The Cup: What's In it for you? By: Tom Whidden 

As I write these words, I'm on an airplane heading back to San Diego, for the first races of the Defense Trials for the Citizen (Watch) Cup. The winner will sail as the defender in the America's Cup—the premier spectacle in sailing.

I'll be tactician on Stars & Stripes, a job I've done for Dennis Conner five times before. Other top North people are directly involved in defender and challenger efforts as well, including Tom Schnackenberg, David Hirsch, Michael Coxon, Grant Simmer, Robert Hook, Andreas Josenhans, Steve Calder, Burns Fallow, Guido Cavalazzi, and Mike Schreiber. You might well ask, "Why does North invest so much effort in the America's Cup? What's in it for me?"

The answer is simply that the America's Cup is the best test tank in sailing. A diverse group of people, expert in many disciplines, approach the same challenge with a singular focus that cannot be duplicated anywhere else. Our sail designers join many of the syndicates with similar knowledge, tools, and technology. Where each of them goes from there is proprietary to their team during the Cup. After the event, however, we all share what we've learned, and all of us at North end up smarter and better at what we do. That's good for us, but more importantly...it's good for you.

Consider the evidence: In 1977, company-founder Lowell North used what the press dubbed "garbage-bag" headsails on the 12-meter Enterprise. This was the first time Mylar working sails had ever been used. Today they are racing and cruising standards. North also pioneered the first modern asymmetric spinnakers in the America's Cup.

Warp-oriented panel layouts, radial construction, GATORBACK™ Kevlar, computer-molded sail design, aerodynamic flow analysis, carbon-fiber sails...all were pioneered by North in Cup competition. The '95 Cup will feature another breakthrough: North's revolutionary patented 3DL™ one-piece molded sailmaking technology. 3DL sails are already the strongest sails for their weight in the world. After the Cup, they'll be lighter, stronger...better.

The America's Cup is sailing's ultimate test. It's not always pretty; it's not always kind; but know that North sails have been on every Cup defender and challenger since 1980. No other sailmaker can say anything remotely similar.

What does the America's Cup mean to you? This year, next year, and the next, you'll be sailing with the answer.

....all of us at North end up smarter and better at what we do. That's good for us... more importantly, it's good for you.