Have You Recognized the Shift?

From Artisanal Craft to Mass Production

Getting to the next mark or anchorage requires you to recognize shifts (and veers), correct?
The same applies for choosing a sailmaker. When Island Planet founder Dave Benjamin was a kid, buying a new sail entailed a pleasant visit to the local sail loft, where a sailmaker stood pipe in mouth eyeballing a luff curve....
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Sailmaker creating a new sail by hand the old fashioned way.

sail making technology that allows sailmakers to built the best sails possible.

Tech Drives Franchise Model

The first big shift combined advances in sailcloth and using computers to design sails. The pipe clenching sailmaker went from shifting a lofting batten on the loft floor to tapping those changes on a keyboard. Sailmakers wanting access to that cutting edge technology banded together in franchise groups.
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The Level Playing Field

Globalization leveled the playing field between sailmakers large and small. Nigel Calder, a well-known marine author, remarked that sailmaking had “entered the era of established brand names tied to mass production facilities...no different than Nike or Sony, ” after a visit to a 200,000 square foot production loft in Asia.
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sailmaking mega loft producing new sails for a global community.

The Hybrid Sail Loft

The rich history of sailmaking is woven into the heart of Island Planet Sails. President and Founder Dave Benjamin has refined the process of purchasing sails from afar, and married the efficiencies of a large scale production loft with the customer engagement of a local operation.
Read More

Have You Recognized the Shift?

Sailmaker creating a new sail by hand the old fashioned way. From Artisanal Craft to Mass Production
Getting to the next mark or anchorage requires you to recognize shifts (and veers), correct?
The same applies for choosing a sailmaker. When Island Planet founder Dave Benjamin was a kid, buying a new sail entailed a pleasant visit to the local sail loft, where a sailmaker stood pipe in mouth eyeballing a luff curve....
Read More

sail making technology that allows sailmakers to built the best sails possible. Tech Drives Franchise Model
The first big shift combined advances in sailcloth and using computers to design sails. The pipe clenching sailmaker went from shifting a lofting batten on the loft floor to tapping those changes on a keyboard. Sailmakers wanting access to that cutting edge technology banded together in franchise groups.
Read More

sailmaking mega loft producing new sails for a global community. The Level Playing Field
Globalization leveled the playing field between sailmakers large and small. Nigel Calder, a well-known marine author, remarked that sailmaking had “entered the era of established brand names tied to mass production facilities...no different than Nike or Sony, ” after a visit to a 200,000 square foot production loft in Asia.
Read More

Island Planet Sails logo The Hybrid Sail Loft
The rich history of sailmaking is woven into the heart of Island Planet Sails. President and Founder Dave Benjamin has refined the process of purchasing sails from afar, and married the efficiencies of a large scale production loft with the customer engagement of a local operation.
Read More

Your Global Local Loft

Since 2004, Island Planet Sails has delivered the best value in sails.

No hype, no glossy ads, unbeatable value has been our mantra since the beginning. We serve our fellow sailors worldwide.

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Your Crew

Dave Benjamin

President and Founder

Dave is a lifelong sailor with a passion for marine conservation. He grew up sailing on San Francisco Bay and has owned over a dozen boats ranging in size from 12 to 48 feet. He has cruised and raced on both coasts of the United States, Mexico, and Southeast Asia. His current boat is a vintage Swedish IOR half tonner.

Matt Simington

Production Manager

Matt has decades of sailmaking experience and has managed production lofts for some of the biggest names in the industry, including Quantum and Ullman. In addition to racing offshore, around the buoys and in various one-design classes, Matt has cruised between Maine and the Bahamas on his family's Passport 40.