The Designer
Passionate about windsurfing since a young age, James also has an affinity for mechanics and engineering and spends much of his time studying and tinkering everything he touches. Boards, sails, fins, motorcycles, engines... there's always a good reason to modify and optimize what already exists !
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After completing a two year undergraduate intensive preparation course for the entrance exams to top French universities/schools, James is accepted by the elite engineering school "Arts et Métiers Paristech". His passion for mechanics and well-designed systems lead him to work as a mechanical calculation engineer in the Oil and Gas industry in Monaco. This is followed by a period working as an engineer on a gas terminal at Fos sur Mer.
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With 7 years of experience as a mechanical engineer and also as an operations manager, he decides to create Zephyr Wing with the goal of developing and manufacturing wings in France.
"What a joy it is to be able to alternate between designing on the computer and manufacturing on sewing machines ! Developing and producing my wings in my workshop makes so much sense to me. It's essential."
With an expertise closely guarded by a few designers around the globe and no available training or information, the design and manufacturing of a wing poses a real challenge for James.
However, his understanding of finite element modeling and computational fluid dynamics allows him to quickly grasp how to design a wing and, most importantly, how to assemble it.
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During this learning phase, James was accompanied by Armand Torre (a kite and wing designer) who guided him through the adventure of wing manufacturing.
Thousands of stitching points, hundreds of square meters of materials, and dozens of prototypes later, plus hours on the water testing and experimenting - James converges towards models that work and decides to create his brand: Zephyr Wing.