And it is as orange as a Dutch football supporter. Cop that!
The latest generation of these sails is on display in the lead up to, and of course during the Big Race. If you're lucky enough to get close up, you'll see that what was once soft and airy, is now Tonka-tough, not flexible, but oh-so-much more rigid, and amazingly, get lighter and lighter all the time. That's really cool when you're talking weight aloft BTW.
Moving on
So yes, that's a six-paragraph segue into our conversation with North Sails Australia Supremo, Mark Bradford. "North Sails is 25 people across the country, ranging from Off The Beach to ultra-edge Grand Prix, as well as high-speed and cruising multihulls. This 80th Hobart is a really important race for us, and for everyone in Australia. Rolex have been a fantastic supporter, and we're super proud to be woven into the tapestry of the Sydney to Hobart."
"In terms of our people, we have Noel Drennan trimming the main on Master Lock Comanche. Noel is our Head of One Design in Australia, a World Champion in the Etchells, there is a lot of TP52 and Volvo Ocean Race in there, too, and these days trims the main on the Wally 100, V. He's a career Sailmaker with decades of experience."
Bradford added, "Our Friend of North Sails (FONS), Iain Murray AM, is also on board and has worked with us a lot on the sails and the sail types. He's been really helpful in terms of all of us learning and improving what we do. Also on board as a Helmsman is Pablo Arrate, another FONS." Other internationals on the big red girl include, Andre Vorster (ESP), Richard Clarke (CAN), Darryl Wislang (NZL), and Phillip Jamieson (NZL) in the pit.
"I'm sailing on SHK Scallywag with my good friend David Witt, which is a lot of fun, I've got to say. With us is Vaughan Prentice from our Brisbane loft. He was always my main trimmer on Black Jack, and has a really solid understanding of the rigs, which is important as you want to keep them I the air. I'm the Tactician. We're going to run a three-watch system, with Witty, Neil MacDonald, and myself leading one each."
Not all about Supermaxis
"Then there's Celestial V70, the Overall Winner from 2024. Rob Greenhalgh is our representative on board. He does all of our Moth development, and has really put a line in the sand with that class's sails, along with our designer Rory Scott in the UK and Alby Pratt here in Australia. The designs for Celestial came from Steve Clader in the USA, who worked on Alinghi's sails in the last AC and the new sails for Palm Beach XI, as well as Magnus Doole who did ETNZ, and also Scallywag."
"Then there's Lucky (ex-Rambler 88), and we are standing right beside her new A2 as we speak. She beat Comanche's Transatlantic record this year (7:20:34:41), and I was on board when we won the Caribbean 600 in February, and they recently obliterated the Trans-Tasman record (2:20:27:7), as well. The great Brad Butterworth is the driver, and he and Dean Phipps did their time with North Sails. Will McCarthy and Scott Beavis are also there, so a lot of ex-Black Jack sailors amongst it all."
"They are well oiled, and if it blows, we could see something special from that boat."
"URM Group just won the Australian Maxi Championship again, and their drop in the Series was a second. The Picket Fence is hard to get in sailing... Dick Parker is our head sail designer here in Australia, and a Trimmer on the boat. Anthony Nossiter is part of Marcus Ashley-Jones' crew, as too Jason Waterhouse."
"Billy Sykes is on board David Gotze's No Limit. They have our new TPX development spinnaker to try out. It's been really great to see them have a great season this year, and they were second on a count back in the Maxi Championship. David is the absolute salt. Everyone at some point has sailed with him in their sailing career."
"Aaron Cole from Melbourne is on Chris Dare's GP42, Ambition. Chris is a good campaigner, and he's been going for a lot of years. With his son, Lockie, they won the 2025 J/70 Australian Championship."
OK. Maybe it is about the 100s - for now
Hardly the elephant in the room, in fact it may be THE most talked about craft at the moment. So, Palm Beach XI has won it nine times before in her previous life as Wild Oats XI. She has held the Daily Double, and the Trifecta. Twice no less for the latter... She might be 20 years old (in parts), and other areas have seen the plastic surgeon on many an occasion. The silver paint and red livery make sure everyone knows who she is.
"I haven't put these boats in any order, so Ricko, please don't be offended. We'll find out on the 27th or 28th what order that should be. Our VP of North Sails, Paul Westlake, is one of the trimmers of the main, and long-term NS employee, Phil Harmer, who is on V like Noel, and has a raft of TP52 and time on Wizard to his name, won the Volvo on Groupama and does a lot of our skiff work here in Oz. A well-rounded professional sailor."
Westlake is responsible for the Grand Prix segment at NS. Since Wild Oats XI was built, we've seen the AC72s and IMOCAs take off, to say nothing of the F50s that got used for Bermuda become SailGP, and it is all about a massive change in the apparent wind. Palm Beach harnesses all this, for she has increased righting moment (the windward C-foil offers one tonne of it), and a hefty reduction in displacement afforded by the leeward C-foil and the keel section that together sort of form a complete wing that may offer up to 28 metric tonnes of lift.
Uphill, and the new daggerboards are 'in the right place now', to quote Mark Richards. They will deliver loads more grip. A lot of what you've just read simply means she will need power to get going, and then everything will have to be reduced and/or bladed out swiftly thereafter. "The boards are bigger in area, and more efficient, so leeway reduction will be less for the same righting moment. If you see us starting in a traditional kind of Hobart, and it's a 14, 15 knot building sea breeze, we once again will be on the edge of putting a reef in or not putting a reef in, trying to hang in there with the full main and the J1 or J2. If we get to J2 conditions, where we're seeing 16, 17 knots, you'll see us with the full main still, because we'll have better balance," offered Westlake.
"With the deep keel there'll be no sneaking down the eastern side, that's for sure. I think that our whole strategy for getting out of the Harbour is just being able to get out clear, because we can't enact our next topic, which is going to be the C-foils. Even if it is a downwind start, it'll be tough for us to be able to get our heads around dealing with the C-foils, based on the fact that we'll only have two weeks sailing or less than two weeks sailing. It's going to be all about the long game for us. This is effectively a new boat."
The new mainsail is smaller in area (no 4.5m fathead here) and shallower, which makes the centre of effort lower, which is a good thing for a boat that doesn't need it up high (remember it's an R/P pencil). There's a new J3, and a new storm staysail follow the lowering of CoE mantra BTW. I, J, P, and E all remain as they were, as too boom length, where the reefing points and locks change due to the hotter AWA. Got to look after the hull and the stick from Southern Spars, you know... Righting Moment gone up, as too Larry, but stick engineered for the old rules.
For what it is worth, the reduction in displacement to offset the above is anywhere from 50 to 95%, depending on who you ask. And who said cricket was the only game with sledging involved?
"The workhorse sails for us will be the J3, the storm jib staysail, and the mainsail in a reefing configuration. As soon as we can get out onto our reaching strut, you know, we need to be as efficient as we can, and we need to lower the amount of aero power that we're putting into the system. We have a brand new A2 to fly from the top of the rig, and a new fractional A6 (both are free flying luff) to help us keep close to the Rhumbline," added Westlake.
"We believe we're going to be significantly lower and faster than we've ever sailed the boat. If the Hobart is a windward/leeward you might be going uphill in 12 or 35 knots TWS, and the same might be on offer downhill. The concept of the boat still has to be a really strong VMG upwind and VMG downwind, but we've got the ability now to have some more flexibility when we're going downwind. To ratchet it up in different places. Our new sails draw on the lessons of apparent from the AC and IMOCAs. Having Future Fibres for standing rigging and Southern Spars for the rig itself is a package that we're really proud of as NTG."
Things to look out for
We said it earlier. Sails have changed, and the superfast boats have dragged the apparent through to say 60 degrees from 145 TWA and only have 60% or less of the foot length at mid-girth. The bracket underneath might be 75-85 degrees and TP52s say 85 degrees plus, but be over 75%. By way of reference, the amazing Ultim Tris are at 30. So, the shape has changed, as too what they are made of, and the way they are made to account for the increase in Larry. The desperately quick will have A2s that have the luff pointing straight into the breeze, not like a knuckle rolling over. More efficient, and can be cranked on that much more, as well. Carbon, Aramid, even Cuben. 3Di is way cool for it can laid and moulded to suit. The furlers that run these sails are just as amazing, as are the ways the tacks and heads are connected to them. You need some structure to put them away. There'll be no stuffing fistfuls of soft kite into bags at this level.
You see, they might be free flying luff headsails, Screechers even, or possibly the modern day Gennaker. No matter what you call them, they are no spinnaker, per se, simply because they don't have the meat in the middle, which would make them develop aero drag, which is a big no no.
They last longer, meaning they need to be serviced to prevent unnecessary wear and scuff. The team around the country crack on with that, especially about now when everyone wants everything yesterday. We can happily say that there are young women working at the lofts on the sails, so that is a positive step. Rain Forbes is from Melbourne, but going to Sydney this week to help with making sure all is set for Boxing Day, and Bradford is really appreciative of her help, as the team have been at it for the last four weekends in a row.
The second and third brackets from above might not be able to use 3Di for the big downhill sails, but do still use the principle of the three sails having the same combined area of the old single big one. Equally, the desire to make products to enhance these brackets which are panelled, is a driving motivator at NS.
Historically, these were polyester and nylon. No Limit has TPX, of which Jolt 72, and V, are the only other ones in existence for now. These are laminate, and come from the Cuben family - nice one Future Fibres - and incorporate filament tech and even strong Dyneema. Brilliantly, the weight of it is under the comparable Nylon version, to boot. Woohooooo! Other important note - it is rigid so you can hold AWA further forward.
In bracket three, we've just released a spinnaker cloth this year called Aerotech, which is another NS only product, and that's a really a rigid nylon sail. So, in our downwind inventory we now have these 3Di apparent wind angles sail forward, also these laminate midrange sails for A3s and reaching sails, and then our flying sails are out of our own fabric as well."
And when that's done...
No sooner will it be complete and a raft of One Design championships will be taking place. Lowell North was an OD sailmaker, and that spirit is alive and well today. In stock now are VX One, Optimist and a host of OTB and trailerable sails. All the people mentioned at the beginning will be at regattas.
"I think we've still got 88 One Design sails left to deliver this year, and I'm expecting that we'll probably sell another 40 or 50 sails between now and Christmas that'll come down the chimney for some lucky sailors," commented Bradford by way of highlight the complete spectrum nature of North Sails, of which all categories get the same love.
A recent arrival was one Thomas Normand. He has recently been appointed the Global Sales Director for NS, and prior to that, was the GM of NS in France for three years. His history also includes time with Francois Gabart where he was GM of MerConcept for six years going from 15 souls to 80. "We were managing two campaigns. There was the Ultim and also Charlie Dalin's IMOCA."
"My own racing included Optimist, 420, Formula 18, even some Tornado, and in 2011 I did a Mini Transat." (Editor - Normand certainly does not blow his own trumpet - he was second in the prototype class BTW). "Out of it all, my favourite was the Ultim. Foiling at 45 knots four metres above the water, even when they are sleeping. Even when we had Jimmy Spithill come on board a couple of years ago, he commented on how they must all be crazy."
"The whole of NTG is involved with Gitana 18. Bending mast with spreaders from Southern Spars, cables by Future Fibres, and our North Sails linked to it all. It's a new generation of aerodynamic stuff with that very good combination of mast bending, and luff curve, we can manage entirely the depth of the sails. Super flat or super deep just for take-off. There is also Ferrari Hypersail to consider."
"It has been wonderful to come here to see the build-up for Hobart in person. Seeing the boats for real that I have watched on TV is just mind blowing. Last week I was in New Zealand watching AC40s line up in Auckland. The skills of both countries are just amazing. A wonderful dynamic added to the world of Grand Prix racing," said Normand in closing.
North Sails is the biggest across all categories from dinghies to cruisers, superyachts to supermaxis, and for good reason. It is not a club, nor a family. They are a collective of knowledgeable, friendly, focussed and determined sailors making sails for sailors.
Thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com
John Curnow
Sail-World.com AUS Editor