Our History
We opened our doors in 1981 doing business as Shore Sails on Main
Street in Winooski, VT. Founding partners Don and Ann Brush sought
to establish a world class sail loft in the Lake Champlain basin.
Our association with the Shore sails group was very beneficial in
that it gave us the ability to design and build top quality racing
and cruising sails for our customers.
In the fall of 1985, the old sail loft burned to the ground, and for
the next 17 years we were located near the Burlington waterfront at
the corner of Pine St and Marble Ave. In May of 2003 we moved to our
current location on West Canal St. in Winooski. It is a 4600 sq.ft.
purposefully built sailmaking facility.
Over this time we forged a very close relationship with many other
sailmakers in the Shore Sails group, but in particular, with Win
Fowler at Shore Sails in Maine. After purchasing a sail
plotter/cutter in 1993, Win was able to provide us with the valuable
service of cutting our sail panels. In 1996 Win left the Shore Sails
group and began operating as an "independent" sail loft; Maine
Sailing Partners.
In recent years, our relationship with Win has grown stronger.
We share designs and production efficiencies, and consult on big
projects. in 2004 we began doing business as Vermont Sailing
Partners.
Our Personel
Bill Fastiggi - Bill is an expert sailmaker and rigger. A graduate
of the US Merchant Marine Academy, Bill has worked as a sailmaker
since 1986. Bill is also a world class sailor having won many
accolades over the years including a Gold medal at the Pan Am Games
in 1999, and runner up at the 2000 Lightning NAs. Bill is also a top
level tactician and sail trimmer and sailing coach.
Ann Brush - Ann is one of the founders of our loft and has 25 years
of sailmaking experience. Ann is a lifelong sailor who has raced
extensively in Lightnings, J-24's, J-29's and J-35s.
Scott Thibault - Scott is our production
manager, a veteran sailmaker here at VSP as well as Sears Cup
winner. Scott races on Lightnings and all different types of
PHRF boats.
Kristen Hammond - Kristen is a Senior at CVU
high school and is a top notch seamstress. She shows up like
clockwork at 2pm every day and works full time during school
vacations and summers. She will be attending McGill University
in Montreal this fall. She is the daughter of local expert
boatwright John Hammond.
Matt Clark - Matt is a freshman at UVM and a
member of the UVM sailing team. Matt hails from Chicago where
he spends his summers working for another sailmaker. Matt
works splits his time during the school year between saiiling,
skiing, part-time sailmaking, and of course, attending classes!
