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.