Sob Story

When my ex-partner and I started Sailing Anarchy, the idea was to do things a little differently from what was being offered. Provide some good information, comment liberally on things as we saw them, and create a robust discussion board. I think, so far, we've done that. My ex-partner got his panties in a bunch over a mistake that had been made and decided to quit, but whatever. I can't control people's odd behavior and so Sailing Anarchy rolls on, just like it was intended to do.

One of the stories that we both thought would be one of the most interesting was that of Sobstad Sails. Having worked for Sobstad for years during their heyday, and also being a part of the rise and fall of the Genesis sail program, it seemed that if we could get Peter Conrad to answer some questions, we could give you a pretty good picture of the Sobstad of yesterday and today, with a peek at tomorrow. Well, for those who don't know Conrad, the best way to describe him is that of a drill sergeant's personality with a professor's brain. Bright but obstinate. Insulting and creative. Unreasonable and cerebral. He's a guy who one day will say that you are doing great things, and the next tell you you're fucking worthless. And he's at the helm.

We've been trying for months to get him to answer questions, and at every turn he's thrown up some objection, such as: "You need to call me". "You don't understand the business". "I don't like the questions", etc. We finally had a phone conversation where he agreed to do the interview, and promised to answer all the questions. That was two months ago. We have received nothing. Another round of emails again garnered not even a courtesy response. Guess what? He duped us. Played us for the patsy. He jerked us off for months with apparently no intention of ever doing the interview.

It's certainly no way to run a business, but it's also no surprise that this is what comes from a company that is a shadow of it's former self. The Sobstad of the 80's and early 90's was the creative leader in the industry. While North was selling its customers shitty C-cut genoas, Sobstad was creating the best tri-radial paneled sails ever seen. At virtually every level, the Sobstad product was superior, and the sailing world recognized it. The 1987 America's Cup was about to be the zenith with DC and Stars and Stripes with a full complement of Sobstad Tri-Radial, Airframe mains and genoas and rocked panel spinnakers leading to a convincing victory. But then Conrad the drill sergeant went and fucked it up. A dispute with then Vice President of Sobstad, Tom Whidden, led to Conrad firing Whidden. The next thing you know, Stars and Stripes suddenly appears with some new North sails, where Whidden had quickly went to work. He's been there ever since, and so has DC. Sobstad didn't get the PR that it should have. Chock that up as one big giant fucking loss, on all fronts

Remember I mentioned that Conrad is bright? Of that, nobody can argue, but his people skills leave a bit to be desired (see above). The brightness became evident when Conrad felt that the entire business of sailimaking needed an overhaul: from design to production, everything needed to change according to Conrad. Keep in mind, this didn't come about as Sobstad was struggling - just the opposite. Sobstad was dominant virtually everywhere. But Conrad announced a new, revolutionary product, Genesis, shut down his thriving Connecticut production loft, and started up the new facility in Georgia. Georgia? Yes Georgia, not exactly the land of great sailors with a thriving sailing community. Rather, the land of very cheap textile labor and less than stringent EPA regulations. This because Genesis was not to be produced in the conventional form. Instead of cutting rectangular pieces of cloth into a triangle shape, with the hope that at least some of the threads were doing their work, Genesis would be a laminated sail of yarns, film and adhesive that would align the threads along the load map more accurately than had ever been done before. To say this upset the congenital apple cart of cloth suppliers, sailmakers and the ultimate product is an understatement.

And in the beginning, it all seemed to work and make sense. The concept was brilliant and the early examples, while somewhat agricultural, were promising. Conrad had to marshal his troops into abandoning building and selling the "old technology" and focus on the new. Now, I don't know every detail involved with all the parties, but this was a tough sell for Conrad. Keep in mind that some of the best in the business were Sobstad associates during this time. The Melges family, Ken Read, Mark Reynolds, Ed and Keith Lorence, Larry Leonard, to name a few. Some, myself included, bought into the concept completely, and Genesis was virtually all that I sold. And why not? They were less money and from a technical standpoint, superior to the paneled sails.

The problem was now Conrad was mandating to everybody what to sell, and that what was Genesis. This ultimately would not have been a problem if the Genesis product had continued to improve, but for years, it simply did not, certainly not in the way it could and should have. Sure there were some improvements, but overwhelming all were the continual quality control problems with lamination, weight, construction, shape and delivery. And here is a key difference between Conrad's approach with Genesis and North's approach with 3DL. North had the capital and resources to put some effort into R&D before launching the product on the customers. Sure there were many problems with early 3DL, but the product got better quickly and the customers, for the most part, did not suffer from it. The Genesis product was simply inconsistent, and ultimately it was the end user who paid. As a distributor, you never knew what you would get from Conrad. Order a light No.1 genoa for a Peterson 41 with 1 mil polyester film, and you might receive the sail built with 2 mil instead. The customer suffered. And so did the Sobstad associates. Conrad was continuing to insist that Sobstad lofts only sell Genesis, even though many of the lofts didn't feel the product was ready for the Grand Prix level.

Conrad seemed to be a man under great pressure, and he was. Here he had started this bold new venture, but the production process was proving to be a very difficult one. From raw product (film, fiber, glue) to assembly to delivery there were a multitude of problems. And now people were bailing out. Ed Lorence, one of the best men to ever work in the sailmaking business was essentially forced out of business because working with Conrad was impossible. People like Larry Leonard, Ken Read and the Melges' quit their association with Conrad. Or were fired. Either way, the beginning of the end was under way.

The reputation of Genesis was now in shambles, as was the once strong network of Sobstad associates. The North 3DL product had firmly established itself in the Grand Prix and top end market. The ex-Sobstad people had formed Quantum, now arguably the No. 2 sailmaking force in the world.

As for Conrad? He's still in Georgia. There is a half-ass group of affiliates left, but nobody of any real significance. There are still Genesis sails being built, and I understand that they are actually fairly nice these days, although I'd bet you'd be hard pressed to find one in your neck of the woods.

Not unlike another failed leader of the 1940's, Conrad had started to build a super power, had a flawed concept, refused to listen to his generals, forced his will on to people, and ultimately failed, betrayed by his own doing. It's all a shame really. If you ever catch Conrad on a good day, it's hard not to be impressed with the man. He's intelligent, vastly experienced and a real True Believer. Conversely, if you catch his ire, you get a man who is explosive, contemptuous and impossible to reckon with.

Conrad may indeed have the last laugh, however. He appears to be clearly winning the legal battle with North, and seems to be on the verge of being awarded a huge sum of money. Think he'll attempt to re-build Sobstad with the money, should he win? Personally, I'd look for him to sail off into the sunset, perhaps with a new set of 3DL's. After all, he'll own the patent.

Post Script - This story in no way purports to be the whole story. The parts we have told are what we believe to be true. Undoubtedly, there are a number of people involved who have differing opinions or something else to add that we are unaware of. As always, we invite your contributions. We wanted Conrad to tell his story, but he refused to cooperate. So we did it. Regardless of what we think, it is inevitably the consumer who decides who wins. We believe they have spoken.

9/3/01