Five were asked to produce prototypes. The problem was that arriving at a fair comparison was surprisingly difficult since each suit was constructed according to widely varying specifications. Our solution was to go back and ask that two of the companies put together another suit of prototype sails - this time to equal specifications, i.e. the same number of reinforcing patches, the same batten picket construction, etc. With this common denominator base to help in the selection process, North Sails finally came out on top. The selection of a sail, of course, is a matter of pure function.
Aesthetics play virtually no role since all sails lootk pretty much alike.
But there were other areas where shape was a key consideration. A good example of which was the boat itself. To help us, we went to Gregory Fossella Associates, industrial consultants, whose job it was to thoroughly study the boat and recommend a total design approach according to human engineering concepts. Three examples of their contributions were the cuddy, the sunken walkways forward, and the smooth, flowing lines of the centerboard trunk. Paralleling these efforts, we then had a research team of Harvard business students do an in-depth survey of the daysailer market.