© North Sails 2008V-Series Spinnakers
Significant advances in design software and wind tunnel testing have spurred a surge in downwind sail development at North Sails.
Experts have long known that your biggest gains can be achieved after you round the windward mark. It's the reason why North Sails invests more research and development (R&D) dollars in downwind sail development than any sailmaker. Although North's revolutionary 3DL® molded sail technology has captured headlines for more than 10 years, our downwind sail development has been progressing at an equal pace. Advances in design and production software, combined with a breakthrough in wind tunnel testing, and computer computer wind slow simulation has launched a new family of North downwind sails that are both faster and easier to trim over a broader wind spectrum.
Today's generation of lighter, faster-accelerating offshore one-designs and sport boats also experience huge fluctuations in apparent wind speed and direction. For these boats, V-Series spinnakers will deliver more drive more of the time. All V-Series designs are optimized using North's Flight™ and Flow / Membrane™ design analysis software (integrating data from the twisted flow wind tunnel) and are molded both horizontally and vertically using North's proprietary Spine™ 3D shaping program. The result is a profile that is exceptionally fair for smoother flow, improved stability and easier trim.
Sport and sprit boat sailors now can choose between V-Series Asymmetric reaching molds optimized for point-to-point racing and V-Series Symmetric molds.