Overlooking a marina full of wooden boats, more than 50 sailors, sailmakers and Port Townsend community members shuffled sock-footed in and out of the Port Townsend Sail Loft on Sept. 7, eating smoked salmon, drinking beer and waiting their turn to give Carol Hasse, owner of Hasse & Company Port Townsend Sails, Inc., a hug and a hearty, “Congrats.” 

Hasse celebrated 40 years of sailmaking Friday, and as a founding member of the Wooden Boats Foundation and one of the visionaries of the Wooden Boat Festival, her anniversary party was the perfect kick-off for the 2018 festival. 

“I would have never imagined that I would have been in business for 40 years,” Hasse said. “What I discovered was how rare and remarkable it is to find work that you love.” 

For Hasse, her business has always been much more than just a way of making money. It has allowed her to be a part of a community that she loves, make sails, do a lot of sailing in her 1959 25-foot Nordic folkboat, “Lorraine,” and get involved in sail training.

“And I get to have a home in the most beautiful town I’ve ever been in,” Hasse added.

Taking breaks to greet each of her guests and thank them for their support over the years, Hasse celebrated by reminiscing about her times sailing, and telling stories about when she realized that having a sailmaking company owned and operated by women, and teaching other women sailing skills, was important to her.

“When I started the company I had a boat that I would sail up north in, and I’d have boyfriends with me on trips. And people would row over to ask about the boat, but they would ask the guy I was with,” Hasse said. “The questions kept getting directed at the guy, so I thought, ‘Well, if we only hire women, they’ll have to talk to us.’”

For many women sailors, Hasse has been an important role model and teacher.

“She’s a great mariner and she’s a female, so I think she is a great role model for that,” said Ace Spragg, former program manager at the Northwest Maritime Center. “I mean, she sailed all over the Pacific with a sextant.”

Spragg met Hasse while at a conference for women sailors. Teaching fellow women sailing skills, and self-reliance, has helped Hasse gain a large group of supporters in Port Townsend and in the larger sailing community. 

“She’s just such an inspirational woman,” said Cherie Moulin, a friend of Hasse since 1994. “She’s so well respected in a man’s world … and she gave her blood, sweat and tears to build this company.” 

According to Moulin, there is no one else she would go to, to have sails made for her sailboat. Not only does Hasse work to make high-quality sails, but she also believes in the importance of teaching self-reliance for sailors, so they know how to take care of their sails and preserve the tradition of sailmaking.

“Her real gift is to make everybody feel warm and welcome, and safe and not foolish for asking a question,” Spragg said. “It’s one of the great perks of buying a sail from Port Townsend Sails.”