From Genoa alleys to mega loft: North Sails looks to the future with new headquarters

North Sails Italia has officially opened its new loft in Genoa, Italy, at the Levante waterfront, a state-of-the-art facility with a total area of 3,500 m², with a work area of 2,000 m².

The Gota of Italian and international sailing arrived in Genoa for the occasion. In the front row was the President of North Sails, legend Ken Read, but also historic North Sails owners like Roberto Lacorte, and video messages from top athletes who have chosen North like Francesca Clapcich and Ambrogio Beccaria.

Doing the honors were North Sails Italy CEO Daniele Cassinari and Sales Director Alessio Razeto.

North Sails. A story that started in the alleys of Genoa

An emotional Daniele Cassinari traced the history of the sailmaker, which is closely linked to that of his family. It all began when Cassinari was a teenager, with his family taking over a very small sailmaker’s shop made out of an apartment in the alleys of Genoa. From there a path would lead this small company first to move to the west of Genoa, then to move to Lake Garda. There were a few brand and name changes, until North Sails came knocking at the door. It was impossible to refuse the flattery of the American sailmaker, and so began the story of the loft that was based in Carasco, and remained there until the arrival of the new headquarters in Genoa.

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Genoa is a strategic base, with more than 40 employees selling more than 1,000 sails and repairing more than 2,000 sails each year. In total, more than 85,000 m² of sailcloth is processed at this facility each year. The work platform is capable of supporting a load of 2,200 kg per square meter, the equivalent of 2.5 meters of water on its surface, or two Olympic-size swimming pools on top of each other.

Thanks to its elevated structure, each of the building’s load-bearing pillars can support a load of 1,000 tons, while a custom-built external freight elevator, with a load capacity of 4 tons, allows even the world’s largest sails to be moved inside the loft.