1958. BASED ON A TRUE STORY

It doesn’t begin with “once upon a time” because the story still goes on.

In 1958 Lowell North was a twenty-seven-year-old engineer with a soft spot for sails who set up his own sail loft.

North Sails.

Lowell was a champion. He won two Olympic medals with his sail, a gold in the star class, a bronze in the dragon class as well as five world championships in the star class.

But.

Lowell North was also an engineer. For him construction of a sail was not only an art form, but also and above all a science. That’s why he gathered together a team of sailors and technicians with a basic common denominator: passion for sailing.

That’s how sailmakers are born.

Or, as North calls them, tigers.

Peter Barrett was the first tiger. One day, without any particular notion about what it should look like, he built a sail which, grateful to him, would take him far.

Then came John Marshall. He settled next to the main sail loft in the world at that historical time, with the aim of outstripping it. And he made it.

Shortly afterwards, a certain Terry Kohler, an enthusiastic customer of North Sails, became the enthusiastic chairman of North Sail. Terry also did something else that is worthy of note. He placed his trust in two Swiss guys, J.P. Baudet and Luc Dubois, who were babbling about an innovative sail that had never been conceived before and would change the world sailing scene. The 3DL.

Tom Whidden made then his entrance and brought another skill to the tigers: a nose for business. He managed to merge sailing with business by taking North Sail beyond the physical space of its sail lofts into the market of sports sailing.

And so the unmistakeable blue and white brand landed in Italy and turned its bow to sports clothing while keeping its stern to the fascinating adventure of sea and wind, producing apparel made of the same stuff as the tigers, the sails, North Sails. This is how Leopoldo Poppi traced the route for sportswear.

Now, don’t expect an ending because the story continues.

And once you have read these last few lines, go out, discover, enjoy.

Because all it took for North Sails to take to the wind was a sail, a hand and the thrust of the wind.

And, of course, confidence.