North Cloth

NORTH SAILS ACQUIRES CUBEN FIBER CORPORATION
Heiner Meldner and RJ Downs Join North's Technical Team
10/26/2007

North Sails is pleased to announce the purchase of Cuben Fiber™ Corporation, a leading-edge manufacturer of specialized sail cloth headed by physicist Dr. Heiner Meldner and composites engineer RJ Downs. Both Downs and Meldner will bring their wealth of knowledge and experience to North's technical team while continuing to develop Cuben Fiber sail cloth.

"We are thrilled about the acquisition of Cuben Fiber Corporation and look forward to having RJ and Heiner in-house at North Sails to continue sail cloth design and development," said Tom Whidden, CEO of North Marine Group. "Heiner revolutionized sail testing and development by using an analytical approach with Lowell North nearly 40 years ago, so in many ways, he has come full circle within the North Sails family," said Whidden.

"North Sails shares our commitment to developing innovative technology within the sail cloth industry, which makes this a natural fit for us," said Meldner. "We look forward to working with North engineers on the development of Cuben Fiber and other advanced composite technologies," added Downs.

First developed and used on Bill Koch's winning America's Cup boat, America3, in 1992, Cuben Fiber continues to be one of the lightest and most technologically advanced sail cloth materials on the market today. Cuben Fiber's patented technology uses individual filaments spread from the fiber to create a highly durable sail cloth that retains its shape and weighs considerably less than many other sail cloth brands and styles. Since Koch funded Cuben Fiber's development more than 15 years ago, Downs and Meldner have incorporated higher performance fibers, including carbon, and better base materials to make Cuben Fiber an extremely popular sail cloth among high performance sailing yachts.

While Cuben Fiber will continue to be manufactured at its current facility in Mesa, Arizona, all ordering and distribution will be managed by North Cloth in Milford, Connecticut. "North Cloth intends to continue selling this innovative sail cloth to the sailmaking industry worldwide, capacity dependent," said Tom Davis, president of North Cloth. "Cuben Fiber's popularity has grown steadily since it made its debut in 1992, and we believe that joining forces with the Cuben Fiber team will help continue its development and success," concluded Davis.

For ordering information, contact Tom Davis at tom@ncloth.northsails.com or call 1-203-877-7638.

Click here for a Cuben Fiber price sheet (PDF file)


	North Cuben Fiber
NORTH CLOTH: Family of Fabrics Fiber Properties Fiber to Fabric Industrial Fibers Oceanus Cloth Cuben Fiber	NORTH SAILS ACQUIRES CUBEN FIBER CORPORATION Heiner Meldner and RJ Downs Join North's Technical Team 10/26/2007 North Sails is pleased to announce the purchase of Cuben Fiber™ Corporation, a leading-edge manufacturer of specialized sail cloth headed by physicist Dr. Heiner Meldner and composites engineer RJ Downs. Both Downs and Meldner will bring their wealth of knowledge and experience to North's technical team while continuing to develop Cuben Fiber sail cloth. "We are thrilled about the acquisition of Cuben Fiber Corporation and look forward to having RJ and Heiner in-house at North Sails to continue sail cloth design and development," said Tom Whidden, CEO of North Marine Group. "Heiner revolutionized sail testing and development by using an analytical approach with Lowell North nearly 40 years ago, so in many ways, he has come full circle within the North Sails family," said Whidden. "North Sails shares our commitment to developing innovative technology within the sail cloth industry, which makes this a natural fit for us," said Meldner. "We look forward to working with North engineers on the development of Cuben Fiber and other advanced composite technologies," added Downs. First developed and used on Bill Koch's winning America's Cup boat, America3, in 1992, Cuben Fiber continues to be one of the lightest and most technologically advanced sail cloth materials on the market today. Cuben Fiber's patented technology uses individual filaments spread from the fiber to create a highly durable sail cloth that retains its shape and weighs considerably less than many other sail cloth brands and styles. Since Koch funded Cuben Fiber's development more than 15 years ago, Downs and Meldner have incorporated higher performance fibers, including carbon, and better base materials to make Cuben Fiber an extremely popular sail cloth among high performance sailing yachts. While Cuben Fiber will continue to be manufactured at its current facility in Mesa, Arizona, all ordering and distribution will be managed by North Cloth in Milford, Connecticut. "North Cloth intends to continue selling this innovative sail cloth to the sailmaking industry worldwide, capacity dependent," said Tom Davis, president of North Cloth. "Cuben Fiber's popularity has grown steadily since it made its debut in 1992, and we believe that joining forces with the Cuben Fiber team will help continue its development and success," concluded Davis. For ordering information, contact Tom Davis at tom@ncloth.northsails.com or call 1-203-877-7638. Click here for a Cuben Fiber price sheet (PDF file)