SAILMAKERS SINCE 1946
Global experience.
Local knowledge.
Founded in 1946 as Ulmer Sails, UK Sailmakers is one of the world’s most established groups of sailmakers — more than 40 lofts and sales representatives, each owned by the sailors who work in it.
WHO WE ARE
Owned by the sailmakers inside it.
Every UK Sailmakers loft is locally owned by sailors and sailmakers, so it keeps the personal touch and the quick, high-quality service of a neighbourhood loft. Behind each one stands the group: shared sail designs, construction details, boat data and racing experience from lofts on five continents. Whenever a customer has a question, every loft can draw on the knowledge of a large number of well-informed sailmakers.
Since 2013 the company that owns the UK Sailmakers name, trademarks and proprietary design software has belonged to a large group of the loft owners themselves. It is a business model unique in sailmaking: the lofts are partners in the brand, profits are reinvested to strengthen it, and the group keeps attracting new lofts in the major sailing centres of the world.
Our cruising and racing sails are built with the most advanced design technologies and materials while keeping to a long-standing commitment to sustainable practices. Above all, every member of the group stresses the same thing: helping sailors choose the right sail for their needs, and then looking after it for its whole life.
OUR HISTORY
From a single loft on City Island to a worldwide group.
In its first three decades Ulmer Sails played a major role in one-design and ocean racing and in several 12 Metre America’s Cup campaigns, developing design technology and manufacturing techniques as it went. The names on the door have changed a few times since; the approach has not.
- 1946
Charles “Buster” Ulmer opens Charles Ulmer, Inc. on City Island, New York. Within a few years Ulmer Sails dominates the Star class and other one-designs of the day: 5.5 Metres, Snipes, Lightnings and Comets.
- 1964
The company’s America’s Cup involvement begins, continuing through 12 Metre campaigns with COURAGEOUS and DEFENDER and, decades later, the China Team challenge.
- 1968
Butch Ulmer leaves the U.S. Navy and takes over the family business from his father.
- Early 1970s
UK perfects radial-head spinnaker construction and becomes known as the place to buy spinnakers. Unable to build them fast enough, the loft branches out into independently owned licensed lofts — the model the group still runs on today.
- 1980s
Texas loft owner John Kolius becomes a partner and the company sails as Ulmer/Kolius. When he leaves sailmaking the logo stays and the name is shortened to UK Sailmakers in 1987.
- 1984
Tape-Drive® is introduced: the first sail construction to carry loads on continuous, corner-to-corner fibre tapes. It leads directly to today’s X-Drive® and Titanium® sails.
- Early 1990s
America’s Cup sail designer Jack Kleene writes the group’s AccuCut design software, so a sailor can buy the same fast sail from any UK loft.
- 2005
UK Sailmakers merges with the Halsey-Lidgard group and trades for a time as UK-Halsey. Immediately afterwards the group builds the sails for China Team’s 2007 America’s Cup challenge, coordinated by Sylvain Barrielle of UK San Francisco. When Andy Halsey leaves sailmaking the name returns to UK Sailmakers.
- 2012
Titanium® BLUE, the first fully recyclable membrane sail, is launched; Power Sails® with built-in solar film follow in 2014 and carry Conrad Colman around the world in the Vendée Globe without fossil fuels.
- 2013
Butch sells UK Sailmakers International — the company that owns the name, trademarks and design software — to a large group of the loft owners themselves.
- 2024
Butch Ulmer is inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
- Today
More than 40 locally owned lofts and sales representatives on five continents, sharing designs, construction details and racing experience across the whole group.
THE “U” IN UK
Butch Ulmer.
Charles “Butch” Ulmer was seven when his father opened the loft. After the U.S. Naval Academy — where he won the McMillen Cup — and service as a naval officer, he took over the business in 1968 and grew it from one loft on City Island into the UK Sailmakers group. Along the way he saw cotton sails give way to synthetics, Kevlar and carbon; brought in punch-card computer design and one of sailmaking’s first computerised cloth cutters; developed the radial-head spinnaker; and shepherded Tape-Drive, the first loadpath sail construction, into the world.
On the water his career spans more than 60 years, from 12-foot dinghies to 84-foot ocean racers: national championships in several one-design classes, the 1964 Finn Olympic Trials, eighteen Newport Bermuda Races (the first in 1958 on an engine-less Naval Academy yawl), a transatlantic, the Fastnet, Buenos Aires to Rio and seven Marblehead to Halifax races. A past commodore of the Storm Trysail Club and a race officer for over thirty years, he helped create the Safety-at-Sea seminars and was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2024.
He is equally known for playing by the rules and being fair, on the water and in business. Competitors, suppliers and customers have all had a fair shake from Butch, and he set that tone for the whole group. Even after selling the company, he still turns up at the New York loft with sail orders.
SUSTAINABILITY
Preserving the water we work on.
With passionate sailors at the helm of every loft, preserving the marine environment we live, work and play in comes naturally. UK Sailmakers introduced the first fully recyclable membrane sail, Titanium® BLUE, in 2012, and solar-film Power Sails® in 2014. Those projects were ahead of the market, but they shaped how the group thinks about the ecological side of sailmaking.
The biggest lever is keeping sails in use. Across the group we repair thousands of sails and covers every year; regular service can stretch a sail’s life to ten or even twenty years, halving the resources needed to replace it.
- Recycled and bio-based cloth. Laminate and X-Drive® sails with 100% recycled film and taffeta, Titanium® with recycled taffeta, and recycled-polyester Dacron at selected lofts, all without giving up durability.
- Less energy, less waste. Modern low-energy machinery and LED lighting; off-cuts turned into gear bags; used sails recycled into community art and science projects.
- Lighter transport. Recycled-paper cartons, consolidated shipments and rail or sea freight wherever possible, with carbon offsetting for essential air travel.
- Greener lofts. Many lofts already source renewable electricity, plan routes for fuel efficiency and run electric vehicles; the aim is to make that the norm across the group.
SAIL WITH CONFIDENCE
Find the sailmakers nearest you.
Every loft is run by people who sail your waters. Call, email, or walk in.