Our Beginnings

Super Sailmakers opened its doors in 1973, serving the beach-cat community on the fabled Ft. Lauderdale Beach. Experimentation with a new, fully-battened jib for a Hobie 14 led the boys on the beach to declare it “super,” giving birth to a product, the “Hobie 14 Super Jib” and a brand name, Super Sailmakers. The loft grew as its neighbors left, breaking through one wall after another, eventually to use the entire building in downtown Ft. Lauderdale.

As the store grew, the small boat business expanded in new and exciting directions. Our service expanded to beach rental operations up the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, and into the Caribbean, as hotels and resorts began to rely on the durability of our sails. Today we serve some of the world's finest vacation destinations with sails and service, including Disney World, Club Med, and Sandals. As our sails spread to more places, regional small boat dealers began selling Super sails to their regular customers. Sailboat manufacturers themselves also realized the value Super sails added to their product, and we make or have made original sails for more than thirty different recreational sailboat models under 32 feet long.

Growing Markets

As our market became national, it became seasonal, requiring greater diversity in the products and services we offered. Ft. Lauderdale's comprehensive marine industry had grown, creating great demand for quality sail products and personal customer service at competitive prices. Super Sailmakers began to services sailboats across South Florida. Today, our cruising sails appeal to coastal sailors looking for a good value, and blue water sailors who rely on our sails to carry them safely around the world.

We were one of the first sailmakers on the web, launching sites in 1996 to bring our selection of production sails to the widest possible market. In 2003 we began our Service by Mail program to help small-boat sailors in under-served areas of the country. Our re-vamped site in 2012 to be the most informative, user-friendly sail site on the net. We will keep trying to meet this goal.

Expanding Capabilities

In 2002, expanded demand for small boat sails, and the demand for service by larger and larger yachts prompted Super Sailmakers to take its largest step ever, relocating within Ft. Lauderdale to a 10,000 sq. ft. facility. Designing the floor layout from scratch to meet the parallel goals of small boat sail production and large yacht sail service, we developed one of the most efficient and accessible sail lofts in the world, close to I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and the Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport. The Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel recognized the step and led its business edition with the story of the move. Today, we offer an unmatched combination of infrastructure, tools, experience, and convenience.

In 2005 we opened a sales and service facility in Stuart, Florida, recognizing the need for greater sail service in that growing region. Manned by Scott Loomis, one of America's veteran sailmakers, this facility regularly serves customers from Vero to Palm Beach and provides easy access to I-95.

Finally, in 2007, we launched Super Grafixx, an in-house graphics company capable of applying any image to any Dacron or laminated sail. The quality of the graphics is compelling, and offers creative alternatives for a wide range of sail customers, as well as flags, banners, signs and other printed fabrics to the public at large.

Super Sailmakers remains America's leading small boat sail manufacturer, embracing the little, odd, low-price sails that other sailmakers often avoid. Whether a sail is one of the 3,000+ sails we have in our computer, or a custom job for someone's backyard boat, no sail is too small for us to do well. At the same time, few sail service lofts in the country equal our ability to repair and modify the largest sails afloat. We're proud of our history and even more excited about our future.