Bill,

what you say is correct. I just want to tell you how we have solved the issues you mention.

There is one open-source saildesign CAD package available. It's not as advanced as other commercial solutions (check Autometrix's website for a demo of their advanced design package), but it get the job done. Sails are not rocket science, but to build great sails, you need to know what you are doing (not that I know it all..).

Sailcut can output manual cut sheets. With a large right angle, and a couple of measuring tapes, you can plot panels for a cross-cut sail quite well (we have). For a radial-cut sail, I talk with a sailmaker and buy the panels cut and marked from him. (I would definately go for a tri-radial cut in a spi). Sailcut can output DXF files, most cutting software can import.

For finishing off sails, we have used nylon webbing instead of stainless eyes. For the head, we used a standard stainless Sailrite eye installed with a hammer. Instead of letting this eye take all the load, we used a small shackle secured trough some webbing. The webbing distributes loads better than eyes, so you dont need to reinforce all corners as much.

We put togheter our sails in my living room. Will use the garage the next time I hope, as I have got the 'project' car out of it. Working on one part of the sail, and rolling it up as you go solve most space issues.

This picture show my 1.95m crew, Frode, aligning two panels for a crosscut mainsail in my living room. In the background you can see the bookshelf with my sailing literature and the cats basket. Not much room, but no problem either.




But you are right Bill, this is not for everybody. It demands a lot of work, initative, creativity and dedication. But it's not rocket science either.