Logos And Graphics On Sails

Gone are the days of plain white sails. These days yacht owners demand sails that render their yachts instantly recognisable from afar. The reasons for this vary, from owners wanting their boats to be clearly unique in all respects, to racing and charter yachts needing to promote their sponsors or business. Logos can be simple and distinctive symbols, such as the “X” on this spinnaker in the finishing loft, or complex works of art.

Here, at Quantum, we are able to satisfy owners’ wishes for an almost infinite range of designs on almost any material. In most cases logos are outsourced for screen printing but some logos may be sewn as an integral part of the sail.

The screen printed logos on the Cuben Fibre sails of Tony Bullimore’s “Doha 2006 / Daedalus” are a good indication of the complexity that can be accommodated. With this yacht the order was for a logo in a variety of vivid colours which would appear to be seamless from one sail to the next, and even blend into the hull graphics. The image of the running man used to advertise the Doha 2006 Asian Games was stylised but still sufficiently detailed that on this mainsail, which is over 30 metres high, it gives a realistic impression.

In the case of “Kiboko”, which means hippopotamus in Swahili, an eye-catching and effectively stylised rendering of a hippo above the letter K hints at the meaning of the name. All of these accompanying images are screen printed using light weight fabric paints which can be utilised to create simple and effective graphics or complex, multi-coloured images according to original artwork provided by the yacht owner.

The traditionally brightly coloured spinnakers have always encouraged the use of customized artwork, and while screen printing lends itself particularly well to vibrant, bright images it is also appropriate for complex shapes such as the picture of a butterfly.

An alternative to screen printing is an inlayed logo which is usually sewn to the sail. This technique is effective with bold, simple shapes in one, or few, plain colours. In the accompanying diagram the helmeted head of a knight in armour starts to take shape on the loft floor. The outline of the image is traced onto the sail and then the appropriate contrasting material is taped to the sail before being trimmed and sewn in place.

Another example of just how complex and artisitc logos on spinnakers can get!