BYYB Forums

Does anyone know if the Stevensons are still taking sail orders??
I tried the email address and haven't heard back, but I know Mike has relocated so . . .
And if they are not, is there any other reputable sailmakers out there.
My last resort would be to, gulp, sew them myself from a sail rite kit.
I live in a bit of a sailing hot spot (Vancouver, BC) so am I best to just get them made locally?
If so, do I just take the plans down to the sailmaker's and tell them,
"I want THIS . . . with reef points"

Can you tell I am a beginner when it comes to sailing?
The building of Isla has been very educational, the sailing will be downright exciting!!

Hopefully launching this summer so I need to start thinking about things like sails and trailers.

I promise to post some pics soon but they will have to be very far away from Barnacle Jim's. Let's just say my boat doesn't have seahorses (yet).

Thanks in advance,
Steven Goodman

Ahoy Steve,

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you. Seems you're thinking about sails. I'm sure someone on BYYB will be able to point you and your boat in the right direction.

Both John Teetsel and Bill Olney sewed their own sails. The sails on their boats really look good. In fact, Bill even wrote a couple of articles in Gaff Rig, describing what he did and how he did it. If you haven't done so already, you might want to take a look at Bill's fine article.

On the BYYB picture gallery, you might run across some photos of John's fine boat, too. John's boat is amazing, absolutely gorgeous. Be sure and take a look at his cockpit. He made a couple of changes and what a difference those changes made!

Lord willing, we plan to come up your way one day and sail. I know Barry Pyeatt is working on a boat. His boat is another fine craft, complete with bow pulpit and intricate carvings. Maybe all of us could get together and do a bit of sailing.

You've embarked on a good adventure, and you'll find plenty of help on BYYB— and sometimes some of it might even be useful. 8) Yes, keep a photo record of what you are doing. You'll enjoy looking back on past stages of construction just to see where you have been. I think photos are good encouragement as you build.

Good luck on your boatbuilding!

Don't have the measurements for the weekender sail in front of me but Atlantic Sail Traders have a good condition used gaff mainsail for $90 that might work. Here are the dimensions:

Main Sails luff 6'9" Leech 15'10" Foot 7'11" Gaff 6'11Pk

http://www.usedsails.com/

Steven, If you're going to sew your own, you might want to get a copy of "The Sailmaker's Apprentice" by Emiliano Marino. It's a great reference and a very good read. Good luck.Andy

Steve,
There are many sailmakers on the Western Half of the continent that would be happy to make up a set of sails for your Weekender. But theye will all be costly. The Stevenson's get the Weekender sails from Rolly Tasker and you could too. Rolly Tasker is a world wide sail maker with the sails being made in Indonesia. They are good people and they will make them up just the way you would want them, reef points, luff wires, leech lines, all the things you could want. And they are more affordable than the local sail lofts. http://www.rollytasker.com/ Or you could order Rolly Tasker sails from National Sail Supply http://www.nationalsail.com/

I would be patient and wait for a reply from the Stevensons, This is their slow season and it may take awhile, but the sails for the Weekender are much more affordable from them than from othe sources. You could take the main to any sail loft and they will put in reef points for you.

It would also be worth the trip to Port Townsend and check out the local sailmakers there. I do know a lot of small craft owners that have sails made there.

Duckworks offers sails and the sailmakers they use make them up for the Weekender. You can go to Duckworks site and get a quote from them with any of the options you might want. http://www.duckworksbbs.com/sails/weeken...kender.htm

A sailmaker on the Eastern Seaboard that I know a nimber of builders have used is Dabbler Sails. All of them that I've talked to have been very pleased with the work and the price. http://www.dabblersails.com/index.html

The Sailrite kits are well designed kits and if you could find a willing sewing center, you could make them up from the kits.

The Polysail kits are easily made up into very workable sails for the Weekender and easily modified to fit local conditions if you chose to do so.
They are very affordable and easy to do. With care they will last several seasons and work well. You could make uo several sets for what it will cost to go to a local sail loft and have a set made. http://members.aol.com/polysail/HTML/index.htm

There are a lot of small boats out there that use polysail kits or just get the instructions and dimensions from their website and purchase the materials from other sources. They work fine.

Of of course you could purchase White poly tarp material and white duct tape from the internet and just make the first set yourself from the plans.
http://www.nbmc.com/tarps/white.html
http://www.tarps.com/white.htm
http://www.identi-tape.com/duct.html

They are not hard to make and will work just fine. From 40ft away it is really difficult to tell that they are not dacron It is also easy to then make up a Lapper or with a little creativitey to make up a loose footed main. If you wish to use a furling system, then it is easy to lay in a luff wire while making these up.

If you need more sources, then just ask.

Steven,
Another quick and dirty option that some builders are trying is Tyvek house wrap. It has a tighter weave than poly tarps and is meant to look more like cloth.Happy sewing.

If you are considering Tyvek, here is a source for plain material, without printing on it. They have several types of Tyvek. It is available by the yard. Most of the sails I've seen made from Tyvek have been in the stiff material, which is more like the Dacron sails. But recently I've seen several smaller boats which have used the Soft Tyvek instead. They like it! It will hold up to use as a sail, for comparrison it is being used as load covering tarps for interstate freight hauling. And it does get whipped around.

http://www.materialconcepts.com/pages/uv-soft-tyvek.asp

I did sew my own sail from a kit from sailrite, just using a normal $80 sewing machine from walmart. worked out fine after i learned about the feed dogs.

a blatent plug for membership here, but club members do get a discount on sailrite kits

Hey Steve,
FWIW, When I was building sailboats, we got our sails done at the North Sails loft in Richmond (bottom of 5 Road - can't miss it). They never had any problems doing custom stuff and alterations. A buddy of mine built a 15' dory and had them do the sail for that as well. He took the boat to them so they could see the geometry and rigging.

Also heard good things about Doyle's over on the island (Parksville-Qualicum area I think; Father Google can tell you more). There are a couple other lofts here, but those are the only ones I've heard anything about.

Good to hear you're getting to that point in your build.