Axel (left) and Frank (right) took over
the business as co-owners when their
father retired in 1985.
and we lost our summer vacations –
we couldn’t play with our buddies
anymore, we had to come down to the
loft and work,” says Frank laughing.
It is impossible to not be completely
captivated when speaking with Axel
and Frank about their craft – their love
for sailmaking is unmistakable and
their enthusiasm infectious. It is all
too appropriate then, that when their
father, Franz, retired from the business
in 1985, Axel and Frank took over work between materials used for cruising Maintaining a high degree of
as the co-owners of Schattauer Sails. sails versus racing sails, they made permanence and reliability has much
Since inheriting responsibility for the choice to direct their loft’s focus to to do with following a methodology
the loft, Axel and Frank have maintained cruising sail construction. “Cruisers are that the Schattauers learned from
their father’s adherence to only the looking for longevity, economy, and their father and have perfected
highest quality of craftsmanship. All durability – when you’re offshore you throughout their own experience in
of the work done by Schattauer Sails is want something that’s reliable. That’s the business. When commissioned to
done at their Shilshole loft. Only when where we made the conscious decision build a sail, before any cuts are made
Axel or Frank travel to take custom to stick with cruising and let racing go or stitches sewn, there is a period of
measurements on a client’s sailboat, its own way.” For its dependability, painstakingly detailed measurement
sometimes traveling as far as southern rigidity and endurance as a fabric, the and meticulous calculation conducted
California to do so, or accompanying a Schattauers still prefer to work with on the dimensions of the boat for
customer for a test sail to ensure that Dacron. which the sail is intended. Equipped
their work is completely satisfactory,
do the Schattauers work outside of
their shop. Says Axel, “The customer
sometimes doesn’t even know if the
sail fi ts right or wrong, but we do. If
our name is on the sail we want it to
be the best it possibly can be.” Among
the dozens of testimonials to this work
ethic is the story Axel tells of a phone
call earlier this spring from a boat
owner in Guam who purchased an old
steel sailboat commissioned in Seattle,
and, noticing the Schattauer name on
the sails looked up the loft online and
called for a quote to repair UV damage.
It turns out the sails were built by
Schattauer in 1969 and, according to
the boat owner, the handwork around
the edges is still completely intact. “We
can’t tell everybody that our sails will
For The Northwest
last 40 years, but a few of our sails do
SAIL or POWER
last that long,” says Axel humbly.
To 60 feet
As for the differences they see in
Self loading & unload
the industry since their father started
Water load & water unload
Air ride, Insured
the loft, the Schattauers chiefl y note
Backyard Delivery
the impact of changes in materials Repair your boat at home. Boat Stands
available for sail construction. When
Save on moorage
1-800-247-1198
Blocking
developments in laminates and the
advent of fi bers such as Kevlar and
carbon fi ber widened the division
SINCE EARLY 1920 15209 39th Ave. NE - Marysville, WA 98271 Also Serving All 48 States
48° No r t h , Ju N e 2009 Pa g e 43
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