Maine Sailing Partners

Purple Cow

 

I never saw a Purple Cow,

Until the loft made this one.

But I can tell you, anyhow,

I'd rather make than be one. 

New guy, Thatcher Rose, contemplates a J46 purple cow spinnaker.  Interested in a spinnaker graphic or battle flag for your boat?  Asks us for a quote.  Apologies to Gelett Burgess for butchering his poem.  

On the Floor

Or should we say "on the Table"-
Square top carbon main for 36' Trimaran
Genoa for Bristol 32

On the floor

Some of the projects passing through these days:

More progress

Now, the new loft is really taking shape.  Too bad we're too busy at this time of year to really appreciate every step of the process.  This taken from the top of a big pile of dirt in the yard... mud season in Maine

Fast Start

We are amazed how quickly a snow-covered pile of steel is turning into the skeleton of our future home.

Sprouting

The seeds we planted almost a year ago when we started to look for a new permanent home for MSP have finally taken root.  Now steel is rising out of a field in Freeport.

Our new building will be a 9600 square foot steel shed. She is being erected by Greg Patterson and his team at Patco Construction.  We're hoping to be in sometime this summer...  We'll keep you posted.

On the Floor

As part of our design process we produce a little sketch of each sail we are going to produce.  Here is a recent sampling:

The sketches let us see where each panel goes when it comes off the cutter.

Something fishy

A continuing phenomenon in the Maine boat business is the popularity of what's known as 'spirit of tradition' boats - new boats built to look like old.  Our friend Jean Beaulieu of Classic Boat Shop has been riding that wave, crafting several iterations of the Pisces 21.  The Pisces is Chuck Paine's Marconi rig update of the gaff rigged Herreshoff Fish Class, a handsome 21 foot day sailor.   (Joel White also did a centerboard  version called the Flatfish which it just so happens my brother-in-law is building in his shop on Georgetown Island.)

Turns our the Fish Class was one of the important one designs in the history of the Seawanhaka Yacht Club.  Now one of the present day members has commissioned Jean to do a gaff version of the Pisces to more nearly match the original. One difference - the new boat will have a carbon fiber mast...

On the Floor

J/105 Class Jib
Turnabout Mainsail
Concordia Mizzen
Hinckley Sou'wester Genoa

Plus many pounds of winter service.

Exotic Maine

Here's a sampling of some of the more exotic materials we're making sails out of these days.  In the foreground is the Cuben Fiber mainsail to Goshawk in the loft for a little winter service work.  Rolled up behind that is the D4 mainsail membrane for Hoi An, third to finish and overall winner of the 2005 Eggemoggin Reach Regatta (Goshawk was first to finish and third overall).  On the table is the carbon GPL 14 mainsail for Gusto.  Curiously, despite their exotic sails, each of these boats was built out of wood right here in Maine!