Company Profile: The Software
SailMaker, PlotMaker and Spinnaker
Late in 1986, SailMaker the design system and PlotMaker, the nesting program which could also drive a plot cutter, were finally released. It would be several more months before Spinnaker, a symmetrical spinnaker design system, was also released.
While in their infancy, these programs were light years ahead of any 2D system, and right up there with the very best of the few other 3D sail design programs which existed at the time.
SailMaker and Spinnaker
For the first time, graphical displays were available throughout. There was a 3 dimensional display of the sail which could be viewed from any angle and any perspective; a chord window where the horizontal shape could be determined with automatic visual output of the primary values which make up a sail's surface, maximum depth and position, entry and exit angles, twist, total luff curve, girth and length of a chord; a window where the vertical curvature could be established and which was directly interactive with the chord window; a window where luff, foot and leech hollows and rounds were established, another for roach, battens, their placement and type. Such features as reefs, eyelets, draft stripes, cunninghams, telltails and leech ribbons and their placement could also be readily established. In 5 to 10 minutes, a custom sail could be designed ready for cutting up into panels. To do this all the designer had to do was select the configuration, specify the fabric and seam width and set it all running with the click of a button.
All this was done visually with graphics, the mouse and little need for any keyboard skills or computer literacy.
Output from the system was available in a number of ways. First a design card could be printed which has all the primary information on it for sail assembly. Then a second printout which has all the offsets required to digitally hand plot and cut the panels off a metric grid. And third, the panels and design information could be saved to a PlotMaker file.
For information about SailMaker software, follow this link.
PlotMaker is a nesting program where the actual fabric width can be specified (some designs have panels only half or a third of fabric width) then all the panels can be nested to a user specified distance apart. Cross cut panels can be sorted in order of priority, and at the click of a button will be automatically nested to the specified distance apart. Radial panels are a little trickier in that they must be individually selected, postioned then autonested. During the nesting process the amount of fabric used is automatically updated by the software, as is the amount of waste within the fabric length.
All this is done visually with graphics and the mouse and there is little need for any keyboard skills or computer literacy.
PlotMaker then interacts directly with and drives all the major brands of sailmaking plotters, cutters and plotcutters.
For information about PlotMaker software, follow this link.
Sales of the system
SailMaker, PlotMaker and Spinnaker were an instant success. In the first 12 months, dozens of systems were sold to sailmaking companies around the world. The programs were quite simply the best of their type available on a commercial basis to the world's sailmaking community -- accurate, very flexibl,e and extremely user friendly.
Impact on the industry
All of a sudden the ordinary sailmaking company had technology available to them which placed them at the forefront of the industry. The software enabled them to enhance their image to the point where they could be competitive with the best without having to spend the type of money on their technology that only the very largest organisations could afford. More recently with modifications to PlotMaker and the release of SurfaceMaker the company has broadened its market base into the flexible membrane industry which can also enjoy the same benefits sailmakers have had for many years.
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