Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

North Sails Ireland is 20 Years Old!

13th February 2024
Nigel Young of North Sails Ireland onboard Black Seal at the Club Swan 36 European Champion 2023
Nigel Young of North Sails Ireland onboard Black Seal at the Club Swan 36 European Champion 2023

Here at North Sails Ireland, we are blessed with having two of the best sailors in the country on our Team. Maurice O’Connell or “Prof” as most of you know him and Shane Hughes who is also running the North Sails Service loft. Between the three of us, there is nothing that we do not know about in the world of sailmaking and sailing.

We have over 85 years of combined experience in the industry; both Shane and myself are time-served sailmakers, and Prof has over 17 years in the industry plus his vast sailing experience. Prof competes in local competition through to the Olympic classes and, most recently, Melges 24 World Champion trimmer and Round Ireland class winner.

The Black Seal Cape 31 winning at Key West 2024The Black Seal Cape 31 winning at Key West 2024

International coaching is also part of Prof’s workload, and this blend of local and International makes North Sails Ireland so strong in the local marketplace.

North Sails Ireland started back in March 2004 with just myself and a blank sheet of paper to work from. The business has been an amazing roller coaster ride from the dizzy heights of the Tiger days, the 2008 recession, and the rebuild up to 2019, when it looked like the World might end with COVID-19!

The Cape 31 Black Seal with Key West at its very best Photo: Sharon GreenThe Cape 31 Black Seal with Key West at its very best Photo: Sharon Green

The last twenty years have flown by, and I have really enjoyed taking the business from nothing to where it is today with the help of my two colleagues and the background team looking after the administration. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the clients who have been with us for the full twenty years! You know who you are, and I do not have the room to list you all here! But thank you from us all at NS Ireland.

International sailing and travel have always been a part of my work since I started with North Sails back in 1994; as the years roll by, this is becoming a bigger part of my focus.

2022 and 2023 saw my sailmaking and sailing life change quite a bit, with International competition coming back online, taking me out of the country more and more. Roughly 150 days of sailing and travel for each of those years, and now 2024 is ramping up to be the biggest year travelling for my international commitments.

I am currently involved with two Cape 31 programmes, one in the USA and one in the UK, the Club Swan 36 Mediterranean circuit and the occasional Melges 24 and regatta. All of these programmes are 100% North Sails and take a lot of time to manage and race. With the above in mind, we are having a small restructuring in North Sails Ireland to ensure we service all of our clients in the best way possible.

Nigel Young (left) Cape 31 Class Winners of the 2024 at Key West's Southernmost RegattasNigel Young (left) Cape 31 Class Winners of the 2024 at Key West's Southernmost Regattas

With my commitments taking me out of the country more and more, it makes sense to spread my local workload out between my two colleagues.

This year, my International sailing is going to keep me out of the country more than I would like, but I will sail in the ICRA Nationals, J-Cup and the IRC Europeans, all being well. Let's see how the season unfolds, and I look forward to my Irish sailing in 2024.

For Sales and Service please do not hesitate to contact any of us here at North Sails Ireland. I will be on the phone and email as normal and running the business day to day as I have since 2004. The only difference this year is you will not see me as much on the dockside as I will be travelling all over Europe and the US supporting our International clients…..

Thank you again for the support over the last 20 years, and we look forward to seeing you all on the water very soon!

Spring is in the air…..

Nigel Young

Published in North Sails Ireland

northsails topper

LOFT INFO

Cork

Cois Chuain
O'Regan's Field
Myrtleville, Cork P43 V997
 353 0212061769

SPECIALITIES

Bend on / Bend off, Canvas, Certified Service, Sail Hardware Upgrades, Sail Inspection / Evaluation, Sail Measurement, Sail Repair, Sail Storage, Sail Washing

HOURS

Weekdays

09:00 – 17:30

Wicklow

The Boatyard
Sea Road, Newcastle Wicklow
Leinster A63DT26 Ireland
0838103539

SPECIALITIES

Certified Service, Sail Repair

Hours

Weekdays

08:30 – 17:30

NORTH SAILS EXPERTS

Nigel Young

Loft Manager, One Design Expert
[email protected]

Shane Hughes

One Design Expert, Sales Person
[email protected]

Maurice O’Connell

One Design Expert, Sales Person
[email protected]

Nigel Young

About The Author

Nigel Young

Email The Author

Loft Manager and One Design Expert, Nigel Young started sailmaking in 1981 in Cowes and opened North Sails Ireland in 2004. He races regularly with Irish clients and has competed in Melges 24s since their introduction into Europe in 1994 and has competed in 18 of 20 World Championships, with his best result of a third overall. Nigel also races Dragons Internationally, RS200s and Yachting World Dayboats.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button

North Sails Ireland is operated by Loft Manager and One Design Expert Nigel Young at his Cork Harbour base at Myrtleville. The company specialities include Bend on / Bend off, Canvas, Certified Service, Sail Hardware Upgrades, Sail Inspection / Evaluation, Sail Measurement, Sail Repair, Sail Storage and Sail Washing. Working with Nigel are Maurice O'Connell, Shane Hughes and Richard Marshall.