When people see “BREAKWATER IRREGULARS” they tend to ask what it means. That’s an opportunity for us to tell them all about Tuesday night racing, and that can translate into MORE BOATS, MORE SAILORS, and BETTER COMPETITION.
So, we have a good reason to get the name out there.
There are many small ways to do this. One example is the car magnet we distributed at our kickoff meeting in 2016. (Remember: It’s not for your refrigerator.)
We encourage you to include the logo on any racing apparel you may be purchasing for yourself and/or your crew. All current Breakwater Irregulars members are exclusively licensed to use the logo, in any size but without other modification, appropriately and in good taste. Please contact info@breakwaters.org to obtain a copy of the logo in EPS vector or JPG/PNG raster files.
We looked into having the logo digitized for embroidery (DST, PES, etc.) files, but were advised that (1) many embroiderers want to digitize their own work and (2) the logo’s layout of colors and text makes good embroidery unusually difficult. Your results may differ, so we’re just passing along what we were told. A close alternative is to create a woven or screened patch, and we might look into that. Meanwhile, screen-printing on apparel may be the best course. Some screeners will charge a bit more for the use of four colors (three if the background is white, blue, red of green), but the finished product looks great. A simpler and less expensive option is to use only the red chicken jibe symbol from the BI burgee. Yes, we have a file for that.
We considered affiliating BI with apparel providers, but we learned these arrangements tend to increase your cost so the merchants can pay royalties to BI. We would prefer to stay out of such deals and let you obtain the apparel of your choice at the best possible prices in a competitive market.
When you tell us about merchants offering good merchandise at attractive prices and/or waiving setup charges when offered our files, we will make that information available here. Send any such information to info@breakwaters.org.
Other ideas or information? Let us know!
Here’s the beginning of an alphabetized list of merchants with which our members have some experience. This is not an endorsement. Caveat emptor!:
CustomInk.com
Screening on a variety of apparel. You can upload the BI logo or any other image file of your choice, combine it with text in a variety of fonts, and see exactly what you are ordering. Their artists will make suggestions if they think something went wrong in your on-line design. And they will send you a final proof before printing. One of our boats just dealt with them and is very satisfied.
DesignAShirt.com
Appears to be similar to above, but we have not tried it beyond the on-line design feature.
GiftedofLarchmont.com
Gifted of Larchmont has provided our annual awards for several years, so they are set up to reproduce the BI logo in embroidery and other formats. As you know if you have seen our awards, they offer a wide variety of apparel, sailing bags, etc.
Sailbags.com
Customized bags from this supplier were used as our sailing awards for 2016. We mention that because, if the embroidery was done there, you might be able to avoid a setup fee for the BI logo.
Seabags.com
Can’t mention Sailbags without mentioning Seabags. It may not belong on this page, but some of us dealt with Seabags of Maine in 2018, giving them our old (but not delaminated!) sails, which they turn into beautiful bags for sale. They call it up-cycling, and it’s a great way to empty your garage without putting all that indestructible cloth in the landfill. (You might also get a free bag with your sail number on it.)
Speed Printing & Graphics
This company handled our order for nearly 200 tee shirts in September 2020. They were affordable, efficient and easy to work with. True to the name, the shirts were ready in a week. Our logo and chicken jibe symbol are on file there.
Team1Newport.com
Stamford Yacht Club has a “club store” relationship with T1N, and seems happy with the selection and service. We do not yet know whether they waive setup fees for individuals providing image files. Broad variety of customizable sailing apparel.