For a long time we have run an advertisement in North Sails entitled: “Sails built in Space.” The uniqueness of this moulding technology justifies the advertisement. The photo of the suspended sail maker over a 3DL/ 3DI mould, though an everyday occurrence in the ‘North World’, creates a real image of space travel and weightlessness….
The use of sails is as old as history itself. Maybe the modern era was born with the yacht America in 1851. She sailed to Cowes and unlike her fellow competitors had not only chosen cotton for her sails but had developed a weave that gave greater stability. America was by no means the first…
Being a sailmaker is generally a lifetime passion. Dave Hirsh, a great sail designer with North Sails, recently retired. He has been quoted as saying that to be in sail making you need two key attributes: First, you have to like sails. And second, you have to understand that the key to any sail is…
A few years ago I was asked to quote on a headsail. It was a big boat, the mast was forty meters tall and unusually the sail used hanks in the classic manner. Excitedly I researched the subject and with confidence arrived aboard to present my project. The owner immediately informed me that he never went…