Sail Making & Technical Design Of Sails


Sail Performance: Techniques to Maximise Sail Power

This is THE TEXT to reference when you want to know anything about how sails perform and how to design them. Marchaj did extensive wind tunnel testing to scientifically evaluate sail shapes. Sail Performance is based on his original book: Sailing Theory & Practice.


100 Small Boat Rigs

After you read Sail Performance and understand how to shape sails to perform well you should checkout this book. There are 100 different sail configurations listed along with descriptions about their history what are the good parts and what are the compromises. I heard there was going to be an updated called 103 Small Boat Rigs (or 104?) but don't know if that materialized or not.


Sailmaker's Apprentice

This is a complete book about how to make just about any type of sail and goes into extensive detail about how to sew & rig them properly. Lots of pictures and drawings covering both modern sails and traditional ones. The author is interesting he is listed on the book as Emiliano Marino but also is a frequent contributor to sailboat magazines and publishes under the name Raven The Sail Doctor. In his columns he answers questions from readers and goes indepth to answer the question and always continue further to give a historical reference of how it got there and expands to cover surrounding issues to help support the answers. Needless to say I really respect this author who knows his stuff.


The Complete Rigger's Apprentice: Tools and Techniques for Modern and Traditional Rigging
The Art and Science of Sails: A Guide to Modern Materials, Construction, Aerodynamics, Upkeep, and Use
Canvaswork and Sail Repair
Understanding Rigs and Rigging
The Marlinspike Sailor
Aero-Hydrodynamics and the Performance of Sailing Yachts: The Science Behind Sailboats and Their Design
The Nature of Boats: Insights and Esoterica for the Nautically Obsessed
The Physics of Sailing Explained
Understanding Boat Design
How to Design a Boat
Sail Trim: Theory and Practice
The Why Book of Sailing
Sails for the Home Boat Builder
The Working Guide to Traditional Small-Boat Sails




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