One of the joys of sailmaking is the variety of boats that we get to make sails for this month.
Note that these are all photos from around the internet. They are not of our sails unless you see our name on them.
Read more about our custom sails for other boats.
Iain Oughtred Guillemot Lug Mainsail for the USA – RSS Sailmaking
Iain’s plans were very important for forming me as a boat designer. The detail and method allowed beginning boatbuilders to build a classic sailboat in lapstrake. It is hard to build an ugly boat using one of his plans.
There was a little change from the plan version. The boom had been cut a little too short, so we adapted the sail by reducing the foot by 3 inches. The centres still line up fine.
Echo Bay Dory Skiff Lugsail for Chase Small Craft USA – Stock sailmaking.
Clint is a friend, a boat designer and a kitmaker. The Echo Bay Dory Skiff was designed to be a simple first project but also fit other niches.
By the way, the crease in the sail is ideal. It means the downhaul is tensioned correctly. When the wind loads the sail that crease will disappear. If you see a crease going the other way and getting worse when you tighten the sheet, then this article is to help you eliminate that type of crease.
St Ayles Skiff Modified with Main and Mizzen for the USA – Really Simple Sails Sailmaking
The St Ayles Skiff (also by Iain Oughtred) is a four seat pulling boat used for scouts and clubs who row on the ocean. There have been quite a few built.
Jim in the USA is rigging a modified St Ayles Skiff with the Stock Goat Island Skiff mainsail from Duckworks and we are making a custom Mizzen for him based on the Ness Yawl sailplan.
Expedition Lug Sail for Uruguay – A Jim Michalak Mayfly 14 Lug
In a way this sail for Eduardo in Montevideo Uruguay shows our aim. We developed a sail with Chuck Pierce, who has more Mayfly miles under his belt than almost anyone to handle the expedition type sailing of the Texas 200 event.
So that is what we try to do. Leverage the knowledge and experience of people who do much more with their boats than most of us do. And that improves handling and performance in average through to adverse conditions for everyone.
Dunderdale Iceni balance lug sail for Spain
Tom Dunderdale is a designer I really like. He likes fast boats with good handling qualities.
Spain has extremely strict conditions for amateur boat builders. The builder is hoping the proposed project will be accepted by the maritime officials.
Sail for a Dyer Dhow lookalike in the USA – sail and spar design by really simple sails sailmaker
Eric in contacted me with a boat he had bought in a garage sale. He had fallen in love with a photo of a Goat Island Skiff sail in . No sails, no centreboard or rudder. I have suggested he could buys my OzRacer RV ($30) plans to enable him to build those bits if he needs methods. The simplest way to make a mast was an aluminium extrusion with a 2mm or 3mm (0.125) wall.
We asked him for the measurement from the mast hole to the front of the centrecase. That showed our stock 36ft sail from Duckworks would be the wrong geometry.
So a semi custom 52 square foot sail in tanbark was the choice. This works out about right as the Dyer Dhow has 45 sq ft with a taller rig. And the lug has reefs of course for stronger winds.
Stock Sails for GIS and OzGoose being used for other boats
Because the stock sails from Duckworks are particularly well priced the 105 sq ft Goat Island Skiff and the 89sq ft OzRacer sails are continuously ordered from Duckworks.
So writing about other nice boats here … I have to mention my own .. or at least provide a photo or two.
Goat Island Skiff – this is a dramatic photo from Enrico Franconi who has been doing an amazing series of coastal cruises down the Italian shore. Reducing sail before a squall hit.
And an Oz Racer in regular racing in the Philippines with way too much wind. We were in another boat and the fleet struggled upwind to scream back downwind.
Cape Cutter by Dudley Dix, Genoa, Yankee and Mainsail – traditional sailmaking styles.
This is one of my very favourite boat designs. A corker by South African designer Dudley Dix. Everything about it is just perfect.
To tell you the truth I was designing something very similar around the same time, but when I say what Dudley was doing I thought the boat was so nice I just stopped development of my own.
Gary in the USA is getting close to sailing so will need three sails – Gaff mainsail, Jib and Yankee. The outer headsail is on a roller furler. The inner on hanks.
Viola 14 Sailing Canoe for the USA – 4.7sq m square top laminate mainsail.
There are three sails choices for the Viola 14 Canoe. Just to remind you we can do techy sails as well. The 4.7sq m is a good match for an Artemis sailing canoe for those wanting a more sporty sailing style.
Eddie in the USA is contemplating building a Viola 14 sailing canoe, which we designed to be much more stable than a regular sailing canoe through more beam and a dinghy style shape. She is intended to appeal to “off the beach” dinghy sailors through being almost half the weight of a Laser. Anyway, have a look at the Video.
I wonder what next month will bring!
Read about custom sails traditional and modern.
If you are interested in a quote for a custom sail please email us with
- Boat Type and designer if known
- Which sails you want.
- A dimensioned sailplan drawing – can be a PDF or just a phone camera snapshot of the sailplan page
- Colour (Tanbark and white are common. We may be able to get cream cloth suitable for boats 20ft and up)
- Delivery Addresss and Phone number (needed for quoting freight from the Philippines)
Sails are normally 4 to 5 weeks from time of payment.