North began testing the strength and stretch characteristics of sailcloth he received from his suppliers, to eliminate variability in his raw materials.

Among his employees were such Olympic and international sailing champions as Hans Fogh, Peter Barrett, John Marshall, Tom Blackaller, Iain Macdonald-Smith and Robbie Haines.

In the 3DL manufacturing process, aramid or carbon fiber yarns and layers of polyester (PET) film are laid over a computer-controlled mold that is configured to assume the airfoil shape of the sail, and then thermo-formed to produce a laminated sail with the intended three-dimensional shape.

[4] In 2009, North Sails began using pre-impregnated tapes of carbon and UHMPE fibers on its full-sized articulating molds.

When thermomolded, the layers of reinforcing material consolidate to form a seamless composite sail membrane, which the company markets as the 3Di[5][6] product line.