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What Is Your J 105 Program?
Recently, Bill Shore and I had a discussion about J 105's. Bill has been involved in this industry for almost 30 years. He developed the sails on the winning 1992 America's Cup boat, so it is interesting to hear his perspective on these things. Some of these topics might be viewed as biased towards Shore Sails, but hey, maybe we can learn something.

Recently boat builders have witnessed a huge boost in sales. The 1992 America's Cup brought with it a new look; bulb keels and asymmetrical spinnakers. That new look has transformed the marine industry.

Boat builders who were on the verge of bankruptcy just a few years ago, are now witnessing one year or more backlogs in orders. What is interesting to Bill, and to me, is that many of these high-tech production boats are pricing themselves out of their niche. Not only are the hulls and their carbon rigs expensive, but the sails, electronics, and hardware prices are going up at an alarming rate. Additionally, a trend for the larger sailmaking companies is to provide reduced service while promoting less durable sail materials. This comes at the expense of the owner and his crew who may not have experience with this newer type of boat or understand its unique sailing characteristics.

Bill has been involved in many different one-design projects. I have been involved with a few, myself. Together, we have introduced some very successful sails in a wide variety of classes and boat types. It always impresses me how different people define success, though. As business owners, the definition is clear. Success is measured in dollars and cents. As competitors, success is measured at the finish line. Usually the two go hand-in-hand, but not always. Expensive marketing schemes and blind, brand name loyalty can sometimes disguise reality. Often a delay occurs between the availability of a superior product and public perception that a product is actually superior.

I find selling sails during this delay between reality and perception enjoyable, and why not! When Shore's sails are clearly ahead of our competition in design or manufacturing technique or both, and when few boats on the race course have these sails, it is easy for us and for our customers to do well.

We believe this is the situation with our sails in the J 105 class right now. This might sound too much like an advertisement, but we truly believe that we can make a big difference to the right boat. That is one of the reasons for this message. We are actively looking for the right team.

Our success with the J 80, for example, has been clearly documented, and those same sail shapes are clearly superior on the J 105, too. But it takes time and the right platform to prove it. There are so many variables. Even great sails won't help a poorly prepared or poorly trained J 105 crew. So, we are actively looking for a dedicated J 105 team that wants to have fun, go fast and win. We want develop a mutually beneficial relationship with this team.

The J 105 seems to be immune to most of the problems of this new breed of boats. At the same time they maintain most of the beneficial aspects. They are relatively affordable. They have a limited sail inventory. There is a healthy class structure behind them, and they are a blast to race! We view this class as extremely healthy. We are exploring ways to tie Shore Sails closer the J 105 class. We are extremely confident that our sails, especially our spinnakers, are fast. We have very talented sailmakers who are not being utilized to their fullest potential in helping customers to achieve excellence. We want you to put them to work on your program.

Contact: Doug Shore, Shore Sails Rhode Island or Bill Shore, Shore Sails International

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