She originally is a girl from the countryside, born in inland Germany (in the town of Kassel), but she has been sailing since she was young. And successfully completed an apprenticeship as a sailmaker at Rolly Tasker Germany / Tuchwerkstatt in Greifswald. Just how successful was confirmed to her in mid-December 2019 at a festive prize-giving in Wiesbaden: Paula Gössling was voted “best young sailmaker of the year 2019”. Together with 130 other national winners from other trades in the German craft.
Real craftsmanship is still very much a part of our business at the sailmaking firm “Tuchwerkstatt”. On one hand, we are the German address of the global brand Rolly Tasker Sails. On the other hand, we do not only handle modern sails in our company, but also make very classic sails, hand-sewn, for traditional sailors. Made of proven, traditional cloth, luffs sewn on by hand as well as all reinforcements, thimbles and reefing tapes. Today this is by no means a matter of course. We usually have four trainees in the company, and these learn the traditional hand-made craft as well as the modern approach and therefore the best of both worlds: From the modern Rolly Tasker Sails and the classic sails for tall ships and other traditional sailing craft.
Is it this that makes Paula the best female sailmaker to have finished her apprenticeship in the year 2019? First and foremost, of course, it is herself. Nevertheless, it is also clear that we in our company work mainly solution-oriented. We see unusual orders, which occur from time to time, as a challenge. And we sit down together to find a solution for how these tasks can be successfully implemented. This attitude to work was definitely shared and lived by Paula and the jury did not miss it.
Meanwhile Paula is enrolled at Kiel University to study “Physics of the Earth System”. Despite this, Paula also remains with us, our customers and the craft. As a freelancer, she will take measurements for new sails in the Kiel area and will be the contact person for our customers of the region with advice and help.
You will find us, and Paula, also at the upcoming “boot 2020” fair in Düsseldorf, in hall 10, stand C08 / D10.
