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| North Sailmakers |
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North Sails has become the world leader in
sailmaking through an ongoing commitment to making sails
that are faster, lighter and longer lasting than any other
sails in the world. Whether you race or cruise, North Sails
is committed to designing and building sails that are just
right for you! When performance matters, the choice is clear.
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NORTH'S 3DL THERMO-MOLDED SAIL TECHNOLOGY
© North SailsIn 1992, North Sails introduced 3DL®,
a revolutionary sailmaking technology that thermo-molds sails
as a unitary membrane on a full-sized 3-dimensional mold.
Compared to a traditional sail assembled from panels of flat
sailcloth, a 3DL sail stretches less for its weight, holds
its shape over a wider wind range and retains its designed
shape longer. Since its introduction, 3DL has dominated Grand
Prix sailboat racing worldwide. 3DL sails were used exclusively
by every single team in the 2002-03 America's Cup event
and on 11 of 12 America's Cup teams in the 2007 Cup in Valencia,
Spain. Every team racing in both the 2002-2003 and 2005-2006
Volvo Ocean Race also used North 3DL sails. North 3DL sails
are available in Aramid, Carbon or any combination thereof
and can be ordered with North TF taffeta films on one or
both sides. There’s a North 3DL style that's right
for any boat and budget. |
| SAIL DESIGN North Sails started using its
own computer software to design sails in 1977. By 1979 North
had developed Computational Fluid Dynamics (Aerodynamic
Performance Analysis or CFD) programs to calculate sail
efficiency and Finite Element Analysis (Structural Analysis
Software or FEA) to calculate flying sail shapes. These
programs became the building blocks for today’s North
Sails Design Suite... the most advanced software suite in
sailmaking. Every single North sail is created using the
same design and analysis tools used for America’s
Cup and Volvo Ocean Race projects.
The Design Suite brings unprecedented power and flexibility
to sail and rig analysis. Each specialized program can interface
with others within the suite, allowing North engineers and
sail designers to virtually sail and test a boat in an infinite
variety of conditions before construction. The benefit is
significantly reduced tuning and development time after
launch. |
WIND TUNNEL TESTING
North Sails has pioneered modern wind tunnel research for
sails using two related-but-separate methods. The first is
a traditional low-speed tunnel with a unique twist. The other
is virtually amazing.
wisted Flow Wind Tunnel
The Twisted Flow Wind Tunnel (TFWT), jointly developed by
North Sails and the University of Auckland, was created as
a research tool to specifically simulate wind flow over yacht
sails. It is the only commercial wind tunnel specifically
designed for testing yacht sails. Using unique twisting vanes,
the wind tunnel accurately models the gradient wind structure
seen by a yacht moving through the water. The Twisted Flow
Wind Tunnel has been used extensively by America’s Cup
boats, Volvo Ocean Racers, Open 60s teams and other successful
racing and cruising projects for over 10 years. |
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