Hi Team,

Your sails brought us safe and in comfort to Hawaii, we used the Light Air Main and Spinnaker combo for many hundreds of miles. All the sails you Ladies made were behaving great and setting well; I was impressed as was Bryan, who has a lot more experience. Loved the trysail too, sturdy, no flapping, and able to put away a beating without complaining.

Thank you again,

Gunnar

Carol and PT Sails team,

I managed to get the boat out this weekend. The sails were great. Together the new jib and main provided much more power then I had experienced in the past and I was able to point much closer into the wind.

It was nice not to have to go to the bow and change jibs as the wind picked up.

I think the roller furling Jib will keep me away from powerboats for a couple more years.

Tom Murdoch

Carol and PT Sails team,

Seeing the photo of Mike White’s new sails reminds me that I owe you some news about the wonderful new main you built for PickPocket last year. Here are two photos taken last summer on one of the first outings with the new main on a light air day – conditions that speak to one of the strengths of the Eel. It was no surprise, but nevertheless gratifying, to discover that the new sail fits the vessel beautifully – a testament to the care and concern that you guys showed in the design and construction. But that wasn’t a surprise; the same thing happened when you built us a new jib a few years before. Maybe next year it’ll be a new mizzen.

Paul Grun

Carol & Crew,

I finally got to try out the new drifter that you made for Panope. You may recall from my sea trials of 2012 that with the two working sails, she sailed with a bit too much weather helm. You suggested that a larger, light air sail would be great for light winds and would help balance the rig a bit better. As I raised the drifter for the first time yesterday (6 to 8 knots of wind), and while it was still luffing, A bow wave suddenly appeared and started frothing about. I looked back to my father (who was at the helm) to see what was going on. He shrugged in confusion and said it was like the engine got turned on. The boat just leaped forward.

We also experimented with flying the drifter and the working jib simultaneously. Working jib low and hanked to the fore stay. Drifter hanked to the “fall” of an Amsteel halyard and set all the way to the mast head (like a Yankee, I guess). Boat made 6 knots on a close reach in about 10 knots of wind. Helm remained light, there was very little weather helm and Panope stood upright with a nice dry side deck. It was Amazing. Even when the wind died to next to nothing, the boat kept moving at a couple knots with a completely responsive helm. Panope has never sailed like this.

Thank you so much creating such a perfect solution for Panope’s mediocre light air sailing performance.

Steve Goodwin

We just arrived in Curacao and came across the CW article about you, published in June 2012. Alvah Simon did a wonderful job of describing you and the legacy of PT Sails. It was a real delight to learn more of your history and to hear updates on you, Grayson and Nicki.

We have known you since you made several of our sails for our HC33 “Moulin Rouge” in 1986. They served us well on our 4 1/2 year trip from Bainbridge Is. to Turkey. With the sails you made us for our current boat “Baraka”, we have continued to be one of your biggest fans with now over 60,000 safe miles using sails from Hasse/PT Sails.

We are currently in Curacao. We plan to leave “Baraka” in Panama and fly home to Seattle for Aug-Oct, before returning to finish our circumnavigation in early 2014.

Your devoted customers,

Dave and Jan

I thought you might like to see our sails actually up and flying. This picture was taken while sailing north in the Sea of Cortez with about 3.5 knots of wind at about 60 degrees off the bow. We were making nearly 3 knots. Another boat snapped the photo as they motored by, thinking that there wasn’t enough wind to sail. They were quite impressed.

Paul

Hi, Carol and Crew,

I raced on Donn and Kerry’s Baba 35 BRIGADOON this weekend. It was the annual Race Your House race for live-aboards. I expected a dozen boats. We had a fleet of over 50 boats. We had conditions ranging from very light air to steady 25 knots and better in the gusts. The good news is we came 2nd in our class. We beat a lot of much newer and more modern fin keel boats boat for boat.

The other good news is your sails were fabulous. I don’t recall every having seen better and I have see a lot, really a lot. The genny broke perfectly and held its shape spot on through the conditions. We pushed the boat very hard and were rail down much of the time going to weather. I know,,,but the boat seemed to like it. The loose footed main was a peach. We bladed it out with lots of outhaul and vang and really made no attempt at all to depower it when it blew. Racing the boat hard, the sails were never an issue.

I think you did a great job with those sails.

Bob Perry Robert – H. Perry Yacht Designer LLC

Carol and PT Sails team,

Southern Cross is the first of her design (Dickerson 36 Ketch) and is the last wooden boat built by Dickerson Boatbuilders in Trappe, MD.

Your sails are holding up very well and have given us use from Prince Edward Island Canada to Cuba, the Bahamas and points in between. The drifter is beautiful, we love showing it off. Also have earned 2 first in class trophies in the annual Dickerson Regattas. Didn’t know you were making racing sails, huh? Thanks so much.

Cheers!

Don & D Wogaman

Hi there,

Just felt like sending a ‘thank you’ for building such great sails. Here’s a photo from a few days ago as SKYE sails along in Admiralty Inlet, with the one year old staysail, 4 year old main and 20+ (?) year old Yankee jib. (The latter is still looking good and going strong, with some new hanks sewn on.)

Best regards,

Jim Jones

Carol & Crew,

The sails are so beautiful, spectacular when lit up by full sun. I think of you all each time I’m trimmed out, appreciating all the care and expertise that went into their fabrication. Could not be any more secure than with those sails. Tested them in 25-35 knot winds with 6-8′ waves while crossing the Straits to Port Angeles last year-the boat and sails were a dream-what fun that was looking up at cresting breakers while dropping into the troughs.

Thanks to you and all of your crew for the beautiful sails, that turn many a head!

Bob Major – Pacific Seacraft Crealock 37

Hi Carol,

We thought you might like an update on the sails you made for us. After almost seven years and over 23,000 miles, they are still in great condition and taking us wherever we want to go. The mainsail has been set the longest and still retains its beautiful shape. During one passage it was set for 49 straight days during light and heavy weather, tropical sun and North Western rain and fog. The gorgeous red nylon drifter you made for us seems still as bright as when you made it. Though all are in need of a good cleaning, none has ever required repair. Given the abuse they’ve endured through light air and gale, this is truly a testament to the skill and materials used by you and the marvelous sailmakers at your loft.

Thank you again,

Your devoted customers,

Dave and Rhonda Mancini

We were finally able to take some pictures of our new sails. One of these days we will have to take some high quality pictures though. We absolutely love them, and receive glowing comments all the time about how nice they look. Again, please give a big thanks to your whole crew.

Brian and Marya

The reason we have chosen to have Carol Hasse’s loft to supply our sails for the past 270,000 miles (the equivalent of TEN world circumnavigations) and 30 years is because we haven’t found better, longer-lasting, more innovative sails anywhere in the world. We also highly recommend their Hands On Sail Repair Weekend Seminars which, if you’re interested in self-sufficiency while cruising are unparalleled anywhere.

John Neal

We keep hearing stories here in French Polynesia of boats blowing out sails, some which were as new as two years old! I’m glad we don’t have to worry about that with our trusty Hasse & Company sails! This photo of our drifter was taken on our Pacific crossing.

Jim Heumann

Hi, Carol and Crew,

Here is Luckness on day 8 of my passage from Hawaii to Neah Bay, July 21st, 2012. Around 37° 30’N, 163° 45′ W – far, far from land. I’m flying my spindrifter in light wind, getting through the north Pacific high. Before leaving Seattle a year ago, I picked up a full suit of Hasse sails. Here’s a big thanks to everyone at Hasse & Company – you rock!

Craig McPheeters

With the replacement of a tired, off-brand mainsail this spring, EOS now sports a full set of fore and aft Port Townsend Sails. The previous owner had purchased the genoa and staysail some 20 years ago from PTS and they provided me with a complete review of the condition of the sails, free of charge. Following the review, PTS completed replacement of the UV cover and minor repairs to the genoa. That is all that was needed. Now the new main, repaired genoa, and staysail all exhibit the same great workmanship and attention to detail and will provide years of sailing.  I am confident the sails will take me anywhere I dare to go.

I've been a client of Port Townsend Sails for many years and have purchased a total of seven sails from the loft. These sails give flight to the cruising dream, carrying my friends and me up the Inside Passage and down the coast to Mexico. The Ericson 38, Priya, has her main, genoa, #3 jib, drifter, and spindrifter from the loft, and the Nordic Folkboat, Chloe, has a main, genoa, and spindrifter. Chloe had still-serviceable 30+ year old Hasse & Petrich sails when I purchased her in 2019, and got her new main and genoa in 2024. Priya's main and genoa are more than 15 years old, including four years in the tropics. Her spindrifter is more than ten years old. They're all still going strong. The sails are extremely durable and of the highest quality. I especially appreciate the handwork, which is both beautiful and stout. The reinforcements at the corners and load points are strong, and the attention to detail is flawless. I appreciate PTS’s expert, collaborative approach to specifying the sails, taking into account the boat's characteristics and the captain's sailing style. I've also had great experience with service, including reconditioning Priya's main and genoa after the first ten years. All in all, it's a great relationship.

My wife and I have been planning to sail from Seattle down the coast to Mexico on our Hallberg-Rassy 42F Capricorn and thereafter lose ourselves in the Pacific islands. As such, we were looking for a robust set of long-lived cruising sails to fit our program and be possible to repair in the field. I was very impressed with the sailmaking philosophy at Port Townsend Sails, from the consultative design and wardrobe planning, the customization of each sail to our boat, and the close work with our riggers, their control of the process from design to cutting to assembly, and the many hand-crafted details. Even after delivery of our sails, we received assistance with bending each sail onto the boat and found the loft to be very responsive to our several queries as we started enjoying our new sails out cruising. At the time of writing, we have made it as far as San Francisco and thus far the sails have performed extremely well and have been a joy to use at all points of sail as well as easy to reef and stow. Altogether we are extremely happy with our sails and look forward to a long-term relationship with PTS.

Just wanted to share this photo of Aurora, wing on wing under headsails. Yesterday was the first opportunity for me to set the sails this way and, other than the trial and error of setting it up, it worked very well. We didn’t have a lot of wind but it performed much better than a broad reach under main and genny. Given the sea state it would work better with two poles but we found a point of sail where the boat stabilized and the unpoled sail stayed full. I am delighted with the performance of all the sails under the various conditions I have encountered.

When I purchased my boat in 2017, it came with Hasse sails: a well used but still serviceable main and genoa. Built, I believe, in 2002 and a hank-on drifter that had never been out of the bag. 

I wanted to travel with my 1982 Tartan 37 to Glacier Bay, Hawaii, and Mexico. After the Covid shutdown of Canada, I went south, then west, sailing from Stuart Island in the San Juan Islands to Ventura, California, then on to Hilo, Hawaii (Big Island), Maui, Lanai, Oahu, and back to Port Townsend. All on my 20-year-old Hasse sails.

When it was time to get new sails there was no doubt in my mind that I would return to Port Townsend Sails. I also had to recut the drifter to run on a Code Zero furler. 

This summer my journey to the ice was completed with stops in Princess Louisa, Desolation, Ketchikan, Wrangel, Petersburg, Juneau, Hoonah, and finally GBNP. But that wasn’t the end. I sailed (solo) outside of Chichagof and Baranof Islands, Sitka, and Haida Gwaii before heading for home.

I was proud to fly my new(er) PTS sails and they proved to be the reliable and sturdy performers that I have relied on for seven years now.

Here’s to another 20 years of sailing! (I’m only 69 and the boat is only 43.)

I am very happy with the new sails. This summer, I sailed more than 1,500 miles in a wide variety of wind conditions, from strong winds to calm seas. The different sails perform very well in all conditions. It always makes me happy to see how well the sails are positioned and how they push the ship forward. I wish Port Townsend Sails all the best—you deserve it.