Case Study
X Wing.
Far Other Side.
Drew Smith sailed from Vancouver to the exact opposite side of the earth. Then his sails started falling apart. We designed replacements over satellite internet from Geelong and shipped them to Tahiti to meet him at the dock.
The Brief
Halfway Home.
Sails Falling Apart.
Drew Smith’s project was called Far Other Side — sail from Vancouver to the exact antipodal point from where he was born, which put him off the coast of New Zealand. He made it. The problem was getting home.
Shortly after leaving New Zealand, his Dacron genoa started to shred. The UV exposure accumulated over months of ocean sailing had degraded the cloth beyond recovery. Drew found himself in a cycle of taking the genoa off the forestay, going below to repair it, putting up his storm sail, then re-hanking the genoa and sailing until it tore again. It was slow, exhausting, and unsustainable for the thousands of miles still ahead of him.
Drew recognised that if the genoa had failed, the mainsail — the same age, the same cloth, the same UV history — was next. He needed a full replacement wardrobe, and he needed it somewhere between New Zealand and Vancouver, before the North Pacific winter weather systems closed the window to get home safely.
At a Glance
Sailor: Drew Smith
Boat: X Wing
Project: Far Other Side (Vancouver to antipodal point)
Sails delivered: Fully battened main + genoa
Designed: Remotely via satellite internet
Shipped to: Tahiti
Special detail: Custom X Wing insignia
The Build
Designed over Satellite.
Shipped to Tahiti.
Drew was fortunate in one respect — he had detailed rig dimensions for his boat. That meant we could work with him remotely, over satellite internet, exchanging measurements and design specifications across time zones and ocean basins. There was no opportunity to measure the boat in person, no chance to do a second fitting. The sails had to be right first time, because Drew was island-hopping across the Pacific and there wasn’t going to be a second delivery.
We developed a fully battened mainsail and a replacement genoa, designed to the rig dimensions Drew provided and built with the urgency that the situation demanded. The timeline wasn’t just about getting the sails built quickly — it was about getting them to the right place at the right time. Drew was working his way through the Pacific islands, and we needed to identify a reliable shipping destination where the sails would be waiting when he arrived.
Racing the Weather Window
Tahiti was the answer. We shipped the completed sails to a marina in Tahiti, timed to arrive before Drew did. The coordination was everything — Drew was sailing on degrading sails with a closing weather window, and the North Pacific winter systems were approaching. If the sails arrived late, or if Drew couldn’t collect them, the delay could mean the difference between a safe passage home to Vancouver and being stuck in the Pacific waiting out months of winter storms.
This wasn’t a standard order with a comfortable lead time and a dock fitting. It was a remote design, built to existing rig dimensions, shipped internationally to an island in the middle of the Pacific, on a deadline dictated by weather patterns thousands of miles away. The sails had to fit. They had to perform. And they had to be there.
The Outcome
They Fit. They Performed.
They Got Him Home.
Drew arrived in Tahiti and the sails were waiting for him at the marina. He picked them up, bent them on, and sailed for Vancouver. They fit. No modifications, no adjustments, no second attempts, sails designed over satellite internet from the other side of the world, shipped to Tahiti, and they went straight onto the rig and worked.
More importantly, they delivered him home. Drew made it back to Canada ahead of the winter weather systems, completing the Far Other Side project on his own terms. The sails performed across the remaining Pacific miles and through the increasingly demanding conditions of the North Pacific autumn, exactly as they were designed to.
We also had some fun with a custom X Wing insignia on the sails, because even when the brief is urgent and the logistics are complex, the personal details still matter. Drew’s project was extraordinary, and his sails should reflect that.
Need Sails Anywhere
in the World?
We design remotely, build in Asia, and ship internationally. Whether you’re mid-voyage or planning from home, we’ll get the right sails to the right place on time.
Adventure
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