Jeff hanging out on Windsurfing Road.

Not an address most windsurfers know about, but a destination for some like me. This less than world famous road is found in the unlikely spot of Qingyuan, China where most of my sails have been made for the last 10 years. Though the sail loft has moved twice since I started making Hot Sails Maui sails in China in 1987 (before Neil Pryde or anyone else), the people I have worked with have largely remained the same. In fact the current cutting manager was in the loft the very first day I arrived in China 26 years ago. It helps make for consistent quality.

A pile of batten pockets to various Hot Sails await taping and sewing onto their sails

Even with all those years and the comfortable situation that is familiar, I venture over here at least once a year to check in, and check up on the sail making. I bring new designs, or new ways to make sails better, and email and skype just does not cut it sometimes. The lack of phone calls, customers, riders, designers, and children allow me focus of details that normally get mislaid, or forgotten by the latest windy day or perfect swell. Just sailmaking uninterrupted does wonders for the final product.

One perk of these trips is the food. Extremely fresh and always tasty.

A pile of KS3 sails seamed and awaiting plys and patches.

A GPS sail waits for battens to be inserted before going through quality control checks. The sail loft in the background is vast to say the least.

A GPX lays on the sail loft table. The sleeve is yet to be sewn on.

2014 luff sleeves printed and ready to be sewn.

No trip to China is complete without the long ceremonial tea sharing. Whole pieces of furniture are designed just for this purpose with drainage and built in heaters.

Authors: Jeff