Mariner’s Web

Open Source and Sail Design Software

In the software business many companies have made their fortune in software development and sales. With the increased competition from the worldwide base of competent programmers, the concept of “open source” software has grown astronomically. Take the OpenOffice product, which is an office suite application that can be freely downloaded in place of purchasing an over-priced word program which used to be the defacto standard. Open Source software licensing provides a way for the common person to obtain free software, implementing the concept that people all across the world can (and will) contribute human resources to the development of a product to make it more viable and robust over time – and the concept works! Talk about world unification!

Sail design software is an extraordinarily expensive proposition for the average sailmaker to be able to purchase for use in the loft. It is a tough case for the small businessman to justify while trying to eek out a living. It is vital that your sail loft be able to utilize CAD (computer aided design/development) in sail design, as opposed to the inexact science of lofting a sail on the floor using the sailmakers eye technique of old, where each sail is a one-off. CAD development is an exact science that has taken over as a modern architectural tool. This applies to sail design in a big way, where it is important to be able to reproduce a design and provide the best quality product for the end user. I have found an open source sail design product that seems to provide many of basic feature functions for sail design. It is Sailcut CAD® which is freely distributed under the GNU General Public License. It was developed in the 70’s by a scientist named Robert Laine and has continued to be enhanced over time. The website is a wiki server which provides product documentation and a free download. For myself I am using it in a new design prototype and as always, feel free to contact Red Sky Sails to discuss your sailmaking needs. And for the do-it-yourself sailor, designer, or programmer, download the software yourself. It just may lead us on the path to world peace.