The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
making sails in Brightlingsea
A childhood hobby that turned into a life’s passion
Mark Butler owned his first boat at the age of 11 and when he was 15 spent six weeks sailing around the atlantic. a year later he joined James lawrence Sailmakers, a business in Brightlingsea, essex, that makes boat sails… and fell in love with his employer’s daughter. ‘when I first star ted we didn’t get on, but as we got older we began to hit it off, so I married t he boss’s daughter – I get a lot of ribbing for that,’ he jokes.
Forty years on, the husband and wife team are co-owners of the business, having taken over from James lawrence in 1995 when he retired, and today they employ a team of six. Butler remains as involved in the production as he always was. ‘Some bosses are office based or run it remotely. this isn’t like that – it’s all hands on deck,’ he says.
the sails, which are custom-made for each boat, can cost anywhere between £250 for a small one and up to £100,000 for a‘ super sail ’, which requires 10 men to lift.
to begin, Butler sketches the sail design on a drawing board then selects the material. He tends to use synthetic fabric rather than cotton, because it dries more quickly. ‘we still make a few in natural cotton, which is very old-fashioned,’ he explains.
next, Butler and his team mark out the shape of the sail on the floor of the workshop, which is roughly the size of two tennis courts; this process is known as lofting. they then cut out panels of material, lay them out on the floor and sew them together using industrial machines, which are set up in pit sin the workshop.
to strengthen the sail, Butler finishes the edges with eyelets made of stainless steel, fixed into the sail fabric using a giant hydraulic press. If he is making a sail for an older boat, he sews them on by hand.
the final stage is his favourite: he travels to the customers – he has been to the Caribbean, north america and most european countries – to help fit or ‘bend’ the sails .‘ we’ re really lucky ,’ says Butler. ‘we might go on board and sail with them or do a regatta. we get asked to make sails for some of the fastest, most beautiful boats in the world.’