Everyone wants Doyle Sails. Here’s why

Palermo is not only the land of Checco Bruni, helmsman of Luna Rossa in the America’s Cup and many other great sailors.
And not only of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, chosen since 2011 by Patrizio Bertelli as the challenging yacht club for the Italian team at the America’s Cup.
The Sicilian capital is a “sailing district” of international scope.
One of the most important realities in the area is the production hub of Top Sailing, known as Doyle Sails Italia, managed since 2015 by Salvo D’Amico.
That this company is a world-recognized excellence is proven by the numbers: in recent years, the sailmaker has registered a vertiginous growth, thanks to the commercial push coordinated by Mario Giattino, a key person in the company and a veteran in Doyle (since 1997!), and an exponential growth in production capacity.
“To the 3,000-square-meter loft in Palermo opened in 2019,” administrator D’Amico, clase 1981, long-time sailor, high-level previous educational and professional experience, tells us, “another one of 1,500 mg was added, also in Palermo.
Completing our Italian asset is the 1,500-sq-m shed in La Spezia.

We have new investments in mind to continue growing.” Six thousand square meters of warehouses, then. “We are in the top-three of sail production centers in Europe and among the most important in the world: we can make any type of sail in-house, with no size limits,” D’Amico continues, “and service the most complex boats in the world, not only in terms of size, but also in terms of the type of systems on board, such as Maltese Falcon (Perini 90mt), Black Pearl (Oceanco 105mt) and Mirabella V (sloop 75mt).”

We ask D’Amico for some numbers: “More than 25,000 square meters of sails come out of our warehouses every year, all assembled and sewn by us; we don’t buy abroad. For the most part these are toys for large boats, with an average area of 160 mg. Added to this is the constant maintenance work: in a year about 200 sails of boats over 80 feet pass through us, out of a total of about 400 sails.”
How to manage all this “mass”?
“With a team of sailors working for sailors-not coincidentally, Doyle’s motto is ‘By sailors, for sailors’-consisting of about 30 people, including employees and permanent collaborators, including such high-level figures as Alessandro Castelli, Andrea Casale, and Francesco De Vita, former America’s Cup sailor with Mascalzone Latino.”

Aboard the boats that matter

Expertise pays off well.
Doyle sails are aboard so many superboats.
In the context of big regattas, we can think of the Reichel Pugh 66 Alive winner of the last Sydney Hobart, the Wally 93 Bullitt victorious at the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the Maxi 100 Leopard first at the RORC Caribbean 600, various Maxi 72s (Bella Mente, Vesper, Proteus…) and Tp52s-these are just the tip of an iceberg consisting of hundreds of boats around the world.
But there is more than just racing: Southern Wind, Oyster, performance cruisers such as the ICE 52 Goose (IRC winner at the 151 Miglia) all rig Doyle sails.
And it’s not just the big boats: since Olympic gold medalist Jordi Calafat joined the sailmaker, great attention has been paid to the world of one-designs, such as RC 44 and ClubSwan.
For example, the ClubSwan 36 G-Spot, one of the most successful, mounts Doyle sails.
Last but not least, the Anglo-Saxons would say, the brand’s presence as Official SailMaker of the Sail GP circuit, as close as it gets to the America’s Cup, given that these are the ex-America’s Cup F50 flying catamarans.

Doyle’s Secret

The success of Doyle Sails is not only to be found in service and the massive deployment of forces in human resources.
Says Mario Giattino, commercial director, “The main evolution, which has provided a real ‘boost’ to the brand, has been technological. A constant investment in research and development that led to the invention of the ‘cableless technology,’ evolved into the ‘structured luff technology, in simple words the anti-twisting cable-free sails, equipped with structural luff.”
A technology, highly appreciated in both racing and cruising, that “boasts countless attempts at imitation” and that starts with the concept of “sharing loads,” or sharing the boat’s loads between the rig (mast and rigging) and the sails.
This is a breakthrough, because previously the loads were all absorbed by the rig, even to keep the anti-twist cables in tension.
With this innovative solution we are talking about loads of 30 to 40 percent less, if not 50 percent in particularly “pulled” configurations.

“Doyle Sails has redesigned the way loads are developed and through custom fiber layouts has redirected them into the sail. If the sail can ‘rely on itself,'” Giattino summarizes, “there will be much less load needed on the rig and the boat. These technologies are being applied on asymmetrics, Code0-type sails, jibs, and on StaySails, where structural luff provides easier sail handling and stowage. This innovation affects not only the racing world, but also the cruising world. Without a cable, the luff is lighter, which increases a sail’s range of use: with little wind, for example, it can be carried even more leaned over. “This has allowed a significant upgrade to boats that cruise all over the world, such as the latest Southern Winds we’ve sailed; increasing the range of use allows you to reduce the number of sails on board.”

We close by looking ahead.
Giattino reveals, “The latest innovation Doyle Sails has focused on, seen for now only on the Maxi 72 Bella Mente, is the development of a gennaker with a nylon body and carbon and technora luff. An ultralight solution and one that allows the sail to get into ‘shape’ immediately and provide the boat with immediate propulsion, at the slightest gust of wind.”
A further technological step that is sure to be successful.

• For more information visit doylesails.eu

*Editorial in collaboration with Doyle Sails.