Ateliers BeaufortVoilerie / Lorient

Sailmakers / Lorient / since 1971

Cut forforcefour.

A sail cut for the wind you get, not the wind in the brochure. Eight hundred square metres of floor on the Blavet and fifty-five years of doing it here.

What we make

Nought to twelve

The scale Admiral Beaufort wrote down in 1805, and what each force means on our floor. Force four is where a cruising wardrobe should be at its best.

  1. 0

    Calm

    Sea like a mirror

    < 1 ktNothing we make will help you
  2. 1

    Light air

    Ripples, no foam

    1 – 3 ktCode zero, and patience
  3. 2

    Light breeze

    Small wavelets

    4 – 6 ktFull main, light genoa
  4. 3

    Gentle breeze

    Crests begin to break

    7 – 10 ktThe wardrobe is happy
  5. 4

    Moderate breeze

    Fairly frequent white horses

    11 – 16 ktWhere we cut for
  6. 5

    Fresh breeze

    Moderate waves, many white horses

    17 – 21 ktFirst reef, no drama
  7. 6

    Strong breeze

    Large waves, spray

    22 – 27 ktSecond reef, working jib
  8. 7

    Near gale

    Sea heaps up, foam in streaks

    28 – 33 ktThird reef, staysail
  9. 8

    Gale

    Moderately high waves, edges break

    34 – 40 ktStorm jib and honesty
  10. 9

    Strong gale

    High waves, dense foam

    41 – 47 ktTrysail. This is the cloth test
  11. 10

    Storm

    Very high waves, sea white

    48 – 55 ktNothing set that we did not triple-stitch
  12. 11

    Violent storm

    Exceptionally high waves

    56 – 63 ktEverything below, everything lashed
  13. 12

    Hurricane

    Air filled with foam and spray

    64 + ktThe loft would like a word

Most sails are designed for the wind a brochure photograph is taken in. We ask what you actually sail in, which is usually less wind, more chop and shorter-handed than anybody admits, and we cut for that.

The loft has been on the Quai des Indes since 1971 and on the same floor since 1988. Eleven of us: six on the floor, two on the machines, one in the rigging and two who do everything else.

We make membrane sails here rather than buying them in, which is unusual for a loft this size and is the single most expensive decision the business has ever taken.

What we make

Lead times are from the day we measure, not the day you call.

  1. 01

    Cruising

    Cross-cut and radial wardrobes in Dacron and laminate, cut to be reefed6 weeks€ 3 400
  2. 02

    Racing

    Membrane mains and headsails, moulded on our own floor9 weeks€ 7 900
  3. 03

    Classic

    Cotton and flax for boats that predate synthetics, hand-roped14 weeks€ 9 200
  4. 04

    Repair

    Anything, including sails we did not make and would not have made4 days€ 90
  5. 05

    Covers

    Stack packs, sprayhoods, winch and wheel covers in acrylic3 weeks€ 640

Three habits

None of them fast, all of them the reason a sail lasts a decade.

I

Measured on the boat

Nobody cuts from a drawing. We come with a laser and a ladder, take the rig standing and loaded, and photograph the mast bend under sail before a panel is designed.

II

Cut on the floor

Eight hundred square metres of flat floor, which is the whole reason the loft is where it is. Panels are broadseamed by eye and checked against the plot before they are joined.

III

Finished by hand

Corners, rings and reef points are hand-worked, because the machine is faster and the hand is right. A classic gets hand-roping all the way round and takes three weeks longer.

Cloth on the shelf

Held means it is in the building. Made here means it is laid up on our own floor.

  1. 280 g/m²Dacron HTPCross-cut cruising8 – 12 yearsHeld
  2. 380 g/m²Dacron HTPHeavy cruising, charter10 – 15 yearsHeld
  3. 340 g/m²Hydra Net RadialRadial cruising10 – 14 yearsHeld
  4. 295 g/m²Laminate, PentexFast cruising6 – 8 yearsHeld
  5. 240 g/m²Membrane, AramidRacing, inshore3 – 5 seasonsMade here
  6. 210 g/m²Membrane, CarbonRacing, offshore2 – 4 seasonsMade here
  7. 25 g/m²Nylon, 0.75 ozSpinnaker, light5 – 8 yearsHeld
  8. 50 g/m²Nylon, 1.5 ozSpinnaker, all round6 – 10 yearsHeld
  9. 410 g/m²Flax, No. 4Classic, gaff rig20 years +To order
  10. 460 g/m²Cotton duckClassic, museum work20 years +To order
  11. 305 g/m²Acrylic, solution dyedCovers10 yearsHeld
  12. —Your own clothWe will cut it, once——

A sail is a wing you have to fold up and put in a bag. Everything difficult about it comes from the second half of that sentence.

Yann Le Guillou, master sailmaker

Built here

Recent wardrobes. Owners who asked not to appear are not on the list, which is why it is short.

  1. 2026AïdaSloop, 14 mFull cruising wardrobe6 sails
  2. 2026KerlouanKetch, 19 mMain, mizzen, staysail3 sails
  3. 2025Marie-JeanneSinagot, 1928Flax, hand-roped, museum spec2 sails
  4. 2025Rafale IVClass 40Membrane inventory, offshore9 sails
  5. 2025Petit NordCutter, 11 mRadial main and yankee4 sails
  6. 2024BélougaSloop, 8 mDacron cruising pair2 sails
  7. 2024TabarlyClassic yawl, 1964Restoration, matched to plans7 sails
  8. 2024Grain de SelCatamaran, 12 mSquare-top main, self-tacker3 sails
  9. 2023OuessantPilot cutter, 1911Flax throughout5 sails
  10. 2023Vent DeboutFigaro 3One-design, class measured4 sails

Coming to the loft

Loft
Quai des Indes 9, 56100 Lorient. Ring the bell on the water side.
Season
Booked out from March. Repairs go in front of everything in July.
Pick-up
Delivered to your berth in Brittany, freighted anywhere else.
Guarantee
Five years on our stitching, and the cloth-maker warrants the cloth.

Measure, quote, argue

Start a sail

Quai des Indes 9, 56100 Lorient. Somebody is on the floor from seven in the morning; the telephone is answered from nine, and a quote takes about a fortnight because we would rather measure twice.