RAOUL JOA
(Product and line manager, marketing, 25 years experience.)
Raoul has been at the helm of the North team for a quarter of a century and pretty much has his finger on the pulse of every element of the company.
“Aside from being born and going to school, after that my whole life has been NorthSails! The first job I ever had was with windsurfing and I hope that I can retire with this brand, as for sure I won’t work with any other company in the industry. It was my dream when I went to school to work for a windsurfing brand and when I left I started work as a sales person in a windsurfing shop that was the biggest North dealer at the time. I did a small apprenticeship and one thing lead to another and I went straight to NorthSails with a job in their customer service. I moved into the product side and eventually into marketing. I am now responsible for how the product comes out technically and optically. Alex is in charge of sales and we share the marketing. This is basically our setup in the office in Munich.
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When I started, North was always the hard-core brand. We were perceived as the heavy-duty brand and almost unbreakable. Strength was the most important part. Lately, I am talking the last ten years, we are trying to focus on being the most technical brand in the industry with the focus on hardware. With sails I think it is very hard to differentiate yourself from the other brands. Most brands can make a decent sail design, even newcomers. For the end consumer it is pretty hard to say who makes the better sails. On the hardware side we saw a lot of opportunities to make superior products. We have worked very, very hard on this over the last decade. We are now very proud of our range, even though it has been a tough road refining them through all the ups and downs. We believe that in the long run innovation will give you the edge! We now have zero issues with all our innovations and offer features no other brands can offer. We are also protecting most of our products with at least a pre patent or a real patent for any major innovations.
The result is, I think in terms of hardware, we are the most innovative brand alongside Pryde in the industry. It is a tough road but I think it gives us an advantage. A lot of PWA racers buy our accessories because they are simply the best. I am very critical about what we do, but at the same time I am proud when we achieve something. We are very ‘open’. We have made our mistakes, but it is not possible to be an innovator without making mistakes. Right now I am very happy about the products we offer on the market.
‘iRIG’
The iRIG concept also originated from the North Team, myself and Uli. The breakthrough was in Turkey a few years back during the world cup on a trip I did with Uli and the team riders. We were testing a lot of hardware and the 9m LW race sail. We had been thinking of the inflatable windsurfing concept for five years. The fundamental problem was making a blow up rig with a boom. I had a brainstorming session with Uli and in the end our solution was to stop thinking like windsurfers. Instead of a complete sail profile we cut the concept into two halves – a sail at the top of the boom area and another below.
That was it, two different parts, which enabled us to put between them a big bladder with handles on it as the boom. That was basically my idea but Uli was the one who pushed me to think that way! We also had help from the guys at North kiting to make it possible using their technology and designer. A few weeks later we had the first sample. It didn’t take so long to design and it all came from this one ‘click’ idea we had. This sail really has the possibility to bring back the masses into windsurfing. We were shocked how easy it is to sail with the I-Rig. We now think that any ‘beach people’ might be interested again in windsurfing, with the help of a SUP and the I-Rig combined. The secret of SUP is that virtually anybody can jump straight on and get moving. With the I-Rig it is exactly the same. We tried it with twenty people on a Lake in Germany. We put them on a big SUP with no instruction at all. Truthfully, every single person went out and did not fall in! Half of them had not even been on a SUP before. They all made it out, without falling and even better, they all made it back. The iRIG is so light it makes windsurfing easy. It was a typical summer day, only 3-4 knots with big SUP’s but the results were incredible. Windsurfing is so easy with the I-Rig, everyone can do it!
GERMAN QUALITY
We are also trying to make as many products and accessories as possible in Germany or Europe. They are designed here and the raw materials come from Europe. ‘Made in Germany’ stands for quality, we have to be efficient and make the products by machine to stay competitive. For the last two or three years Fanatic boards and NorthSails have been working together as a team. The boards and the sails are designed so they work in harmony. Marketing wise all the companies will say they are one big family but I really believe our products are the best designed to work together!”