Ullman Sails

Summary: Ullman Sails believes that you must be an expert sailor in order to be an expert sailmaker. The founder and many other personnel have made names for themselves in sailboat racing. You may find yourself talking with a world champion, or an Olympic medalist, when you call.

Founded in: 1968

History Highlights: Founded by David Ullman, a renowned competitive sailor. To take just one of his many honors, Ullman was named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 1996.

Number of locations worldwide: 37, primarily in the U.S., Europe, and Australia

Known For: Expert sailors, approachable and available

Tech Note: FiberPath is Ullman's proprietary system for producing loadpath or laminate sails.

We heard from Kelly Buchan, spokesperson for Ullman Sails International. Here are some of the thoughts Kelly shared with us:

On sailing, sailmaking, and plans for the future:

"There have been signs in different sailing markets around the world that sailing, and as a direct result, sailmaking are starting to grow again. The Australian sailing season recently commenced with momentum. And here in the United States, the Annapolis Boat Show last month was buzzing. We hope that these are the first signs of growth in the industry that will continue through the next few years.

"Our focus will always be centered on customer service and quality production. In regards to technology, we’re continuously working to find that delicate point between the lightest sail with a great performance life. Thus, we are always tweaking our designs and development programs to adjust to the latest materials or new rules in handicap and one design racing.

"We’re also setting our sights on working closely with local fleets and yacht clubs to help promote and maintain the sport of sailing."

On what sets Ullman apart:

"Customer service. The Ullman Sails group has over 40 years of experience, plus both design and production teams that are working with state-of-the-art materials and tools. But you need a way to connect customers to this expertise. We work tirelessly to understand the needs of each of our customers, answering questions and listening to ideas, to make sure they get the best sails possible.

"We’re passionate about sailing fast. Not only are we constantly in the thick of innovative design and development for sails, but we like to go fast ourselves. Many of the members of our group sail in some of top skiff, sport boat and grand prix fleets in the world. We’re constantly working with our customers to figure out how to get a few more knots out of the boat and the sails."

Proprietary Technology:

"Our custom FiberPath sails use the latest in load path technology to give customers a lightweight sail with optimized sail shape. Essentially, our designers align fibers along the primary loads of a sail and then build in multiple fiber patterns to address secondary loads. The sails undergo double-sided lamination, special coating and then cure in high temperature ovens.

"While this is a common production method on the market, what sets FiberPath sails apart is our design team. Our designers, headed by Ullman Sails President David Ullman, understand how to address loads in the sail with fiber selection and layout. Combine that with years of experience designing fast sail shape and we produce fast race sails optimized with the latest in production technology."

Key Take-Aways:

"Ullman Sails is a collection of individually-owned lofts located worldwide, yet we focus on collaborating and sharing our expertise within the group.

"So you get an Italian designer who specializes in designing high-performance multihull and sport boat sails for Olympians and World Champions, who works with an Australian big-boat sail designer on a grand prix Mills 41 project. It’s exciting to get a blend of all the aspects of sailmaking – design, testing, development, innovation, detailed production – rolled into different types of sailing!"