Sailmaker's Apprentice

This is a very good resource. The language is a little old fashioned like the following quote from the introduction: “Nor will I risk offending you with pusillanimous platitudes, the jargon of the overbearing traditionalist.” Cracked me up! But, the content is excellent. I can not wait to order my tools so I can practice my stitches. I am an accomplished seamstress but this is going to be challenging!

Great book. Lots of info. More than I can handle but it is a joy to read.. Great book for sail making even if you aren't gonna make sails.

I initially bought the kindle edition of this book, but I had problems viewing all the charts and diagrams, but the information was great, so I purchased a used hard copy from Amazon.It is definitely a worth while addition for any sailor who wants to increase his or her self reliance. A lot of reviews have mentioned that the book does not reflect modern sail making methods, and that may be true, however, there is a great deal in there that is still valid, and the sections on how sails work, and sail shaping is valuable information not only for the sail maker, but for the sailor. I would recommend this for any sailing enthusiast, and certainly for a sailor who desires to be more self sufficient.

This book is amazing, and covers so much ground. My only complaint is that the kindle version is completely riddled with typos, to the extent that some sentences are unclear. As this is a pretty technical book I don’t want to miss any details! I’ll likely try to get my money back for the kindle version and order the real thing.

This book has everything a cruising sailor needs to know for doing his own canvas work, and then some. There is a good balance in the treatment of traditional and modern techniques and materials, although high-tech stuff is almost completely omitted. The illustrations are amazing and gorgeous, and the text is a pleasure to read. Along with Bowditch and "Ar Vag" (by Bernard Cadoret et al), this is one of the most prized treasures of my shipboard library. I only wish it were available in hardcover.

It's a great book full of stories and instructions for projects in the style of 19th century sailors. I was inspired to buy the requisite tools and materials, and plan to start a project soon.

A great book for anyone with an interest in traditional maritime skills and wooden boats. It is written in a lively style with plenty of excellent drawings to illustrate points. It covers just about everything you need to know for small boat rigging and sailmaking. There is an excellent index at the back of the book as well as lists of resources and suppliers. Paired with The Arts of the Sailor by H.G. Smith, there is everything you need to know about rigging, canvasing and sailing traditional wooden boats.

This book is a rather well written, albeit long, how to book for sailors. It teaches the reader everything from proper sail design and finishing to how the sail really works. This book is one of two books that the do-it-yourself sailor should own. This book is an easy read an anyone with enough gumption would be able to successfully stitch together a long lasting sail.That does not mean the the book is only for those who sail. I read this book because I wanted to know how sails were built, not because I had an interest in constructing a sail. Read it, you will so much the wiser for it.

What a valuable book this is for anyone interested in sailing and sails. It is very informative, clear and readable. From the design of sails and how they were devised using for example how the shape of birds' wings make them fly to all the materials and methods used for top class sail making. How the early apprentices learned their trade by making their own bag using all the basic techniques of sailmaking and repair and going on to choose materials and design your own sails. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in nauticalia.

This is 'the' standard text for the aspiring sail maker. I use this as a reference for construction techniques and free online software for the actual panel design. The results have pleasantly surprised me - and it's fun and most satisfying too.

(Almost) everything you need is here. Do not rush your reading though: it's full of technical data and facts and it's worth consulting it every time it's needed.

Very concise and informative

Loads of the required information