SAILMAKING:
Anyone undertaking ocean voyaging must be a well-rounded
seaman who is capable of total independence from outside sources; therefore, I
believe he must be able to make his own sails.
I have always encouraged owners of my designs to make their own sails.
SAILMAKING started out covering all aspects of making Chinese sails because
professional sailmakers quite often did not understand the essentials of
sailmaking that are required for a Chinese sail, such as hand-roping.
Their feeling was “If it cannot be done on the computer, it cannot be
made”. The Chinese, as well as
our forefathers, made sails applying very simple common sense rules.
After the following review appeared, I added diagrams for those who are
making just Western sails.
This book is available from my office for $37.00 US, plus shipping and handling:
Thomas E. Colvin
2140 Gardner Road, Alva, Florida 33920-3812
Telephone: 239-728-2196 FAX: 239-728-6326
Payment can be by personal check drawn on a US bank, cashier’s check,
postal money order or Western Union.
I do not accept
credit cards.
BOOKS HOME
The
following was a review in the METAL BOAT QUARTERLY: “Recently, SAILMAKING, a new book by Tom Colvin has
appeared. This 100 page
spiral-bound book is almost entirely devoted to “Making Chinese and Other
Sails,” & “Sailing Chinese Junks and Junk Rigged Vessels.” Tom takes you step by step through design, layout, cutting,
sewing, reinforcing, and battening the junk sail. Chapters are devoted to Standing Rigging and Spars, Chinese
Hulls, Western Hulls, and Running Rigging.
Finally, after you think you’ve got it all, there is a chapter on sailing
one of these rigs. At the end of SAILMAKING
is a four-language cross-reference of sail and rigging terms in English, French,
Spanish, and German."