Meeting of the minds


North Sails’ year-end debrief generated a tech-fest of ideas, from Super Series TP52s, complete with 3Di RAW 880 sails, to AC50s in Bermuda


Over the last 12 months sailors have broken new ground and set incredible new performance benchmarks in many different parts of the sport. From the record- breaking round-the-world endeavours of French heroes such as Thomas Coville, Armel Le Cléac’h and, most recently, François Gabart, to LDV Comanche taking line honours in the 2017 Sydney Hobart in a new record time – the common thread between all these achievements is that North Sails 3Di technology has provided the power behind the headlines. Aside from the news-grabbing


offshore successes, 3Di continues to be first choice for the majority of grand prix inshore campaigns, particularly in the TP52 class, arguably the most competitive of all inshore racing circuits. This year the TP52 is attracting America’s Cup talent such as Sir Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR and Patrizio Bertelli’s Luna Rossa Challenge. More than ever the battle for TP52 glory will come down to a game of


64 SEAHORSE


inches that demands every last drop of performance from sailors and their equipment. North Sails responded to the


unceasingly high demands of the TP52 class by developing 3Di RAW; the latest iteration of that product is a high-carbon 3Di tape called RAW 880. As technical director of North Materials Bill Pearson explains, ‘For 880 we increased the carbon fibre content by roughly 12 per cent. The additional carbon increases resistance to stretch, meaning a sail holds its shape better both locally in gusts and over time as well. ‘Because the professional TP52


crews are operating at a very high level and look after their sails well they are more than capable of taking care of these sails in the way that the extra carbon content of 880 requires.’ Because RAW 880 is such a


solid, low-stretch product the trimmers have been able to adapt their approach. ‘We’ve produced a product that really helps lock in the sail shapes so the trimmers on the


3Di RAW 880 made its race debut on some of the TP52s at the Key West round of last year’s TP52 Super Series including Takashi Okura’s Botín design Sled (above). 3Di RAW has already proved impressively rigid and ‘foil-like’ to trim while preserving power very efficiently in the puffs; the new RAW 880 construction takes this approach to the next level


boat become much more active,’ says JB Braun, design services director at North Sails and project leader for 3Di. ‘They are in control of the


shapes a lot more. In sail design what the trimmers are trying to do is really defy physics – as a puff comes along the sails load up more and want to become fuller at just the point where the trimmer wants to flatten them out. RAW 880 has given the trimmer better control over the sail shapes as well as a better ability to change gears through the wind range.’ Big steps forward like RAW 880


can only come from combining the vast pool of knowledge and experience that resides in North lofts all around the world. With the company’s designers working on cutting-edge projects from the America’s Cup to the Vendée Globe, and the RC44 and TP52 circuits along with many others, there are always vital lessons to be taken from one sphere of the sport and transferred to another.


NICO MARTINEZ


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