This December marks an extraordinary milestone, Brad Stephens’ 50th year in the sailmaking industry.

Brad’s journey has spanned five decades of innovation, craftsmanship, and leadership that have left an indelible mark on the world of performance sails.

Since joining Ullman Sails more than a decade ago, Brad has been an invaluable part of our team, combining deep technical expertise with an unwavering commitment to collaboration, mentorship, and continuous improvement. His influence extends far beyond design; it shapes the very culture of professionalism and excellence that defines Ullman Sails today.

On behalf of the entire Ullman Sails family, we congratulate Brad on this remarkable achievement and thank him for his dedication, innovation, and generosity of spirit. His passion continues to inspire us all.

Brad in 2015 vs 2025

Let's hear it from Brad Stephens

December 2025 marks my 50^th year in the industry and what a journey it has been and still is! When I graduated from High School, I postponed my university entrance and went to work for Bob Fraser at Fraser Sails in Sydney. It was a defining decision of my career because Bob’s focus on creating and managing a successful sailmaking business meant that in the following years I was able to pursue my interests in sail design and technology for the business. I am eternally grateful for the support that he gave me during our 30 years plus of business association.

My first years in sailmaking involved the traditional 1^st and 2^nd layouts of a sail using chalk and string lines on the loft floor, but at an early point we moved the business to smaller premises just across a park from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) which is the premier offshore sailing club in Sydney and on the east coast of Australia. It also meant that floor space was not large enough for the 1^st layout of many sails and so one of my first significant projects was writing a cutting program that I processed on a Texas Instruments calculator using about 20 magnetic cards with the panels being manually plotted and cut on long tables upstairs.

Before the introduction of the personal computer my first sail design programs were written using a micro-computer with cassette tape storage. By the second half of the 1980’s we had installed a sailcloth plotter, and I was permanently installed at the design desk.

Inevitably, my sail design interest led me to a primarily sail trim and technical role on many of the yachts I sailed on, starting with my first offshore race in 1977 and my first Sydney-Hobart race in 1980. From there through to the early 2000’s I had the absolute privilege of designing sails for many Sydney-Hobart winners as well winning that race several times on boats that I had designed the sails for. Of course, as an offshore sailor at that time there was Admirals Cups, Kenwood Cups, One-Ton Cups, and great regattas such as the San Francisco Big Boat series. In all those events I had the privilege of designing sails for many successful boats.

By the mid 1990’s it was clear that North Sails with 3DL had managed to differentiate themselves from other sailmaking groups. It was suggested by one of our clients following the 1994 Kenwood Cup that we should give up but at Fraser Sails we took it as a challenge and with the benefit of my sail design programming background and the fact that patents that we would potentially infringe if we were located overseas not existing in Australia we started the development of D4 sail membranes. Writing the stringing programs and programs to control the yarn laying equipment were two tasks that consumed me. D4 went on to be a successful product, and we took advantage of that, selling the business to Dimension-Polyant in 2004, subsequently becoming a DP employee, and then the manager of the membrane business when Bob Fraser retired. Working for a company with the business organization of DP required a whole new longer-term outlook and new business skills had to be developed. Whilst DP decided to eventually sell the D4 equipment to Incidences because it represented a conflict with their core business my time with DP exposed me to the sailcloth side of our industry which has also been one of my strengths.

Following my involvement with the technology transfer of the D4 equipment to Incidences I was approached by Bruce Hollis and thus started what has been my 10 years plus association with Ullman Sails.

As some of you would know, there has been a move, managed by USI, to re-invigorate the Ullman Sails Design Team. Looking forward I see that there is a legacy I can create by sharing my expertise and bringing the expertise of others together in a collegiate environment. And it is not just about “good designs” it is also about doing design work well because there is a business to run, Bob Fraser taught me that.

photos Bronny Daniels