WB-sails is founded
The original WB logo was rectangular and red, designed by Solveig Thun-Wilen.
WB-Sails was named after its founders: Wilen-Wilen-Brummer-Biaudet. The first sewing workshop was located in Vuosaari, in a bomb shelter.
A great deal has been seen and experienced over the past fifty years—innovations, competitions, new trends, and unforgettable moments on the water. The story of WB Sails is filled with expertise, passion, and ongoing development.
1974
1975
First win
The Wilen brothers won the 505 SM with their first WB sails. Photo taken off Koivusaari in the waters of Lauttasaari.
1976
First olympics
Brummer & Biaudet sailed in the 470 class at the Montreal Olympics with their own sails.
1977
After Montreal
Brummer & Biaudet switched to the Flying Dutchman, which was an Olympic class in Tallinn.
1978
Technology progresses
WB-Sails had acquired its first Texas Instruments computer in 1977. It was used to calculate the dimensions of the sail panels, which were still cut by hand with scissors and assembled on a chipboard floor in a bomb shelter.
1979
The supply is expanding
Windsurfing sails were a hit product in the early days – in the best year, over a hundred were made. The logo had already changed to something closer to its current appearance.
1980
The 1980s
The 1980s were the era of IOR 1/2-tonners. WB sails participated in the Half Ton Cup ten times, mainly with crews consisting of sewing workshop employees, achieving places 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10.
1981
Aarne Heikinheimo’s Kinkki sailed to fifth place in the Half Ton Cup in Athens. The Dacron mainsail was reinforced with brand-new Kevlar material.
1982
The first Apple II in Finland
The Ti59 computer had been replaced a couple of years earlier by Finland’s first Apple II, which Mikko Brummer had brought back from New York. An in-house sail design program was used to cut even better sails.
1983
The Optimist dinghies
Another early hit was the Optimist dinghy, of which more than 100 were manufactured.
1984
Peter and Johan von Koskull won the European Championship and came fourth in the Los Angeles Olympics. Peter continues to win Finnish championships in the Louhi class and with WB sails.
1985
Otso around the world
Otso Brummer sailed around the world in the Whitbread Round the World Race as a sailmaker for Fazer Finland.
1986
Rakel
Rakel, sponsored by Wihuri, finished in silver in the Half Ton Cup in Helsinki.
1987
Harkimo sails around the world
Hjallis sailed solo around the world on Belmont Finland.
1988
NiinaMari
Finland’s finest open sea racer of all time, NiinaMari, sponsored by Elan, in the One Ton Cup in Naples
1989
Big year for sailing in Finland
1989 – a crazy year for Finnish sailing, with three maxi yachts participating in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Harkimo skippered Belmont Finland II, and Wiikeri skippered Martela, both equipped with WB sails.
Aerodynamic modelling program MacSail in collaboration with the Helsinki University of Technology
1990
Maximal expertise
Martela lost its keel after rounding Cape Horn. The crew includes several WB sail makers.
1991
Hasse from Finland
In 1991, Hasse from Finland wins the Half Ton Cup, the World Championship for half-ton boats. During the Half Ton era, WB-crewed boats achieved places 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th.
WB-Sails launches its own VPP speed prediction program, five years before IMS/ORC’s VPP
1992
RUS America’s Cup White Nights
We sewed sails for Russia’s America’s Cup boat, which never sailed. The jibs were reused on Ingvall’s Nicorette, but we still have the mainsail in our store as a souvenir.
1993
Halvard Mabire Ville de Cherbourg
Halvard Mabire’s Ville de Cherbourg won the European round-the-world race from Cherbourg to Stockholm via Copenhagen and Helsinki.
The French sailing legend Eric Tabarly was our skipper
1994
Ludde Ingvall’s ”Little” Nicorette was an ultra-light 14.5-ton Maxi-yacht. By comparison, normal IOR Maxis weighed over 30 tons.
1995
Nicorette wins
Nicorette won the Fastnet Race with a 24-hour lead over the runner-up Sagamore, a record that has yet to be broken.
1996
Fredrik Lööf Finn Savannah -96
Fredrik Lööf had won the preliminary races in dominant style the previous year and led the Olympics for a long time, but a weak finish dropped Lööf out of the medals. Fredrik won the Finn Gold Cup three times, but his first Olympic medal came in the Star class in 2008
1997
Silja Lehtinen
From Optimist to the Olympics
Silja Lehtinen’s career, which culminated in a bronze medal in London, began with the Finnish Optimist Dinghy Championship.
Leskinen and Aarnikka took revenge for the Atlanta Games by winning the World Championship the following year.
1998
Nicorette Grand Mistral
Grand Mistral was a one-design maxi boat project aimed at the round-the-world race. A total of ten boats were built, and Ludde Ingvall’s ”big” Nicorette won 13 out of 15 races against its sister boats.
1999
Europe World Championship
In 1999, Margriet Mathijsse of the Netherlands won her second Europe-dinghy world championship. WB has won the world championship no fewer than 14 times in this class, which was the women’s Olympic class from 1992 to 2004.
2000
Sydney olympics
In 2000, Margriet sailed to silver in Sydney.
The highlight of the 2000 Sydney Olympics was the gold medal won by Thomas Johanson and Jyrki Järven in the 49er class.
2001
Sari Multala’s first World Championship victory
Our current minister, Sari Multala, won her first world championship.
2002
Wind tunnel at Helsinki University of Technology
WB-Sails researched and developed the shape of sails in the wind tunnel at the Helsinki University of Technology in Otaniemi already in the mid-90s.
2003
First Carbon fibre sails
Roschiere’s LUNA was the first boat in Finland to have carbon fibre sails.
The success of our Europe sails continued throughout the early 2000s, as long as the boat was part of the Olympic program.
2004
Athens 2004
A plastic bag caught on the rudder cost Sari Multala a medal in Athens.
2005
Teemu Rantanen won the European Championships on home turf in Helsinki.
The 6 mR class was at its strongest in Finland, with gold and silver medals won at the World Championships in Hanko with WB sails. Mariana, owned by the Kairamo brothers, is now in the hands of the Bergenheim family.
2006
Success in Europe dinghy continued strong
2007
Membrane sails arrive
Membrane sails had become part of our program. Tea Ekegren’s Blue Nights Swan 45 had Vallila Interior as its sponsor.
2008
By the time of the Beijing Olympics, Fredrik Lööf had risen to the top of the Star class. The gold medal turned to bronze in the Medal Race by half a boat length, when the boats surfed to the finish line in 30 knots of wind.
2009
Pelle Petterson made his comeback to the Star class after a couple of decades and was featured on the cover of Segling magazine. Of course, with WB-Sails.
2010
In 2010, the MAXX material was developed in collaboration with our court supplier CONTENDER Sailcloth.
In 2010, research and product development work moved from the wind tunnel to computers and simulation. The focus was on the Star class, with the aim of winning gold at the next Olympics.
2011
Sara af Hangö won the 6 mR world championship with gold-coloured MAXX sails.
Flow simulation had advanced to the point where fairly reliable models could be created on a desktop computer. WB-Sails was also a pioneer in this field, 5-10 years ahead of other sail lofts.
2012
London Olympics
In London in 2012, our small loft hit the jackpot, winning gold in the Star class and bronze in the Finn dinghy class.
Fredrik Lööf and Max Salminen celebrate their victory after a nerve-wracking Medal Race.
London marked the beginning of two Olympiads of long-term development cooperation with French sailing, with Jonathan Lobert acting as both liaison and tester: ”The sailor is the best sensor.”
2013
The leading sailing magazine SEAHORSE published a two-page article on our development work for the London Games.
2014
WB-Sails, Teemu Kekkonen, and Samuli Leisti launched a two-boat development project for a new type of offshore boat, the X-35. Anssi Lydén participated as helmsman for E-Tron, while John Winqvist served as sail trimmer and coordinator.
2015
The results were also evident when Finnish boats took a double victory in the World Championships under the leadership of Kekkonen’s E-Tron.
2016
Rio 2016
Star was no longer present at the Rio Olympics, but Slovenia’s Vasili Szbogar sailed to silver in the Finn dinghy. In the Medal Race, no fewer than seven out of ten boats sailed under Finnish sails, including Finland’s Tapio Nirkko.
We were able to simulate the flow of sails on the CSC supercomputer in Kajaani with the help of EU funding.
2017
The competitive success on the open sea continued when Martin Estlander’s XINI FREEDOM won the ORC European Championships, with Anssi Lydén once again among the crew.
Max Salminen switched from Star to Finn dinghy, and the successful collaboration continued when Max won the World Championship, the Finn Gold Cup.
2018
Licence to win
Licence to win. PJ Postma also wins the Finn Master Worlds in 2025
2019
Asteria
Tapio Lehtinen’s Asteria crossed the finish line on its first attempt, which lasted 322 days – hampered by barnacles.
2020
X-41 Xini Freedom continued its successful career in ORC offshore racing
2021
Tokyo 2021
The Tokyo Olympics were postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic – young Spaniard Juan Cardona sailed to bronze
2022
100k views in Youtube
A simulation of the Laser (now ILCA) dinghy’s downwind technique achieved great success on WB’s YouTube channel. It has garnered over 90,000 views.
2023
Tapio Lehtinen’s Galina With Secure participated in the Ocean Globe Race, with Viivi Moisio and Alexander Flittner as crew members.
As the Finn dinghy was dropped from the Olympics, our development work has focused mainly on the NACRA 17 class in support of Sailing Team Finland, even though we do not manufacture its sails.
2024
Oskari Muhonen became the first Finn to win the prestigious Finn Gold Cup. One thing to remember: Sailors win the medals, not the sails.