Buying new sails has become a globally competitive business with large international companies dominating the market. I found most of the original UK sail makers, which I think Bill Parker or John Baker may have used, seem to have either been merged into or been bought out by these new big global outfits. Of the remaining independent UK based sailmakers, some seem only suitable for those sailors with very deep pockets who are seeking a bespoke UK tailor-made quality sail, and the other remaining smaller UK lofts only seem to offer a much cheaper competitively priced product, but which may not be so long lasting or of such good quality. Really, in my view, computerised sail design and manufacture means that the same sail can be cut and manufactured almost anywhere and will still be essentially the same whether built in the UK or in the far east. However, for me, by looking aboard a more expensive sail cloth might be obtained for essentially the same priced product here.

The downside of this is that records on our old Parker and Seal logos, especially in the new far east lofts, appear to be poor or non-existent. Only those with a past UK business relationship with Parker or Baker appear to have the knowledge or any records on our logos and rightly so, will only share this if you if you buy their sails also! The problem for me was that I found their prices were not quite as competitive as the offshore lofts, thus leaving me with a choice. Either to have a nice brand new competitively priced sail with no Parker logos or choose their more expensive offering!

An Independent Solution.

http://www.hutsons.ltd.u...re/parker-stripes-logos/  01202 5362107, the PSSA now has an entirely independent sail logo source for all Parker and Seal Yachts. Doug has lifted the original Parker logos used for printing the hull decals and stripes and expanded these for use as sail logos also. Doug has also added to his collection (currently 21, 235, 27, 275, 285, 31, 325 and 335) an original "seal" logo taken from the John Baker Seal 22 brochure. Doug hopes to be able to offer soon a logo laser cutting service using Bainbridge UV resistant Insignia sticky cloth. Prices for this are to be advised.

http://www.grapefruitgraphics.co.uk/  01489 570055 based in Whiteley, Hampshire to print the logos for you.

Grapefruit prices are on request, depending on complexity and size, but Grapefruit will also apply the logos to your new sail for an additional cost if you require this. The Parker logos, especially 325 etc. may be tricky to align and get right. I have sized my logos to be approximately 17ins tall and I am also having Grapefruit apply mine to the sail as this was easier for me.

Additionally, you can have them printed by Grapefruit and then apply them to your new or old sail yourself. The Bainbridge colour range is wide - or Grapefruit will print in a bespoke colour of your choosing, but these colours are likely to be less UV colour resistant. If you decide to do this, please remember, and according to the RYA, that the starboard side lettering and numbers must be higher up the sail than on the port side.

Attached is a proposed PDF outline of my new sail.

Hope this is a help for anyone seeking logos!

Stuart

Pegasus 325/37

  Parker 325 - 37 - Pegasus sail design Nov 2016.pdf (1,047kb) downloaded 92 time(s).Stuart