Success Story

A team approach produces winning results in a hot new one-design class. BY CHRIS SNOW

The Melges 24 is a hot new one design class that brings today's highest sailing technology to the one design racecourse. At a scant 1,750 pounds (compared to 3000 for the J/24) the Melges packs a lot of punch. Within a year-and-a-half, Melges Boatworks has built over 200 24's, and the class has conducted two U.S. National Championships and one World Championship. Over 60 M24's will compete at Key West Race Week in January.

Developing sails for the Melges has been a particularly rewarding challenge for the sailmakers of the North One-Design Group. A hot new boat, sailed by the best talent in the world...nothing could test the design and development program of a sailmaker better. To date, North Sails have won every major championship the class has held.

The development of North's Melges 24 sails goes right to the heart of what makes North the leading one design sailmaker in the world.

Step by step. Vince Brun of North Sails One-Design West headed our Melges development program since its beginning. When the first boat arrived in San Diego he went to work examining the characteristics of the boat and the class rules.

Vince, mainsheet trimmer aboard Stars and Stripes in the '92 America's Cup trials, immediately saw similarities between the Melges and IACC boats: asymmetric spinnakers, large roached mains, limited overlap jibs, high aspect rudders and bulb keels.

Mike Schreiber of North PRG (Performance Resource Group), who is also based in San Diego, worked closely with Vince designing sails for Stars and Stripes. It was natural for them to collaborate on the first North designs for the Melges 24.

Mike designed an all-purpose suit using designs from Stars and Stripes as his base. At the first Melges 24 regatta ever held (the Yachting Cup in San Diego) a local Snipe Sailor steered the prototype sails to straight firsts. We were happy, but knew there more battles to come.

At the same time, Ched Proctor, sail designer for the One-Design Group and a perennial One-Design champ, was testing speed and rig tuning for Melges 24 in the Chesapeake. The Melges (like most one-designs) carries one suit of sails that have to cover a full range of conditions. Changes to rig tune for different wind and sea conditions are critical, and Ched was instrumental in developing the settings North uses in our Melges 24 tuning guide.

Refining the program. Using feedback from customers on both coasts, we then decided to work on jib shape. The leech of the Melges jib is critical for two reasons. 1) The battenless leech tends to get round quickly, increasing drag, and 2) the slot between the main and jib is key in how much power is developed in the jib. Ched decided to go with a straighter vertical leech profile and a straighter aft section. This brought the leech in closer to main (increasing power) and counteracted the tendency of the jib's leech to get round with age. We also tried a lighter version of the X-ply fabric we had been using for better light air performance. Ched used a new version of the North DESIGN program that is Windows compatible, and was able to compare the new design and the standard design in the computer before the first yard of cloth was even cut. Ched's design was spot on the first time!

The Melges24 Gold Cup was the first test of the new jib, which was used by John Kostecki (sailing with a crew from Pact '95), Vince Brun and west coast "Wunderkid" Steve Grillon who had just started work for North in Huntington Beach, CA.. Kostecki won, with Grillon a close second. Vince, Ched, Chris Snow and Steve Ulian of the North One-Design Group all participated in the event. It was a great time to get feedback from our customers, share ideas and brainstorm. By the end of the week we had tons of new ideas.

Ongoing refinement in jib (left) and asymmetric spinnaker design (left) helped propel North equipped Melges 24s to wins at the Melges Gold Cup (Worlds) and at the North Americans. Sharon Gleen photo

Chute the moon. The next sail that the group felt we could improve was the asymmetric spinnaker. Mike Schrieber's first design drew heavily on America's Cup experience. The sail had performed well but there was a feeling, especially by Steve Grillon, that we could design a faster sail in the all important mid-range conditions (6-12 knots of wind).

Dave Hirsch, another North designer working out of Milford, CT, saw the Melges 24 as an opportunity to experiment with asymmetries using a new North design program called SPIRAL. Dave worked for the Amenca3 syndicate in '92 and had some ideas from that campaign.

The SPIRAL program differs from other molding programs in that it defines a mold (or sail shape1 as relative rates of curvature rather than offsets from a straight line. This better relates to the qualities that have been found important in fast sail shapes; rates of curvature rather than absolute draft position.

In order to make our chute faster downwind in light to moderate air we needed to project more sail area to windward. On a boat with a bow sprit, this is a difficult challenge. By lengthening the luff of the spinnaker, Dave made it easier for the luff of the sail to roll to weather. By shortening the leech, he made it possible to ease the sheet more without spilling power out of the top of the sail. He used SPIRAL to reshape the luff, making it fuller and more powerful and at the same time producing a very forgiving entry shape. Because of class girth restrictions, area then had to be removed from the leech, which now looked more like a genoa (it's easy to see where the "gen" In gennaker comes from).

The first test for the sail was disappointing, but further collaboration between Steve and designer Steve Reed at North Sails Huntington Beach got things on track. As they say, the rest is history. Grillon won the Nationals convincingly, North's second In a row.

Hopefully this article has given you some insight into how the team at North works together to bring you the best possible product. Smooth Sailing!

Chris Snow has been a salesman with the North One-Design Group for four years. He works out of North OneDesign in San Diego.

North One-Design goes global

North Sails recently reorganized its worldwide one-design loft network on a truly global basis. Headed by former North Sails president Eckart Wagner, North Sails One-Design International (ODI) will consolidate production, coordinate sail design worldwide and spur development in a broader range of classes by freeing North personnel of territorial limitations.

Vince Brun, manager of North Sails One-Design West will concentrate on design development with Ched Proctor, who will be chief designer at ODI. Greg Fisher manager of North sails Central (US) will be in charge of world distribution and pricing. Hans Fogh of North Sails Toronto will apply his experience with the Sunfish and Laser classes to setting quality standards for manufacturing.

North staff responsibilities will now be divided on a class basis, rather than geographically. In this respect, Star Champion Vince Brun with colleague Alexander Hagen in Europe will service the Star Class worldwide. Likewise, John Merricks, 420 World champion and Olympic hopeful in the 470 will expand his horizons beyond Europe. These synergies will allow North to serve the worldwide one-design sailing community more effectively and efficiently.