I am an amateur sailbuilder and boatbuilder and have been studying sail design through acquired literature. What advice do you have if I wanted to start sailmaking as a career. I assume you must apprentice and so forth, and I don't know of any schools for this subject? So far I have built a storm jib, and storm trysail for my O'Day 35 in preparation for the marion to Bermuda race (required equipment) and I just finished a 4 sided lugsail for a wodden sailing dinghy I am building. Not a lot of experience but I have really enjoyed it and wonder if it might be good for a career or retirement work. I have degrees in engineering so i am undaunted by the mathematics, unless it is put to use it is hard to just study it. Thanks, Dave
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J
Justin
Good luck...
I'm envious. It sounds fun. Unfortunately, the traditional way of starting out sailmaking is to get an entry level job with a local sailmaker. They love to hire college students or recent grads that are just eager to learn and can afford to live on a meager wage. If you actually want to get into sail DESIGN, I can't help you other the long path through sailmaking. One thought though. Try the North 3DL loft in Minden, Nevada. You see they do lots of high tech stuff, but no sailor wants to live in the deserts of Nevada. I had a female friend with an engineering degree and no sailmaking experience get a job there running the mold machine. Something to think about. Good luck regardless.
I'm envious. It sounds fun. Unfortunately, the traditional way of starting out sailmaking is to get an entry level job with a local sailmaker. They love to hire college students or recent grads that are just eager to learn and can afford to live on a meager wage. If you actually want to get into sail DESIGN, I can't help you other the long path through sailmaking. One thought though. Try the North 3DL loft in Minden, Nevada. You see they do lots of high tech stuff, but no sailor wants to live in the deserts of Nevada. I had a female friend with an engineering degree and no sailmaking experience get a job there running the mold machine. Something to think about. Good luck regardless.
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R.W.Landau
local sails
That was a pun. If people see your sails and like them, sell them. Sail cloth is expensive but putting the stitching in the cloth seems to increase the price quite a bit. I am sure that there are local sailors that sail on a low budget and if they see a sail that looks good and works, you will have clients. To be able to talk to a owner and build a sail to move the center of effort fore or aft to change helm problems could help and challenge your idea. r.w.landau
That was a pun. If people see your sails and like them, sell them. Sail cloth is expensive but putting the stitching in the cloth seems to increase the price quite a bit. I am sure that there are local sailors that sail on a low budget and if they see a sail that looks good and works, you will have clients. To be able to talk to a owner and build a sail to move the center of effort fore or aft to change helm problems could help and challenge your idea. r.w.landau
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david lewis
North 3DL Lawsuit
North is being sued by Sobstad once again for patent infringement related to their 3DL sails. They lost the last lawsuit by Sobstad but it is under appeal. I'm more interested in the production side of sailmaking than in the design but it is hard not to mix both activities to some extent.
North is being sued by Sobstad once again for patent infringement related to their 3DL sails. They lost the last lawsuit by Sobstad but it is under appeal. I'm more interested in the production side of sailmaking than in the design but it is hard not to mix both activities to some extent.
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Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net
Sail making
Jan.6, 2000 Dear Dave, I'm aware of no law that requires you to apprentice to become a sail maker, nor of any schools that teach it. Singer sewing centers frequently offer lessons on sewing, but I don't know if you will find that of much help. If your looking at it as retirement work your in a great position to work in a loft if you don't want the headaches of running your own business. Friends of ours, Tom and Linda Waid ( see Voyage of the Bellatrix web site ) built sails and did canvas work out of their garage ( the house was in an area zoned industrial). Tom was an amatuer boat builder and sail maker like yourself and got started by building his own sails from kits. I think they found there was more business doing marine canvas work like biminis and sail covers than actual sails, but they found it all satisfying. Tom said the secret to their success was taking meticulous care with the fit of the canvas work which usually meant visiting the boat getting the work done 3 times. If the boat was on a trailer they would have the owner park it in their yard for convenience. If you contact Tom and Linda through their web site I'm sure they would be glad to pass on some useful tips. So if you've got the time, equipment and the space, and want to run a cottage industry, go ahead and pursue it. Put a few business cards out or drop a notice off at the local yacht club and see what develops. It looks like a great past time and their is little that is more satifying then creating something with your hands. Fair Winds, Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Jan.6, 2000 Dear Dave, I'm aware of no law that requires you to apprentice to become a sail maker, nor of any schools that teach it. Singer sewing centers frequently offer lessons on sewing, but I don't know if you will find that of much help. If your looking at it as retirement work your in a great position to work in a loft if you don't want the headaches of running your own business. Friends of ours, Tom and Linda Waid ( see Voyage of the Bellatrix web site ) built sails and did canvas work out of their garage ( the house was in an area zoned industrial). Tom was an amatuer boat builder and sail maker like yourself and got started by building his own sails from kits. I think they found there was more business doing marine canvas work like biminis and sail covers than actual sails, but they found it all satisfying. Tom said the secret to their success was taking meticulous care with the fit of the canvas work which usually meant visiting the boat getting the work done 3 times. If the boat was on a trailer they would have the owner park it in their yard for convenience. If you contact Tom and Linda through their web site I'm sure they would be glad to pass on some useful tips. So if you've got the time, equipment and the space, and want to run a cottage industry, go ahead and pursue it. Put a few business cards out or drop a notice off at the local yacht club and see what develops. It looks like a great past time and their is little that is more satifying then creating something with your hands. Fair Winds, Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
B
Bill
Getting started
There is usually one small sailmaker near any body of water that has sailboats. Many of these are moonlighting businesses that become swamped during the spring and early summer. Try and latch on with one of these as a moonlighting job during their busy season to get your foot in the door. Look for an older owner and perhaps buy into the business. This is exactly what I am in the process of doing and I look to it as a business that I run once I retire. Never will get rich but you never know. Most of the larger lofts look at the work out there and have been known to buy out and put their name on the business. I know of two such cases. Repairs are profitable and keep a nice cash flow. New sails are more competitive. Used to be that roller furling conversions were good but now most boats have them as standard so you will need to mine new areas. Post on canvas is good since that often needs to be custom fitted on the boat which can provide you with a built in territory. Good luck.
There is usually one small sailmaker near any body of water that has sailboats. Many of these are moonlighting businesses that become swamped during the spring and early summer. Try and latch on with one of these as a moonlighting job during their busy season to get your foot in the door. Look for an older owner and perhaps buy into the business. This is exactly what I am in the process of doing and I look to it as a business that I run once I retire. Never will get rich but you never know. Most of the larger lofts look at the work out there and have been known to buy out and put their name on the business. I know of two such cases. Repairs are profitable and keep a nice cash flow. New sails are more competitive. Used to be that roller furling conversions were good but now most boats have them as standard so you will need to mine new areas. Post on canvas is good since that often needs to be custom fitted on the boat which can provide you with a built in territory. Good luck.
M
Mark Ploch
Moonlighting
Looks like sailmaking is easy. And you are right anybody can sew a couple of pieces of cloth together stick a ring in the corner and call it a SAIL. But if you really want to learn how to design shape into a sail, get the large roach to stand, and have the boat perform better with the new sail rather than the old one, you should get a job with a larger sailmaking co. There are lots around but the performance oriented lofts will be able to train you in the finer points which make the difference. Sounds as you would enjoy knowing more about entry and exit angles, twist, vertical profiles etc than how to keep the stitch straight.Feel free to give me a call we are always looking for the eager to learn and stay with it. Mark
Looks like sailmaking is easy. And you are right anybody can sew a couple of pieces of cloth together stick a ring in the corner and call it a SAIL. But if you really want to learn how to design shape into a sail, get the large roach to stand, and have the boat perform better with the new sail rather than the old one, you should get a job with a larger sailmaking co. There are lots around but the performance oriented lofts will be able to train you in the finer points which make the difference. Sounds as you would enjoy knowing more about entry and exit angles, twist, vertical profiles etc than how to keep the stitch straight.Feel free to give me a call we are always looking for the eager to learn and stay with it. Mark
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David Krozier
Amateur sail and canvas
I have found several courses in both sailmaking and marine canvas work in the US. I haven't taken any of them. Most of these have a web site - use a search engine on the school name. The Landing School of boatbuilding in Maine (www.by-the-sea.com/thelandingschool/index.html) and the Arques school on the west coast offer sailmaking classes. A web search once turned up a university program in sailmaking in the midwest but I don't remember where. The IYRS (international yacht restoration school)in Newport offered a sailmaking and marine canvas class once a few years ago but hasn't repeated it. There are two schools for canvas work I know of. One in Ohio - Custom marine canvas training workshops, and one in Florida - don't think this one has a web site. Both of these programs offer videotape instruction. I have a couple of the tapes. There is also a progam on the east coast just for making dodgers. All the canvas classes are advertised in the IFAI (www.ifai.com) marine canvas trade publication. Some of the tapes are available through the IFAI. Of course there are plenty of books on sailmaking and marine canvas. I have about three feet of shelf space with books. My opinion - I think there is more money in a custom canvas business - which requires custom fitting than in generic sails, where you are are competing with low cost offshore labor -but high end sails are different. I have no intention of working in either business. I am just interested in doing things for my own use. You might also consider using your engineering background to work for a company that makes equipment (like custom automated cutting tables) for the sailmaking industry. There is one online -again I forget the name - that even offers demo versions of sail design software. David Krozier Hunter 27 Renegade dave_krozier@rhk.com
I have found several courses in both sailmaking and marine canvas work in the US. I haven't taken any of them. Most of these have a web site - use a search engine on the school name. The Landing School of boatbuilding in Maine (www.by-the-sea.com/thelandingschool/index.html) and the Arques school on the west coast offer sailmaking classes. A web search once turned up a university program in sailmaking in the midwest but I don't remember where. The IYRS (international yacht restoration school)in Newport offered a sailmaking and marine canvas class once a few years ago but hasn't repeated it. There are two schools for canvas work I know of. One in Ohio - Custom marine canvas training workshops, and one in Florida - don't think this one has a web site. Both of these programs offer videotape instruction. I have a couple of the tapes. There is also a progam on the east coast just for making dodgers. All the canvas classes are advertised in the IFAI (www.ifai.com) marine canvas trade publication. Some of the tapes are available through the IFAI. Of course there are plenty of books on sailmaking and marine canvas. I have about three feet of shelf space with books. My opinion - I think there is more money in a custom canvas business - which requires custom fitting than in generic sails, where you are are competing with low cost offshore labor -but high end sails are different. I have no intention of working in either business. I am just interested in doing things for my own use. You might also consider using your engineering background to work for a company that makes equipment (like custom automated cutting tables) for the sailmaking industry. There is one online -again I forget the name - that even offers demo versions of sail design software. David Krozier Hunter 27 Renegade dave_krozier@rhk.com
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