Happy Sail for Happy Sailing

Jill and I had fun visiting Doyle’s sail loft on City Island.  We picked up our new sail and had a protective patch added to the bottom of the leech of our Staysail while we waited.  Visiting a proper sail loft reminded us why it often makes sense to have things done by professionals.  The industrial sewing machines at floor level with recessed seating pits can’t be replicated by the do-it-yourself-er.

With the right equipment and space, some tasks are so much easier.  Having it done by a pro, we got a better job in a tenth the time it would have taken us to sew the patch ourselves.

Mark Ploch showed us our new light wind head sail, a Doyle UPS, and spent some time going over his suggested rigging.  He stressed that the load needs to be on the integral luff line so we need to let that line stretch before we really tighten the foot of the sail to the continuous line furler.  The sail sure is bright – our first reaction – “That is one happy looking sail!”  So we are calling it our Happy Sail.  We are excited for the Spring when we get to let her fly!