What People Say About Us..

 

Send us your comments.. "From all the members of Fleet 61 I want to pass on to you a big thank you for organizing the clinic last Wed with Will Welles and Charlie Enright from North Sails.  I hope you will pass on to Will and Charlie our thanks for a great presentation and schedule all day long." "Will brought a level of experience and knowledge we never see at Lake George. I great idea to shuttle them around to all the boats so each of us could get the individual attention." "The clinic and day as a whole did a lot to raise the excitement of and further sailing on Lake George and at The Lake George Club." "The clinic was great.  Really glad we attended.  Thanks for putting it together." "I can not tell you enough how valuable the information was that we got from the clinic. Charlie Enright was on target with the detail he provided for the J/24 group. Thank you for bringing them to Lake George." " I got my new sails the other day and they look great. What I really wanted to compliment you on was the new Tuning Guide, it's great. With the pictures and everything I think that even I could tune a boat. See you on the water.". Frank Hanson "I got the sails and used them this weekend in the Fall 48. The wind was very light and variable, but my sails looked great. The boat had great speed. It was fun to have #24 as fast as the rest! Thanks. " Geoff Spencer   "Brian, Thank you for coming to PBSC and coaching our team this past weekend. I learned so much about sailing my Optimist in heavy air, it was so cool. Since I'm only 64 pounds that's important and I have a ton more confidence now. Can't wait to get my new North NP1, and I'm super excited about being part of Team Blue!" Ian MacDiarmid Palm Beach Sailing Club, Age 8 " Brian Hayes held a 3-day tuning seminar for Green Bay Lightning Fleet 112 in early May of this year which covered on the water practice starts and races with Brian giving tips to everyone on the water. Taking tips from this seminar we went to Sheboygan for MidWest Districts and won! Thanks to North Sails, Brian Hayes and the Lightning Class for having this resource to help everyone keep improving. Top 5 finishers were all North Sail Customers!". Brian Phelan Lightning 13817 "I chose North Sails because they are higher, faster, better!!!" Chris Steele 2007 Optimist World Champion "I am very pleased with the DR-2. I used it at Swedish Nationals, and North Americans so far and I have loved its speed. I finished #1 at the Swedish Nationals for the Gold boys division. I finished 3rd with the same sail at the North American Championship in Mexico. I completed many speed tests with the DR-2against other sails like the J sail, Olympic crosscut, Tonitio Quantum Radial Medium, and the Ladenberger one design radial. When I tested the DR-2 versus the J sail the DR-2 accelerated faster and was able to outspeed the J sail in Choppy conditions. I had better speed with the DR-2 against the Tonitio and Ladenberger in almost any breeze except in extremely light weather (1-4 Knots). The DR-2 was especially fast in over 15 knots. For example in Sweden it blew 25 knots with 5 to 6 ft waves for one of the races. I was able to keep up with some of the bigger kids with my daggerboard up and my sprit cracked." Antoine Screve "I am happy to report that the new sails paid off! We Won the Midwest Districts this weekend! We felt pretty fast- it was blowing 12-17 - we won 3 out of 4 races -a couple in pretty convincing style- that new AP-4 main definitely worked well in that medium breeze- It flattend and twisted off nicely and I just played the vang as you have been saying and we were trucking upwind and down for that matter- It was a pretty good fleet of 24 boats and we felt we had speed even on Mike Blackwood who is usually faster than us especially when it starts to blow given our light weight- we were pretty much pulling away from everyone on all points of sail! " Chad Coberly "Brian Bissell held a great Snipe clinic on Gull Lake MI this weekend! Thanks Brian! Despite the lack of breeze I think everyone learned a ton and your style is definitely conducive to learning. From the rigging tips to boathandling suggestions I know everyone that was here will be faster and be better Snipe racers! Thanks North for providing such talent as Brian to help on a local level!" Chad Coberly "Greg: Just a short note to thank you agian for yesterday\'s session here in Birmingham. I learned a tremendous amount- I just hope I can remember everything. The video was particularly instructive. being able to actually see what you are talking about makes it much easier to understand than just reading it in a book or hearing someone discuss it. Thanks again". Jim Proctor "Greg: On behalf of the Birmingham Sailing Club, I want to thank you once again for coming to the club and sharing you knowledge and your love of the sport. Your willingness to spend your weekend coaching and teaching our members will help many of them (including myself) move their skills to the next level. You should take great pride in the positive impact you have had on our club and to world of competitive sailing. Thank you". Jim Sisson Commodore-Birmingham Sailing Club. "My fiance and I just purchased a J24 this past June and raced the NOOD in St Pete. We finished fifth, right behind Jason Decker with our New North Newport Sails, Main/Genoa/Spinaker, didn\'t purchase a blade, but were totally happy with our new sails. I just wanted to let you know that the all top five boats were using Norths, not just the top four. We were super fast out of the box and are looking forward to using our New Sails at the Nationals this coming April. " Todd Fedyszyn "We were just a little off the pace set by Brian and Robby but we were also cleary faster than everyone else. We were using the original North main I bought used from Robby in 2005 and a genoa with 30+ days as well. Sure love my North Sails." John Denman J/24 St Pete YC Green Bench Regatta   "Vince, I enjoyed the winning and the sails worked out the way I hoped they would! The V1+ is a great sail and we used it all the way up to 15-16 knots. Mainsail DC 1 have a good shape and with the full batten at the top and the soft cloth half way and all the way to the top. I would highly recommend that you make this mainsail standard, since it was definitely great “all around” . I used the full top batten in light and heavy air and it workout great. I also measured for the Worlds, an North A1 jib and a Monster spinnaker. In other words, I used a full North inventory, which gave me the edge necessary to win the Worlds. I was very pleased with the speed and the sails we used and I recommend it to all your customers. Once again thank you for your help." Hans Fogh Soling World Champion, 2006. "Thank you so much for the new 2006 North Main and Jib for my DaySailer. They were very fast, faster than my 2002 North sails, partially because the 2006 main has a flatter luff entry above the spreaders. Thanks to Greg Fisher for making the new sails faster. We used the new 2006 North sails for the first time at the July 2006 North American Championships (NAC) in Massachusetts. We found our experience with the 2002 North's made it easy to trim the 2006 sails. We used our 2002 North spinnaker at the NAC, so fully powered by North sails. Our race results were: First in the 2006 Junior NAC (I crewed for my 13 year old son Erik). First in the 2006 NAC (Erik crewed for me). " Mike and Erik McCaffrey, Daysailer 3797 2006 North American Champions   "After buying two Opti Race sails from North, my kids have moved up the rakings quickly, they really show another gear. I then decided to change sailmakers on my Shields over to North Sails, what a difference! It was like driving blindfolded- very easy and we are fast! North Sails is my exclusive Sailmaker from now on!" Dirk Johnson - Shields 181 "Had our very first race with the Flying Scot last evening and got our very first Bullet. Sails looked and felt great." ... "We took first overall in our spring series. Fully enjoying the sails! Wish we had enough wind to get the FS on plane." Bob Klein FS4049 Pied Piper "I recommend North New Zealand cut sails to my whole team. Its the best out there! " Scott Lindley - Optimist Coach - Florida "Just a quick note to tell you how much I like the sails. I sailed in the middle of a Sonar for about 10 races last year, no one else had been on one before. Doug, the bow guy, used to race Solings and Stars but hadn't competed on anything like this in over 20 years. My wife's experience with sailing was sitting on the rail of a C&C 35 four years ago. We're green. We immediately had better or equal boat speed and pointing to any other boat out there. I credit the sails with a large part of our success last night. Given our inexperience my goal was to not finish last. Instead we pulled a 2nd among crews that have far more experience in the boats. It wasn't tactics or boat handling, because our boat handling was terrible and we didn't have time to think tactics, it was pure boatspeed." John D'Aurizio - Sonar "Our team has experimented with several sailmakers over the years. Each time I sail with a new North Newport Design set I swear to my crew to never let me go with any other sails because the boat just feels so fast. After 2 top ten performances at our last 2 major events, I think we are finally hooked for good!!". Kris Werner J-24- Pee Wee   Send us your comments.. "Molly and I really like the new Interclub Radial cut. We seem to be faster same height upwind and great speed downwind. It's much more responsive to subtle sheet changes then some of the older versions. The second time we used the sail we won IC Midwinters with Bill Healy and Meredith Killion. It was a college style format and we won both A& B divisions with the new sail". John Charles Baxter "Got my cover for j24 the other day. Installed on the boat. Fits great and seems to be well made. Thank you! This will help keep the old boat looking good for a few more years until the kids get out of college and I can afford a bigger J boat". Bob Smith Strictly Sail Inc. Cincinnati J24 hull #46 1977 boat.   Paul and I will never forget what North Sails did for us in the Olympics!". Kevin Burnham 470 Gold Medallist Athens Visit Kevin's web site, click here.     "Dear Charlie Harrett, Harry Melges and Andy Burdick, We gave Eric Hood a special award from Scow Fleet Augusta at this event. This is because of the above the call of duty hard work he put into building our C and MC fleets here. His positive and enthusiastic attitude has made this happen here. He has served as a teacher of sailing, racing and sportsmanship at our club. He has added a great deal to the love of sailing that many of us share here at the Augusta Sailing Club. It should be noted that this would all not be possible without the help and support of Melges Boats, North Sails and the individuals who support Eric professionally and personally. So, thanks to all MBW and all North Sails and all Eric's friends who help Eric help us. I thank you and we all thank you". Scow Team Augusta 2005 MC Scow Masters Nationals "Hi Chris, I ended up winning the Sabot Nationals again. Like last year, I was using a North sail. It was really fast". Oliver Toole 2005 National Champion " It was great to get to spend more time with you before and during the NAs this year. It was a lot of fun off the water and boy, oh boy, was it great to use fast North Sails M-5 and 5A+ and a runner. You guys make the best sails for the widest range of conditions. They are just great products! ". Matt Burridge 2005 Lightning North Americans Champion " Our speed and pointing with the PowerZone Main and Xtreme Jib made us unstoppable. It’s been a lot of fun". Erik Bowers 2005 X Boat ILYA and Blue Chip Champion "Vince, we just raced for the first time since you came out with us and we found ourselves much more successful than before. We practiced two days before the SDYC OD races and it resulted in much improved performance on the course. The fleet of nine boats wasn’t the routine 30 boat tough fleet, but we scored a first and second place, due to much improvement in upwind speed (and better tacks and gybes). The key improvement was carrying about six turns more upper tension that in past races. The uppers setting that you tuned for us gave us the ability to point, and with changing the blocks behind the mast we could upshift when the wind increased and downshift when the wind died. In the past, we were always low, and downshifting didn’t improve anything, and nothing could get us to point well. Thanks again for coming out with us and providing the impetus for our improvement". Bruce Harris Etchells Fleet San Diego " Very light wind, not my kind of weather, but it worked out. You know, since I received this set of sails from you I have only used them twice and won both regatta’s. Higgins Lake last year which was blowing like stink and Tawas this year where the wind never hit 6 kts." -- Matt Princing 2005 Lightning Tawas Bay Summer Regatta Overall Winner "As promised, I got my jib on Friday and it's gorgeous. I used it yesterday at Union Lake, NJ where we had our Second Annual Jersey in July Regatta. My wife and I love the mylar jib. Robin commented that the window was in a better location than our old one. I could feel the extra power and am convinced that it helped me take second place." Bryan Lanier Buccaneer 18 MidAtlantic Region Rep. I really liked the North DR2+ sail. I find I'm always looking up at the leech tell tales, and the North sail was very accommodating with the two long streamers. I noticed that if I needed the leech to remain open it was very easy to control with the sheet line and vang. Also, I noticed I could sail with my mast rake a lot farther back. With my old Toni Tio sail, I would sail at 112.5 or 113 ... for the power, but my pointing always suffered. With the North sail I can get away with sailing at much lower numbers, and not sacrifice any speed. I also really liked the material the sail was made out of. I've never seen anything like it.” -Mike Russom Optimist World Team Member "Skip - Can't thank you enough for spending time with us last weekend. I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from you and the video-review sessions in the bar reallyhelped me to know what to look for with sail trim. Plus I really dig my new sails. Now that my rig is tuned and with new sails my goal is to sail them as effectively as possibly and go fast! Again, thanks a million for taking time to come all the way out here.” Mike Bond, Thistle #3599 “I can't say enough how much I appreciated the tuning lecture and video session. It was excellent. Thanks. .” -Martin Howell, Interlake #1395 "With this being my first time using North Sails on my J-22, I was amazed at how easy the sails were to set up and fast they were out of the box. The North team made it easy with the great support they offered at the event, which was key to our sucess at the Midwinters.” Justin Damore Race winner at the 2005 J22 Midwinters "I arrived at the J22 midwinter regatta in Miami with a brand new set of North sails that I had not yet sailed with and six months of ‘rust’ since I had last sailed the boat in August when the season ended in my home state of Colorado. It was not a recipe for success, but it turned into a great success for what my team and I went there to accomplish. Greg Fisher from North Sails was there almost as soon as we arrived to help reset the rig to work best with the new sails and then out on the water for some practice before the races started. The sails were very easy to drive to and, with Greg’s help, we were able to develop very nice boat speed in pretty short order. We actually managed to win one of the races! Even with a great shift on the first leg to pop us out in front, no one can stay there in this fleet without boat speed and we definitely had it. I am thrilled with the North sails and the range of wind conditions where they performed very well. But, the generous attention from the North sails representative (Greg) is what made buying from North the best value out there. " Terry Schertz Race winner at the 2005 J22 Midwinters "Sails looked and worked great! Main fits the mast really well. In a breeze it flattens out really nice with main sheet and has the punch in the light stuff. Jib worked great. Leech just touches lower shroud upwind with no curl. . We seamed to have really good upwind speed and could work off anyones weather quarter. We had a 1,2,5,1,1 to win the regatta". Bill Petersen Martin 242 - LA Fleet "Greg, I just want to thank you for putting your sail trim guidelines up on the web with pictures! I've been sailing Flying Scot for about 3 summers and have read many guides to sail trim that are confusing and incomplete to the beginner, and w/o pictures to illustrate what is being said. Now my crew and I won't be yelling at each other". Jim Dinger Flying Scot sailor "We have never been so fast...There is no question your sails are superior!" Jeep "Herb" Califano J/24- USA 2335 "Skip, We raced the sail for the first time last night to good effect. First to finish and first corrected. 5 knots with some puffs to 8 on very flat water. The sail is very controllable and we were able to shift gears easier than an Indy car. I also retuned the mast according to the guide, but I don't think there was enough breeze to see big changes there. It was pretty close to the guide specs before I started. Thanks for the additional tips on the rig". Tim Savage T-10 class   Send us your comments.. "This past weekend I sailed in Melbourne, FL in a Melges 24 regatta. Tricky wind shifts decided the regatta, but the common denominator was North Kevlar on the top boats. Places 1, 3, & 4 (us) had NS Kevlar main & jib, # 2 had Kevlar jib & Pen main. 5th had NS Pentex, and 6th had Quantum that looked something like genesis sails. It was my owner's 4th or 5th regatta in the boat, first in one-design, and second time out with the new sails. We followed the tuning guide and it was very easy to set up and sail fast. There's no doubt the boats with North Kevlar were faster. Anson Mulder North Sails Ft Lauderdale "Thank you. I'm very happy about my bronze medal. It was an unbelievably hard regatta. Want to thank Skip and Rodrigo for their help. I was very happy with my speed in Athens. Thanks to you". Mateusz Kusznierewicz Finn Bronze Medal in Athens   "Your North 470 sails gave us a fantastic speed edge that was able to secure a GOLD medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The mainsail was so versatile in being able to achieve the shape we were looking for in all conditions. The V2 spinnaker was a rocket in the conditions in Athens. The flatter head and open leech provided superior speed in light air. In the breeze she flew steady and we were able to change gears from sailing low angles to high angles with ease. The jib was easy to trim. She was very easy to twist off with a nice round section remaining low. It set up beautifully in light and heavy air conditions. All in all your sails are the BEST! I want to thank you for giving us the speed edge to win the GOLD in Athens! Thank you NORTH SAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kevin Burnham 470 Gold Medal "Vince, We just finished up the Lightning NA's at the Buffalo Canoe Club. In true Buffalo form, we served up some very challenging conditions! I was again impressed with North One Design's service and professionalism. Their representation in the Lightning's is first class! The North team managed to continually have everything repaired and in good shape so no one missed a race. I still am not sure how they pulled it off, but they did and many sailors were grateful for their services. Believe it or not, no one paid me off to send this! Sometimes it's nice to share positive thoughts rather than harping on negatives! I've traveled in plenty of sailing circles and watched sailmakers in action. I think your success in the Lightning class is due to your team's dedication and understanding of the class and it's members!". Jody Swanson "You guys make a great set of sails... I am amazed with the boat speed I get with the snug set I used at the North Americans". Andrew Fox Flying Scot sailor "If you are going to race E Scows you have to have North Sails on your boat. In the wind you need to use the new Medium-Heavy Jib which makes the boat easier to sail, you really do go higher and faster with this cut on you boat". Paul Magno E Scow 3rd Place 2004 Eastern Champs "WOW! Dear Tim, Naturally we expected your sails to improve our performance, but they far exceed our expectations. Suddenly we're a boat to be contended with in a very strong fleet of a dozen J-24s. It feels like a different boat. Thanks for your typically excellent work". Dallas Murphy J/24 sailor "Having discussed on the ride home and now slept on it at least some, the magnitude of our accomplishment is starting to sink in. You know the feeling, but speaking for me and after just short of twenty years of trying, and too many close calls to count, I can't tell you what a thrill it is to finally break through and win a major championship! In reflecting on history recent and past, I really want to thank you and your teams at Melges/North for absolutely making it happen - there's just no way it happens without the support. The Millenium edition boat that we sail is still rock solid and as stable as anything, which came in awfully handy especially on Saturday during the survival conditions! The sails are simply second to none. The ability to shape the Hare Cut, to flatten in the big blows so that even someone like me from a little pond like Beulah could maintain control of the boat, was simply outstanding! The I-1 went a long way towards making sure that we were on the pace when the winds were lighter and we needed to be doing a lot more sail shaping with the various controls. The long and short is that I really felt as though I had a very wide margin for error - even in those instances where there were some problems occuring somewhere between the tiller and the rail if you get my drift, the design of the sails kept us going fast and on the pace until I could settle myself down. The flexibility and range of both sails certainly make for easier choices, and frankly those choices simply get crossed off the list of things to worry about, since there's almost no way to choose wrong! On top of all that, the support and advice and encouragement and tips and go fast suggestions that you and the Zenda gang are so ready and willing and able to provide, well that's just icing on the cake! I honestly don't think we could have accomplished this without you! I'm sure there's sailors out there that can or could, I equally honestly am not convinced I'm one of them, I've spent too many years trying before the program came together! So thanks for helping to bring it all together "! Joe Skotarzak C Scow 2004 National Champion "Fast out of the box! What more can I say! With a tight schedule and no time for any practice races, we hoisted our new Kevlar 155% for the first time 15 minutes before the start gun. Perfect fit! A few practice tacks to adjust our jib leads are we where ready to race. With the new North we consistently out-pointed all the other Capri 22’s by 2-3 degrees with matched boat speed, which always put us 1 or 2 boats lengths further ahead by the top mark. We where the only boat at the Capri Cup (Capri 22 one design regatta) with North headsails and thanks to North “Madcap” topped the fleet with a 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 race record, 1st in fleet and 1st overall! A special thanks to Perry Lewis and the rest of the gang at North Sails Midwest!" Jamie Downing Capri 22 “Madcap” Hull #5   "This past weekend we raced our first regatta with the new sails. They were fantastic!!!! We raced in very light wind to near 20 with 4 on board. we could match everyone in up-wind speed and point higher at the same time!!!!! Three times in the weekend the group of us in the front turned on the layline, got headed, and we were the only boat to pull up to the mark. We got one first and four seconds in corrected time to take 1st over all, and we were 1st on the water all but once. Love the sails, thanks for your help" John Kling - J/22 My family and I are long time buyers of North Sails. We have purchased a set of sails for the past 3 or 4 years. My cousin and I won the WYA Champs this year sailing with North Sails. We also sailed to an 8th place finish in the Blue Chip and the Big Inland. Everyone in my family is very pleased with your prices, friendly services and high quality. I look forward to future success in sailing with North Sails." Alisson Gutankurst - X Boat "Thanks to North Sails for your strong support of the Buccaneer class and for your outstanding sails!" Herby Tardy - Buccaneer   "Thanks again for the great main and jib. They were a huge improvement right out of the box. Not only did they increase my boat speed and ability to point, but they have been teaching me about proper sail trim. They are cut so well for the boat that seeing the trim adjustments I make is really obvious. They have certainly helped make me a better sailor. After two seasons including two Nationals victories, they still look great and continue to be winners." Gib Charles - Mutineer 515 2003 National Champion "Just wanted to let you know how great we did in 2003 with the set of North sails you sent. The J22 fleet at Pymatuning Yacht Club has grown to 14 boats with some very good sailors. We won both the first and second half of the Sunday and Saturday J22/PHRF series as well as the overall Championships. In addition, we won the Memorial Day PHRF race by edging out Steve White in his Thistle and took first place at the PYC Independence Day Regatta in the J22 class. North sails and my crew provided the difference and helped us reach our goals this year. Thanks again for the fast sails. " Steve Hidell - J22 1059. “Thanks for all the help this past summer! The sails were super fast, and the tuning, sail trim, and big fleet tactics advice were awesome. We had great boat speed on all points of sail which allowed us to get out of even the worst of starts. Thanks again and we'll hopefully see you this fall!” Craig Koschalk 5th Place at the 2003 Thistle Nationals "We're delighted with the T-10 jib. It helped us with some of the best National racing we've ever done!" Donald Cairns T-10 sailor “Plain and simple it was fun! Our motto on the boat is "Speed Kills"! We had it all week. Skip Dieball and Greg Fisher always provide that helpful answer to any question. Thanks guys!” Paul Abdullah on winning the 2003 Thistle Midwinters East "We had our first J/22 Texas circuit regatta this weekend in Dallas. Nearly all the top guys from Texas were sailing so it was a good test. We were psyched we wound up 3rd! I think we have have a good handle on the rig tuning and are able to hit the numbers for every breeze. We had great point and excellent speed. The breeze was anywhere from 3-12 mph and the water was flat, so speed was at a premium. Thanks again for all of your help with our questions. By the way, Kelson Elam won using North sails as well!...so your sails were first and third! We are ready for the next one"! Scott Anderson "I wanted to write and let you know that your team’s ongoing commitment to making North sails faster, lighter, and longer lasting is paying off on my boat. I just won my club’s fall series with my new I-1 sail and look forward to a great 2003 season and beyond! There is not a better value given the increased and continued performance I can expect from the North product. The North Sails Zenda formula is winning in Scow country and has extended North’s reach as the world-wide leader in sail making. With this great product comes your unbeatable service and local support. Over ten years, my orders and small repairs have always been complete- on time or early. It is clear that the North Sails Zenda team lives to learn and has an unmatched presence in all fleets throughout the regatta scene. And the more your North Sails Zenda team learns, the more sail value you can deliver to me in the future. Your formula is producing better and better sails- and you can look forward to my future business as a result of your continued efforts to exceed my expectations. Thank you". Jim Petersen C Scow I-25 "The North Sails one design team in our area is second to none. I have been around enough to know that the scow sailors have become accustom to a high level of service (politically correct way of saying high maintenance). Andy Burdick, Harry Melges, Eric Hood, and Charlie Harret do a great job of having representatives at all the regattas, accommodating customer requests, and teaching customers how to use there equipment in the never ending search for speed. The quality of the North product has been consistently exceeding expectations. This quality as measured by delivery, workmanship, durability, design and most importantly straight line speed through the water". Peter Keck C Scow National Champion "North Sails in all conditions require far less time to find the proper shape which allows me more time to do my tactical math going up the lake. The sailors that spend their time looking up the lake instead of keeping their heads in the boat adjusting sails and controls are the ones winning the races. My North sails have allowed me to do just that the entire way around the course , that is too keep my head out of the boat and focused on tactical strategies. Thanks for all the help along the way and for the attention given to perfect each sail I use from North One Design Sails". Justin Hood 2002 MC National Champion "I like my North Z-Max sail for many reasons. For me, it means that I only need one sail. You can make it as flat or as full as you want. It is the right sail for all conditions. While some sails might be fast in one particular wind speed or sailing angle, the North Z-Max is always fast. It is easy to set up your boat on stock measurements and use this sail. No adjustments to the rig are necessary when conditions change. The sail is quite durable as well. I used one sail all year, some races in horrific conditions, and still won my last two regattas of the season. With 50 racing days on this sail, it still has some value. In the MC class Eric Hood and Andy Burdick are looked to as coach and mentor by many of us. It is a an advantage when you use a sail that they know". Jeff Annis MC 1860 "While it is obvious North Sails have a superior product, there are a number of ways in which I think of the sails that may not be so apparent. One, they are easy to tune, which is great for someone who cannot spend alot of prep time testing the sail. They go fast out of the box, even before you get a chance to really work with the sail. Second, they a bit forgiving in that you can be fast without the perfect tuning- a big plus for those with less experience in looking at sails. What also helps is the product consistency. I know that from year to year the sail is going to be very similar, but just a bid more adapted to the current C rigs. Again, a big plus. And, for those of us on a budget and who have trouble making up their mind, if I decide to get a sail one week before the big regatta, I know it will arrive in time and be ready to go. On the other side of the coin, my North sails have lasted over a period of two to three years without losing significant speed, a great advantage for the home sailing program. I also have found that with a bit of work, the wind range for the sails is fairly broad, and combined with the controls on the boat, they are ideal for the small inland lakes where great changes in velocity can occur within short amounts of time. In other words, your North sails keep you competitive to the maximum. All of this in addition to the many helpful suggestions and support from North Sails Zenda which has unparalled knowledge and experience. They are just a phone call away and willing to step on your boat to see first hand how you can go faster. (unfortunately, the skipper being smarter is not something you can get from North-yet)". Scott Helmes - C Scow     "North Sails provides a consistent product which is simple to tune for the weekend amateur. With constant support from North Sails Zenda the customer never feels forgotten. The source of frustration is not with the product but rather the direction we point the product. Enough mistakes will even cause raw speed to not win, but raw speed sure beats going slow." Steve Avery C Scow P-51 Boss Hogg - Lake Okoboji, Iowa "Winning the 1st race of last year's E Nationals was a real "kick"! Although we've never won a race like this before and haven't placed well on the regatta circuit, we felt that we've always had the boat speed to win. We attribute this to our North Sails... so simple and easy to trim with perfect shape for all conditions. Andy, Buddy and the rest of the North Sails team have been absolutely invaluable in helping "Big Bad Wolf" go fast! Good start, smart tactics, GO FAST and have the fun...THANK YOU NORTH SAILS." Frank Davenport Lake Geneva Yacht Club "Having North Sails on my side gives my crew and me the confidence to compete and win! ". Mike Darrow 2002 National E Scow Champion - Pewaukee Yacht Club, WI " We can spend more time looking up the course and not worry that the sails need constant attention" said Betsy Alison. " A sail that tests well in a controlled environment may not be fast in a race situation because it is too demanding of the crew. We have the best of both worlds with these sails(speed and ease of use)." Betsy Allison US Challenge Yngling Team after winning the 2003 Palm Beach Ocean Regatta "Now that Lightning sailing has taken a back seat to my new family, being able to go fast right out of the gate with a new set of sails is a must. I was able to do that with my new set of North Sails along with the vast knowledge I recieved from the North Lightning team and with the use of an easy to follow tuning guide". Bill Healy 2002 Lightning North American Champion "Dear North Sails, The new Lightning jib 5A+ and spinnaker are great. We won the Europeans! Thank you very much. Meltemi SUI 13790 - Urs, Walter, Gilbert 2002 Lightning European Champions "North Sails One Design provides a surprisingly personal touch for such a large company. By teaching us how to make our sail shape match our sailing style, North OD has given us the tools we need to go on to even greater success.” Carol Cronin Yngling Class, US Sailing Team "As an active one design sailor, North Sails has been a big part of the success of my programs. Fast sails and great technical advice have always been readily available. It is awesome to be able to call the loft and get a knowledgeable sales & customer service guy - a real name and face, someone you know has done the homework. From my personal experience, they work with you to make your program the best it can be". Betsy Allison Yngling Class, US Sailing Team   "As far as the fact that there are more than 100 people focused on one design, I fully relate. There are more people at the loft itself or that I can get a hold of via email that are more than willing to hear comments and feedback from sail users. I can go down to the loft and be able to talk to any number of folks that will put aside there work at hand to help me out with a problem or solution that I may have. Most important to me is the fact that the loft is so willing to make a new cut, within an hour, or repair my sails. There is always somebody out at regattas making sure that the sails are running smoothly and there is constantly experimentation going on to make the sails better. Perhaps a bigger issue is the fact that the "team" working on OD is not only the people working at the loft, but also anybody who wants to try and make the sails better. As a consumer I will give feedback to the loft and they will continue to give input on how to solve the dilemma or work with the sails themselves until a solution can appear. This process is a very open one and thus increases the size of the OD team from just the people at the loft to every consumer that gives feedback. The technology and expertise of the North loft is incredible. From a kid who sailed sabots with North's I can say that the loft was an amazingly complex place then. The guys down there could make changes slight or large in no time at all and do a great job at it. Now sailing Lasers mostly, I am continually amazed at the quality in the sails that I use while cross-training in FJ's, Snipes, Stars and OD keelboats. I may only sail a couple of days with the North's, but the every time that I come back to the boat the small problems seen in the last session are fixed and the quality of the sails is always better than before. Only with a staff as committed to the OD department as North can the sails be improving in quality every day". Andrew Campbell 2002 Youth World Champion   Send us your comments..