Photo by Jon Deutsch
cutting and the lessons sailmakers have passed down through the centuries. To learn how sails are made today we visited with Mr. Jerry Latell, master sailmaker and owner of Latell Sailmakers and Ullman Sails in Deltaville, Va. Latell runs his sail loft in Deltaville once reputed to be the wooden boat building capitol of the Chesapeake Bay. In the glory days of sailing, the sail loft was generally the second floor of the building. Boats were built on the ground level; their sails were made on the floor above. Latell’s modern sail loft is all on ground level with sewing machines in pits at the same level as the loft floor. The process of tailoring a sail to a particular boat starts with Jerry having an in-depth interview with the boat owner. Jerry needs to know how the owner intends to use the boat. A sail boat that will spend its life on the bay requires a different type of sail than the same boat that would be going out to sea or even crossing the ocean. A racing sail is yet another type of sail utilizing special materials never used on conventional cruising craft. Once the type of sail is established, Jerry visits the boat to better understand precisely what he must design to provide the best sails for a particular boat. The sailmaker then goes back to his drawing board and creates a sail to do the job. Once the owner approves the design, it is entered into the design computer which creates a graphic rendering of the sail. The approved design is then
programmed into the cutting machine which cuts and marks the cloth that will then be sewn into a new sail. The full sail is laid out on the sail loft floor according to the computerized plan and the marking made on each piece during the cutting process is used to assemble the sail. Special sewing machines built into pits on the sail loft floor make it easier to sew the pieces together. Once the sail takes shape, the handwork begins much in the same way sails have been sewn for centuries. The sailmakers at Latell Sailmakers designed and made the sails for the shallop Explorer built by the Deltaville Maritime Museum. The Explorer is a replica of the boat John Smith sailed in the area. The experience with the Explorer got Latell interested in creating sails for the Susan Constant. Latell’s main business is providing new sails for yachts and repairing existing sails.
12 July/August 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100