Straight to the point with Chris Audsley :

Chris moves to North and wins Tiree Wave Classic & the UK Wave Champs!

Two major event wins in two weeks! How did you do it? Tiree was a real test as I was so ill at the start of the week. I hadn’t sailed on port tack for months and it was the first time I had used my new Norths. The earlier rounds were awful and I only just scraped through. But by the time I reached the final I was back into port tack wave riding and landed some nice backloops and stalled forwards to beat the other guys.

I was really fired up for Rhosneigr after a whole week of port tack sailing. So it was a total surprise to get there and find starboard tack, small waves, 5.4m weather. Basically exactly what I get at my local beach; Hillhead. My kit was working well and finally I wasn’t ill!

So why the change from Sailworks to North? The distributor in the UK wanted to use me to promote North sails as that is the brand he is concentrating on at the moment. Basically he would get his monies worth from me promoting North over Sailworks. I spoke to Sailworks and we agreed mutually that it was better for me to change.

Were you sad to leave Sailworks? Yes, as I had been on their sails for seven years and I didn’t think I was going to move. It all came out of the blue really. I also got on well with Bruce Peterson (the owner) and had helped design last year’s sails. For me it’s an end of a very happy and successful era. However, I think if I was an American sailor then for sure I would still be on Sailworks. But sailing and competing in the very different European market meant it would be better for me to be on a European brand.

What’s a North like compared to a Sailworks? The two brands are completely different across all models. Just by rigging up the North Superstar you could see they would have a more neutral feel and be lighter in the hands. They are also physically lighter than the Sailworks.

On the water, the Norths don’t have as much forward pull in the sails which is good for wave riding as you want to lose some of the power on the wave. With the Sailworks you could feel the grunt in your arms whilst with the Norths you’re planing, the sail is working real efficient but you just don’t physically feel it. That felt strange when I first used them on Tiree but I’m getting used to it now and the advantage is they feel super light and manoeuvrable. I have won every event I have been on since being on North sails. Not a bad record!

What’s next? Back to the building site for me. I’m building two extensions before Christmas so I’ll be very busy. Then it’s the London Boat Show where I shall be looking forward to getting up the jump ramp without crashing and punishing Baker in the slalom!