One of New Zealand’s most significant sail lofts has come to Matakana. Actually, two of them. They’re to become the centre of a Marine Hub being established in the old Homefresh Hydroponic lettuce farm buildings on Matakana Road.
Rodney Keenan established Evolution Sails in 2009. The company now operates in 20 locations around the world – 85% of the New Zealand lofts’ orders are exported.
As expected, Rodney’s life is one of constant travel to yachting locations. I just had time to talk to him before he jetted off to Hawaii, to fit new sails to a superyacht. He and Evolution Sails have also been much involved lately with outfitting yachts with great rags (to use the sailors’ term) in the Great Lakes of North America.
Living in Sandspit, Rodney wanted to bring the business – previously based in Henderson, West Auckland – closer to home. His staff are relishing the move and finding new homes there. As for new employees from the area, Rodney says more experienced folk have been found locally: “Staff-wise, we’re pretty good.” He’s looked all around the Auckland region for the new premises for Evolution Sails – and Matakana won out.
Of the two lofts, one will be based on the more traditional techniques of sail-making – lofting, cutting, and sewing sails with powerful industrial sewing machines, set flush into the wooden floor of the loft so no lifting of sailcloth is required when running long seams.
The other is more cutting-edge – Evolution is one of the pioneers of a new form of sail-layup, building one-piece sails from a contiguous laminate of fibres and resin membranes. This newmethod loft required a floor covered with a super-hard 2cm layer of concrete, laser-levelled to a tolerance of less than 2mm. Once the fibres and resins are laid down, they’re vacuum-bagged and run over by a heavy grooming machine that bonds the laminates with UV radiation. Then it’s left for three weeks to cure.
Evolution will bring two of these huge machines to the loft, one capable of building a one-piece sails of dimensions 35m x 11m, and another 45m x 12m. For anything bigger, the parts of the sails can be bonded – not sewn – together. In the past, Evolution has made one-piece sails up to 2,000m2, with a single luff dimension of 70m. Evolution provides these one-piece sails on contract to many other sail lofts around the world.
That high-tech floor has been laid, the machines have moved in, and Evolution Sails will be fully operating in Matakana by the time you read this story.
Himself a sailor of note, Rodney has done 20 Sydney-Hobart races, and many of the famous Fastnet and North Atlantic races too. On two occasions he’s broken the (then) world record for a 24-hour-run under sail: once on the Swedish Volvo Ocean Race yacht SEB (464 nautical miles), and once on a giant catamaran Maiden 2 (over 700 nautical miles!).
In New Zealand, he’s sailed just about everywhere and on every kind of boat. He’s done the two-handed around Round North Island, on Akatea a Cookson 50 race boat, and his own Beneteau 47 Laissez Faire. www.evolutionsails.com
