"Blending proven handwork and traditional sailmaking methods with modern techniques of sail design and construction to insure good performance and lasting durability."

Our Ultimate, Offshore Cruising Sails 

Mainsails, Mizzens and Trysails

Our ultimate offshore cruising mainsail (also mizzen and storm trysail) includes all of the standard offshore cruising specifications and then we upgrade to a tabling and a totally hand sewn bolt rope.  A tabling is fabric cut directly from the sail (not a separate tape heat slit tape), creased and sewn back on to the sail at the luff and foot in preparation for the hand sewn bolt rope.  The tabling gives us a minimum of 4 layers of fabric in the body of the sail to which we attach the bolt rope or sew in the hand sewn rings. Then at all the corners and reef patches, the bolt rope is sewn through all those layers as well so the bolt rope literally becomes part of the sail.   The tabling insures that its creased edges will not fray and the bias of the tabling is exactly the same as the sail underneath so they will both move uniformly under load.  

This completely hand sewn boltrope starts along the leech with a rat tail and wraps around the clew, goes along the foot, up the luff, over the head and down along leech, finishing off with another rat tail.  No other West Coast loft completely hand ropes their mains (also mizzen and storm trysail) and few world wide even have the skills necessary to do it any more. A hand sewn bolt rope is sewn onto to the sail with heavy, waxed, thread. It will provide superior resistance to over-stretching the sail through the application of halyard or outhaul tension.  It helps give the sail some additional shape when the halyard or outhaul is eased because as the rope is sewn to the sail, the edges are gathered slightly and this is basically a built-in spring, to resist over tensioning the edges.  Not only is a hand sewn bolt rope very beautiful to look at, it is very functional as well. There is no comparison of strength and stretch resistance between a hand sewn bolt rope and a machine sewn bolt rope. Again, it is "old-fashioned", but there is nothing better.  There is no stronger way to attach a boltrope to the edge of a sail and no stronger can a sail be made!  

Hank-On Headsails

Heavy duty offshore, hank-on headsails (jibs, staysails, storm jibs, storm staysails) will be similarly constructed but we will use a vinyl covered, flexible, 7X19 stainless steel luff wire (rope luffs for light air sails). Using a wire, akin to a hand sewn boltrope, will prevent you from over-stretching the luff of the sail and prematurely distorting the shape.  

We will hand sew a boltrope around the clew and end with rat tails along the leech and foot.  In the case of a storm sail, the whole foot of the will be hand roped as well.  

Roller Furling Sails

Our offshore and ultimate offshore sails roller furling sails offer all of the same construction details; in other words they are one and the same. Offshore roller furling sails are constructed with ease of use and durability in mind. They will feature premium Dacron fabric, double, triple or quadruple stitching, leech end seam reinforcements and the heaviest luff tape that will work with your furling system. A leech line and foot line are standard and if necessary a high cut headsail will feature an optional overhead leech line, which goes up the leech and down the luff for adjustment at the tack. (This way you will not be tempted adjust the leech line tension with a boat hook and fall over the side in the process.) We will install long head and tack patches that extend into the sail so that as you roll the sail up to reef, there will be reinforcing at the "new" head and tack to take the loads. (You do not want to roll up the sail past the corner patches since then you are asking the sail to hold up in heavier winds, relying on only the one layer of sail to take the load.)  

Roller sails are optimized for protection from UV exposure since the sun acts on the sail whether it is being used or furled up at the dock. The head and tack ends will feature either leather protected webbing straps or webbed on external stainless rings with leather caps. Our UV covers are installed so that the leech and foot sections are each in once piece whenever possible. The covers also wrap around the leech and foot hems to totally protect them from UV. We stitch the cover down with heavy thread and add "anti-inflate" stitching through the seams of the sail, not the body of the sail. That way, upon re-stitching the cover down the road, you will not perforate the single layer of sail fabric. And with the UV covers being installed in "one piece", there are not as many seams to re-stitch.

Since the halyard acts only on the luff of the sail, there comes a point when the luff of the sail (head and tack) cannot help but creep together
because there is nothing there to pull them apart. That is why foam or rope luff pads are optionally installed. The luff pads' purpose is to take
up or remove some of the excess shape or belly of the sail as it is reefed down and wrapped around the extrusion. This will extend the useful shape
of the sail as you reef in the sail as the wind increases. A luff pad can be installed when the sail is new or later after you have had a chance to use the sail. The maximum you can expect to reef a headsail down is about 25 - 30% of the actual area of the sail with a foam luff pad. Rolled up any smaller, the shape will degrade as to be inefficient for windward work.  Off the wind, you could roll out a small scrap of sail and be okay since the sail is will not be as loaded since the apparent wind drops as it is with you and not against you.  When you are very deeply reefed, you will have totally rolled up the head and tack patches so you are asking the sail to hold up with only one layer of cloth at the head and tack and this is not good for long term sail shape.  

Finally, lets say you have been out sailing and the wind has been strong and you have increased the luff tension to keep the draft in the right location.  Remember to unload the luff tension when you are back at the dock so the sail does not remain tensioned at rest. This will help keep the optimum sail shape for a longer period of time.  

Please click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Mainsail Reef and Foot                 Details of Jib Hank installation and reinforcement

Inshore/Coastal       Offshore       Ultimate Offshore      Classic/Traditional

Last modified: December 20, 2005