In 1982, A. Kaan Is and his friends were about to enter their last year of tennis school when a new sailing school opened nearby. He followed his friends to the sailing program so they could stick together, but it didn’t take long for Kaan to catch the sailing bug. “The wind and water are the best of nature’s forces,” he said. “I loved the sound of the wind and waves crashing on the bow.”

Kaan wanted to be part of the sailing industry. Without any formal sailboat design education, he took a job doing sail repair at a local loft in 1993. By the end of the first year he was making his own sails by hand. “I had to design them on paper and cut them on the floor,” said Kaan. “It was hard work, but I liked it.”

From 2001-2008, he managed production and design for all UK Sails in Turkey. In 2009, he joined the Quantum team. “Smiling faces are the most important thing in my life, and I found the same positive energy at Quantum Sails,” said Kaan. An experienced IRC racer, Kaan focuses his sail designs on cruising and IRC sails, playing with the numbers for optimization.

“I love creating a racing team for my customers and coaching them on the water,” he said. “These types of projects are special because you’re winning new friends and meeting new faces to say hello to on the sea.”