Sailing as Fashion: Martha Stewart Gives Props to North Fork Sailmaker

Greenport, Long Island's, Wm. J. Mills & Co. has crafted sails and canvas products since 1880. A Scottish immigrant, Mills moved from Northport on the Long Island Sound to Patchogue, on the South Shore, and then to Greenport, a very busy port at the time, which fed New York City's demand for fish and catered to a larger shipping business.

Today, the company still creates a small number of sails, but it's core business comes from custom canvas awnings and other canvas products, which it sells mainly to local customers. However, Wm. J. Mills & Co. has an international reputation for its Boston Whaler canvas accessories. The company is also a growing reputation among the countries diva's of design for its canvas bags.

In the December issue of Blueprint, which is published by Martha Stewart Omnimedia,(and has ceased publication as of this post) it lists the Wm. J. Mills flight bags in the holiday gift guide. The bags, which are made of the weather-resistant marine canvas, used in their awnings, come with a lifetime warranty. Perhaps its both the quality and style the has Martha Hooked.

Sail Makers Makin' Sails

In the mid-to-late 1800s, when New York's ports were the world's busiest, a number shipbuilders, sail makers and other nautical tradesman in Manhattan and Brooklyn thrived. There is physical evidence of the nautical trade at 164-168 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, where Two Trees Realty restored the facade of an old sail loft, while converting it to luxury apartments. While those days are long gone, it doesn't mean that you still can't find a skilled pro who knows how to craft a sail in New York City.

In City Island, the sail making tradition is alive and kicking at Doyle Ploch Sails. In fact they make some of the "fastest" and most advanced sails around. And the lofts Owner, Mark Ploch, is not only known for his ability to craft a fine piece of canvas (or Kevlar or cuben fiber), but he's also one of the country's best sailors, and one who recently dominated the Beneteau 36.7 class. We recently took a trip out to Doyle Ploch City Island to see that the old business of sail making is still alive and well. From the look of all of the bags of sails around the loft, it looked as Mr. Ploch's business is thriving.

For those of you who've never been in a sail loft, its very similar to any factory where sewn goods are made, with one major difference: the finished goods are huge and must be sewn differently in order to accommodate for the size. How Doyle Ploch does this is they have a hole, or a pit, cut into the floor of the loft that accommodates one industrial sewing machine and its operator. This is done to keep the sail cloth flat and make it easier to sew (you can see the sewing pit in the photo below).
Not only do sail makers craft sails, sail covers an other canvas goods, a good sail maker will also go out with a boat owner to help tune his rig and establish sail trim guidelines, which allows a racing crew to concentrate on tactics and speed. Some, like Doyle Ploch also sell accessories, such as attire, gloves and shoes.

We've put some photos of the loft below. More shots can be seen at Sail Brooklyn's Flickr Page