North Notes

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

• North Sails New Orleans' Benz Faget won the 1994 Mallory Cup, the US Men's Sailing Championship. The nine-race regatta in J22s was held on Lake Hefner, in Oklahoma City. The 36-year-old Faget had a low-point total of 18.25 points— half as much as the second-place finisher. It was a small lake but extremely windy, Faget reports (see Benz' report in Tips & Technique on p.30) Last year the Mallory Cup was won by Jack Slattery, head of North Sails NorthEast. The year before, it was won by Jeff Madrigali of North Sails San Francisco.

• Doug Clark, former dinghy coach at the US Naval Academy, has joined North Sails One-Design East. He will work as a sales representative at the Marblehead, MA office. For eight years, Clark coached the US Naval Academy's Intercollegiate Sailing Team, National Championships in 1991, '93, and '94. He also served as assistant director of intercollegiate sailing nationally. Clark attended the University of Rhode Island, where he was an All American sailor in 1986. He received a degree in economics and business administration. After graduation, he won the 1993 Snipe Nationals and J/24 East Coast Championships.

• Another recent addition to the North one-design team is '94 Star World Champion Ross Macdonald, who also won the '94 Star Bacardi Cup and a bronze medal in Star at the '92 Barcelona Olympics. He will be based in Vancouver, B.C., and joins forces with Vince Brun, head of North Sails One Design West and a Star World Champion himself. Macdonald will service the Star class, as well as work on sail design, one-design seminars, tuning guides, and instructional videos. Macdonald will also provide similar services to H-Boat and Dragon sailors in Europe. Macdonald will mount another Olympic Star campaign for 1996 and will represent Canada in the J/24 class at the Pan American Games.

• The first 3DL dinghy sail in the world is a mainsail for Skilled Engineering, an Australian 18ft skiff sailed by 505 World Champ Chris Nicholson and his brother Darren, both named '94 Australian Yachtsmen of the Year. Skipper Chris chose 3DL for it's light weight and resistance to stretch. The sail was computer molded at the North loft at Mona Vale, in Sydney, then fabricated at North's 3DL facility in San Leandro, CA.

NORTH IN SPACE

• A high-tech duffle bag, produced under subcontract by North Cloth, was tested during the recent International Microgravity Laboratory {IML-21) NASA launch of the Space Shuttle. The 20"x 20"x 19" Duffle bag, made of PBI and Nomex with Vectran-webbing straps, is shaped to hold clothing, tools. and supplies, including oxygen tanks. "Aerospace-manufacturer McDonnell-Douglas was looking for a company to help them design and build a bag that could withstand 40g's of gravity; be completely fire-resistant; and absolutely would not break," said Peter Mahr, president of North Cloth. "They learned about North from Hoechst Celanese, the supplier of the materials." Don White, of North Sails Cloth, worked on the design and assembly of the Duffle bag. NASA has since ordered 21 more bags for Space Lab and Space Lab (habitat).

SpaceLab astronauts display their North duffle bag made of PBI and Nomex with Vectran straps.