Higher and faster!
- Thread starter Sandy Stone
- Start date
No pics yet, but I'll work on it. Main & #1 genoa, tri-radial cut on both, using what they call 'square-weave dacron' around here, from the local Ullman loft. And for those who think the big sailmakers have everything made in China, I saw these sails take shape on the loft floor.
With the rating credit we get for the roller-furling genny, we race boat-for boat with a Tartan Ten. Upwind in 5 to 8 knots, hardly the favored conditions for a 16,000 lb boat, the Tartan would start to catch us when the breeze dropped, then we would pull away when it picked back up. Pointing as high as they were the whole time. Loving it.
With the rating credit we get for the roller-furling genny, we race boat-for boat with a Tartan Ten. Upwind in 5 to 8 knots, hardly the favored conditions for a 16,000 lb boat, the Tartan would start to catch us when the breeze dropped, then we would pull away when it picked back up. Pointing as high as they were the whole time. Loving it.
VERY NICE!
Did your local loft CUT and sew the sails? You're right, a lot of the big lofts have the sewing of dacron sails done locally, but the cloth is computer-cut at a central location and sent to the local place as panels.
Good question... I know the design was done somewhere else, so it's certainly possible the panels were cut elsewhere too. I'll try to find out.
Finally got an answer - the design is done elsewhere, I think somewhere on the west coast, then transmitted to the local loft as some kind of CAD file. They have a plotter table here that marks up the panels on the cloth, then the panels are cut, glued, and sewn by hand. Well, the sewing is on a machine, but you know what I mean. The plotter table can be equipped to cut the panels also, but I think the local guy likes to check the layout before any cloth actually gets cut.
As I said, this is all Ullman. My source also tells me that the North loft in New Orleans is one of the few in the country that are still allowed to make some of their own sails.
As I said, this is all Ullman. My source also tells me that the North loft in New Orleans is one of the few in the country that are still allowed to make some of their own sails.