Both lofts will continue to operate regionally as they have in the past; however, by joining UK Sailmakers, their customers will now enjoy two significant benefits. Both lofts will now offer their customers the products for which UK Sailmakers is renowned including X-Drive®, the affordable, long-lasting high-performance sail for both cruising and racing sailors, and Titanium® sails, UK’s grand-prix sails that are extremely light sails and hold their shape across their designed wind range.

Additionally, UK Sailmakers Minneapolis and Door County will benefit from the direct, hands-on involvement from Pat Considine, UK’s lead sail designer and head of the network’s Chicago loft.

“We joined the UK Sailmakers group to be able to design, build, and sell the best U.S. made sails for our customers. Sailors appreciate that we are a Minnesotan-owned loft, and we build and service their sails locally. Personal service is a huge part of what we do and the employees at UK Sailmakers Chicago have that same attitude,” said Tim Carlson, owner of UK’s new Minneapolis loft. “Our joining UK Sailmakers is a huge win for our customers; they’re going to get opportunities to be a part of the sail design resulting in more satisfied sailors. Like our Door County partner loft, the sails we produce in our local loft will enjoy the benefit of UK Sailmakers’ technology and computer systems having created even better sails.”

Located in St. Louis Park, MN, the UK Sailmakers Minneapolis loft is owned by Tim Carlson (above left) who operated Sailcrafters. Carlson has designed and built sails that have sailed around the world, but his team specializes in cruising sails for boats 15-30 feet. Now he will be able to offer customers larger sails that will be built by UK Sailmakers Chicago. The Minneapolis loft employs four full-time and four part-time employees providing new sails, repair, and rigging services. 

Founded as Dorsal in 2000 by avid sailor and sailmaker Charlie Klein and then rebranded as Scandia Canvas Works and Sail Loft, UK Sailmakers Door County is the only full-service loft and marine canvas shop north of Milwaukee on Lake Michigan. The loft is located on the Sturgeon Bay Channel at the former Palmer Johnson shipyard and services sailors from Sheboygan, WI to Marquette, MI.

President of UK Sailmakers Door County, John McMahon (above left), said, “Our philosophies are aligned when it comes to developing and producing the highest quality sails and providing outstanding customer service, both are what we built our reputation around. Our proximity to the Chicago loft and chief sail designer, Pat Considine, ensures our customers have options when it comes to functionality, material, and design whether they are cruisers, racers or both. The decision to partner with UK Sailmakers an easy choice for us”.

An old main sail at UK Sailmakers in Fremantle went from almost taking up space in a landfill to the ‘star of the show’ for the 400th anniversary of charting of the Cape Leeuwin. From recycled sails to great art. Cape Leeuwin, at the southwest corner of Australia is one of the five great capes of the Southern Ocean and resident Augusta artist Jo Hayes (www.picoluv.com) magically transformed the old sail donated by UK’s Geoff Bishop. Hayes painted a massive image of the Cape Leeuwin headland (without the present-day light house!) and surrounding rocks, waves and ocean. The lower left corner depicts the telescope of a 1622 Dutch sailor gazing at the headland, the evocative scene was extremely impressive.

From Recycled Sails to Art

On the day of celebrations (30 October 2022) the large, recycled sail (14m luff length!) was hung up in the local hall and provided a great focal point for a wide range of activities. These included a welcome to country by a Wadandi traditional owner, a speech and plaque unveiling by the Dutch Ambassador to Australia and a wonderful “paint by numbers” exercise by the local community. Ranging from small children to their grandmothers, local residents carefully painted brightly coloured fish and birds to Jo’s design that were later affixed to the sail. After the celebrations, the painted sail was sealed and bolted onto the side of a commercial building in the main street of the small coastal town of Augusta as a remarkable “ephemeral wall”.

No doubt, this splendid recycled sail will turn heads when the many tourists arrive for their austral summer holidays at one of the world’s Great Capes!