Travis Meindl grew up in Lake Tahoe, a beautiful freshwater lake surrounded by mountains. When he started sailing it was with a youth team of 4 kids and the adult instructor on a Pearson 30, in some small club racing series.
Never did Meindl think that these early dabbles into sailing would take him anywhere, in 2009 he completed his service in the United States Marine Corps and started to look for a job to supplement his studies, it was a sailmaking role which caught his eye in San Diego.
At the time Meindl admits, “I thought how hard can that be? I immediately realized the technical needs in sailmaking that my engineering degree could provide and wasn’t interested in doing anything else.”
When he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics from San Diego State University, Meindl moved to Doyle Sails Salem and began his work as a sailmaker under the founder of Doyle Sails, Robbie Doyle. As time went on Travis moved on to part-time designing sails with Robbie and Glenn, while working for Doyle Sails Salem, Meindl was part of the team that built some of the largest sails in the world. “We built sailing yacht A, P3, Rosehearty, M5, Maltese Falcon, it was really a unique opportunity”
In 2017 Meindl was moved into a full-time design role, and then fell heavily into the Performance Cruise Multihull realm and has spent a large portion of his time working on designs and specific detailing for this area of clientele with smaller crews and considered designs for ease of use.
“I came into my own when applying my design background combined with my sail-making background to provide a mobile service to our customers in need. I regularly travelled to the Caribbean to fix sails in the lofts there. I even travelled to Mayote to fix the head of a gunboat main while there was civil unrest on the island and raids actively happening daily. I went foil boarding for the first time around a shipwreck while we waited for the glue to set.” says Meindl, who has plenty more tales of great adventures, “I have been the onshore sailmaker for the MAXI 72, Proteus since. It’s not uncommon to work 20+ hour days at a regatta modifying sails in a boat yard, but it’s where you hear all the latest and greatest news of what’s going on at the top level of the sailing industry as the familiar faces walk by and stop for a handshake and a quick catch up.”
Besides sailmaking, the Salem-based designer and his team were given an opportunity where Meindl used his more classical engineering background to incorporate custom sail material with the knowledge from the Maltese Falcon (dyna rig) projects to create 14 “curtains” that are acoustically insulating for a large venue in one of the most expensive developments in New York City, the SHED. They’re massively heavy (10m wide, 50m tall, and 30kg per square meter) and roll up onto mandrels. Meindl was the lead for installing and maintaining them from 2018.
Now based out of Newport, RI with his young family, Travis continues on the day-to-day design work and gets to work more directly with David Armitage and Richard Bouzaid; two very talented sail designers who are a deep pool of knowledge and experience.
“I still work for the Proteus program and make sure that our customers are taken care of. I’ve enjoyed sailmaking and the community it has brought me to. Sailors all over the world are some of the best people to know. I’ve never really been that much into racing, although I jump at the opportunity if I can get away.”
Working heavily with the captain, crew and riggers, along with other parties on the ground getting things done, Meindl says “It’s amazing what the right people can get done with a deadline looming. You get to know people working in those conditions. You spend real time with them and that’s worth the effort.”
ABOUT DOYLE SAILS // Doyle Sails strives to deliver success through high-performance, high-quality, custom sails that continue to redefine the boundaries of sailmaking technology and innovation; whilst connecting sailors to inspire, support and encourage sailing.
Our obsession with sailing takes us to every corner of the world and onboard every yacht. We become part of teams, share in the adventures of friends and families, sharing our knowledge and experience with those with the same passion. Sailing is in our DNA, and we are the custodians of a legacy that has been supporting sailors for four decades and counting.