Nylet Newsletter number 103. March 2010.
Spring is here at last (hopefully) although it is still cold, even on the south coast we rarely have seen highs of 6 degrees for almost 3 months! Quite a few of our local friends are out sailing however, and winds have tended on the lighter side albeit with some heavy weather thrown in for good measure. As I write this the sun is out with not a single cloud in the sky, its 4 degrees and the wind barely 3 knots, but the boys will be out today making the most of it!
We are very busy (as usual) with sailmaking, cotton sails (of all types) is keeping us busy, as is restoration work and which we have six models currently on the stocks, although my colleague rarely works on more than one at a time (the workshop isn't large and nor is it particularly warm either!). We have been very busy this last year on 'replacement' kit sails, such as the Victoria, Fairwind (always popular), and various other Chinese kits; the kit sails are often made in ripstop spinnaker cloth, sometimes quite well made but usually with some fault such as badly shaped luff, or at worse with the warp running down the luff which is utterly hopless.
Our stock of Dacron sailcloth has a slightly soft feel and is a light weight, at 2.99oz. We have secured fresh stocks (enough for 2010 hopefully). This sailcloth makes up well and produces sails with the capability to hold a wind catching shape, so we are well pleased. It is well suited for any size sail up to and including Ten Rater; it is however a little on the light side for A-class sails unless you intend to order a light weather suit, so for stronger winds for this class we suggest that you have sails made in laminated scrim (see picture above). Laminated scrim is used by the racing fraternity for sails of any size, the weight is less that of Dacron and thus the performance is superior and it keeps down the weight of the rig. Remember that the described weight of scrim is a little misleading to anyone not actually holding a cut of the cloth in their hands, since it is by far and away stronger than Dacron sailcloth, so with scrim you get a more resiliant cloth ounce for ounce! Thus the heaviest weight scrim (2.4oz) is at least the strength of a 4oz Dacron, but makes a better shaped and more responsive sail. We automatically apply the correct weight (scrim comes in different weight cloths) when we make sails. So if you are racing then seriously consider scrim, but for the cruising yacht, or classic yacht where the appearance is important then Dacron looks far more the part. We also make 'classic cut' Dacron sails for the 50's and 60's yacht, with all detail sewn, in fact everything being sewn as we did 40 plus years ago. So to recap, classic sails in the style of half a century ago, and racing sails in scrim in the very latest style of the 21st century! Some things at Nylet haven't changed for years though, we still offer the same fast and reliable world-wide mail order service, and we are proud to mention that in 2010 the Parsons family can boast nearly 170 years of service to our customers (despite no longer sewing full size sails the size of a barn door!).

Racing sails embrace latest thinking and improved cutting and finishing techniques to keep our products in the first rank. The 2009 season has again seen many “firsts” with reports from customers experiencing good results and finding our sails set and behave well in most conditions.

Sails may be specified in drawing film, scrim, or Dacron. Finger (corner) patches are a real bonus when used on light weather suits, but for larger sails (A-class etc) conventional corner patches are applied.

We make any size sails to order, just send drawing or templates for a quote. We make replacement kit sails, for example the Fairwind, Comtesse, Northwind, and Victoria. Sails are also made for Vic Smeeds latest “Star Baby” design. Sails for older designs also feature, such as Lady Betty, Starlet, Panache, Gosling, China Boy, Cracker, Bloodaxe, Highlander and Genie, just to mention a few (see sail listings). My late father's cutting book has in excess of 40 plus sail plans all dating to well before the 1960's and this is a basis for access to manufacturing sails for many of the older yachts.

“Classic” Dacron sails are made exclusively by Nylet - as sewn by us in the 1960’s and incorporate conventional finishing methods (more suited to yachts of that era) where all patches and battens are applied and sewn in matching cloth. Cotton sails we manufacture are in essence as we turned them out in the 1940’s. In the past few years we are increasingly making more sails than ever in high quality cotton, and we find our customers appreciate the care we take in turning out finely finished, neat, and good looking sails for them.

Sails can be made, to order, in varnished Terylene, for racing yachts of the 50’s era.

The IOM yacht kit of the “Three” is kitted in various modes to suit all pockets.

Used yachts for sale, please see 'adverts' page.

Sail rig kits are available for most class yachts. For the non-class yachts we may be able to customise a rig to suit your requirements although fittings are generally “modern” and not “vintage.” We design rigs and sails for your yacht should there be no spars or detail available. Please contact us with your requirements for cost.

Masts & fittings include Bantock groovy aluminium masting, also available conventional circular aluminium mast tubing as well as carbon-fibre. The ever increasing range of comprehensive racing mast & deck fittings are either our manufacture, made in Europe, or by Peter Wiles.

The product and price listing is arranged in easy to follow sections, and this is a practice we adopted in our catalogue as far back as the 1970s; we hope it helps you track what you need. It is printable from a pdf file, click product & price list

About our prices. In the main we foresee no general price lift this year, however some materials have moved and this is reflected in individual items being repriced.

Click here to view our colour 4 page newsletter as a pdf file.

The Nylet sailmaking service, celebrating 78 years of sail manufacture.

1842 - 2010 ~ 168 years of manufacturing.