Square-rigged sailing ship under full sail at sea

Loft on site · Riggers up the mast

Sail Repair and Standing Rigging, Under One Roof

A torn sail and a tired rig are usually connected: chafe from a spreader end, a misaligned furler, a shroud that has stretched and let the mast fall out of column. We run a sail loft and a rigging shop in the same building, so a boat can have its mainsail recut, its furling gear stripped and its standing rigging replaced in one lift-out rather than three visits to three companies. Rig inspections come with a written report and photographs of every terminal, not a verbal opinion at the pontoon.

Loft & Rig Services Book an Inspection

About us

A Sailmaker and a Rigger Who Share a Workshop

The business is two trades that belong together and are almost always separated. Our sailmaker served an apprenticeship in a racing loft and spent years cutting and recutting cruising wardrobes; our rigger came from a spar manufacturer and has replaced standing rigging on everything from a nine-metre cruiser to a seventy-metre classic. Working in the same building means that when a sail comes in with chafe on the leech, the rigger walks over, looks at the spreader tips and fixes the cause rather than leaving the sailmaker to patch the symptom every spring.

Inspection is the heart of the rigging side. A standing rig is a system of parts that all fail differently: wire fatigues inside the swage where nothing can be seen, rod cracks at the head, toggles wear oval, tangs crack at the pin, chainplates corrode where they pass through the deck. We inspect every one of them with the mast down or aloft, dye-penetrant test where warranted, photograph everything and issue a written report with a clear category for each item — sound, monitor, replace now.

The loft handles everything from a blown seam to a new suit. Sails are washed, dried and inspected on a full-size floor rather than assessed rolled up on a pontoon, and repairs are made with matched cloth, correct thread weight and reinforcement that anticipates where the next load will fall. We also service and store sails over winter, which is when most of the loft's work is done and when owners get the honest conversation about whether a fifteen-year-old genoa is worth another repair.

Standing rigging and ratlines of a traditional tall ship

Forest of masts in a harbour against a clear sky

Advantages

Why Owners Come Back Every Season

Six things that matter when the wind is up and there is nobody to help.

The Cause, Not the Symptom

A sail that tears in the same place every year is telling you something about the rig. Because the loft and the rigging shop are the same company, every repair is looked at with that question in mind: is this chafe from a spreader tip that needs taping, a lazy jack lying against the leech, a spinnaker pole end, a misaligned furler drum or simply a sail that has stretched beyond its shape. Owners are told what caused the damage and what it will cost to stop it recurring, which is usually a fraction of the annual repair bill.

Written Rig Reports With Photographs

Every inspection produces a document: each terminal, tang, toggle, spreader end, chainplate, halyard sheave and furler component listed, photographed and categorised as sound, monitor or replace, with an estimated remaining life where that can be judged. Insurers and buyers accept the report as it stands, and owners can plan expenditure over two or three seasons rather than being handed a single alarming number. Where we recommend replacement we explain what we saw rather than citing an age rule.

Repairs Made to Last a Season

Sails are washed, dried and laid out full size before anything is cut, so the whole panel is assessed rather than the visible hole. Cloth is matched in weight and finish, thread is chosen for the load rather than for what is on the machine, and patches are shaped and staggered so the stress does not concentrate along a new stitch line. UV strips, batten pockets, headboards, clew rings and reef points are checked while the sail is on the floor, which is why most of our repairs come back years later rather than in August.

Rig Tuning That Is Measured

After any rigging work the mast is tuned with a gauge rather than by feel: shroud tensions set to a percentage of breaking load appropriate to the boat, mast straight in column athwartships, rake and prebend set for the sail wardrobe, and the numbers recorded so they can be reproduced next season. Owners receive the settings on a card for the chart table. A correctly tuned rig loads the sails evenly, points higher and stops the slow damage that comes from a mast working in a seaway.

Work Aloft Done Safely

Our riggers work from their own equipment with independent backup, use a hoist system rather than a single halyard, and never go up a mast on gear they have not inspected themselves. Inspections aloft are done afloat where a lift-out is not justified, with photographs taken at every fitting so the owner sees what the rigger saw. For larger work the mast comes out, which is faster, safer and usually cheaper than a week of climbing, and we arrange the crane and the transport as part of the job.

Honest About What Is Not Worth Repairing

A cruising mainsail has a finite life, and beyond a certain point every repair simply moves the next tear a metre along the leech. We test cloth strength, look at the shape on the floor and say plainly when a sail is finished, what a season of patching would cost against a new one, and how much life a recut might realistically add. The same applies to rigging: we have talked as many owners out of premature replacement as into overdue replacement, and we put both recommendations in writing.

Services

What the Loft and Shop Do

Sail repair and recuts, new sails, rig inspection, wire and rod replacement, furlers and winter storage.

Sail Repair and Servicing

Washing, drying, full-floor inspection and repair of tears, blown seams, chafe damage, batten pockets, headboards, clew and tack rings, reef points, UV strips and sacrificial covers. Every sail leaves with a written note of what was found and what to watch. Collection and delivery from local marinas is included, and urgent repairs for boats mid-passage are taken the same day whenever the loft floor can be cleared.

Recuts and New Sails

Recutting of stretched cruising sails to restore draft position and leech tension, conversion of hanked headsails for furling, addition of reef points and vertical battens, and new sails made to measurements taken on the boat rather than from a design database. We measure the rig ourselves, discuss how the boat is actually used, and specify cloth accordingly rather than selling the most expensive laminate to a couple who cruise in July.

Rig Inspections and Surveys

Aloft or with the mast down, covering every terminal, tang, toggle, clevis pin, spreader root and tip, chainplate, deck seal, halyard sheave, furler and running backstay, with dye-penetrant testing where warranted. The report categorises each item, includes photographs and gives an estimated remaining life. Pre-purchase rig surveys are carried out independently of the sale, and insurers accept our reports for policy renewal.

Standing Rigging Replacement

Wire, rod and dyneema standing rigging measured, made and fitted, with swaging done in our own shop and every terminal batch-recorded. Mast unstepping, transport, refit and stepping are handled as one job including crane booking. Chainplates are inspected, refinished or replaced, deck seals renewed, and the rig tuned and measured on completion with the settings supplied on a card. Turnaround for a standard cruising rig is normally five working days.

Furlers, Running Rigging and Deck Gear

Headsail and in-mast furler service, bearing replacement and drum overhaul, foil repair and alignment, plus running rigging spliced and made to length in modern low-stretch lines with the correct covers for clutches and winches. Blocks, cars, tracks, clutches and winches are stripped, serviced and re-bedded. Halyard chafe points are traced properly rather than solved by replacing the rope every second season.

Winter Storage and Care Plans

Sails collected in autumn, washed, repaired, inspected and stored in a dry, dark, rodent-proof loft over winter, then delivered back and bent on before launch. Rig care plans combine an annual inspection, a mid-life review and a planned replacement year so that a five-figure job never arrives unexpectedly. Both services are priced per boat for the season, and storage costs less than most owners spend on repairing damp-damaged sails.

Contacts

Inspections, Repairs and Quotes

Tell us the boat, the rig type, the age of the standing rigging and what the sails have been doing, and we will advise what needs inspecting now and what can wait. Photographs of a tear or a terminal usually let us quote before seeing the boat.

Pre-purchase surveys, new sails, furler servicing and winter storage are booked through the same office.

Loft22 Rue Crébillon, 44000 Nantes, France

Phone+33 2 40 89 34 16

Emailshroudlinesail@live.com

OpeningMonday–Friday 08:00–18:00, Saturday 09:00–13:00