Mike Toppa opened North Sails Florida in Clearwater in 1983, and later moved the loft to Ft Lauderdale in 1992.

Originally a Newport, RI resident, Mike did his college sailing at the University of Rhode Island and sailed in his first America’s Cup in 1980 aboard Freedom. In total, Mike has served as a trimmer in six America’s Cup campaigns, winning twice in 1980 and 1992.

His racing resume also includes a position in the 1998 Volvo Ocean Race, a two-time winner of both the 12 Meter World Championship and the Swan World Championship, and many victories in handicap and One Design racing.

Mike has raced in nearly every major regatta on the Grand Prix level throughout his career, and continues to be very active in the United States, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean. He has also sailed across the Atlantic four times and has extensive cruising experience throughout the Med, the Caribbean, and New England. Mike’s area of expertise includes racing and cruising sails on everything from Melges 24s to Super Yachts, and he is happy to help any customer at any time.

Anson Mulder began working for North Sails Ft Lauderdale in 2000 after graduating from Michigan State University and moving from Grand Haven, Michigan to Ft Lauderdale, FL.

After spending 18 months learning sail repairs, Anson joined the sales team and began to work with clients in South FL. He now spends well over 100 days sailing per year, including several major regattas throughout the East Coast and Caribbean as well as sail tests with both racing and cruising customers.

Anson has won or placed in nearly every local regatta in South FL. As of April 2008, he has also competed in the following regattas:

• Key West Race Week (6)
• Miami Race Week/SORC (7)
• Charleston Race Week (5)
• Newport Swan Regatta (2)
• BVI Spring Regatta (4)
• Annapolis NOOD (3)
• New York Yacht Club Race Week
• Edgartown 12M Regatta
• Nantucket 12M Regatta
• Block Island Race Week (2)
• St Thomas Rolex Regatta (3)
• Antigua Race Week
• Abaco Race Week (4)
• Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (Porto Cervo)
• Les Voiles de St Tropez
• St Croix International Regatta
• Culebra International Regatta

Anson’s offshore experience includes:

• Lauderdale to Key West Race (7)
• Lauderdale to Palm Beach Race (7)
• Miami to Nassau Race (2)
• Miami to Bimini/Cat Cay Race (2)
• Annapolis to Newport Race
• Pineapple Cup (Ft Lauderdale to Montego Bay Race)

Anson is also active in the following One Design classes:

• Etchells
• Melges 24
• J 24
• Melges 32

Although much of Anson’s sailing time is spent with his racing clients, he also works closely with many of his cruising clients to develop and improve their sail inventories. “You can certainly learn a great deal about sail shape and trimming while working closely with a racing program,” says Anson, “but it is also interesting to keep in contact with my cruising customers to learn what makes their boats more fun to sail. For any given boat, there are countless options for slide, batten, and furling systems, and it is interesting to get feedback regarding what works best on different types of boats.”