detercfee said...
Hi Just wondering what people think about aussie sailmakers getting sails made overseas by cheap labour rates. i guess it means great value for money if everything goes to plan but dose it mean there will become less sailmakers learning the trade here in aus. dose it mean less people will be able to become apprentice sailmakers here in our country, will this make any difference to repair services and help in the sail trade eventually in our local area?
What particular area are you talking about? Windsurfing?
I think from a windsurfing perspective, that it would be hard to have a locally made product that is competitive.
The market I think you are talking about is where 'the world' buy sails from a name-brand, and they sail them, and buy new ones every so often. This has been the way for quite a while and would continue whether Australian sailmakers are the people behind those sailbrands, or someone from another country.
I think it would be next to impossible for a local sailmaker to produce this type of product locally and be competitive, but there's certainly demand for sailmakers to repair these products.
